Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Holmen Skog has in some places in their operation area access to timber trucks with centre mounted scrapers. They make transportation more flexible and reduce reliance on contractors for road maintenance. The trucks with centre mounted scrapers have a higher tare weight, making them less productive and therefore they receive compensation with a 0.75 % increase on transportation price.

The purpose of this study was to investigate what actions a timber truck with centre mounted scraper can perform with acceptable quality in winter, and to examine if it is an economically profitable solution for the truck operator and charterer.

The study was done in three stages; interviews, performance analysis of the transportations carried out and an economic analysis with the help of Sven Erik Gilles spreadsheet tool. The study included the districts Delsbo and Hudiksvall. Data for the study included three years to reduce the seasonal effect.

In the study it was concluded that trucks with centre mounted scrapers primarily were used for clearing ice from roads, they also replace some sanding when the road is roughened and gravel material is brought to the surface. Among the advantages, the short time between identifying a need to performing an action was mentioned. The main disadvantage was considered to be the increase in tare weight. The performance analysis of transportations carried out showed that the trucks with a centre mounted scraper had served a larger number of unique timber orders than a conventional self loading timber truck. The economic analysis showed that current reimbursement does not fully cover the revenue loss incurred by having a centre mounted scraper.

The way the study was carried out it was not possible to economically evaluate the benefits of having a timber truck with a centre mounted scraper. Because of that it could not give an unequivocal answer to the question if there is an economically profitable concept for the charterer and the truck operator.