Log truck drivers struggle to make ends meet

Scott Jerles is a 45-year-old independent log trucker.

He crawls out of bed at 3 a.m., throws on his faded jeans, brown work boots, shirt and flannel jacket before putting on his maroon baseball cap.

He walks outside, feeds his dogs and then gets into his 13-ton log truck.

Jerles will now be in the truck for the next 13 hours. He does this Monday through Friday, rain or snow, in sickness or in health. He's missed volleyball, softball and basketball games trying to provide for the family he rarely sees.

"My oldest daughter basically grew up without a dad," said Jerles, who lives in Raymond. "I worked away from home and only saw her on the weekends."

But even on the weekends he could be found out in his shop maintaining his $130,000 investment.

The highlight of his three daughters' summer vacations growing up was traveling to Oregon on a Friday to pick up parts for his truck, spending one night in a motel with a swimming pool and then returning home on Saturday.

"If you're gonna make it in the trucking industry," Jerles said. "You're going to have to make sacrifices."

These sacrifices are made to make ends meet. An August 2008 study conducted by the University of Washington and Washington State University listed the average log trucker's net income in 2006 at about $33,000 working 69 hours a week. Most truckers didn't receive overtime, putting their wages just above minimum wage.

Life can be difficult making slightly more than minimum wage with a mortgage and car payment alone. Unfortunately, health insurance is added to the long list of sacrifices.

"I'm making now what my dad made in 1984," Jerles said. "Everybody in the rest of the world got a cost of living increase except for us."

This is because the price of fuel has skyrocketed in the past few years, but mostly because the federal government deregulated trucking for the timber industry in the mid-nineties. States had previously regulated the price of hauling timber. Due to this, most timber companies have not increased their wages since then, outside of fuel surcharges that assist with the high cost of fuel.

In 2006, 28 percent of log trucking companies lost money; 50 percent broke even and 21 percent made a profit.

Jerles and the hundreds of other log truckers are finding it increasingly hard to operate their business these days. Because of the financial difficulties facing the industry, many have decided to leave log trucking for some other form of trucking, and very few are entering into the industry, according to the study.

From 1998 to 2006 the number of registered log trucks in Washington decreased by 36 percent.

The report also showed that the average log trucker is 55 years old, with approximately 27 years of experience, meaning each trucker brings a wealth of experience, but most will likely retire soon.

If things don't improve, there could be a mass exodus out of the industry, Jerles said. This was confirmed by the report when out of 129 log truckers, 51 percent admitted they were looking to retire or leave the industry altogether.

To combat the problem on their end, truckers have formed a cooperative to help educate one another about the issues facing the industry and how to better manage their business.

Rick Smith, president of the Northwest Log Trucking Cooperative of Washington, admitted that though log truckers may be hard workers, they don't necessarily make very good businessmen.

"You have to know what you're getting (for each haul) before you do it," Smith said, "so you don't go bankrupt."

Many log truckers believe that if their wages were increased, they would be able to continue in the field and be able to recruit a younger work force.

Therefore, they are looking to pass a bill next year that would allow them to negotiate hauling prices with timber companies individually.

"You don't have the right to set a rate," Smith said. "You do have the right to negotiate. But I've met with (timber companies), and they don't choose to negotiate."

Smith said that many timber companies, like Weyerhaeuser, set the rates and don't allow any room for negotiation.

Kristin Sawin, public affairs manager for Weyerhaeuser, stated that the prices are set, and that each independent log trucker has the option to haul or not.

"To negotiate independently each load would be a major undertaking," Sawin said. "And I don't think anyone would be interested in doing that."

Sawin also stated that it would be illegal for log truckers to form a cooperative with the mission of negotiating prices, saying that it would break federal antitrust laws.

However, Green Diamond, another large timber company, currently works with its own separate cooperative of log truck drivers to help determine wages.

Patti Case, public affairs manager for Green Diamond's Northwest Division, said that they negotiate with the cooperative, but that the company is firmly against the cooperative setting or fixing prices, due to federal antitrust laws.

Whether a bill passes which would allow log truckers to independently negotiate their hauling rates is up in the air at the moment, but there are a couple of other solutions that are being considered.

John Ehrenreich, director of forest taxation and economics for the Washington Forest Protection Agency, said both the large and small timber companies he represents understand that there is a problem and that lowering their taxes could be a short-term solution.

"(Log truckers) pay a fairly high tax," Ehrenreich said. "Everybody got a tax break a couple years ago except them because they pay a public utilities tax (instead of the business and occupation tax others have to pay)."

Bringing down their public utilities tax to reflect the decrease in the business and occupation tax could create some relief.

A solution that is already being modeled in California would be for the state to help log truckers with the current rising cost of parts to maintain their trucks. For example, the state could help pay for parts that would cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, and also save the trucker money.

"One could make the argument that it's a prudent use of public money," said Larry Mason, research scientist at the University of Washington and one of the lead authors of the report.

Mason pointed to the fact that 248 deaths each year are related to inhaling diesel exhaust.

"That's way more people than those that die from trucking accidents," Mason said.

To address the issue of an aging work force, some propose going into high schools and colleges and creating more programs like the existing "helmets to hard hat" program for returning veterans.

"We need to turn (people's opinion) around," Ehrenreich said. "And show people that it's an honorable profession."

But even these changes may just be small solutions to a big problem.

"The whole (logging) industry is as bad right now as I've ever seen it," Ehrenreich said. "The mills aren't able to sell due to the housing crisis, which means they're not paying for logging, which means they're not paying for hauling."

Ehrenreich said timber companies know how difficult it is right now, and what makes it harder is the infighting the problem has caused within the industry as a whole.

"What makes it so hard is that log truckers are part of the family," Ehrenreich said. "We need them, and they need us. They do need help, but everything flows downstream and are derived from lumber prices. When it's down, it affects everybody."

Jerles just hopes that the bill to independently negotiate hauling rates will pass. Asked if he would have gotten into the industry if he knew what he does now, he doesn't hesitate with a "nope."

"Lately it's gotten really hard," Jerles said. "I ask myself why I'm doing it. But I'm stuck right now, and I'm making payments (on equipment). I started awhile ago, and I said that when I do this, I want to be successful."

A promise not difficult to understand, but one that may be difficult to keep.

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Information from: The Chronicle, http://www.chronline.com