posted 03-04- 08:43 PM            

American Loggers Council
President Ezell Castleberry, Castleberry, Alabama

Incremental Change

A meeting was recently held in Atlanta, Georgia by a group of professionals, including academia, equipment manufacturers, media, TIMO, mill and logger representatives. The primary purpose of the meeting was to identify critical issues which were impacting timber harvesting communities across the United States and discuss just what could be done to try and improve the operating conditions and the current health of this most important sector of the Timber Industry.

What we heard was much of the same rhetoric that we have been trying to focus on for the past 15 years; economics, public perception, competing in a global economy, public policy, logger certification/licensing, efficiency, markets and aging workforce.

The subjects were nothing new to those of us already involved in the industry, but what did come to surface was the urgency to address these issues before a further collapse of the logging sector within the industry.

At first, the task appears to be overwhelming at best, but when the realization sets in that there is not a silver bullet or a magic wand that can be waved to cure all that ails the industry, we begin to focus on what can be done incrementally, without incurring a lot of costs, to help begin the cultural change that must take place in order for this industry to grow and prosper.

Perhaps we already have some of the information in hand to bring abut incremental change that will lead to profitability and sustainability of our operations, but just haven’t spent enough time applying that information on the ground to make needed improvements.

A case in hand is the truck turn around time study completed by the Wood Supply Research Institute several years go. The purpose of the study was to recognize the inefficiencies of the wood supply chain and the cost to both the timber harvesters and the consuming mills when trucks sat in a parking lot waiting to be unloaded.

The result of that study was a immediate decrease in truck turn around time in many facilities, but as the years have passed, I’m afraid that many of those past practices which resulted in poor turn around times at the mills have resurfaced, and again there is no accountability for lost production due to poor unloading practices taking place in mills across the country.

How much would it mean to your bottom line if you knew that when you sent a truck to the mill that upon arrival, it would take no more than 20 minutes to unload the truck and have it headed back to the woods? You may not be getting any more for your haul rate, but the extra load or two that you could gain per day would have an enormous financial impact on your operation. It would also result in a lower cost to the mill if they could systematically revamp their operations to unload more volume during the same operating period.

If we are going to transition this industry into the 21st century, and be competitive in a global economy, then we must not only collect data to show us where the inefficiencies in the supply chain are hurting us, but we must also stand ready to take the necessary steps and long term on the ground commitments by all sectors of the wood supply chain.

This incremental change could be the first step in a whole list of issues which are plaguing the industry here in North America, and by addressing change one step at a time, could lead us to the overall cultural change that is needed throughout our industry.

Let’s give it a chance.

Ezell Castleberry is the President of the American Loggers Council, which represents over 50,000 logging professionals in 28 states. Ezell’s operations are headquartered in Castleberry, Alabama. For more information please contact the American Loggers Council office at 409-625-0206 or e-mail americanlogger@aol.com