Abstract
With recently announced federal funding and subsidies to redevelop vacant mills and the communities they were in, the forest products industry in Maine is poised to gain its momentum once again. One of the important components influencing the cost of delivered forest products is transportation. A recent study in the region has shown that the location and availability of markets along with lack of skilled labor force are the major challenges faced by the forest products transportation sector in Maine. This study was focused on developing a management guideline which included various field level options for improving trucking enterprises in Maine. For this, a qualitative research approach utilizing a case study research tradition was employed, with in-depth semi-structured interviews with professionals directly related to the forest products transportation sector used for data generation. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted, with each being audio recorded and later transcribed verbatim. Interview transcriptions were analyzed using NVivo 11. Suggestions, like increasing benefits to drivers and providing training, were proposed for challenges related to manpower shortage, while the marketing of new forest products and adjustment in some state-level policies were proposed for challenges related to the forest products market condition of the state.
Highlights
The flow of forest products from harvesting sites to the processing facilities is a combined effort of different stakeholders
This study has presented views and suggestions of people closely associated with transportation of forest products in Maine
This research has validated mitigation measures that can be adopted for sound forest trucking operations in the context of a forest-based economy
Summary
The flow of forest products from harvesting sites to the processing facilities is a combined effort of different stakeholders. With guidance from a procurement manager and trucking contractor, the products are hauled from landings to facilities (usually primary forest products industries or bioenergy plants) (Figure 1). The trucking ( referred to as secondary transportation) part in this process is considered important because of its essential function of moving products from one place to another. It is one of the expensive phases and can be crucial in fixing prices of delivered forest products [1,2,3]. After the last log drive on the Kennebec River in 1976, the transportation of woody commodities from northern forests in Maine has predominantly been performed by trucks
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