Extemagazine 01|2016

No 1/2016

EXTEMAGAZINE NEWS FROM THE WORLD’S LEADING MANUFACTURER OF TIMBER BUNKS AND AUTO TENSIONERS

“Her in the white truck”

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Speed Weekend or “the madmen's” Christmas

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EXTE MAGAZINE | 1

Kjell Jonsson CEO ExTe

A fascinating and

inspiring diversity.

It is a weekend in late winter and I am sitting in sunshine that is glinting on the last of the snow. The birds are waking all around me, playing and chirping.

And in fact high above, two eagles are soaring majestically.

The diversity of nature is fascinating and inspiring.

Not that I am saying it is nature that inspired us at ExTe. But we also have diversity, or rather width perhaps, that comes from the needs of timber carriers the world over. And you could certainly say that the needs vary. There are new challenges cropping up all the time. The trend is for increased demand for more flexible products. To put it simply, they want more needs met and the whole rig to be more practicable.

Without giving away the details, we are

currently working on a concept that will make platform body vehicles more flexible.

A project primarily for the European continent.

Our latest products, the TU tensioners and the S bunks, have met with great interest, especially on the Nordic market. Not least in Norway, where the TU can be found on more and more rigs. More accessories and smart new mountings make the TU tensioners even more interesting.

TU also has a market for lashing various kinds of general cargo. The word on all the projects we have going on the Nordic region and many other markets is very positive.

We will be telling you more about these projects during the year.

The future looks bright. Things are going well for us in most markets.

This is partly because more and more hauliers are discovering the benefits and flexibility offered by our products. And also because of the encouraging demand for forest material in many markets.

I would like to give early notice of the trade fairs we will be taking part in during the summer. You can find out where we will be on our website.

And as always we will have new from ExTe. More about this later.

Now, we are hoping for a fine spring and dry roads.

Sincerely Kjell Jonsson, CEO ExTe

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CONTENTS

NR 1 / 2 016

IN RE

08 Spaniards with a belief in the future visit ExTe. 11 Would be good to meet in the summer.

09 Vive La France and ExTe. 12 49 years is just the start.

10 Interested in big load areas.

14 Now Bernt can fish and pick berries.

Learning by doing.

What you hear, you know. What you have read, you know, but what you have done, you can do. This was roughly ExTe’s thinking when it came to how its products would work for installers. The best way to get to know something is to do it yourself.

“Perhaps we sometimes think that we have found the best solutions for installing our products. But now and then installers may tell us that this isn’t so,” says Lennart Wallström, who is responsible for ExTe’s development and design department.

“We realised that the best way of coming up with better solutions is to install them ourselves. I should say straight away that there is no question of our competing with the installers. This is purely and simply a question of training for our designers.”

“We have started to install our products on a vehicle. And the people doing the installation are the staff from the development department. This gives them knowledge and also a feeling for how our products work in the installation stage.”

“The purpose of course is that the designers can discover what could be done better or simplified.”

“When we find smarter solutions, it is more profitable for the customer. And that is what guides us the whole time – that our products should help to make the carriers’ timber transports more profitable,” explains Lennart Wallström.

EXTE MAGAZINE | 3

“Her in the white truck” “I have always loved the smell of timber and earth from a timber truck. When I was only fifteen I started riding with carriers and drivers in the area. And that was the way the road carried on – although not a dead straight one,” says Bella Haglund, a confident Värmland woman from Svanskog.

V This is Bella's fifth year as a timber truck driver.

“I suppose I have a slightly unusual career path,” she laughs. There were no timber trucks in the family and it took many years before I got a licence. Believe it or not, I was working as a doctor’s secretary for several years. I also have a college education as a special teacher. At one time, I thought I would work with people who had special needs. Which did not happen. But it came in handy after I started in this business,” Bella says with a big laugh.

“I am a person who is always on the move. Not because I am especially impatient, but because I see new possibilities and want to test myself. The real reason I am driving a timber truck is that I want to apply to Swedish Customs’ crime prevention unit for heavy transport. And for that you need an HGV licence and at least five years’ experience as a driver. Now it’s almost been five years, so we’ll see what happens.”

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“Her in the white truck” turned up at ExTe’s Truck Stop at Halden in Norway.

Bella Haglund on the right is the driver. Johanna Persson on the left is a trainee. “An enterprising girl who will doubtless stay in this business,” Bella thinks.

Bella drives to most of the sawmills and pulp mills in and

trucks with cranes there are even more who get weeded

around Värmland, but also to Norway.

out. Nine of us got our crane permits at the same time, and

She drives for the timber transporter JMT in Gunnarskog

I’m the only one left. The fact is that, to get more drivers, the

outside Arvika. The haulier has 6-8 timber trucks and can

crane is a problem. As it is, you have to put in many unpaid

draw on extra depending on how much driving there is.

hours learning to handle the crane effectively.

The industry is looking for new drivers all the time. I think

“At one time I only drove in Norway, and that was a

the industry should really think this through and offer a qual-

lesson for me, with a whole lot of bureaucracy.”

ified course in crane operation.”

“In Norway there are hardly any women who drive timber

“Selfies are not my thing. I like to be by myself in the for-

trucks. They called me ‘her in the white truck’. Many of the

est, to be responsible for myself and use my own creativity

guys I met had very definite views about a girl behind the

when problems arise, because they do sooner or later.

wheel. And Sweden is not without prejudice either,

Changing a hydraulic hose is one of the easier jobs.”

although it is getting better all the time.”

“Right now this feels like a really top job for me, and I can

“I have met quite a few girls who chose to become drivers

certainly recommended it to other girls.”

because they thought it was tough to drive a timber truck.

But they usually disappear pretty quickly. And if they drive

“There are jobs – if you know what you want,” confirms Bella.

EXTE MAGAZINE | 5

Speed Weekend – or the “madmen's” Christmas.

6 | EXTE MAGAZINE

This year’s Speed Weekend was held in Årsunda in Gästrikland. Anything and everything you can put an engine on gets driven there. Preferably as fast as possible. Scooters, bathtubs and saunas were just the start. Everything had to be fast, and nearly everything was. In the midst of all the chaos, ExTe was taking care of all the timber transporters and drivers. As well as all the vehicle dealers who were invited. A successful event for ExTe. As for the vehicles, the pictures speak for themselves.

EXTE MAGAZINE | 7

SPAIN

A group of very happy Spaniards in the amazingly beautiful forest landscape of Hälsingland.

From left to right, Juan Bautista Cortinas Pedreira, trucks and forest machines, Alfonso Prieto Perez, Implementos Logisticos, ExTe ÅF, Jose Maria Rega Paz, installer, Benigno Miguez Pineiro, trucks and forest machines, Jesus Antonio Suarez Oliver, haulier with 18 vehicles.

Spaniards with a belief in the future visit ExTe. ExTe has been working with Alfonso Prieto and his Implementos Logisticos in Spain for 20 years. The relationship became even stronger during the course of some fantastic winter days in March.

Alfonso visited ExTe in Färila together with an installer and three end customers.

The four guests were from north western Spain, where Lugo is the biggest city. One is a trailer manufacturer, one a haulier with 18 trucks of his own plus another 10 that drive for him. The other two have both trucks and forest machines. They buy felling rights and transport the timber to pulp mills and sawmills.

Alfonso explains that there is now a little more belief in the future in the country, after several years of economic problems. The improving economy is also having a positive effect on forestry. Another factor that favours forestry is that the rules for the total weight of trucks are being changed in Spain.

“Now they are talking about going from a 40-tonne total weight to 60 tonnes on certain sections of road. An increase of 50% in total weight means that a rig must

8 | EXTE MAGAZINE

be longer than the present 18 metres. Now they are discussing 24-metre rigs, the same as we have in Sweden,” explains ExTe’s Per Jonasson.

The Spanish guests thought it was very interesting to find out more about the longer rigs. And with the aid of Göranssons Åkeri, they could also see how separate loaders and group vehicles work together.

“They were also very interested in our S10 bunks and TU tensioners so as to be prepared for the new rules. The

Vive la France and ExTe.

increased total weight will mean longer timber, which will in turn need fewer but stronger bunks of the S10 type,” explains Per Jonasson.

After an intensive information day, the next day was devoted to a scooter safari and jig fishing.

“Beautiful weather and Hälsingland at its very best, combined with all the new information about ExTe’s products made our visitors very happy,” says Per Jonasson.

FRANCE

Cadot Transport bases its forest transports in Saint Armel in Brittany in north western France. Its latest investment was three articulated trailers with 10 E6 bunks from ExTe on each one.

“Both the installer Cornu in France and ExTe now have a very satisfied customer,” explains ExTe’s Ingemar Larsson.

EXTE MAGAZINE | 9

Tomas Edström:

Interested in big load areas.

Edströms Åkeri in Åsele is almost the same age as ExTe. In fact both companies trace their roots back to the end of the 1800s.

They both had horses in common. Edströms pulled timber and ExTe produced harrows for agriculture. But their paths didn’t cross until the 2000s.

Svenne of Parator on the left hands over the two new trailers with S10 bunks to Tomas Edström (centre) and Joakim Edström.

10 | EXTE MAGAZINE

Tomas Edström and cousin Joakim Edström visited ExTe in connection with the delivery of two new Parator trailers with S10 bunks.

“Of course it was the wide load area that was interesting,” says Tomas. The bunks are fitted to two low-built trailers. They look good. Wide bunks and high uprights make room for a larger volume.”

“So far we have only been able to drive with one trailer, but it works well.”

Naturally the visit to ExTe included a tour of the factory. “Our impression is that ExTe absolutely knows what it is doing when it comes to bunks. It seems to be a well-managed company with a great deal of knowledge. If a place is in good order, you can see it pretty quickly,” says Tomas Edström.

“I must say that ExTe is good at looking after its visitors and its customers. We had a very pleasant evening of bandy in Ljusdal. And the bandy came with all the accessories.”

“We have actually been in the Ljusdal area quite a lot because besides timber transport we also handle relining of road culverts. And that means there is a lot to do. What we actually do is put new road culverts into the old ones. Smart and cost-effective,” says Tomas Edström.

Visit our website and read more about the trade fairs, and feel free to get in touch with us in advance, especially if you are thinking of visiting us at any fair in Europe.

Would be good to meet in the summer.

This summer, ExTe will be at most of the big trade fairs in Europe for timber transporters. We would love to see you for a chat and a snack.

Trade fairs in the Nordic region It all starts on 23 May with a fair at Lillestrøm in Norway. Focus on forest transport, among other things.

At the beginning of June (3–4) it is Skogsmaskindagar in Karlskoga, with most things connected with forestry and transports.

And on 4-5 June there is truck drag racing in Ljusdal. No trade fair, but pretty tough.

On 24–27 August it is once again time for Elmia Lastbil in Jönköping. We need hardly give more details, except that ExTe will of course be there with new ideas.

At the beginning of September (1–3) Finnmetko will be held in Finland.

Rest of Europe 9–12 June KWF, Roding Bavaria, Germany.

15–17 June Forexpo, Mimizan, France.

30 June–2 July Galiforest, Spain.

1–4 September Internationale Holzmesse, Klagenfurt, Austria.

22–29 September IAA, Hannover, Germany.

49

NORWAY

Steinar Lierhagen has been driving timber trucks for 49 years. And he has no plans to stop now. On the rig are aluminium bunks with telescopic uprights. The alminium bunks are the forerunners of the A series and have been moved across from the last rig.

years is just the start.

“We have been touring Norway,” explains Jörgen Spring,” and among other places visited the Sørli terminal near Hamar and the paper mills in Sarpsborg and Halden.”

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Transports in Norway are going well; many people were rather stressed but gave up a little time to talk to us. We saw a lot of people in fact, and found that they were pleased with our bunks and tensioners. We saw lots of TU tensioners on rigs, so there is no doubt that TU has had a breakthrough here. “ We met Steinar Lierhagen at the Sørli terminal. A unique man,” says Jörgen. He has been driving timber trucks for 49 years.”

“I will be 71 at Christmas. I still work full time,” says Steinar. He drives for Pedersens, with transports to both terminals and pulp mills.

“We also drive for four commonages.

The boss said that he wants me to carry on driving until this truck is worn out - and then start driving a new one. I’m in good condition, so I’m sure it will work out,” says Steinar. “I get fantastic support from my wife. She pampers me and makes sure that I get going, even if we get up at four in the morning.

The secret to driving for 49 years is probably enjoying it and feeling good about it,” says Steinar.

The hook that makes the difference.

Sometimes it’s the little details that change everything. The hook is a shining example.

When ExTe launched its first hook around a decade ago, it gave drivers and transporters the chance to stop throwing chains and straps. Nowadays, throwing is an unusual phenomenon. There is now a better insight into how the body can be damaged in the long term.

But even a hook can be developed and improved. To be fully effective it must be suitable for different types of grapple. To be honest, in the early days it could be a bit hit and miss. The lift usually worked, but now and then the hook slid off the grapple or got stuck. Obviously a source of irritation and waste of time when someone had to hang the hook on the grapple again.

Ingemar Karlsson of Åvikens Trävaru in northern Usstorp in Tranåshas had various ExTe hooks over the years.

“I had some points of view about ExTe’s old hooks and I certainly put them forward. It seems as if they listened because with ExTe’s new hooks there is a real difference.

The old hooks got stuck easily. The new ones don’t.”

“We use straps on our three rigs and with the new hooks everything goes together properly. It works very well,” says Ingemar. We have mainly been using ExTe hooks and from now on we will definitely use them.

Ingemar explains that Åvikens Trä was originally a sawmill, but this was closed down in the 70s. But they kept the name.

“We have also invested in ExTe’s new S bunks on our latest trailers. Above all, it is the load area that is interesting. In summer, when the timber is lighter, it is great to be able to load more. In winter, with lower stacks, stability is much better,” explains Ingemar.

Ingemar Karlsson is very happy with ExTe’s new hooks.

EXTE MAGAZINE | 13

Now Bernt can fish and pick berries.

After 43 years with ExTe, welder Bernt Jonsson went home in the middle of March. “Five years ago I decided that I would stop the day before my 65th birthday. And that’s how it was,” says Bernt.

“When I started in 1973, we were in Industrihuset in Fäila.

To begin with, I did a bit of everything - drilling and grinding for example. Things weren’t so clearly divided as they are now. We went in and did what was needed at the time.

Later, the job was mainly to do with cutting machines and welding robots, but there was still a lot of manual welding,” explains Bernt.

“Even when I started at ExTe, we were producing the 144 bunks, which are still going today. And we started to develop aluminium bunks. When you have been here as long as I have, you will have experienced both ups and downs of course. I now that in some years when things were going really badly, we continued to make bunks and store them nearby. And then things turned around, and the stock disappeared almost immediately.

But it has mostly been good at ExTe with good workmates. Over the years, you learned what kind of sense of humour everyone had and what you could say to each one of them.

Now I will just be a pensioner. And I say what all pensioners say. There is as much as ever to do. It’s just that some things are so tedious. So I will concentrate on fishing and berry picking instead,” says Bernt.

14 | EXTE MAGAZINE

Bernt Jonsson (centre) is retiring after 43 years at ExTe. On the left is CEO Kjell Jonsson and on the right production manager Magnus Johansen.

USA

Oregon Logging Conference Kevin Hodgins, ExTe’s dealer, with his back to the camera talks to interested customers about the ES12.

ExTe took part, through its dealer Prolenc, in the Oregon Logging Conference in Eugene, on the west coast of the USA, just south of the border with Canada. On its stand, Prolenc demonstrated ExTe’s ES12 bunks, a steel bunk produced specially for North American conditions.

The fair was mainly visited by transporters from the north western part of the USA. “It was visitors from Idaho and Montana, where short timber is more common than in Oregon, who were most interested in ExTe’s products,” explains Per Jonasson of ExTe. After a rather sparse beginning, interest in the conference has increased considerably. There are now more and more exhibitors.

A very typical American timber rig from the Eugene area in western USA.

D bunks are really taking over in Poland.

It is no exaggeration to say that Poland has really grown as an important market for ExTe. “We have a very good, close relationship with MHS, which has become the biggest installation company in Poland. Their high quality and our light and functional

bunks have become a recipe for success among Polish transporters,” says Ingemar Larsson. Above all, it is the D bunks that are of great interest. The D series is light, strong and has smart solutions for accessories, and the design is also good looking.

A vehicle built up by MHS with D7 bunks. Note the telescopic uprights. A popular and common ExTe upright outside the Nordic region. The customer is Andrzej Wójcikowski.

Gaulka is a major transport company in Poland. It currently has around 20 rigs, which are equipped with ExTe bunks. The latest addition is a truck and trailer with D5 bunks. It was built up by MHS, of course.

POLAND

EXTE MAGAZINE | 15

Sweden post paid

“Disaster

for log floating in Ljusnan.”

Information has reached us from normally reliable sources about great concern about log floating in the Ljusnan river.

It is the “rump” that is especially critical, with heaps of logjams remaining in the river. People are talking now about stopping log floating indefinitely.

“The whole thing is completely annoying, but there is nothing to be done about it,” said a representative of the Ljusnan Log Floating Association.

But on the banks of the Ljusnan is ExTe, and the word here is completely different The development of timber bunks for the timber trucks that would replace log floating is going at full speed.

The future is looking bright.

You have probably already worked out that what you just read is a piece of development history. The log floating era began in the late 1800s and continued until the 1970s, when the transport of timber on trucks took over completely.

The information about log floating in the Ljusnan is taken from a 1963 article in the Hälsinge-Kuriren. The real reason for the “disaster” headline was quite simply a shortage of water in early summer.

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Cold nights, no melt water from the mountains and extreme early summer drought resulted in a pitiful water flow of 58 cubic metres per second.

Normal log floating needed 200 cubic metres per second.

The water level sank drastically and, to put it bluntly, the “rump” crew were working their butts off for as long as it was possible.

But it soon had to stop and a few years later it stopped for good.

The log floaters became forestry transporters and drivers. And that was when the development of ExTe really took off.

In the course of just one decade, ExTe became the leading manufacturer and supplier of timber bunks and tensioners in the Nordic region. Today, that position is global.

Contact us: telephone 0651-175 00 or e-mail salEs@exte.se and tell us what you need.