Abstract

Hauling of wood-based forest products is a complex problem that requires evaluation of many alternative routes. Forest transportation has been generally done by using logging trucks with high carrying capacity. Logging truck driving is one of the dangerous occupations in forestry, particularly in Turkey, where forest lands are mostly located in mountainous regions with steep slopes. The safety risk of truck driving mainly depends on the road standards and conditions. The majority of the forest roads in Turkey have low standards that limit the maneuverability of logging trucks. In such conditions, forest transportation should be planned by considering not only transportation costs but also the safety of logging truck driving. In this study, the GIS-based network analysis method was used to develop the optimum transportation plans for two scenarios. In the first scenario, an optimum plan that minimized the total transportation cost was developed, while a transportation plan that ensured the safest logging truck driving was optimized in the second scenario. A safety score was assigned to each road section based on the road type (asphalt, gravel, forest road) and road conditions (good, medium, poor). In the study area, located in the city of Bursa in Turkey, there were three forest depots and five landings. The results indicated that the transportation cost increased by 15.76% when the safety of logging truck driving was prioritized. In this scenario, forest products from three landings were transported to different depots, compared to the first scenario.

Highlights

  • Hauling of timber from landing areas to forest depots is an important stage in producing wood-based forest products

  • Forest transportation is generally performed by using logging trucks, and driving a logging truck is considered as one of the dangerous occupations in forestry, in Turkey, where forest lands are mostly located in mountainous regions

  • The results indicated that the total transportation cost was €4906.29 (Table 4)

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Summary

Introduction

Hauling of timber from landing areas to forest depots is an important stage in producing wood-based forest products. Planned forest transportation can be the most expensive stage of timber production [1]. Computer-based methods have been used to evaluate alternative transportation plans and to determine the optimum plan with minimum cost [2,3]. In Turkey, the majority of forest roads (66%) are secondary forest roads, which are usually subject to annual major repair needs due to low road standards [4]. The standards of these roads limit the maneuverability of logging trucks with high load capacity [5]. Forest transportation should be planned by considering transportation costs and the safety of logging truck driving

Methods
Results
Conclusion

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