RESEARCH FINDINGS

Wood Truck Turn-time Cost Penalties to the Wood Supply System (Dr. Don Deckard, Louisiana Tech)
The estimated, region-wide (Texas to Maine) annual cost associated with “excess” truck idle-time at mills is between $39 and $109 million. Main factors affecting turn-time are wood/load form, truck/trailer type, unloading equipment, month of delivery, and human resources utilization at mills.

KEY FINDINGS: see FRA Technical Release 03-R-1, Benchmark Log Truck Turn-Times in the Southern U.S. and Maine

Causes and Costs of Unused Wood Production Capacity (Dr. Dale Greene, University of Georgia, in collaboration with Louisiana State University and University of Maine)
Main causes of unused wood production identified as market driven (quotas, closures, “turn-time” issues), regulations (mandatory and voluntary), mechanical problems, labor-related (amount and quality), uncontrollable weather impacts, planning shortfalls, and individual stand/tract issues.

KEY FINDINGS: Order the Report (02-A-5) from FRA for $25 (FRA members) or $50 (others) by printing out and mailing or faxing this form.

Planning and Communication: Opportunities for Improvement in the Wood Supply Chain (Dr. Rien Visser, Virginia Tech University)
Current planning is primarily reactive rather than proactive due to extremely short planning horizons for many segments of the wood supply chain. Frequent short-term changes in mill wood requirements drive many of the downstream constraints to planning. Over 75% of loggers are informed about the next tract they will harvest less than one week in advance.

KEY FINDINGS: Order the Report (03-A-3) from FRA for $25 (FRA members) or $50 (others) by printing out and mailing or faxing this form.

Logging Information Sources Web Site (Michael Duncan and Jane Kobe, Caterpillar)
This federal and state database offers links to internet-based sources of regulatory information important to wood supply and forest management: www.loggingsearch.com.

Improving the Transportation System (Dr. Tom Gallagher, Auburn University)
Research ways to optimize the wood transportation system by improving turn times, increasing loaded miles, reducing idle time and to reduce costs by adopting new
technologies, like trailer designs that increase payloads. Find ways to improve safety and public perception while lowering insurance costs.

KEY FINDINGS: See sequence of five FRA “Papers & Presentations” downloads, 05-P-1, 05-P-2, 05-P-3, 05-P-4, and 05-P-5. See also FRA Technical Releases 05-R-1 Increasing Truck Payloads and Performance; 05-R-8 Trucks and Trailers in the South; and 05-R-9 Improving Log Trucking Logistics.

Status and Future Sustainability of the U.S. Wood Supply (Dr. Dale Greene et al., University of Georgia)
Compare the cost of doing business in the U. S. wood supply chain with costs of selected foreign industries and determine how the U. S. wood supply system might be modified or redesigned to improve its competitiveness in world markets.

KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 06-R-18 Potential Impacts of 97,000 pound GVW on Logging Costs.

Logging Capacity Survey Summary Report (Don Taylor, PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Compare the match between logging capacity and manufacturing capacity on a state-by-state basis in selected states for all six forested regions in the U. S. Where shortfalls exist, make recommendations to address the decline in logging capacity.

KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 07-R-2 Logging Capacity Survey Summary Report.

Logging Cost Indices (Dr. William Stuart and Dr. Laura Grace)
Develop Logging Cost indices for six forested regions in the United States. Key cost elements of the wood supply chain will be tracked and trend lines established. Summarization of cost trends into five quarterly “Logging Cost Indices” reports. (Ongoing project.)

KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 04-R-25 Logging Cost Indices for 2002 and “Papers & Presentations” publication 11-P-10. See also, Forest Operations Review, Vol. 13, #2, The Logging Cost Index.

Cost of Log Sorts (Dr. Dale Greene et al., University of Georgia)
Determine what log sorting at the stump entails and establish standard cost baselines for typical longwood and cut-to-length systems. Describe and estimate costs associated with additional sorting to provide guidelines for use during price negotiations.

KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 10-R-8 Product Sorting Impacts on Harvesting Production and Costs.

Double Shifting on Southern Harvesting Operations (Dr. Tom Gallagher, Auburn University; and Dana Mitchell, USFS Southern Research Station)
Research ways that U.S. loggers have successfully implemented more than one shift per day and make recommendations for expanding the use of these multi-shift operations to improve harvesting efficiency on other logging operations.

KEY FINDINGS: See FRA Technical Release 10-R-20 Extended Working Hours: Impacts on Workers.

Fiber Cost Per Ton Impact (Dr. Matthew Smidt, Auburn University)
Provide credible cost/value of loaded wood at the mill gate and quantify the cost to the supplier and the consumer for unloading delays over 20 minutes turn time. The costs will be determined for the landowner, harvesting, trucking and mill woodyard links of the wood fiber supply chain.

KEY FINDINGS: See Auburn University’s WSRI Stump to Mill Cost Program.

Integrating Large-Scale Biomass Harvesting into the U.S. Wood Supply System (Dr. Dale Greene, University of Georgia)
This project assesses the state of biomass harvesting, collection, and transportation technology in use across FRA’s geographic regions of the United States. It includes statistics comparing regional operations as well as anecdotal observations obtained from field visits to biomass harvesting operations.

KEY FINDINGS: See Forest Operations Review Vol. 13, #1 (Winter 2011), Regional Approaches for Harvesting Forest Biomass.

Biomass Resource Availability Assessment (Amanda Lang & Brooks Mendell, Forisk Consulting)
The results of Forisk’s Woody Biomass Harvesting Sustainability Study includes statistical details on woody biomass supply and demand, and a screening method to project expected viability of announced bio-energy projects.

Abstract/Conclusions:

• The U.S. grows more than enough wood to supply both known wood bio-energy projects and the current forest industry.
• Resource sustainability is not a problem in any region, but this assumption may not necessarily hold on a local scale.
• Bio-energy and OSB markets will drive any growth in pulpwood demand over the next ten years.
• A 10% marginal change in pulpwood demand from bio-energy markets could cause a slight increase in stumpage prices during the years 2010 to 2020.
• Of 432 announced bio-energy projects (as of March, 2011), 277 currently pass the Forisk screens. This represents 68.4 million tons of new wood demand by 2020.