This post originally appeared with American Loggers Council

July 21, 2022

This month I determined to find out how rapidly increasing fuel prices are impacting the logging industry, so I reached out to a lot of the people I know. I got enough responses to fill the whole issue, but I only have a page available, so I was forced to cut out a lot of really good observations. Here we go.

“Inflation rate for logging here is anywhere from 38-42%,” says Crad Jaynes, head of the South Carolina Timber Producers Assn. “Quite a few contract haulers have said to hell with it. In my 45 years it is the worst I have seen it.”

South Carolina logger Bob Lussier and Alabama Loggers Council Director Joel Moon have both also been in the industry close to 40 years, and agree with Crad’s assessment. “I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Moon says, while Lussier notes that he’s seen five economic downturns in four decades, but never before such a rapid escalation of costs.

Carolina Loggers Assn. Executive Director Jonzi Guill says she has not talked to a logger recently who isn't considering downsizing crews or selling equipment. “Our loggers are hurting bad.”

“We seem to feel it much quicker because, unlike on-road truckers who can push added cost on to consumers, we don’t have anyone to push that cost to,” says Toni McAllister, Executive Director of Louisiana Loggers Assn. “We can’t pass our costs on so it feels like it is only our industry suffering, but it is not. It hits us first but it will be all over the U.S.”

“It is devastating to the logging industry,” one Mississippi logger commented anonymously, then summed it all up succinctly: “The margins were already tight but you factor in the diesel prices along with the inflation of every other thing we use in our business, it’s a nightmare. I’m afraid the cost of fuel is gonna put a lot of loggers out of business. We have seen a little help from mills but when you’re getting a 3% bump and you’re seeing 40% inflation…even us ole dumb loggers can figure that math out!”

Within the industry, the big mill companies, with greater assets and deeper pockets, can forestall catastrophe by paying more (although there is only so much they can do). American Loggers Council director Scott Dane predicts that, if mills don't step up, the loggers will run the numbers and be forced to make the hard choice of parking their machines.

Politically, both ALC and President Biden have called for a temporary suspension of federal and state fuel taxes. ALC is also requesting a temporary allowance of untaxed off-road diesel for on-road use, and for log trucks to have access to interstates, to increase fuel efficiency.

Those things could help, some, if they happen. But the only real solution is a market one: demand has to go down, or supply has to go up. Bill Jones, Assistant Director, Southern Loggers Co-op, says things will remain tight until more oil starts being produced in refineries. “It’s not a good situation and I don’t see it getting any better until maybe the fall,” he predicts.

Moon thinks not even then. “The fall is gonna be worse, in my opinion.” His reasoning: fuel prices stay high, but wood products demand declines (consider the Fed’s recent interest rate increase and the effect on housing). Right now maybe mills could pay more; then, maybe they can’t. “Lumber has rolled back a little already and paper usually follows about six months later,” Moon points out. “I think there is a crisis a-coming.”

SUPPLY, DEMAND

“We are in a challenging situation, with inventories running low at all the terminals across the whole United States,” Jones warns. “We have less than 12 days of inventory in the whole system.”

SLC President/CEO Todd Martin adds, “We have never witnessed the markets move in the way they have moved over the past year, especially since the beginning of this year. It makes it difficult for us to manage and even more difficult for our members to survive. From all indications we are hearing that crude will reach $140 per barrel by the fall.”

Jones goes on to explain, “What has happened on the world market is that the European Union has finally agreed not to buy any more fuel from Russia; they should not buy a drop by the end of the year. There is kind of a weaning off period, but it is putting more pressure on what inventory we have.” He doesn’t expect Saudi Arabia, Venezuela or Iran will release any from their reserves to help.

“If we don’t start producing some pretty soon we will continue to tighten our grip on our inventory and there will be a bidding war for whatever is in those tank farms across the country,” Jones continues. “I don’t expect it to slow down and we might even see some rationing by the middle of the summer. Allocations are tight. Loggers hate the high price but they really don’t like it when they run out.”

Martin reports that SLC has already experienced supply difficulties, especially on the East Coast, and recently in Alabama too.

Despite the high prices, the volume of fuel purchased has not diminished yet. Some SLC stations are posting record days in terms of number of gallons pumped. That’s an upside for members: the co-op has big dividends going out. “The SLC saves our members dollars at the pump, and we also give back,” Martin says. “Each year 100% of the SLC’s net profit is paid back to our members in the form of patronage dividends.”

Jones adds, “We are moving over 200,000 gallons a day and it means something to the logging community that they have a stake in their fuel supply.”

Meanwhile, in June the U.S. Department of Energy announced an allocation of $59 million to accelerate the production of biofuels. “The breakthroughs from this funding will support President Biden’s and DOE’s goals of advancing the use of bioenergy, achieving cost-competitive biofuels, and reaching a net-zero carbon economy by 2050,” a DOE statement reads.

“We have some people in the White House that are dead set on seeing us go to green energy,” Jones points out. “A lot of this is politically charged, I think, to drive us more towards renewable fuels and electric cars, which the grid cannot handle a great influx of.”

DROPPING LIKE FLIES

“(We) can’t do what we are doing much longer,” another anonymous logger fears. “I just got through running my P&L for the last five months and am losing $3,500 per week. Not only fuel but everything else costs so much: repairs, parts, tires, etc. Can’t and will not continue to lose money like this.”

It’s not just fuel; general inflation, labor, insurance, equipment, parts, delivery delays, it’s all of it. “Fuel is the main issue but we have had hyper inflation for the last 10 months or so, on every product we buy,” Louisiana’s Josh McAllister says. His wife, Toni, Executive Director of Louisiana Loggers Assn., notes, “We have lost multiple loggers who decided to walk away because of machine breakdowns causing them to be down production for weeks and months before they could receive the parts, and they literally couldn’t afford to sit that long.”

Supply chain delays were already crushing this industry, so in Toni’s estimation, exorbitant fuel prices were just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Now, she says, loggers are dropping like flies. One timber dealer, she reports, recently lost four his nine crews in a week.

“Inflation will kill us slowly; this fuel will kill us this month,” North Carolina logger Brent Roberson warns.

With reports of loggers racking up credit card debt to keep going, Bob Lussier, owner of Great Woods Companies, LLC, Bennettsville, SC, warns, “It is unsustainable. We are losing a few now but in the next 60-90 days we are going to lose a lot,” he fears.

Tim Rodrigues of Rodrigues & Sons Logging in Texas is among those who have found the current situation untenable. He says he has parked or sold most of his equipment rather than continue producing at a loss.

According to Rebecca Pipkin at Mark Pipkin Logging, Arkansas, “We had logged for over 20 years but can’t continue to lose money in this industry. We are no longer logging due to everything going up but our pay.”

Lussier, who serves as President of TEAM Safe Trucking, is already shedding excess equipment and admits he is among those strongly considering the possibility of hanging it all up if something doesn’t change. “I’m not going to keep losing money. When I was younger I had to take money from my savings to keep my business afloat, but I am to the point now I am not going to do that anymore.”

Like Lussier, the McAllisters understand why North Carolina’s Bobby Goodson made his decision a few months to retire early. Toni’s dad, the patriarch of their family business, McManus Timber, is making similar calculations.

This is all no surprise to Richard Schwab at Florida’s M.A. Rigoni. “I think with Bobby going out, he and Lori have inspired a lot of people in that place in their life and career to strongly consider whether they want to re-up in this business climate,” Schwab observes.

“It is a global crisis that is going to be hard for a lot of us to sustain,” Josh McAllister asserts. “We can survive longer than a new company because we have equity built into our business. But we are starting to not break even. So we have to find where the stopping point is; when do we quit using up all our equity? Because that is not a sustainable business model.”

“You don’t want to get to the point of having to dig into retirement savings to make payments,” Moon says. “The company has to support itself.”

“We’ll see what happens sooner than later, but people are folding every day,” Toni adds. “It’s going to put everyone out of business.”

NUMBERS GAME

“The most important thing loggers and truckers need to do is know their numbers, how much more inflation and fuel is costing in the woods and from the landing to the mill,” Scott Dane of American Loggers Council advises. “Once they establish that then it is up to them whether they are satisfied with what the mill is paying or not.”

Lussier agrees. “Loggers need to know the difference between NO and KNOW,” he recommends. “If he knows what his costs are, he can say NO I won’t work for that rate.”

“I think I am seeing in some instances loggers walking away from jobs that would not be profitable to them,” Moon notes.

When logger Brent Roberson was a highway contractor, he worked on a fuel index in which haul rates fluctuated to match fuel costs. “This system is one that is used around the country in the highway market, but unfortunately for us, is not applied in the logging industry,” Roberson says. He suggests a similar index can help loggers and mills calculate adequate logging rates.

Guill says, “The CLA has developed cost calculators to try and help our loggers be able to calculate their cost with the increase in fuel price.” Other groups have been doing the same; for instance, Virginia Loggers Assn. commissioned Dr. Joseph Conrad, Assistant Professor of Forest Operations at the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, to conduct a fuel cost analysis and develop a fuel adjustment formula.

Buck Vandersteen, director of Louisiana Forestry Assn., suggests, “In order to survive we have to ask, do I take a tract that is 80 miles away or decline it for one that is closer but worse timber?”

In a recent letter for ALC, Lussier wrote, “When fuel prices began to rise back in February I really started looking closely at our company's expenses. An individual in another state shared a cost calculator with me that their association uses to help their loggers. We gathered the information necessary for the analysis and ran the numbers. Not only did we want to know what our costs were, but also to be able to show the mills what our costs were. We were very surprised to see how the expense numbers rapidly increased with fuel prices affecting our operating costs.”

Lussier found that his fuel expense for the first six months of the year have increased by 57% over the same period last year, while production is down 30% due to quotas.

“We tried to meet with some mills to show them the findings of the calculator, and to our dismay, some didn't even want to talk about it, and others who have looked at it seem to have no regard.”

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE

What can be done? “These mills gotta come off it,” Lussier states. “It’s sad that they can all show record profits, but they can’t pass it down to their supply chain that is struggling.”

It is hard, the McAllisters concur, for loggers to see the CEOs of some large, publicly traded companies they work for talking about immeasurable profits and paying billions in dividends to investors, while their suppliers are contemplating having to park or sell their equipment and let go of employees who have been with them for decades, leaving those families without an income. “That is a hard pill for loggers to swallow,” Josh acknowledges.

Toni adds, “We know we are the bottom of their supply chain but they still can’t have that product without us.”

Guill says, “As an association we want to do all that we can to help our loggers succeed, but…until we get some help back from the mills I honestly do not know how long our loggers can maintain.”

Many loggers assert that they can’t make up the difference in production anymore because of quotas. “Inventories are still high at mills, so many loggers are not getting a full week of work,” Vandersteen acknowledges. “Loggers are frustrated with mills; mills are in an awkward position. They have made money, but a lot of it has been reinvested in plant improvements and new plants being built and that is critical for them to stay operating. But a lot of people wonder: could they have done more to help the logging side of the industry?”

In North Carolina, Guill says, “Mills are showing up to the meetings and want to hear what the loggers are saying. The mills have had the upper hand for a long time, and the loggers have worked for years without increases, but this fuel increase is the straw that broke the camel’s back. Some mills have stepped up and offered surcharges, but a lot have not.”

Sources in multiple states report that many mills and timber companies (not all) are in fact paying fuel adjustments, but it usually comes too little, too late. And in some cases, the adjustment came with a cut in delivery price, defeating the purpose.

This industry has changed in 45 years, but in other ways, it hasn’t changed a lick, Crad Jaynes lament. “As long as trucks are going across the scales, they think everything must be lovely…but every load is losing $100 or more,” he says. “It is just so discouraging. I want them to make a profit, but they have been making record profits on the backs of the suppliers and forestland owners.”

Lussier agrees. “It’s the old southern adage: we have wood in the yard, there’s trucks lined up, there ain’t no problem.”

“If you are a logger today and you are relying on a mill to give you what you need without asking for it, you’re not gonna get it,” Schwab counsels. “Loggers have got to stand up and demand it. They’re not volunteering to do anything.”

“Some just want to see how low they can get the price of wood delivered,” Vandersteen points out. “That is a bean counter, somebody who wants a feather in their cap for lowering cost but doesn’t realize the harm they are doing long-term.”

Schwab believes, “The days of trying to push people to do it for less are over. We can’t afford it.”

Like many industry observers and participants, Moon wisely hopes the situation doesn’t deteriorate into loggers and mills fighting each other. That, he believes, would ultimately prove counterproductive for all involved. “Loggers and mills are partners,” he asserts. “We’re all in this together.”

POLITICS

Some express an exasperated hope that they can just hold on till the end of 2024, when they hope to see an administration change. But even after the next election, Lussier points out, it will take a long time to fix what seems to have been broken.

Moreover, while many in the industry lean to the conservative end of the political spectrum, that doesn’t mean they blindly trust Republican politicians to do the right thing. Some suggest that, though they may view Democrats as clueless or incompetent, they fear that Republicans, in some cases, may actually want to keep things bad, to better their chances of winning in upcoming elections.

“I can’t be mad at Biden,” Lussier says. “He is doing exactly what he promised to do. But I am mad at Republicans because even though they are not in the majority they are just sitting back and letting it happen. We don’t need to drain the swamp; we need to flush the toilet.”

Lussier continues, “To blame just the Democrats is not fair. What are the Republicans doing about this? This party division has got to stop. We are ALL Americans.”

Source: David Abbott (Southern Loggin’ Times)

"We have vendors set up for our log bodies. We have vendors set up for storm recovery bodies and waste recycling. We have our own production facility and own fabrication shops. So anything custom,Pintle hooks, toolboxes, truck bodies, lighting systems, you name it, we can help."

Dustin Moffitt is the Product Manager at Hiab for the Loaders/Material Handlers. His main responsibility is the growth of the Material Handler Product Line in the US—a product that has been around globally for over 30 years. 

HIAB has been serving customers since 1944. The loader/ material handler line is manufactured in Stargard Poland.

HIAB Loaders

The US market currently uses A-Frame loaders, which are popular because of its flexibility and long reach. But these users are missing out on the various benefits and ease of use of HIAB’s loaders.

How Do HIAB Loaders Differ From A-Frame?

This loader fits anywhere the regular A-Frame does, but offers more advantages. One of the biggest advantages is its significant picking power and slewing force.

Features of HIAB Loaders

The HIAB loaders are reliable, safe, and offer an increased payload. The loaders are made of high-grade steel and structural design. They are lightweight, offer long-lasting durability, and are of great use to the timber industry and the loggers. Whether the work is in flatlands or mountainous areas, it offers a high level of performance and top-notch safety.

Another benefit is the unique HIAB design. Moffitt explains, "We have a lot more picking power because essentially we're a crane. We're known for building cranes that are much more robust at lifting. We added a lot more pressure. We're running about a thousand PSI more than the competitor." So, the lifting capacity increases significantly.” The slewing force is also impressive at 26,000 lb/ft using an oil bathed rack and pinion system. 

HIAB also believes in safety. They offer load-holding valves (LHV) on all of their loaders and an electric component known as an E-stop. You can tie it to an automatic transmission or a series of dump valves that HIAB also provides. "If you were to have a failure, like a hose rupture, the grapple is not going to come crashing into the ground because of a pressure loss. Our load-holding valves are going to take over, and it's going to keep it in the air,” said Moffitt.

E-Stop is an electronic safety system that can be installed to disconnect the PTO or linked to a series of dump valves. If a failure were to occur, the operator can hit the E-stop, cutting the power to the PTO to stop oil flow or directed through the dump valve back to the tank. This minimizes oil loss. He adds, "You repair, you click the E-stop back on, and you're back in business."

A few other overall features of HIAB loaders are the style of the boom and hose protection link. The boom provides more leverage and lifting capacity with a lighter boom that utilizes a link system. Hoses are routed internally of the boom on a pulley system and pass through a Hose protection link (HPL) at the boom tip. HPL keeps the grapple rotator hoses protected from material. Dustin mentions, "There is little chance of them ever getting caught."

HIAB also provides a bumper-to-bumper two-year warranty. 

HIAB loaders are all mechanical. The only electronic components are the boom extension switch that allows you to extend out and an electronic switch panel near the operator that controls the stabilizers, lights, heated seat and start stop functions. There is a redundant mechanical valve for the stabilizer as well.

"For any reason, if there was an electronic failure, everything is mechanical. You can get that machine closed up and get out of the woods, so you're not stuck," said Moffitt

HIAB also offers two different boom lengths on the J14S model with a max outreach of 31’5”. They offer six different boom lengths on the J24, with a max outreach of 41’4”. Also, there are two different styles of stabilizer legs.

As a member of TimberHauling.com, you get a 10% discount off the MSRP, valid on many different models of HIAB USA.

Expert Support Team

HIAB also offers equipment expertise with a product-specific service team, available to you throughout the lifecycle of the machinery. They also have over 200 certified mobile technicians to help you whenever and wherever you need.

What's next?

Contact HIAB today and mention TimberHauling.com for your 10% discount!

"Our goal is to ensure our customers are Confidently Compliant. SiteDocs helps companies streamline operations with digital forms, ensure compliance with real-time monitoring, and reduce injuries with advanced analytics." 

This is from Thomas Andres, Chief Innovation of Site Docs, a leading paperless safety management system. Site Docs puts the end-users first and foremost. That's why they are a reliable upgrade to ease the burden of safety inspections for your business.

What is Site Docs?

Launched in 2012, Site Docs is based out of British Columbia, Canada has helped thousands of companies go paperless. It manages all safety documents, manuals, and certifications in one place—on your mobile device or tablet. You can have the peace of mind knowing your business is legally compliant.

Why do you need Site Docs?

As loggers and timber industry professionals, time is crucial and any solution must be fast, simple, reliable, and easy.

Site Docs is already used and trusted by many loggers. "What we’ve identified is that our customers want an easy to use tool for their crew. Loggers specifically need remote/offline access to their safety manuals, documentation and training which is normally in their truck or maybe a site trailer and is almost impossible to keep up to date." said Andres.

Site Docs offers access to all the required documents on your mobile device or tablet. Questioned about certifications to drive the truck? You can show your paperwork in just three clicks.

With its customer-first approach, Site Docs continuously works to improve the simplicity of its system. The end goal is to make it easier for the loggers and other users. You'll know what and when to do it so that you can get things done quickly and efficiently.

Benefits of Site Docs

With ease of use, the ability to maintain compliance, potentially save on insurance, and exceptional customer service, Site Docs is an excellent addition to your logging business.

Within 3 clicks, you are done with your entry. Site Docs can adapt to your business and works for a small company of two or a company for 15,000.

"We realized early on that one of the biggest things that you have to target is the ease of use. If the people that are actually in the field can't easily use the product, they won't do it." It is entirely true. With Site Docs' simplicity, you don't have to be tech savvy because the software is just that easy to use.

Site Docs is also widely popular among manufacturers and construction workers. Their companies have been vocal about how the software saved them on insurance. Site Docs measures the variables for you, so you know the figures and can take care of the rest.  

They also have a 24-7 support team. You will always have access, even if you call in the middle of the night.

Site Docs is also available when you are offline. You still have all your documents for proof. As a business, you can monitor from your office and build custom forms like Toolbox Talks, Inspections, Incidents, Hazard Assessments, OSHA 300, etc. It's all digital and you can add photos, comments, and annotations easily. You can also capture digital signatures and date/time/GPS stamps.

Site Docs offers real-time tracking and a feature to chat directly with workers. Know if documentation is filled out and respond quickly to hazards or incidents. 

At the end of the day, Site Docs helps your business save time, money, and lives without complexity.

If you have been around the timber hauling world, getting pulled over and ticketed for overloading probably doesn’t sound unusual. Or even worse, having to offload after checking in overweight at a weigh station.

Air-Weigh On-Board Scales offers a great solution to this issue with their weight scale kits. By knowing your weight prior to transporting a load, you ensure compliance and boost productivity, efficiency, and safety.

Why you Should Use Air-Weigh Scales

If you’re serious about investing in a vehicle scale for your log truck, look no further than the Air-Weigh scale for the following reasons.

High-Quality Equipment

Air-Weigh has been in the scale-making business long enough to streamline their product to the highest standards. As a result, the company produces USA made, accurate scales that can take a beating and continue to work as hard as you do.

Pocket-Friendly

Frequent check-weighs at public weighing stations mean giving up several bucks and time you could be hauling instead of waiting in line. The initial investment in an Air-Weigh scale can easily pay for itself in a matter of months or less if you consider the cost of overweight fines. 

The best part, you get a 10% discount on the Air-Weigh scale you purchase if you are a member of the Timberhauling.com platform.

Portability

Air-Weigh scales give you the flexibility to move around. With the Premier LoadMaxx system, you have the ability to check your weight from outside the truck using the LoadMaxx app, you can even email your weight data and location back to the office.

Do you Need a Scale?

Part of doing business is keeping track of the weight of your log truck. And in keeping an eye on the freight, no step is more productive than having an on-board scale. Let’s take a look at a few benefits.

Efficiency

The number one cause of unscheduled truck maintenance is overloading. Although your truck is tough, overloading the vehicle will certainly increase operation and maintenance costs.

As the overloaded truck struggles up the hill, the vehicle parts experience premature wear and tear. In addition, too heavy of a load causes damage to vehicle parts like the suspension, bodywork, brakes, tires, center bolts, suspension, axle and alignment, transmission, and more.

That said, you will spend more money replacing worn-out parts and carrying out regular maintenance.

You can always make the second trip, but you won't complete your journey if your truck gives out.

Compliance with the law

And although a truck can easily pull its load capacity and more, checking in overweight at a weigh station could have you facing fines. Even more, the vehicle can get impounded in roadside weight checks and weighbridges until the problem is corrected.

The driver has the responsibility of knowing the maximum permitted weight of the vehicle. More than that, to avoid falling foul of the law, the driver must ensure that the weight of the loaded truck is beneath the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWS). The GVWS is the number of pounds that a vehicle can legally hold and each state may have different guidelines pertaining to GVWS. Therefore, you need to check your state regulations.

Drivers with an on-board scale can easily view their truck's weight and weight limits.

Safety

If you want to travel safely and securely mile after mile, you need to know your truck's weight.

A heavily laden truck has the following serious safety implications;

• Loading beyond the limit reduces the vehicle's steering ability, handling, and control.
• The braking distance lengthens. As a result, the driver can easily misjudge the stopping distance.
• Mechanical failures will be more likely.
• Tires are more likely to develop problems since they run hot.
• The visibility reduces for the driver if the vehicle is loaded above the driver seat or the load blocks the driver's rear view through the side mirrors.

Claim your 10% off Air-Weigh Scales today.

Members of the Timberhauling.com platform are offered a 10% discount on all Air-Weigh scales. What are you waiting for? Claim your offer today!

Whether your logging business is small or large, Caribou will help you streamline contractor payments, analyze tract productivity and profitability, and even help transform the way you purchase tracts - all while reducing the time and headache associated with your paperwork.

Caribou’s Logger's Edge may be just the tool you need to run a more profitable logging business. 

Read on to learn about some of Caribou's benefits to loggers.

Load Ticket Tracking

Caribou helps loggers keep track of load tickets, allowing you to manage and track load information including the tract, date, destination, product, trucker, etc.  Data can either be entered directly by office personnel, imported from the mill or entered using Caribou’s Loadmaster App.

Teresa Hannah, co-founder of Caribou Software, says, "I'll say with our flagship core product, which is the Logger's Edge, it is designed very specifically as a load ticket tracking software system.

So it allows companies to take the load tickets that their drivers are giving them from the mills that they deliver to, and handle that ticket one time."

Single-touch data management helps save time and reduces room for error, and allows you to analyze your profitability data much more quickly than with manual processes.

Contractor and Landowner Payments

One of the most time-consuming tasks for a logger is making payments to contractors and landowners. Caribou's Contractor/Landowner Payment feature speeds up this process by automating many calculations.

Caribou also offers a variety of payment options for logging businesses. The program can pay based on tons, board feet, cords, bone-dry ton, or distance traveled.

Tract Productivity Analysis

Knowing how productive each tract is - and why - is critical for any logger looking to maximize their profit. Caribou's Tract Productivity Analysis helps loggers identify problem areas in the woods.

It does this by showing them where they're not reaching targeted production levels. And that helps make better business decisions for your logging operation.

Logging Cost Tracking and Analysis

Caribou can help with budgeting by helping track expenses, including fuel, machinery, equipment rentals, and more.

The program also calculates the cost of your job by tract with just a few clicks so you can know exactly how profitable each operation is - another important efficiency feature that ensures you're using resources wisely.

Manage Conversions and Cull

Do you work for mills or landowners that require specific kinds of wood to be converted at different rates?   Caribou can help manage these conversions and ensure costs are correctly reflected in your costing reports. 

Even if you pay based on the tons, you can still generate costing reports that reflect costs per MBF or Cord.  It’s also great for helping you keep track of cull weights – flexibility that  makes Caribou an ideal tool  for the logger industry.

Look Professional

The professional image you want to convey is an integral part of building trust with your clients. You can't do that if your spreadsheet doesn’t add up or has mistakes in it! Caribou reduces room for error and creates professional-looking spreadsheets. 

You can even email pay statements to your contractors and landowners through the software if you use Microsoft Outlook. 

Reduce Costs with Caribou

It's no secret that log accounting software is an investment.  However, Caribou offers an economical, industry-specific software program that can help loggers reduce their costs.

Easy-to-Use Software Program

You don't need to be a computer expert to use Caribou. The software is easy to operate and helps run your logging or operation. The only things needed are an internet connection (for installation and training purposes only) and trained) and a Windows-based computer.

The Bottom Line

Caribou (Logger's Edge) is a must-have software program for loggers and timber industry professionals. The Logger's Edge supports logging businesses by providing valuable insights about your operations.

It offers a variety of tools to help you run your business more profitably while reducing the time spent maintaining spreadsheets and filling out paperwork.

Reducing fuel costs, improving cash flow, and staying competitive are the fundamentals behind Ryan Transportation Services (RTS). RTS began in 1986 as a brokerage to help about 60,000 carriers move loads across the country, bringing around 300,000 shipments each year. 

Jarrett Wold, the Business Development Manager for RTS carrier services, explains how RTS helps from fuel discounts to assisting carriers to save money any way they can, significantly lowering the cost of one of the most expensive fuels, diesel. RTS and Wold’s goals are for you to keep as much money in your pocket as possible.

Wold shares how RTS partnered with Pilot Flying J back in 2011 to expand their fuel station network. With over 2,000 stations and still growing, RTS gives truckers more fueling options across the country. RTS also offers maintenance and factoring to benefit drivers further, "performing over 70,000 financial transactions" daily, giving carriers the chance to build cash flow and be paid quicker.

RTS got involved with factoring to change the industry average of waiting 60 to 90 days to get paid for a load. Instead, factoring gets you the money within 24 hours. Wold explains that RTS does "the backend work, dealing with the brokers, all the billing and stuff," so you don't have to worry about that, and you can "focus on the road."

There are, of course, a few qualifications to get started with factoring, like getting the committee on board to make sure everything is set up correctly from the start. But then, after you're approved, you'll add your invoices into the RTS Pro app by uploading a photo of your invoice, and they pay you within 24 hours. So, once your invoice is in the RTS system, you keep on trucking.

RTS fronts the money and then goes back to dealing with the brokers and recouping what they've paid you for the load. It means that you've got money in your pocket to pay your fuel bill and move onto the next job.

Wold says, "we want to be a valuable partner that helps to drive their success and just have every opportunity to save more." The other unique way RTS helps you with cash flow is by saving on fuel costs. Since many carriers experience money worries like trying to buy a home, one of their gas card programs, partnered with Pilot Flying J, offers no fees, no interest, and no credit check. This program allows you to have the fuel card without the hassle and gives you over 2000 stations to use.

The fuel card system also offers an online management system too. "So, you get complete control of your account, your cards, you can access all your transaction reports." This system will also help you during tax season because everything is all there, organized, and straightforward.

RTS doesn't mind if you are one or a hundred trucks either. But, as Wold reminds us, "each company is going to be different." Some like the amenities of Pilot Flying J stations, or they prefer the other option of an RTS Fleet One Card. The Fleet One Card is an excellent option for larger fleets and offers cash advances plus money code features.

In addition, RTS purchased the TMS platform Pro Transport in 2016, giving you even more options and access to the resources you need as a carrier. With this system, you can "do anything from payroll to accounting, and it basically just helps carriers cut down on paperwork by 40%." It's just another way RTS makes your life as a carrier easier and keeps more money in your pocket.

As happy as Wolds is for the offerings RTS delivers for truckers today, he is excited about the future. With the RTS brokerage hauling loads, too, you even have the option of working directly with them to find new jobs from their private load board, all within the RTS Pro app.

"It's a great opportunity, especially to help advance in this specific sector," Wold shares, "we have that advantage just to help out the courier [to] save money [and] help them grow their business as well because when they're growing, we're growing too."

Because Timber Hauling is here to save you money, we partnered with RTS to give you access to their fuel savings, hassle-free invoicing, and get paid faster. The advantages are clear: over 2000 fuel stations, getting paid within 24 hours instead of 60 to 90 days, not having to deal with brokerages, and accessing everything you need to get paid, plus handle your accounting.

You can get started with these savings when you begin using Timber Hauling today.

No one ever thinks about the terms of their insurance policy until after there is a loss or a
claim to report, and even then, few insureds pull out their policy – if they can remember where
they filed it – and sit down to parse the policy’s terms to determine whether the loss or the claim
is actually covered. Fewer still bother to check the numerous conditions provided in the policy
to make a bullet-list of duties the insured must satisfy in connection with a claim. Generally,
people – even sophisticated business executives and business owners – just tend to think that as
long as they are paying premiums in a timely fashion, the insurance is there to draw upon in the
event of a claim or a loss.

If only things were that simple.

Every insurance policy is a contract between the insurance company and the insured –
nothing more, nothing less. Under that contract, the insured has certain duties – not just the duty
to pay premiums, though that is the most obvious – and the insurance company has certain
duties. The most obvious of the insurance company’s duties is payment of a claim, if the claim
falls within the scope of the policy’s coverage, as well as the duty to investigate the loss or claim
at issue. To effectuate the performance of both the insurer’s and the insured’s duties under the
policy, the policy includes a wide array of terms that range from defining the outermost scope of
the insurance coverage and enumerating certain exclusions to that coverage, to specifying the
amount and schedule for the insured to pay premiums and the insured’s duties in the event of a
loss or a claim.

Consequently, insurance policies are complex documents that include an often-confusing
variety of terms, conditions, limitations, and exclusions which are designed to define and narrow
the scope of the insurance that is being provided by the insurer. The conditions provided in the
policy set forth duties on the part of the insured that must be performed as conditions precedent
to recovery of benefits. Failing to comply with those duties can, and often will, result in the
insurer being relieved from paying a claim even when the claim otherwise falls within the
policy’s coverage. Tightly regulated though the insurance industry is, the law in virtually every
state recognizes that insurers have certain contractually-defined rights, and that an insured’s
failure to meet its duties under a policy can violate its insurer’s rights, thereby relieving the
insurer from paying a claim.

An insurance policy’s conditions are not designed to provide the insurance company with
an easy out, however, allowing it to avoid payment of a claim; they are not intended to be a
“gotcha” mechanism to cut the legs out from under an insured’s right of recovery. The policy’s
conditions, rather, are meant to afford the insurance company the opportunity to effectively
investigate the claim and, in the liability-insurance context, to mount an effective defense of the
insured against a third party’s claim or lawsuit. Therefore, to ensure that the insurance company
can properly exercise its rights under the policy, the policy generally sets forth a number of
conditions with which the insured must comply.

Rather than enumerating a dry list of the typical duties provided under the most common
property and casualty insurance policies, it may be handier – and less apt to induce narcolepsy in
the reader – to set forth a list of ten things an insured should be sure to do if the insured really
wants to thwart any hope it has of recovering insurance benefits for a claim. This list is meant to
be general, offering some broad-spectrum recommendations for both property and liability
claims. So, if you really want to destroy any hope you might have of collecting insurance
benefits for your claim, we recommend the following:

1. Don’t be in a hurry to report a loss or a claim to the insurance company.
   Everyone has better things to do than calling an insurance agent or an
   insurance company’s claims-reporting number, especially when one has to
   deal with an unexpected loss to one’s property, or with being served with
   some nuisance lawsuit out of the blue. With bigger fish to fry, at least in the
   near term, it would be silly to spend your time on the phone with an agent or a
   claim representative going through tedious details about the loss or the claim.
   Wait until life calms down a bit before notifying the insurer, what’s the rush?
2. Don’t respond to emails and voicemail messages from the insurance
   company. Look, you have a business to run, and a life to live. You’re plenty
   busy enough without spending precious time exchanging emails and phone
   calls with some insurance adjuster who can find out whatever he wants to
   know through other channels. It’s more than enough that you managed to find
   time to let the insurance company know about the claim. The adjuster is
   getting paid for this, so let him earn his money by bothering someone else.
3. Withhold information from the insurance company if you think the
   information might not be helpful to your claim. You’ve been paying
   premiums to this insurance company for years, and it’s about time that the
   insurer has to make good on all that by paying your claim. So maybe you
   should have slowed down when you saw that the stop light had turned yellow,
   but you were already running late. You didn’t see any traffic cameras, and
   nobody but you and the other driver saw the collision. Why tell the insurance
   company the light was already red when you went through the intersection?
   That just can’t be good for you, right? Let the insurance company pay the
   damn claim and make it all go away. You’ve paid them for that.
4. Don’t bother mitigating a property loss before the insurance company
   gets someone out to deal with the loss. You’ve had your vacation booked
   for months, and it’s just rotten luck that the tree fell on your roof the same
   morning you had to drive to the airport to catch the flight to Europe. You
   definitely don’t have time to make phone calls to contractors to find
   somebody to come out and cover the gaping hole in the roof to keep rain from
   getting in, and it’s a Sunday morning so there’s no way to reach your
   insurance broker. If there’s some additional damage as a result of water
   getting in through the roof, so what – you’re going to burn through your
   deductible, anyway, so it really doesn’t matter if there’s some extra damage
   because you didn’t have time to cover that hole before you left. Just tell the
   insurance company everything was fine when you left on your vacation, and
   that you found the damage when you got back.

1. Refuse to provide the insurance company with documents and records it
   requests. We have precious little privacy these days as it is, so why the heck
   should you have to cough up financial records, maintenance records, or
   anything else just because some insurance adjuster has a burr up his rear end
   about your claim? The insurance company’s job is to pay claims, and your
   job is to pay premiums. Your records are none of their business.
2. Don’t show up for an examination under oath. Now, after several months
   of investigating your claim and asking you for all kinds of documents and
   information, the insurance company wants you to show up at some lawyer’s
   office and spend a big chunk of your day for them to conduct something
   called an “examination under oath.” You’re too busy for this nonsense, and
   besides, what right do they have to treat you like some kind of criminal by
   having a lawyer interrogate you for several hours with a court reporter taking
   down every word you say? That’s Gestapo tactics, right? You’re not dumb
   enough to agree to that.
3. Don’t answer any questions you don’t want to answer. It’s bad enough that
   you had to show up at some lawyer’s office to let him grill you for hours
   about every aspect of your claim, wasting a perfectly good morning in the
   process. Why should you answer questions about things that you regard as
   private, like the bankruptcy you filed a few years back, or that perjury
   conviction you got hit with for helping out your best friend in his divorce case
   a few years ago? You’ve seen enough cop shows to know that you have a
   Constitutional right not to say anything that might tend to incriminate you, so
   don’t agree to answer any questions you don’t want to answer. Assert your
   Fifth Amendment rights, and the insurance company will just have to live with
   that.
4. Don’t return calls from the attorney the insurance company hired to
   defend you. You have never liked lawyers anyway, and even though this guy
   supposedly represents you, you know that he’s really working for the
   insurance company. He bugs you about stuff that just can’t be relevant, and
   you have enough to do without spending an hour on the phone with some
   attorney going over the details of the case again and again. He’s already
   recommended settling the case, so now the insurance company just needs to
   pay what the other side wants. Let the lawyer deal with it, he doesn’t really
   need you.
5. Exaggerate the amount of your loss. Insurance companies get rich off their
   insureds, collecting all those premiums and paying out relatively few claims,
   so the company will really never miss it if you tell them that the inventory that
   was stolen from your warehouse included $100,000 worth of stock that hadn’t
   quite made its way to you from the shipper yet, right? It’s just insurance
   money, and everybody does it, so what’s the problem?
6. Special bonus item: Give false information in your insurance application,
   or withhold information requested in the application. Every year, your
   premiums seem to go up. You’ve been through this renewal process often
   enough at this point to have a pretty good idea of what factors drive up
   premiums, so why tell the insurance company every single thing it asks in the
   application when you know certain information is only going to make the
   insurance more expensive for you. What the insurance company doesn’t
   know won’t hurt it. Nobody will ever look at this application again, anyway,
   once they issue the new policy, so there’s really no risk. Just tell them what
   they obviously want to hear.

If you just follow these pointers, you can be almost certain that your insurance
claim will never be paid. You might even manage to have the insurance company rescind
your policy altogether, which means you can get a refund of all your insurance premiums.
What could be better than that?

For more information on the do’s and don’ts of insurance claims, please contact
Kevin Streit ([email protected]) at (804) 377-1270, or Steve Setliff
([email protected]) at (804) 377-1261.

Logging companies with fleets of trucks — even a fleet of one — can save time, money, and legal headaches by installing GPS tracking in their trucks. For many who are already using GPS tracking of their trucks, the benefits are likely already known. For those who aren’t, or are looking to switch to a more robust platform, Timber Hauling users can now receive special offers on Verizon Connect Reveal products.

“We help loggers run their business better,” says Ashlee Tramutolo. Tramutolo works on Verizon’s Product Success team. “Our dispatch and GPS-tracking software allows companies to make more accurate decisions. And a big thing is prioritizing driver safety.”

Fuel economy, idle time, and log reporting

Verizon Connect's aptly named Reveal software works in tandem with a small hardware device plugged into the vehicle. The hardware connects to Verizon's cellular network to communicate to the Reveal backend system. Devices can be self installed or a technician can be scheduled to install the units on-site for you.

“These reports are useful for recording idling time, producing safety scores, fuel economy, mileage, truck locations, and even planning more confidently with customizable reports,”  says Tramutolo.

She adds a lot of customers compile this data — all of which is stored automatically in the cloud for up to 13 months — to help produce safety plans and reduce risk. 

Driver accountability and protection

Introducing new tracking devices can be rough for hesitant drivers, a notion Tramutolo does not ignore. 

“We hear from drivers that this is ‘Big Brother’, or ‘I’ve been doing this for years’,” she says. “But it also helps the driver. By using our Live Map you can find the best routes around traffic. Going further than just Google Maps, we can also help drivers show they were 40-minutes late and why.”

Tramutolo says once drivers are involved in an incident that isn’t their fault, “They have proof to fall back on.” This is doubly true for customers who use Verizon-connected dashcams . “Once [drivers] need it, they’re instantly bought into it,” says Tramutolo. “We know the second drivers get a ticket or into a wreck, it can hurt their career. This saves everyone money and keeps drivers protected.”

The devices also track vehicle speed and other safety risks. Which is something else veteran drivers may lament. Meeting deadlines sometimes means hitting the gas, but trucks carrying tons of logging material can put lives at risk. 

Data security, privacy, and connectivity

All of the data stored in Reveal is held securely and can be accessed for thirteen months before being deleted to comply with privacy rules in California and the EU. But all data — including footage, if any — can be downloaded and saved to your local PC or network. 

Dashboards, reports, and setup of the hardware and software work on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and come with accompanying iOS and Android apps. 

“And in the off chance you might be in a remote spot without Verizon coverage, the devices continue to use GPS. A special ‘offline mode’ allows users to collect notes that automatically sync back to the cloud once a connection is re-established.”

Partnership enables loggers to order 2-5 trucks at the same discounts as fleets with 50-60 trucks

In the trucking industry, few names have the long-term experience Kenworth does. A pioneer in the truck manufacturing space, Kenworth was first in using a standard diesel fuel engine, a raised-roof sleeper cab, and the W900 series trucks have been produced for sixty years. Their truck bodies are also among the first to feature aerodynamic designs. Loggers using Timber Hauling can now save big on an off-the-lot or custom-built Class A Kenworth truck.

Matt Hoover is a truck salesman at MHC-Kenworth in eastern North Carolina. “I’ve been in the trucking industry for four years now, specifically in truck sales,” he says. “Murphy-Hoffman Company (MHC) is the largest dealer for Kenworth trucks in North America.”

Kenworth originally started in 1912, serving loggers near Portland, Oregon under the name Gerlinger Motors. “We’re proven in the logwoods,” says Hoover. “They focused their business model to making a specifically-tuned truck for logging,” he adds. Kenworth’s customizability makes them — and their customers — stand out in any industry, but specifically logging where special-built chassis, accessories, and frames improve performance and efficiency. 

As Hoover explains, “When you order a truck we usually ask for a discount from Kenworth. The discount varies depending on the quantity. With Timber Hauling, we’re giving loggers who might otherwise have access to 2-5 trucks the same discounts as if they were ordering a fleet of 50-60 trucks.”

That’s a huge pricing advantage and business-changing level of support for smaller logging operations in the United States. 

“It varies depending on what you put on the truck. Because you want it to do something specific to accommodate what you do” says Hoover, “But the more specialized the truck the more the discount grows. We typically see the savings somewhere in the $2,000-$6,0000 range.”

There are more advantages for Timber Hauling users, too. “Very few brands have the same level of reach as MHC Kenworth,” says Hoover. “If you or any one of our customers has a breakdown in Asheville or Atlanta or Nashville or anywhere else, you have the same customer network everywhere.”

“Our MHC Dealer Network is heavily equipped to support loggers once they hit the road. These things are man-made, and they can break down. But when it does, we’re there to support customers. Just say your name and a customer number and you get the same rates as your local dealer,” says Hoover.

The continuity of support is one reason Kenworth trucks retain the title of highest resale values in the market, too. “When a customer invests in a new Kenworth, they’re able to get more out of it on the secondary market,” says Hoover.

You can get access to these savings when you start using Timber Hauling today.