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Article
2006 March
- Having a reputation for being a good employer can often be your best recruiting tool.
- Some of our best employees hear about the company from word of mouth.
- Hiring a new employee may be a quick fix to a staffing problem, but by investing in your current staff, you reap long-term benefits.
Article
2006 March
- Phone lines, network cables and electrical cords can pose tripping hazards in aisles and walkways.
- Like nail guns and metal banding in the truss plant, some office related "tools" also pose a safety hazard.
- Using good old-fashioned common sense is the best way to be safe in any work environment.
Article
2006 Jan/Feb
- The founders of our industry are probably asking, "Where’s my truss industry?"
- We must continue to sell value in order to keep this industry strong.
- One of the only possible negatives to selling more engineering and integrated services is if component manufacturers begin to dilute the value of components by not "up-selling" the value provided.
Article
2006 Jan/Feb
- As wall panels gain popularity, questions pertaining to sealed engineering requirements have increased.
- Can walls built in the shop rely on the prescriptive provisions of the building code?
- In the future, it is possible that component manufacturers will be responsible for providing sealed design drawings for their wall panel designs.
Article
2005 December
- The Western Lumber Grading Rules permit combinations of like-named U.S. and Canadian species groups, which allows mills that have access to logs from the U.S. and Canada to mix them during production.
- The most common combinations are Douglas Fir-Larch, Hem-Fir and Spruce-Pine-Fir.
- The applicable design values for a given U.S. and Canadian species group combination that component manufacturers should use in their software are the lower of the two individual country values for each design value category (see Table 2 on page 76).
Article
2005 December
- It’s time to reconcile your OSHA recordkeeping logs.
- If an injury or illness resulted from an event or "exposure" that happened at work, assume it is work related.
- There are some exemptions to what is defined as work related, such as an employee using company property for personal tasks outside his/her assigned work hours.
- A fatality is ALWAYS recordable.
Article
2005 December
- Generally, wall girders cannot be used in second story framing because it is nearly impossible to brace the compression top chord of a girder when it is placed in a wall.
- The top chord(s) of girder trusses can experience very high compressive forces, which can cause the chord to buckle out of plane.
Article
2005 November
- An in-plant quality control program helps you quickly identify issues with a press or how someone is doing their job through the management information that the data provides.
- The program may take an investment in time and money, but monitoring the benchmarks and charts and catching a problem and solving it in a timely manner is well worth it.
- Proof of such a program can potentially help lower your insurance premiums.
- Certain U.S.
Article
2005 November
- Safety training can help your employees develop the skills they need to recognize and understand on-the-job hazards.
- Training should be developed for new and existing employees alike.
- Training records can be of great value when evaluating trends in injury and accident rates.
Article
2005 November
- The requirements for fire generally take precedence over those for sound.
- What is good for fire performance may not be good for sound performance. The reverse is also true.
- Determining sound ratings is a building designer or specialty engineering re-sponsibility, so be sure not to take on any design work responsibility that falls beyond your scope of work.
Article
2005 Sept/Oct
- Kendall Hoyd’s term as WTCA President is nearly complete.
- A time of transition and growth is upon WTCA.
- Activities such as research and testing, legislative work, participation in building code development, or training program development will increase the efficiency of WTCA members as the industry growths.
Article
2005 Sept/Oct
- Motor vehicle traffic crashes were the eighth leading cause of death among all ages in 2002.
- You can play a key role in reducing accidents by making sure that you and your vehicle are in suitable driving condi-tion—before getting behind the wheel.
- Beware of drowsy driving: 37 percent of drivers surveyed by the National High-way Traffic Safety Administration admitted to falling asleep at the wheel at some point in their driving career.
Article
2005 Sept/Oct
- Homeowners and building officials alike often wonder if damaged trusses should be replaced or repaired.
- If a truss is damaged or altered it does not need to be replaced but it must be repaired.
- It is important to repair a damaged truss because truss members can quickly become overloaded if a truss is damaged or altered.
Article
2005 August
- Bevel cutting can be a very dangerous operation in the truss plant especially since 90 percent of One Minute Poll respondents say they use a table saw.
- There are about six different methods of installing valley trusses that are used in the field.
Article
2005 August
- The Canadian-U.S. softwood lumber dispute causes business uncertainty and lumber cost volatility.
- Congress needs to hear from our industry every chance we get that we are in favor of an enduring negotiated trade agreement.
Article
2005 August
- After a long struggle to keep in compliance with covenants in their credit agreement and a failed recapitalization attempt, Trussway’s only option was to restructure the company financially.
- Their financial restructuring was completely via a five-month pre-packaged Chapter 11 filing process.
- Trussway’s financial storm dating back to 1998 has finally blown over, and the company is enjoying financial health, prosperity and growth in its core multi-family segment.
Article
2005 June/July
- A major WTCA initiative to conduct re-search and testing of structural component performance has been launched.
- The data derived from this work will help influence new building code enactment and may provide new marketing opportunities for component manufacturers.
- Stay tuned for more updates on this initiative in future issues of SBC Magazine.
Article
2005 June/July
- Hot weather combined with working in a truss plant means you should drink as much water as possible.
- Heat exhaustion is a common ailment and is easily treated. If ignored, it could be a precursor to heat stroke.
- Heat stroke is very serious and can lead to death.
Article
2005 June/July
- Dead loads are projected horizontally for truss design.
- Truss technicians must be clear on whether they need to adjust the input design dead load values for slope or if the software will do it for them.
- Slope adjustments become more critical with steeper pitches.
Article
2005 May
- Attention to posture, conditioning, avoiding obesity, alcohol, drugs, smoking, and minimizing stress will take help you in maintaining a healthy back!
- Truss plants have many awkward loads to lift and carry, so lifting care is very important.
Article
2005 May
- Consider this framework for evaluating our industry’s position in the competitive landscape of the construction industry.
- There are basic forces that govern industry competition: the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and custo-mers, and the threat of substitue products.
- Our industry brings value by providing a service/product bundle that lowers costs and raises quality.
Article
2005 May
- ANSI/TPI 1-2002 has several new provisions that you will need to get used to as you change over from the 1995 version.
- Some floor truss designs created with 1995 provisions may develop "chunk-out" errors when they are re-analyzed with ANSI/TPI 1-2002.
- Doubling the particular web or chord in that section will solve the problem.