TimberTimber TalkTalk Your Voice for South Carolina Timber Harvesting JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 2018 SCTPA Annual Meeting Trucking Focus Collective call to action: common sense, diligence, 2018 Annual Meeting Cover As We See It - February 018 6 driver training, better fleet management 2018 President’s Award 7 Welcome New Members 8 By DK Knight ager for Forestry Mutual Ins. Co., a Charles Ingram Lumber Co. Expanding 8 Southern Loggin’ Times TEAM Safe Trucking organizer, and Safety: Falling down on the Job 11 former log truck driver, appealed for Why Master Logger Certification© 12 ransportation challenges and sug- log truck owners simply to use com- Matters Now T gestions to help get them under mon sense, which he said “is a lot like Cox to Sell Residential Lumber Division 13 control were the focus of the annual deodorant: the people who need it the Safety Alert - Truck Drivers 14 meeting of the most never use it.” Commentary: Driver Training South Carolina He conceded that 20 Shouldn’t End Timber Producers finding quality FMCSA Cuts UCR Fees for Motor Assn. (SCTPA), drivers today is 21 Carriers held here Febru- tougher than ever ary 9-11. Some but exhorted own- National Master Logger Certification Program Committee Formed & Pro- 21 420 attended the ers to try harder gram Coordinator Hired event, which in- and to thoroughly SC Department of Insurance Examines 24 corporated a vet drivers before SC Commercial Auto Liability board meeting, hiring, pointing out Thank You Sponsors 25 entertainment, that it’s better to 2017 Gene Collins Logger Activist general session, keep a truck 26 Award luncheon-business meeting, awards parked than to put a risky driver in the ceremony, SFI workshop and prayer seat. He said: “Don’t take their SCTPA 2018 Annual Meeting 31 breakfast. claimed experience or driving record Team Safe Trucking Update 34 The event followed the semi- for granted. Get in that truck with that Thank You Exhibitors 34 annual meeting of TEAM Safe Truck- driver and assess his skills. Make sure Stewardship Agreement Brings Togeth- 36 ing, a non-profit made up of loggers, he understands the dynamics of the er Tree-Huggers and Lumberjacks log truckers, mill reps, associations load and the differences between han- Things You Ask Why 38 and insurance companies that recently dling a loaded log trailer and chip van. Truck Caucus Letter to EPW Subcom rolled out its first free training module Monitor your drivers and know what 39 for drivers (visit teamsafetruck- they are doing behind the wheel.” 2-6-18 H4480 ing.com). About 45 attended that Locklear showed the image of an A Forester’s Tribute to Soren Erikkson 40 meeting, held at the same hotel. Alabama driver’s weight ticket he had Technology is Coming to a Log Landing 41 found on Facebook. The driver had Common Sense Mark Your Calendar 47 boasted of delivering a 42-log load In his SCTPA presentation on Log that weighed 110,000 lbs. to a Truck Owner’s Responsibilities, Jimmie Locklear, Business Development Man- (Continued on page 2) (Continued from page 1) volved the same few legal firms. He sawmill. Log loads in Alabama are legal up to 88,000 said the public’s lbs. He told of a well-known North Carolina logger’s “somebody’s gotta situation after he installed GPS in his trucks: “He had pay” attitude has to make some changes among drivers he thought effectively recali- were top-shelf.” He appealed to owners to clamp brated verdict val- down hard on drivers guilty of DWD—driving while ues, which are influ- distracted. He concluded: “The way we haul logs has enced by the well- changed, but has the way we hire drivers changed?” publicized salaries often paid to pro- Rob Moseley updates trucking BC Benchmarks fessional athletes liabilities & casualty losses. Efforts to drive down truck accidents and related and the amounts deaths in British Columbia, Canada in recent years often seen in lotteries. were detailed by Dustin Meierhofer, Director of Trans- “Trial lawyers understand your business,” he said, portation within the BC National Forest Safety Council. “sometimes better than you do.” But he also said de- In response to ris- fense law-yers are getting better at defending clients ing deaths among in lawsuits. “They are from smaller firms and have truck drivers and time to better prepare; they’re smart; work hard; are timber fallers, and tech savvy; are more knowledgeable; and they swing fearful that its so- for the fence.” cial license to prac- Some more of his comments: tice forestry might “In hiring, be diligent and thorough and docu- be in jeopardy if it ment what you find.” did nothing to turn “Make drivers follow policies set by your com- this around, all pany.” stakeholders—log Dustin Meierhofer talks BC trucking “75% of truck crashes are caused by a passen- truckers, loggers successes. ger car.” and mills—united to establish standards for both log hauling and felling, “I’ve never seen a camera that hasn’t paid for according to Meierhofer. itself.” “Don’t put your head in the sand. You must He said the ongoing pilot program being conduct- adjust and adapt. You cannot ignore federal ed through a Truck Advisory Group for BC’s 3,000 log truck drivers, who collectively transport about 50 mil- rules and requirements.” lion tons per year, involves systematic training, use of “Juries tend to like drivers, but they don’t nec- telematics (GPS, cameras), electronic on-board scales, essarily like truck owners.” and fatigue detectors. “Work on driver retention. Many accidents According to Meierhofer, the program is forcing involve drivers who have been on the job less accountability, is restoring professionalism and confi- than six months.” dence to the levels seen in the late 1990s, and is help- “Don’t let other people pull your trailers. If ing establish a new and improved culture. It has you do, you’re opening the door to trouble.” helped reduce severe accidents by 50%, helped lower “Be aware of drug and alcohol use. Just be- fatalities by 75% and helped elevate legal weight com- cause a driver passed a DOT drug test does not pliance to 80%. Among other things, this is helping mean he is drug-free. Watch your people. If attract new drivers, a very important aspect since the somebody is acting funny, start acting ques- average BC log truck drivers is 55. tions.” “Down the line, mills will probably want more Legal Perspectives than $1 million coverage on trucks that enter Attorney Rob Moseley of Smith-Moore- their wood yards.” Leatherwood, who is widely known as an advisor to trucking companies and for defending trucking firms Industry Overview and insurance companies, cited several large jury ver- In a luncheon address titled Constant Changes, dicts across the country since 2011, noting several in- (Continued on page 3) Page 2 TIMBER TALK JAN/FEB 2018 (Continued from page 2) GPS, dash cams, fatigue detectors, on-board scales, re- flective tape, flashing lights, grill/bumper guards, and so Constant Challenges, DK Knight, Co-Publisher and Exec- on. utive Editor for Hatton-Brown Publishers, presented a “It means shifting to a much higher degree of over- broad overview of the U.S. forest products industry’s all fleet management designed to drive down mishaps status and focused on the South’s prominent role, then and reduce insurance claims. Remember, nobody looks addressed logging and trucking. after your business like you look after your business.” Even though U.S. pulp and paper fiber demand con- Insurance, More tinues to shrink nationally, it remains strong in South Rick Quagliaroli highlighted a captive commercial Carolina and the South as a whole, and OSB and pellet auto and liability insurance program now available to plant fiber in-take South Carolina and Georgia loggers through a new in- continue to increase, sured-owned company, Forestry Insurance Co. of the he said. Southeast. He said the company is designed for clients Knight noted the who demonstrate they are proactive in fleet manage- capital investment ment and who otherwise think of and treat trucking as a impact of Canadian serious business. According to him, benefits include companies that collec- competitive rates, access to operational guidance, ac- tively now own 44 cess to those who complete a dedicated log truck driver Southern softwood school in south Georgia, and the potential to receive sawmills and pointed DK Knight addresses luncheon annual dividends. to the robust perfor- audience. SCTPA President/CEO Crad Jaynes informed mance and outlook attendees the group had joined others in supporting for Southern softwood lumber, saying production would state house bill 4480, the so-called DUI-E (electronics) likely hit 19 billion BF in 2018, which would tie the mod- bill, which would put teeth in a state law that prohibits ern record set in 2005. But he also indicated that record drivers from using electronic devices while driving. lumber output will mean record chip output, potentially “There is fairly good support for this in the House,” he dampening roundwood demand at mills of many types said, asking: “What are you doing? We must help our- going forward. selves before others will help us.” HE said the trend to fewer but larger and higher performing logging and wood supply organizations con- Awards Presentations tinues to grow and could become the industry’s domi- The SCTPA presented its flagship honor, the Gene nant supplier model. He said studies show that the most Collins Logger Activist Award, to Bob Lussier and Great successful loggers are those who constantly challenge Woods Companies, the process, tweaking efficiency, building their teams, LLC.