How to Squeeze Out More Truss Production Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Trusses are complicated yet the fabrication description is quite simple – pick the lumber, cut the lumber, and assemble the lumber. Now try doing this profitably at high volume and you will need to automate some or all of these processes, which all truss plants have done within their... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 56
Strategies for a Rising Interest-Rate Economy Carl Villella On May 4th, the Federal Reserve Bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year. It was its biggest increase since 2000. The Fed raised rates by half a percentage point, and indicated that further increases would follow throughout the year. Its next increase is poised to... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 67
Checking Trusses at Bearing Locations for Out-of-Plane Buckling David Rothweiler and Bruce Feldmann Every truss design is evaluated for numerous criteria to determine if it is structurally sound. One of those checks is the capacity of the truss to resist buckling at a bearing location. This article focuses on checking out-of-plane buckling when a truss member is loaded in compression... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 72
Relocation Trends In a recent article in MoneyWise, the top states for relocation to and from were listed and many of them were as expected: Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Florida, which are all warm states that draw northerners. BUT, some of the states were unexpected: Idaho, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 80
A Closer Look at Webb Analytics’ 2022 Construction Supply 150: Lumberyards, Dealers, and Component Manufacturing Craig Webb When the 52-page Webb Analytics’ 2022 Construction Supply 150 Report was released on May 3, the top headline was: Report Shows Lumberyards’ Revenues Soared Far Above Gains for Specialty Dealers, Big-Box Stores. Indeed, high-flying lumber prices helped drive a 19.2% revenue increase... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 92
Next Generation of Trade Professionals Key to the Industry Matthew Winn Society is currently experiencing “The Great Resignation,” and it only continues to be exasperated by the pandemic. Yet, for many industries, building safety especially, this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, for the skilled trades like construction, the shortage of incoming talent... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 100
Mass Timber Aerospace Project Uses Innovative Truss System Johanna Knapschaefer A new museum/hanger in British Columbia mirrors the shapes and curves of a plane Reprinted courtesy of Engineering News-Record, copyright BNP Media, February 7, 2022, all rights reserved. While having lunch with his executive director at the Four Points hotel in British Columbia’s... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 112
Guides to Making I-Joist Connections — Simpson Strong-Tie® CSGs Make EWP Designs Easier Michael Weber Connector Selection Guides (CSGs) are tools Simpson Strong-Tie has created to assist users in designing and building with engineered wood products (EWP). They consist of a series of short fliers (available as PDFs on strongtie.com for printing or mobile use) guiding builders on how to select... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 120
The Last Word: The Last Word on Sixty Years of Machines Joe Kannapell From the quirky advance of truss machinery described in my Sixty Years of Machines series, one might conclude that we’re a quirky industry. We may be, but innovation in truss manufacturing is no different than advancement in U.S. industry in general. And, in fact, we are the epitome of... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 142
Advertiser Forum: Managing Uncertainty Anna Stamm It seems like every (Pick a word: day, month, year) we attempt to bring order to some chaotic part of our (Pick a word: jobs, homes, lives), only to be thwarted by something we didn’t foresee. Try as we may to maintain consistency, something always interrupts the balance. So, what can we... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 6