On a recent truss plant visit, I watched a group of truss builders quickly assembling a structural gable truss. Most of the webs had been installed and the builders were top and back plating the truss. As I approached the builders, they relaxed their pace just a notch as I walked up to the web...

COVID’s 2021 Reverse Impact Let’s see if we can get this one right. A member recently requested that I forecast when the misses were going to happen. Sounds difficult, but not impossible. COVID 2020 was a once in a lifetime paradigm shift in our learning curve. To date, I have...

With the invention of integrated production methods, one of the greatest evolutions has been the electronic transfer of information from the truss designs to the computerized equipment, eliminating human error and translation issues. Automatic puck systems, lasers, ink jet marking, or shop...

Those of us in the building materials and components industry have probably all seen inkjet printers mounted to our cutting equipment for labeling, framing layout, and other forms of marking. Let’s face it, nobody wants to get a package of cut pieces for framing a truss or a wall and have...

Lumber properties are influenced by species and growing region. Species with similar design properties are combined into species groups, as shown in Tables 4A, 4B, and 4F of the NDS Supplement[1]. For example, a common species group in the southeastern U.S. is Southern Pine (SP), which includes...

America’s Achilles Heel I want to drift off topic for a bit. Last week we were advised that the U.S. was under a massive cyber attack. As of today, Sunday December 20, the attack is on-going, there is no determination of who is responsible, how deep the attack has penetrated, how to...

There are many steps in the process of bringing lumber to the truss plant to be used in our trusses. Lumber must be harvested then sawn. Drying and planing brings the lumber closer to potential use, but it is not until the lumber makes it through the grading process that it is suitable for use....

COVID Shipment Delays WILL RISE The global pandemic surge is further exacerbating shipment schedules, lengthening many commodity and specialty items that are weeks behind already. Some truckloads of basic commodity Canadian lumber are just now catching up on two-month delays despite prices...

When I saw the article on ceiling separation, The Enduring Problem of Truss Partition Separation, written by my friend Frank Woeste in the November issue of The Advertiser, I was excited to read it. As Frank writes, this problem has been around since there has been a metal plate connected wood...

Last month’s article, “Are Your Deliveries Making the Right Impression,” talks about aligning your product so the installers’ first impression is a positive one. Let’s expand this further. I am sure you have noticed the freight trucks on the highway moving product...