Across the nation, 311 loggers participated in the Timber Harvesting 2020 Business Outlook & Virus Impact Survey, conducted from mid April through the end of May 2020.
- Asked to list all the ways the viral economy has affected their operations, loggers responded with three big issues: 71% cited mill quotas, followed by lost revenues (61%) and mill downtime (59%).
- More than a third (34%) of loggers have seen lowered logging rates, and 27% have delayed equipment purchases as a result. Additional impacts include employee layoffs (11% of loggers), and downsizing one or more crews (7%). Longer hauls are in the mix for 13% of loggers, and more than one out of every five (22%) have had logger certification or safety training sessions delayed.
- Asked to rate their top three business concerns, loggers overwhelmingly said maintaining markets, cited by 82%. Next biggest concern is logging rates, cited by 48% of loggers. The third biggest concern is a virtual dead heat between two issues: 41% of loggers said insurance costs—particularly for trucking—followed closely by weather, cited by 40% of loggers.