Speaker
Description
In Europe, long-distance road transport of timber is commonly carried out by trucks, either as single units or in truck–trailer configurations. In mountainous forests characterized by rugged terrain and frequent curves on forest roads, tractor–semi-trailer combinations often face access constraints at roadside landings. Under such conditions, single trucks and trucks with trailers represent the most feasible options for transporting assortments to customers.
To investigate these haulage solutions, time-and-motion studies of work cycles were conducted under operational conditions. Field data were collected for a single truck and for a truck with trailer in the Lesidren State Forest Range (northwestern Bulgaria). In addition, a third case study was included in Calabria (southern Italy), where a single timber truck operated in a mountainous context with curved road geometry, transporting roundwood assortments. The work cycles followed the same operational scheme as in the Bulgarian observations, enabling a coherent comparison across study areas.
For each vehicle and site, work cycles were analysed by distinguishing productive elements (loading, travel loaded and unloaded, unloading) from delays, and by evaluating payload, productivity, and cost behaviour at the cycle and shift levels. The study highlights how local road constraints and vehicle configuration influence operational efficiency and economic performance in long-distance timber haulage. Overall, the findings support the need to match transport solutions to forest-road conditions and to use systematic cycle monitoring to improve planning and cost control.
| Keywords | payload; transportation; time-motion; forest-operation; |
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