Truck Weight Coalition Membership Reaches 100

Rockville, MD - Membership in the Agricultural Transportation Efficiency Coalition (AgTEC), which supports increasing the overall gross vehicle weight limits for trucks, reached one hundred on July 20, with the addition of Evergreen Packaging and Columbia Forest Products.  The Coalition now represents 55 associations and 45 businesses.

"As the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee takes up the task of developing its surface transportation blueprint for the next five years, AgTEC will be in a strong position to weigh in," commented AgTEC Co-Chair Bud Wallace, President of Wallace Transport.  "Truckers and shippers both are working with us to ensure that, with more investment in our Interstate system, we are able to use it efficiently."

AgTEC strongly supports Congressman Mike Michaud's (D-Maine) "Safe and Efficient Transportation Act of 2009" (HR 1799), which would grant states the option of raising the current 80,000-pound gross vehicle weight limit on their Interstate highways to 97,000 pounds, for trucks equipped with a sixth axle, with the assessment of a new dedicated fee to support bridge repair and maintenance.  Numerous studies and projections show that this reform will save fuel, reduce emissions, reduce congestion, reduce pavement wear, improve public safety, and improve the competitive position of U.S. manufacturing industries, including those dependent on raw material from farms and forests.

AgTEC is working to ensure the inclusion of this bill's provisions in the 2009 Highway Reauthorization Bill, which will set federal infrastructure improvement priorities for the coming five years.

The Mission of the Agricultural Transportation Efficiency Coalition is to improve the efficiency of transporting raw, unprocessed agricultural and forest products from farms and forests to processing facilities.  To learn more about AgTEC, or to join in the campaign, please visit www.ag-haul.org .

FRA "LOG TRUCKING PROFITABILITY" CD

Rockville, MD - The Forest Resources Association has developed an Improving Log Trucking Profitability Workshop, in the form of a facilitated PowerPoint presentation, directed to loggers and log trucking managers.  The CD-based Workshop reviews ways to ensure a full and legal load and presents tips and techniques for saving fuel, reducing truck tare weight, and deploying trucking assets more effectively.

"A facilitated Workshop also provides a forum for trucking managers and loggers to share ideas of their own about ways to reduce trucking costs or improve net revenue," noted FRA Southwide Region Manager Rick Meyer, who oversaw development of the Workshop.  "The Workshop format encourages participants to share knowledge and build on each others' experiences."

FRA President Richard Lewis pointed out that trucking can present a significant barrier to wood supply chain efficiency.  "As productivity has increased throughout the harvesting function, we haven't yet taken full advantage of similar opportunities for improvement in forest product transport," he commented.  "Moving wood from the landing to the first point of processing accounts for over 30% of the wood's delivered cost.  FRA is working through the AgTEC Coalition with the American Loggers Council and others to raise truck weight limits on the Interstate System, but we also need to make efficiency improvements at the operational level."

Designed for a discussion leader with some knowledge of forest products trucking to present in an interactive setting, the 61-slide presentation provides material for a three-hour Workshop.  A ten-page Discussion Leader's Guide, to cue the facilitator through the session, is included along with the PowerPoint CD.

FRA members may order the CD and Guide at $50 per set, domestic shipping included; the price is $100 per set for non-members.  Please enclose payment with order, checks payable to "FRA"; charge orders may be faxed to 301/838-9481.  Direct orders to Forest Resources Association Inc., 600 Jefferson Plaza, Suite 350, Rockville, MD  20852, phone 301-838-9385, and refer to stock number 08-A-1.

The Forest Resources Association Inc. is a nonprofit trade association concerned with the safe, efficient, and sustainable harvest of forest products and their transport from woods to mill.  FRA represents wood consumers, independent logging contractors, and wood dealers, as well as businesses providing products and services to the forest resource-based industries.