A visual diary of a log truck drivers day…
This blog is a re-post from my old web-site which is republished here…
So an invite materialised to ride in a logging truck for the day, so who was i to say no. Capturing a diverse set of imagery from pitch dark to a blazing hot spring day certainly provided some challenges and country to what many would believe the ride is not that smooth at all.But the view was great…
Had some internal discussion about how to present this blog and in the end decided that most readers would only relate to log trucks as another truck making their way down the highway going about their daily thing and would have no knowledge of what the work is like behind the scenes and never get the chance to find out. With the H & S [ Health and Safety ] rules , yours truly also needed to be outfitted with safety work boots and high viz regardless of the fact that i could not get out of the cab at work sites. You need to be inducted into the individual areas with their own H & S requirements. Consequently, for a days voyaging about it was easier to just get cab views with the camera with some artistic interpretations to present a laypersons viewpoint so that most non-truckles could understand and relate to.
The layout of this blog follows the day from start to finish in a chronological order…
It’s 3am, at least it’s not raining. So being photographically orientated there’s a camera bag and stuff to also cram into a not so big cab of a big truck so that’s nearly an oxymoron. A bit of stuffing here and there seemingly gets the job done. The start point is a park up yard in the industrial area at Greerton, Tauranga which is handy for the Port of Tauranga to round out the end of the day for logistical purposes.
As a quality image this really misses the mark but does accentuate the fact that it’s not always a smooth ride even with air bag suspension when empty. Those potholes that just jump out at ya are just as annoying in a truck as a car. The lights are on and the music cranking…
A hour or so later it’s arrival time at the first log skid site after negotiating the single mettle track with numerous calls on the CB radio advising our position and the area zone travelling in because two trucks on a narrow winding access track crossing each other is something to be avoided. Needless to say the empty truck does the backing up and especially in the dark not so easy to avoid the drains and culverts waiting to grab a wheel. It’s a whole lot of avoidable drama so communication is key…
The view of the log stack is a bit limited…it is still 4.30am or something and the only illumination is from the digger doing the loading and the trucks themselves with backward facing flood lights.
Tying the load down under lights after being loaded at the skid site.
The load is now on and the chains go over to secure the logs from moving about. I know from experience having a load move when driving is a totally un-nerving experience having driven trucks myself so all care is made to ensure the load is balanced just right with the loader driver. We have to move away from the skid site to chain up and it also helps to bed the logs in better before tensioning the load. All load weights are measured by on board weigh scales so its at its permitted load weight for the truck configuration - in this case a 8 axle combination.
Securing the load under lights.
With modern lighting set ups facing to the rear its like having flood lights in your back yard.
On the road….
Getting a half decent image with the cab interior in focus whilst trying for the blur of the road outside with all the rocking and rolling was problematic. Yay for digital cameras and memory cards is all i can say. Lost count of the times trying for this image. Meanwhile the suns up and its off to Rotorua and a sawmill.
The cab view of the mill weigh station.
Arrival at the weigh station where the load is weighed in before unloading at the Rotorua mill site. The opposite happens on the way out to calculate the load so that the guys on the skid site etc can be paid. Usually a good thing…
The mills log stack and as our driver removes the chains for unloading.
Same rules apply with the H&S so it’s a combination in this image of un-chaining the load with a wider mill site view of the log stack from the cab. Watching the mill in operation the logs are being processed reasonably quickly by the rate that they were disappearing up the conveyor system. You would expect to see a reasonable log stack on hand as a buffer in case of some supply event such as road closures etc. This mill produces sawn timber for the local framing market for new builds and other timber products.
The small gantry lift system used to re-lift the trailers back onto the truck for the dry run back to the forest log site.
If anyone wondered how the trucks get their trailers off the ground and onto the back of the truck well here’s your answer…
At each delivery site there is a crane system [ or a loader ] similar to this which latches onto a permanent chain and hook system on the trailer by which the trailer is lifted into the air and the front draw bar is swung around into the inverse position under the trailer and locked in under the trailer frame so that the truck can reverse under the suspended trailer to line up and lower onto the deck. At the skid site the digger loading the logs does the crane work of lifting the trailer of, the trailer dolly swung bak into it’s towing position and the re-attached to the truck. Hopefully that’s clear as mud…otherwise you would have empty trucks and the trailers adding to the traffic and it saves tyre wear as well.
Cab view of a winding forestry road.
The private forestry roads are well maintained for the purpose of heavy loads but most are unsealed which makes for dusty or muddy trucks that you see on the road. Especially it it’s wet you cannot avoid the rougher tracks of the skid sites. All care is taken to remove anything which may fall from the logs like loose bark.
The log stack at the skid site with different grades of logs stacked ready to load.
Skid sites are a sort of temporary camp for logs to load out and gear. Each stack is a different grade of logs which the crew sort into their various grades as specified. Each load put on a truck is a specific grade for its destination which the driver is advised of on a small data logger in the cab which is connected to the company office thru wifi. It’s a series of numbers and names and the final destination and when we arrive the loader driver is advised of what grades to load and on which part of the truck or trailer. And when loading is in progress the weight is monitored to get the proper loading configuration. The attachment on the digger in the middle is a log grader which measures and calculates where to cut the log to a pre determined length with a in-built saw blade all controlled by an onboard computer. This mechanisation of log grading and sorting has really sped up the processing time for raw timber on the skid site where there would have been a crew with chainsaws and tape measures manually doing that job. In fact on easier country the whole process from felling to loading is all done with machines which makes for more thru put and less hazards to everyone working there.
Chaining up the load of logs at the skid site.
Once on board the logs are chain up away from the loading area at the skid site loading area. No one is allowed around the truck and trailer while the loading is happening.
Load inspection on the roadside whilst still in the forest.
The beginning and end of a pine tree cycle. From seedling to log…
The truckers wave…
It’s just a truckers thing. A wave or at night it’s ‘flashies’ where the side and top lights are flashed on and off or using the indicators as a ‘yeah gidday’ … the larger line haul trucks with all their lights is really a sight with all them flashing on and off. So if you have followed a truck at nite and seen that it’s a bit like a brotherhood handshake.
Inside the Port of Tauranga.
Arrival at the Port of Tauranga with this load of export logs. The main access road on the Mount Maunganui side of the POT is a busy thoroughfare full of big boys toys. There’s just lots of everything. One of the things that strikes you is the volume of logs stacked in their rows upon rows.
Getting ready to be weighed in with load on.
The first step is the weigh in with load on.
Undercover log count station.
Next up is the log talley bay. The talley clerks already have an image of each log load on the truck from when it left the skid site which gives them a talley as well as the grades on board. Her they physically attach bar code labels to some and mark others depending on grade and destination etc. Each log is checked hence the covered bays to keep the trucks rolling thru during inclement weather. After this step it’s removing the chains holding the logs down in a seperate safety area.
Log stack at the Port of Tauranga.
It’s then to unloading with a log loader which lifts a whole load from the truck with one grab. Logs everywhere you look…
After unloading it’s trailer back on the truck…again.
And again it’s lifting the trailer back on but this time the stevdoors operate the crane which speeds up the process. Anything that impedes the flow of vechicles and materials gets sorted so there’s no back-log…pun intended.
Refuelling time…
Last job of the day around 4.30pm. Refuel. Meet Tim our chauffeur.
Most truckies well know the goings on around log transport but to the average person who passes these trucks on the road it is a bit of a mystery. And with H&S it’s not possible to just go and see all this stuff.
Many thanks to Gilmour Transport from Tokoroa for allowing this passenger to tag along. Much appreciated and cheers to Tim for the ride.