The way we evaluate a stick of lumber may be changing, but that is not without risk. I’m reminded of a song written by Baker Knight and recorded by American country music artist Mickey Gilley in the 1970s. You might remember the tune, but I wanted to update you on some new...

As a follow-up to our January 2021 All Things Wood article by Frank Woeste and Don Bender, “Hybrid Lumber” Grade Stamps Require Special Attention, we are pleased to report that additional information is now available for designers and code officials. The following article appears...

As climate patterns continue to shift, an increasing number of communities around the globe are not only experiencing extreme weather events with increased frequency, duration, and intensity, but also some are experiencing these hazards for the first time in their histories. As a first line of...

In his article on page 39, Glenn Traylor uses an excellent Trumanesque phrase while addressing people in leadership positions — “In the truss business, the ‘puck’ stops with you.”  Of course, we all know that the phrase, “the buck stops here,” is...

Quality, Productivity, and Speed are intertwined and impact each other. Most managers create this Venn diagram in their mind [for image, See PDF or View in Full Issue]. We often hear: “First we need to work on efficiency before we can focus on quality.” “We can’t...

Today’s environment has created supply chain disruptions throughout the world. Nearly every customer and supplier I have spoken with over the last few months has indicated production delays are prevalent or imminent. Of course, the pandemic has caused much of the recent impact, while the...

The simple answer is no, not normally, but the reasoning behind that answer merits discussion. It should come as no surprise that truss connector plates are tied to design software and ultimately engineering design. The problem is one plate manufacture is not equivalent to another plate...

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...

Over the past few years that I’ve worked as an engineer for Simpson Strong-Tie in Texas, work-related events have brought me to a few great beach destinations: Clearwater and Destin, Florida, to name a few. But tightly packed schedules always left me feeling like I didn’t get to...

As we traverse the second half of 2020, we can expect the ftime between now and January 2021 to fly by. As it does, we have to prepare to lead our teams through the year’s extreme challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic and other events—hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, cyber-crime,...