The most under-appreciated and yet critically important link in the forest products industry value chain – from tree grower to end consumer — is comprised of nearly 10,000 small, independent business contractors – America’s timber harvesters and haulers. The folks who harvest mature trees and transport them to a converting mill.
“Since our earliest days as an entity dedicated to keeping forests as forests and working to advance family-supporting jobs in rural forest-rich communities, we’ve sought ways to aid the nation’s hard working timber producers,” said U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities President Carlton Owen. “We think we’ve landed on one of the most direct and impactful ways to do that by partnering with the Southern Loggers Cooperative (SLC), the South Carolina Timber Producers Association (SCTPA) and the Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF) to extend the reach of SLC’s system of fuel depots.”
Under the just announced partnership, the SCTPA will become the first state loggers’ association in the nation to formally collaborate with SLC in what might be considered a “quasi-franchise” approach to growing the number of depots across the state. While SLC will own each depot on behalf of its cooperative membership, the SCTPA will aid in locating appropriate sites, work with its members to extend coop membership, and will benefit from a portion of the revenue stream to support its broader work.
“The volatility and high price of diesel fuel is among the most difficult of expenses for a small business that depends on heavy equipment to factor into their business plan,” notes SLC Executive Director Todd Martin. SLC began in Pineville, Louisiana as a small group of loggers who banded together in 2004 to try and address the issue. Today, SLC operates a system of 21 diesel fuel depots across seven states with cooperative members saving an average of $0.10/gallon on fuel purchased; members then receive a “bonus” at the end of each year in the form of dividends that SLC generates. Additionally, two more stations in Louisiana and two more stations in Alabama are projected to come online in 2014.
Crad Jaynes, President & CEO of SCTPA reflected, “Ten cents a gallon might not sound like much but when the life blood of keeping your business is diesel fuel and you use literally thousands of gallons each year, it adds up quickly. For some of our member companies it would be thousands of dollars each year that they can put right to the bottom line of their business.”
From Greenville Business Magazine: https://www.greenvillebusinessmag.com/View-Article/ArticleID/5975/Pilot-progam-announced-in-S-C.aspx