CHAPTER VII 
TRANSPORTATION 
Transportation represents a large per cent of the total cost 
of delivering raw wood material at the mill or market,* hence 
it is the loggers' most important problem and the success or 
failure of the operation usually depends upon the manner in which 
it is solved. Differences in wages or efficiency of labor, character 
and size of timber (hardwoods or softwoods), the physical con- 
ditions under which the work is done and the topography of the 
region may cause some variation in log-making costs, yet on effi- 
cient operations the difference between the highest and lowest 
costs is relatively small. On the other hand, transportation 
expenditures in a given region may vary within wide limits 
because of the different topographic conditions under which 
the work is carried on and also because of inefficiency on the part of 
the management, due to the choice of unsuitable methods or im- 
proper application of suitable ones. 
The correct solution of the transportation problems of the log- 
ging industry calls for great resourcefulness on the part of the 
logger and is made more difficult because of the pioneer conditions 
under which the work must be done. The tonnage may comprise 
logs or other products cut from trees ranging from small second- 
growth timber a few inches in diameter and yielding units 
weighing but a fraction of a ton to massive trees such as the 
Douglas fir and the redwood of the West Coast, single log units 
of which may weigh many tons; the topography may vary from 
a flat, swampy condition to a rugged mountainous one in which 
deep canyons and steep slopes are encountered ; and the climatic 
conditions may range from the mild climate of the southern 
part of this country to that of the northern and eastern part of 
' The transportation of forest products to mill or market represents 75 
per cent or more of the total delivered cost of raw material, exclusive of the 
stumpage value. 
121 
