Working in the woods
Page 12
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by Juliet Morrison II Hauliers with suitable vehicles are invited to bid for a series of Welsh timber distribution contracts. The Forest Enterprise, part of the Forestry Commission, has put out to tender five contracts to distribute pulpwood from forests throughout Wales to paper mills in Deeside or Chirk in Clwyd.
Each contract will generate an average of five truck loads of work a week and will run from 1 April 1995 to 31 March 1996—although successful hauliers could have their contracts extended for another two years.
Operators bidding for the work will need flatbeds; preferably with twinwheeled trailers to reduce damage to the forest roads, equipped with on-board weighing devices and mobile phones. They will also have to be prepared for drivers to negotiate steep hills and narrow roads, says Forest Enterprise regional marketing officer for Wales, Eifion Jones.
"We would consider hauliers who are not already in this sector," he says, "but we would send somebody around to inspect their trucks and take them around to see what forest haulage is all about." At least 26,000 tonnes of woodpulp—round timber 2.3m long and around 60-350mm in diameter—will be moved for the five contracts in a 12month period.
LII Tender documents are available from the harvesting and marketing section of the Forest Enterprise, Victoria Terrace, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 2DQ. Closing date for tenders is Tuesday 14 March.