Friday Offcuts – 6 September 2024
Click to Subscribe - It's FREE! Welcome to Friday Offcuts.This week, Queensland's newly unveiled timber policy has sparked debate, with industry experts raising concerns about its focus on environmental activism at the expense of economic balance. FWPA is also seeking feedback on updated industry standards for recycled structural and decorative timbers, while Western Australia offers essential grants to support businesses transitioning from native logging. Across the Tasman, New Zealand's resource management reforms aim to streamline forestry regulations, while a new report highlights rising workplace accidents, and a new operator is transferring logs by rail to Wellington's port. On the tech front, AI and machine learning are optimising harvester routes, John Deere has introduced a mechanised tree-planting solution, Lidar technology is transforming forest management, and an electric logging truck has launched. Read all this and more in another packed edition of Friday Offcuts. Enjoy!
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This week we have for you:
QLD Govt makes a mockery of new timber policy
The peak state body for the forest and timber industry in Queensland has accused the Miles Labor Government of pulling an election stunt to appease environmental activists with scant regard for its own timber policy, environmentally sound land management and the many regional communities and thousands of people dependent on the timber industry.Timber Queensland Hardwood Division Chair Curly Tatnell said the recent public pronouncement by the Government to form a Glider Park in South East Queensland with pre-determined areas of mapped forest makes a mockery of the consultative framework the Premier established less than two months ago. “The first meeting of the advisory group under the Government’s new timber policy only took place on 15 August. This group is tasked with providing advice on the scope and options for timber supply and protected areas to be worked through to the middle of 2025,” said Mr Tatnell. “From 2025 the hardwood industry will already face a 40% reduction in state timber supply in the region due to a unilateral decision by the Government in 2019 to cease timber harvesting in the South-East Queensland Regional Plan area,” he said. “Now we have the Government railroading further forest areas to be taken out of production with no consultation with the group or testing of the scientific validity of mapped areas or other alternatives for glider protection. There is also no information on timber supply impacts. This is disingenuous and an insult to the workers and families in our sustainable native forest industry. “We have written to the Premier seeking assurances for long-term contract certainty for native hardwood sawmillers from state forests which has fallen on deaf ears and put $140 million of planned investment for timber production and 6000 jobs at risk. “We do not support the locking up of forests where there is clear evidence that well managed state forests provide superior environmental and economic outcomes for the community. It also makes a mockery of the Government’s aim to maintain current timber supply levels from 2025 to 2034 as an essential building material in the middle of a housing crisis”, Mr Tatnell said. “Grandstanding by environmental activists and a rushed announcement by a government to win over green voters should not determine forest and timber industry policy. Decisions on the long-term management of forests should be evidence-based with empirical data and genuine consultation rather than ideological opinion.” “We believe State forests should already be considered part of the protected area system, just like National Forests in the United States and other multiple-use and cultural landscapes across the world, given that state forests are managed in accordance with strict environmental regulation and adopt selective harvesting practices to maintain permanent healthy forests with timber, recreation and biodiversity outcomes.” View press release Source: Timber Queensland See also: Forestry Australia says Queensland Government have jumped the gun on Greater Glider Forest Park Resource management reform to make forestry rules clearer
NZ Forestry Minister, Hon Todd McClay, announced this
week proposals to reform the resource management system that will
provide greater certainty for the forestry sector and help them meet
environmental obligations. “The Government has committed
to restoring confidence and certainty across the sector by
removing unworkable regulatory burden created by the previous Labour
Government," said McClay. Currently, councils use a number of National Policy or Environment Standards to create rules for commercial forestry, rather than one comprehensive fit-for-purpose National Environment Standard for Commercial Forestry (NES-CF). This has led to confusion and cost. For instance, foresters can be required to get consents for new plantings on low or no-risk areas, the same as for high-risk land. It’s important that forestry rules are nationally consistent and always based on clearly demonstrable evidence. For this reason, the Government will make a number of changes to the NES-CF to ensure councils have the tools they need, in one place, to enhance and enable forestry and provide smarter evidence based environmental outcomes. In particular, we will look to repeal regulation 6(4A) and modify 6(1)(A) from the NES-CF, and improve slash management standards to clarify rules around low-risk slash. These changes will allow the Councils to focus on the most at risk areas and work with the forestry sector to lower costs and deliver better social and environmental outcomes. These changes will undergo consultation. “Forestry’s success is an important part of our plan to rebuild New Zealand’s economy and meet our Climate Change obligations. The Government is working to ensure that we have the right settings to unlock the industry’s economic potential for growth,” said McClay. Source: Beehive  Applications open: Final grant supporting WA’s native timber
Eligible businesses in Western Australia’s timber region are
encouraged to apply for a share of the $3 million Timber Region
Transition Grant. The grant offers businesses up to
$250,000 in matched funding to support economic diversification and
sustainable job creation.Successful projects will demonstrate potential for positive economic impact, including job creation, enhanced regional productivity and sustainable outcomes. Businesses that demonstrate at least 50 percent reliance on the native timber industry, can apply for grant funding without needing to provide matched funding. Any business within the South West which has received less than $250,000 from the Native Timber Transition Plan funding can apply for the Timber Region Transition Grant. Applications are now open and will close at midnight on October 6 2024. Three workshops will run across the month of September in Manjimup, Nannup and Bridgetown to assist businesses with the application process. A Closure of Impacted Business grants program also remains open for timber businesses who do not wish to access the final Native Forest Transition round of diversification funding. Learn more about the grants and available workshops or apply online now on the Native Forest Transition website. Source & image credit: Government of Western Australia  FWPA opens public consultation on new industry standards
Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) is pleased to announce that two of its draft standards are now open for public comment. The standards, FWPA Standard G01 Recycled Structural Timber and FWPA Standard G02 Recycled Decorative Timber, focus on the visual grading of recycled hardwood timber used in structural and decorative applications.In response to feedback from FWPA members, the organisation will take on a coordination and facilitation role in the creation and revision of industry standards. FWPA emphasises the potential of industry-developed and owned standards for increased efficiencies by addressing members’ concerns and aligning with industry business needs. FWPA understands the broader benefits and accessibility of industry-owned standards, which can be effectively managed and maintained as intellectual property by the organisation. The work on these standards is also supported by FWPA’s WoodSolutions program. An expert, industry representative panel and formal procedures have been established by FWPA to formalise the publication process. FWPA has also appointed Jacqui Bates, Director of Dynamic Impact Group, to lead the development of FWPA’s inaugural Industry Standards. “This landmark project will set new benchmarks for the industry and serve as a valuable resource for all stakeholders,” said Jacqui. “I am eager to contribute to their successful publication later this year.” The aim of these draft standards is to establish clear, consistent requirements to ensure the safety and quality of recycled timber products. By providing manufacturers, suppliers, and users with definitive guidelines, these standards aim to enhance consumer and industry confidence, promote the use of recycled timber, and support environmental sustainability through material reuse. The standards offer a unified framework for grading recycled timber, which can help reduce variability in product quality and foster better communication between suppliers and purchasers. FWPA Standards G01 and G02 offer valuable information for stakeholders in the recycled timber industry and facilitate better communication and understanding of product specifications. Although these standards have served as interim guidelines for some time, this public comment period marks the formal process of review and publication for FWPA-developed standards. The 6-week public comment period for these two draft standards commences on Tuesday 3 September and closes on 15 October 2024. This initiative represents the first time FWPA standards will undergo a structured comment and publication process, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to industry ownership and intellectual property. Industry-owned standards also provide cost savings for FWPA members by eliminating the need to purchase standards from external organisations in the future. These FWPA Standards will exist in addition to established Australian Standards, and FWPA acknowledges that the industry is well-served by Standards Australia. The FWPA team will continue to contribute to the development of Australian Standards and participate in timber and built environment committees. Click here for more information and to provide feedback on the two draft standards. Full media release Source & image credit: FWPA  AI shows forestry operators best routes in forest
Researchers are developing machine learning methods to help mechanical
harvesters to travel more lightly, use less fuel and leave less
noticeable strip roads in the forest.Researchers at the University of Helsinki are developing machine learning methods enabling the harvester to assist the operator in choosing routes that are optimal for both harvesting and nature. The machine could then predict the relevant terrain characteristics even before the actual operation. ’This information will help to optimise the route and assist the operator by telling, for example, where the ground is too soft,’ says Professor Jukka Heikkonen, in charge of the project funded by the Research Council of Finland. ’Harvesting operations must be planned so as not to leave too invasive strip roads. The softer the ground, the more difficult it is for the harvester to travel and the more likely it will cause ground damage,’ Heikkonen notes. Strip roads, or the tracks left by the harvester, are detrimental to forest growth, increase the risk of diseases and are an eyesore. Travelling across soft ground also increases the rolling resistance and therefore, the fuel consumption and cost. The softer the ground, the more probably it will be damaged. The physical quantity used in the study is the rolling resistance factor of the harvester, which describes the ease of travel on a particular stretch of ground,’ Heikkonen says. According to the Finnish Forest Act, only one fifth of the length of a strip road created to reach a harvesting site may be over ten centimetres in depth. For peatlands, the corresponding depth is twenty centimetres. Using the figure for ease of travel and the harvester’s rolling resistance, it is possible to create a map showing the conditions most suitable for the strip roads. The map may be used to position the route of forwarders and to schedule the operation. Measurements of damage caused by strip roads may be combined with open-source forest data and harvester data. This will allow predictions of future damage from the strip roads in a harvesting operation. More >> Source: Foreset.fi Image credit: Finnish Forest Association  John Deere enters mechanised tree planting market
Broader focus on silvicultureWith the increased importance that the global Forest Industry has on the decarbonization of the atmosphere, and in order to help global forestry customers meet the growing demand for sustainably sourced, cost-effective wood products, John Deere Forestry has shifted its strategic focus from forest harvesting to include the entire Forestry Production System. This is not new at John Deere, since their agriculture team has successfully leveraged Production System thinking to develop a host of technology-driven products that have significantly improved agricultural yield and efficiency, while reducing input costs for farmers. Applying this holistic thinking to the forest industry, it was clear that the forest harvesting segment has experienced a significant improvement in productivity, efficiency, and safety through mechanization over the past four decades. Forest harvesting has undergone a significant transformation, but silviculture is an area of the overall Forestry Production System that hasn’t experienced much change. As John Deere Forestry explored this further with customers and forest owners worldwide, it was clear that increased urbanization was making it increasingly difficult to attract and retain forest workers for the labour-intensive jobs typically found in silviculture. In some regions, especially those that have experienced higher than normal forest losses due to the effects of climate change (forest fire, insect infestations, drought etc.), silviculture activities are so constrained by the labour shortage that it is putting significant pressure on maintaining the exceptional history of sustainably managing the forest ecosystem. John Deere Forestry saw an opportunity to leverage their experience with mechanized forest harvesting and the development of precision soil preparation, planting and spraying technology for agriculture and apply it to silviculture. Brazilian forests as a starting point Like all significant change activities, you have to start somewhere. In discussions with forest customers worldwide, they saw a good opportunity to work with Brazil’s forestry industry primarily because they have very organized silvicultural activities, their plantation forestry infrastructure is well defined, and their forests have very short rotation times – which provides John Deere with quick feedback on the positive and any potential negative impacts of mechanized silviculture. Additionally, there was considerable “pull” from Brazil’s forest industry for mechanized silviculture solutions to help them meet the growth of the eucalyptus plantation forest area over the coming decade. According to the latest survey by the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá, January 2022), the Brazilian forestry sector has 9.5 million hectares of productive forests. In addition to the significant investment in sustainably managed productive forests, Brazil’s forest industry has also developed another 6 million hectares of native forest, exclusively for conservation and providing a natural habitat for native species. Mechanized planting as a solution to challenges? Leveraging customer-focused processes, developed by the John Deere Ag Advanced Marketing team, they mapped the entire Silviculture Production System and looked at the areas where customers were experiencing the biggest challenges. They also looked at where the biggest opportunities existed for customers to improve productivity and efficiency. Comparing the challenges and the opportunities, they quickly identified that mechanized planting provided one of the biggest opportunities for Brazilian customers to meet the challenges they were facing. They assembled a small, highly talented team by bringing together people with experience in Forestry, Agriculture and Construction equipment development. Working closely with customers, this team managed to quickly create a concept Mechanized Seedling Planter that was initially sent for customer testing in early 2020. Unfortunately, the global pandemic stopped our testing and they had to reassemble their efforts during the pandemic based on very limited customer feedback. Promising test results John Deere Forestry were able to resume field testing after the global travel restrictions were lifted. They presented the concept Mechanized Seedling Planter to many customers at the Florestal 2022 forestry show in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in May 2022. The Mechanized Seedling Planter is currently undergoing further customer testing. Initial feedback is very favourable, and they are on track to meet the customer’s request to be able to plant one hectare of forest per hour and significantly reduce manual labour by approximately 90%. In order to achieve these results, they integrated several technologies leveraged directly from Agriculture, such as automated path planning and steering, which simplifies the operation of the machine and improves the overall quality of the planting. Continuous development for healthier forests The Mechanized Seedling Planter is designed to be adaptable to different species and is intended to be used in different forestry markets around the world. The planter is built on the 1510G forwarder that is in serial production at the Joensuu factory in Finland. The 1510G’s performance and ergonomics provide an industry leading platform for the silviculture solutions Deere is developing. Mechanized planting is only the beginning; through the leverage of Agriculture technologies, there are further opportunities to improve the productivity and efficiency, while reducing input costs for forest owners. Emerging technologies like the recently released John Deere See and Spray™ have significant potential to further reduce the cost of silviculture activities while improving the health of the forest. More>> Recent trial results for local foresters As part of this year’s eagerly awaited ForestTECH 2024 series in November where research, trial results and operational lessons from mechanised tree planting are going to be unveiled to local foresters, Matti Tarkka, Program Manager, John Deere Forestry, Silviculture Projects, John Deere, Finland will be outlining in greater detail the testing results from the John Deere Mechanized Seedling Planter from Brazilian forests and plans for the new planting machine in this part of the world. Details on the content and coverage for the 20-21 November Rotorua, New Zealand event and 26-27 November 2024 event running in Melbourne, Australia the week after, can now be found on the 2024 ForestTECH 2024 website. 
New operator at the helm for Waingawa log yard
A new operator takes up the reins of the
CentrePort Waingawa Log Yard this week in the Wairarapa,
concluding a competitive tendering process. The Waingawa User
Group, the partnership of CentrePort, Forest Enterprises,
Farman Turkington Forestry Ltd, Forest 360, China Forestry Group,
Wairarapa Estate Ltd and Log Distribution Ltd, says they’re
pleased to welcome McCarthy Transport in conjunction
with Qube Ports NZ, to their new role coordinating the transfer
of logs by rail to the port in Wellington. “We’re looking forward to the future with McCarthy Transport and Qube leading operations at the Waingawa hub,” CentrePort Chief Executive Anthony Delaney says. “This partnership is an exciting development and on behalf of the WUG, I’m keen to see the new innovation and expertise that both parties can bring into servicing the wider Wairarapa area.” McCarthy Transport says it’s pleased to have been appointed to operate the Waingawa yard in partnership with Qube. Managing Director of McCarthy Transport, Mike McCarthy, says the company fully endorses the current operations between the Wairarapa and Wellington, recognising the vital connection they provide to the region. “We are looking forward to collaborating with Qube, KiwiRail, CentrePort, and the Waingawa User Group to streamline operations and achieve our shared strategic objectives.” Mr McCarthy says McCarthy Transport Contractors Ltd (MTL) began its journey with a simple yet ambitious vision: to provide innovative distribution solutions to New Zealand's forestry industry. “Our story traces back to 1949, when Rex Burgess and Arthur McCarthy laid the foundation stone with just a single truck and a commitment to excellence. From those humble beginnings, McCarthy Transport has steadily expanded its operations and currently employs 230 staff across the lower North Island, handling 1.2 million tonnes of logs per annum.” Gene Kingi, Qube Ports NZ Wellington Regional Manager, said their company is excited to support McCarthy’s at Waingawa. “This new operation gives us an opportunity to provide a professional and efficient service to local Forest Owners, Managers, KiwiRail and CentrePort.” The benefits of the Waingawa log hub expand beyond simply filling the gap between getting a log from forest to port. It also means CentrePort can maintain its focus on emission reductions. “The hub enables us to transport logs by rail rather than road. That means we’re avoiding more than 20,000 truck trips between Masterton and CentrePort. That will be welcome news to residents of Carterton, Featherston and Greytown and create less impact on the highway network.” More >> Source & image credit: CentrePort Wellington  How Lidar's changed workflows in the forest industry
Since the invention of lidar in the 1960s, its usage has continued to expand, with the last couple of decades in particular marking significant upticks in use cases. Today, it is still most associated with the automotive and surveying industries, with most manufacturers in the former category using the technology as part of its autonomous driving toolkit. Surveying, of course, was among the early adopters of the technology, using its capabilities to calculate terrain elevation more precisely and efficiently than they’d ever been able to previously. As laser scanning technologies of all kinds, be it terrestrial, airborne, UAV, or mobile, become more democratized, new industries are able to test these tools and determine the value they can provide in these new sectors. Over the last decade or so, the forestry industry has become a prime example of this phenomenon, starting a new subsection of the industry often referred to as “digital forestry.” Big news came down in this digital forestry space last month, specifically in North America, with the announcement that Barr GeoSpatial Solutions (BGS) had acquired Forsite Consultants. In their release of the news, BGS says that Forsite being part of their group will provide them “the resources and market access to allow the expansion of our technology product offerings across North America and around the world.” Recently, Geo Week News spoke with Cam Brown, manager of resource management and technology with Forsite, and Mark Corrao, Chief Innovation Officer with Northwest Management, Inc. (also part of BGS), about the digital forestry space and what lidar has added to the overall industry. Although Brown’s work is generally in Canada – though Forsite does work on projects in the United States as well – while Corrao’s is generally in the U.S., they unsurprisingly each work on similar types of projects and have similar tales of how lidar started to take hold of the industry. Corrao tells Geo Week News about key products used by his team, including ForestView – the complete package of software tools offered by Northwest Management that “takes a Lidar scan, field work, publicly available data, client historic data and produces valuable decision-support tools for multiple industries that work with natural landscapes.” More broadly, what each of these industry veterans relay is a similar process as to how lidar has taken hold in other industries, including traditional ones like surveying. Essentially, they are using remote sensing to more efficiently and effectively complete projects that would have taken many man hours and, as a result, much higher costs. Mostly using crewed aircraft, they are flying over relevant portions of forests and using lidar to collect point clouds for individual trees – as well as the terrain underneath them. From there, they are able to utilize machine learning capabilities developed by Forsite to predict the types of trees and other relevant attributes. “You have a known height [measured from the point cloud], you predict the species, and based on the height and a bunch of metrics and the species, you predict the diameter of the tree at the base,” Brown explained to Geo Week News about this process. “From there, we use allometric equations to calculate everything else we need about that tree. You’ll need to predict species and diameter, and everything else flows after that, and you have an inventory of every single tree in your forest. We’re doing this across millions and millions of hectares.” Corrao, believes this “Digital Inventory” – which he defines as “the act of taking this new technology that have increased resolution, robust field verification, and move the industry away from sampling grids that impute/extrapolate limited information to the “blank spaces” they don’t have any information on” – is only the beginning. “It is the proverbial doorway to quantifying change, risk, value, and patterns/conditions at an accuracy and resolution we have never before been able to do without enormous time and cost expense. It’s like purchasing a Volkswagen bug and being delivered a Ferrari, a garage to put it in, and fuel for life.” More >> Source: geoweeknews 
SnapSTAT - Long-term price trends in 2 key forestry marketsANZ outlook in two words and two charts: Outlook improving
Click here for more details Cost of workplace accidents rises to NZ$4.4b a year
The cost of workplace accidents rose to NZ$4.9 billion in 2023, up from NZ$4.4b the year before, a new report shows. The State of a Thriving Nation report was released by the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum last month. Written by economist Shamubeel Eaqub, the report tallied the cost of lost lives and earnings, serious injury costs to ACC, and health issues to reach the NZ$4.9b figure.“Catching up to Australia’s performance would save New Zealand NZ$1.4 billion each year, and if we were to match the UK’s performance, we would save NZ$3.4 billion per year,” the forum’s chief executive Francois Barton said. The report also found that close to 50% of New Zealanders had been affected by a workplace accident involving either themselves, a colleague, their family or friends. Fifty percent of those surveyed said they had a positive perception of New Zealand’s performance on health and safety. When asked how much they would pay personally to make work safer, 55% said they would pay an amount which, spread over the population, would equate to NZ$730 million per year. More >> Source: Radio New Zealand Rotorua rangatahi goes from on the skids to skidder
The old saying ‘it takes a village’ is a fitting
catchphrase for forestry harvesting apprentice Alazae
Hayes. Now blazing a trail at Vanner Logging,
Alazae’s success has been a collective effort, with Rotomā No.1
Incorporation, Timberlands and Competenz all playing an integral role.
“I’m pretty proud of how far I’ve come,” says the21-year-old from Rotorua. “Back in high school, I was making trouble and doing dumb stuff, but now I’ve got a good job, life goals, and I’ve accomplished some really cool things.” A free pruning and planting course with Rotomā No. 1 Incorporation proved the perfect springboard, opening the door to a life changing apprenticeship for Alazae. “I always loved being outdoors - riding dirt bikes and stuff like that – but as a kid, working in forestry wasn’t something I’d ever considered. Last year though, I did the Rotomā No. 1 course, and through that, I got my first aid certificate, my forklift license, my working at heights ticket, site safety and my wheels, tracks and rollers endorsement. We spent the first part of the course in the classroom, and then they chucked us in the bush. That’s when I decided I wanted a career in forestry.” Competenz Training Advisor Hamish Gunn was marking off the book work in the programme, and after noticing Alazae’s potential he decided to give him some more industry exposure. “Hamish took me and another guy out to visit Kaingaroa Forest to check out a couple of harvesting crews. I was introduced to the Vanner Logging foreman and in-house assessor Conrad ‘Chopper’ Mill, and on his recommendation to the crew owners, got offered a job!” For Vanner Logging owners Brett and Heather Vanner, Alazae was just what they were looking for. “Brett and I have been in the logging business for 15 years and right from the start we’ve been looking for people with potential, people who are keen to progress. They may have zero forestry knowledge, but they’re enthusiastic, keen outdoor types who don’t mind getting their hands dirty.” Alazae fits the criteria perfectly. “Recruitment is always a battle in forestry, firstly because it’s a very skilled job andsecondly because we have an ageing workforce,” says Heather. “He was exactly what we wanted. We thought to ourselves ‘thisyoung man could have potential’, and boy were we right.” Since starting with the company in December 2023, Alazae has gone from strength to strength. After a month on the chainsaw marking and grading logs, he was enrolled into an apprenticeship with Competenz, and Kaingaroa Timberlands - managers of the largest plantation forest in the Southern Hemisphere - awarded Vanner Logging a generous scholarship to help with his training. Now Alazae is living the dream, driving big machines (he’s currently on a skidder) and making excellent progress on his journey to becoming an operator in log loading and mechanised processing. More >> Source & image credit: Competenz Manufacturers needed for sustainable forest management
While celebrating recent rain, the smoke and fire season is not over
yet. This is the backdrop of a crisis that has in part been
exacerbated by the loss of wood manufacturing businesses in
Montana. Our collective ability to accomplish our long-term
conservation needs at an affordable price is at risk.The loss of wood manufacturing compromises our ability to protect old growth, watersheds, and biological diversity in addition to hampering strategies to address large, severe wildfires. It complicates maintaining our forests as natural carbon capture and storage systems, while providing renewable, sustainably grown wood to provide materials for our buildings, bridges, packaging, jet fuel and more. Change is difficult, on a personal level, but more so on a societal level. In the late 1980s and 1990s, there was a sea change in forest management. The emerging sciences of landscape ecology, conservation biology, disturbance ecology, along with the social demands for our outdoor recreation lifestyle, plus the desire to protect old growth forests, bull trout, wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, and cut-throat trout across our landscapes, drove the need for change. We recognised the previous model of commodity wood production through forest management on an 80-year cycle and the exclusion of fire was inadequate. Click here for full article Source: The Missoula Current News  SCA’s new electric timber truck
SCA’s new electric timber truck with a crane has now been
premiered to a wide audience at the Elmia Lastbil fair.
The truck, a collaborative project between SCA and Scania, will be the
first electric timber truck in the world to collect timber in the forest
for further transport to a timber terminal. “With the new truck,
SCA takes the next step in sustainable timber transport. The truck has
received a lot of positive feedback at Elmia,” says Anton
Ahlinder, business developer at SCA Skog.Just over two years after SCA and Scania’s first electric timber truck was put into operation in Umeå, it’s time for the next big step in the work to electrify heavy transport in forestry. Unlike the truck in Umeå, which runs between a timber terminal and SCA’s paper mill in Obbola, the new electric timber truck is equipped with a crane and tandem drive so that it can load timber in the forest and transport it to a timber terminal. “We expect the truck to be in operation at the beginning of October. According to our calculations, it should have a range of just over 200 kilometers, although Scania’s calculations say 320 kilometers. Much depends on how much electricity it takes to operate the crane. We will test and see what works best,” says Anton. Ready to get started Rolf Lövgren Åkeri & Entreprenad AB owns the truck and will operate it with support from SCA. Rolf currently has two trucks and a total of five drivers, and he did not hesitate when asked by SCA to own and operate the truck. “No, I’d rather be first than last! That way, I get to be involved in the development. I haven’t actually seen the truck yet, as I couldn’t attend Elmia, but I’m looking forward to getting started and I think this will work well. I’m excited,” says Rolf, adding: “The truck will operate here in the Östavall area. Initially, I will be driving it, but then it will run in shifts, and by then I hope to find two more drivers.” The new electric timber truck is part of the forestry industry’s innovation project TREE, which aims for half of the forestry industry’s new trucks to be electric by 2030. More >> Source & image credit: SCA --(2022)2.jpg) Jobs
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