Transporting logs is time consuming and demanding without the use of the proper transportation trucks. It takes a great deal of effort to move timber from one location to another. With the advancement of today’s forestry equipment, vehicles have been developed to carry logs from the harvesting site to a specific destination for processing.

The logging truck is a very regular and necessary piece of equipment for the movement of the freshly cut trees in today’s forest industry. To assist in this chore, there are several variations of the tree truck that are used in the log transportation process. This includes the trailer-type, straight, divorced and power vehicles.

Types

Trailer-Type - The trailer-type vehicle has usually undergone some type of modification from a basic tractor-trailer model to give it a lower delineation with perhaps the addition of an extra axle to handle the heavy weight being carried.

Straight – This type is most commonly built onto a bus frame and from appearances looks like a regular flat-bed trailer. It may come geared with a grapple to help load the timber. It commonly carries smaller cuts of trees.

Divorced – Built to handle large trees, this version is basically the tree itself rigged onto a set of tandem axles and then pulled by another vehicle.

Power – This version is in reference to the tremendous loads that are being carried over mountainous regions that require much more horsepower than the average tractor-trailer combination. Loads of timber can weigh over 100,000 lbs.!

These trucks are engineered to keep the logging operational cost to a minimum. They are designed to suit particular operational and business needs and provide optimal performance in terms of transporting freshly cut trees. The primary aim is to transport logs from one location to another. This sole operation can be assisted by a hoisting machine such as a log loader to carry the tree parts or move them over to the vehicle. Log loading and unloading can also be aided by grapples before transporting the timber to a mill for processing.

Loading and Placement of Logs

During the loading process, timbers should be arranged and placed properly onto the vehicle to prevent unnecessary accidents which might be the result of logs coming loose from the moving trailer bed. There is a vertical post on each side opposite each other on the trailer bed which is intentionally designed to prevent the timber from any movement. Based on OSHA’s standards, loads must be properly positioned in place to prevent any movement or loss during

transportation. This is to ensure that all employees will be safe while the logs are being transported from the logging site to the lumber yard.

Moreover, all logs on the outside or protruding past the stake must be restrained by a minimum of two fasteners and must be loaded securely in the bed of the truck. It is also very important to ascertain that the logs have been positioned below the vertical post height to prevent them falling off as well as being penalized for an unsafe load.

Safety Procedure Importance

Log transportation can pose great endangerment to the personnel who work both in the forest and operating the shipping vehicle. This is the reason why there are safety procedures designed to prevent the occurrence of certain injuries to these workers who assist in moving newly cut trees to the lumberyard. Proper operator licensing is certainly a general safety requirement as well as regular pre- and post-operation inspections to ensure that the vehicle is safe to use in the forest industry.

The tree truck is an essential part of today’s forest industry. All of the work centers on this piece of equipment to help in moving the freshly-cut logs from the harvesting area to the lumber processing facility. This vehicle does indeed move the logging industry!