Impacts of Diesel and Insurance Costs on Owner-Operator Log Truck Drivers in the Western Gulf

Abstract

After felling, skidding, delimbing and often topping, and merchandizing of trees, logs must be loaded onto a truck for the hauling of that raw woody resource to a mill. This analysis focuses on owner-operator truck drivers, or self-employed drivers, and looks at the impacts of costs per gallon of diesel ($3, $4, $5, and $6 per gallon), different log truck annual insurance rates ($10,000, $15,000, and $22,000), along with basic assumptions about hauling conditions and maintenance costs, and varying rates of salary received per load ($0.13 to $0.23 per ton per loaded mile, by $0.02 increments) on the net annual revenue of an average log truck driver. For a common rate of $0.19 per ton per loaded mile, and two assumed log truck routes, diesel per gallon increases from $3 to $4, $5, and $6 reduced net annual revenues by up to 16.0, 31.9, and 47.9 percent, respectively. In all cases, reductions were greatest when annual insurance costs were $22,000.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 22nd Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference

Citation

VanderSchaaf, Curtis L. 2024. Impacts of Diesel and Insurance Costs on Owner-Operator Log Truck Drivers in the Western Gulf. In: Bragg, Don C.; Oswald, Brian P.; Koerth, Nancy E., eds. Proceedings of the 22nd biennial southern silvicultural research conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-274. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 351–358. https://doi.org/10.2737/SRS-GTR-274-Pap55.