What is the Value of a Floating Chase? Glenn Traylor The development of the 4 x 2 floor truss system revolutionized the truss industry. Plating to the narrow edge of the chord members presented some issues, but all in all it allowed component fabricators another product offering, expanding their potential business. In the original designs, it was... Read More August 2022 Issue #14277 Page 29
What Sets Businesses Apart is People Tracy Roe In any industry, even ours, people make the difference. If one product or service in any industry was overwhelmingly better than another, there wouldn’t be a choice for very long. This is an example of entrepreneurial spirit and culture building in its very definition. Most people... Read More August 2022 Issue #14277 Page 44
Design Connections: You Want the Trusses to Support What? Geordie Secord As I mentioned in last month’s article, My Road to The JobLine, there was a time when I thought I had seen everything in the truss and component world. But here I am 37 years in, and architects, builders, and do-it-yourselfers still surprise and amaze me. The applicable building code... Read More August 2022 Issue #14277 Page 70
The Development of the Truss Plate: The Split-Ring Connectors Prequel Joe Kannapell For most of history, wood structures had been constrained by their connections. Nailed or bolted joints could only carry about half of what the wood could. As a result, our most abundant natural resource went mainly into homebuilding, where spans were short and stresses were low. That began to... Read More July 2022 Issue #14276 Page 10
Design Department Capacity Tracy Roe With component lead times being extremely long in our industry today, every manufacturer is scrambling to increase capacity. Some need more space, some need additional equipment, some simply need a labor force that is willing to work all day every day. Mostly, these needs can be met with capital... Read More July 2022 Issue #14276 Page 46
Seamless Communication Tracy Roe We’ve heard the statement forever: communication is key. Communication lies at the core of every successful relationship, team, and business. Our industry remains extremely strong and demand for metal plate connected wood trusses is as high as ever. Oftentimes when demand gets high and we... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 46
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
Preparing for What’s Next in Your Market Tracy Roe One unique thing about our industry is the diversity among markets across the country. The upper Midwest does things very differently than the South. The methods used in the West don’t align with the those used in the East. None are wrong, but most are very different. At their core, each... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 48
Time to Review the National Design Standard Jay Jones, P.E. It’s important to review our standards on a regular basis, so that we can update and improve them over time. Businesses evolve, technology evolves, and so too should our definition of best practices. For wood trusses, our current standard is ANSI/TPI 1–2014 National Design Standard... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 75
The Last Word: The Last Word on Multi-Family Joe Kannapell Has COVID-19, its aftermath, and raging inflation brought the multi-family truss business back to its roots? Bo Powers, co-owner of Panel Truss, sees fewer wraps and more garden style jobs further from cities. Kenny Shifflett, owner of Ace Carpentry, believes the plethora of these... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 126