62 | Sector Focus: Handling & Storage
◄ Around seven million tonnes of wood are harvested from Scotland’s forests each year and transported to sawmills, board manufacturers and other processors, on 44 tonne diesel lorries.
Seeing forestry’s crucial role in helping Scotland achieve its net zero target by 2045, rural affairs secretary, Mairi Gougeon, noted the industry’s enthusiasm to find new and effective ways to tackle the issue, describing the forestry sector as “innovative and always using new technology to increase its business efficiencies”.
James Jones & Sons is a leader in the sector in every sense. Owner of some of the most technically advanced sawmills in Europe, the company walks the talk, with innovative products, a growing presence worldwide and a commitment to environmental governance that focuses on improving its carbon credentials. Along with Scotlog Haulage, the company is partnering with Volvo Group and Cleaner EV in a three-year trial of electric timber trucks, monitored by Creel Maritime consultants and funded to the tune of £452,000 by Scottish Forestry. The project is the first of its kind in the UK and will test the use and practicality of electric wagons across the James Jones Group. A second ‘wagon and drag’ truck will transport timber shipped in from the west coast to be hauled from the Port of Inverness to the West Fraser site at Dalcross. Each of the partners have emphasised the importance of sharing their experiences of running the equipment with the industry as a whole. James Jones & Sons has already pioneered other technologies and shared its knowledge from other projects.
Its extensive fleet of mobile plant includes Baumann electric sideloaders. These 120-volt machines are an effective and safe way to transport long loads across large sites, having been originally developed with the timber sector in mind.
At the company’s Lockerbie sawmill, group fleet adviser, David Bewley, takes an open-minded approach, helped by a working lifetime in the forestry industry and a knowledge of all manner of machines. “We have opportunities to improve efficiencies through scale, but we also have challenges local to each individual site,” he said. “Every decision we make has to be commercially viable, but we are 180 years in the making!
Top: Loading the electric truck at James Jones’s Lockerbie sawmill Centre: Moving JJI-joists at James Jones’s Forres mill
Above: Baumann has added SafeLoad Assistance to its flagship electric models TTJ | November/December 2023 |
www.ttjonline.com
“The Jones family and the governance team are extremely focused on our long- term environmental, social and performance strategy. Exploring new technology and the boundaries of what is possible is crucial to that strategy.” Watching the electric sideloaders loading the electric timber truck, Mr Bewley notes it’s
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