A study of pulpwood trucking methods on the Price (Nfld.) Company Limited operations

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to study four different trucking methods for hauling pulpwood and to show the type of analysis used when choosing a particular method. These four truck delivery methods are designated as Conventional, Pallet, Tree-Length and Pell-Mell. Conventional trucking was used as a comparsion in order to show the importance of the correct truck capacity choice for varying haul distances. It was found that the longer the haul, the more important it is to use a larger capacity truck. It was also found that at very short haul distances, a small truck could be more economical than a larger one. The report shows a comparsion of the Pallet and Conventional truck operations when hauling pre-forwarded wood; which indicates that the pallet truck is more economical on short distances, but as the distance increases, a point is reached where the Conventional truck is as economical or more economical than the Pallet truck. An attempt is made to compare Pallet, Tree-Length and Pell-Mell truck hauling. Rates for the different machines used were estimated, cost per cord for each method was calculated and tabulated, and graphs drawn to show the range of distances for which each method was most feasible.