Rob Freres, president of Oregon-based Freres Engineered Wood, a manufacturer of lumber, veneer, plywood and mass timber, has thrown in his support for a lawsuit filed by the Oregon Trucking Assn. and three Oregon-based trucking companies against the state of Oregon for overcharging truckers under the weight-mile tax.

“For decades, Oregon trucking companies, the vast majority of which are small, family-owned businesses, have paid far more than their fair share of transportation taxes,” Freres writes in a company blog. “By 2025, the trucking industry is expected to have overpaid by half a billion dollars. Trucking companies in Oregon simply cannot sustain paying the highest transportation taxes of any state in the country any longer.”

Oregon Trucking Assn., Combined Transport, A&M Transport and Sherman Bros. Trucking filed a lawsuit against the state of Oregon, the Oregon Dept. of Transportation, Gov. Tina Kotek, Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) and House Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis). The lawsuit claims that the state’s weight-mile tax is unconstitutional by forcing truckers to pay more than their fair share.

At the center of the lawsuit is Article IX, section 3a of Oregon’s constitution, which “ensures that the share of revenues paid for the use of light vehicles, including cars, and the share of revenues paid for the use of heavy vehicles, including trucks, is fair and proportionate to the costs incurred for the highway system because of each class of vehicle.”

According to the lawsuit, truckers have been paying “an ever-increasing and disproportionate share” of the state’s road revenue. Under the same section of the Oregon constitution, the state must submit a Highway Cost Allocation Study every two years. That study determines the proportionate share that heavy and light vehicle users should pay.

According to the 2023-25 Highway Cost Allocation Study, truckers are being overcharged by the weight-mile tax as a proportion of road use.

“Under existing tax rates and fees, light vehicles are projected to underpay their responsibility by 12.2%,” the study states. “Heavy vehicles are projected to overpay by 32.4% during the next biennium.”

The last three studies have concluded that truckers in Oregon are overpaying. Despite the study results, the state has continued to collect road taxes without adjusting for equitability between vehicle types.

“Oregonians deserve safe roads, and Freres Engineered Wood is willing to pay our fair share—as required by Oregon’s constitution—as long as Oregon Department of Transportation keeps up its side of the agreement,” Freres writes. “But, to date, major road improvements have not been completed, road maintenance has been delayed, and our roads are less safe for passenger vehicles and trucks. Meanwhile, trucking companies are forced to pass astronomical tax rates on to consumers, who end up paying more for household goods.”

Freres points out that Oregon is the last state in the country to collect taxes based on weight and miles. All other states collect fuel taxes to fund roads. “It’s overdue for Oregon to eliminate the administrative cost of collecting weight mile taxes and move to a fairer fuel tax,” Freres says. “If you are able, consider contributing to the Oregon Trucking Association’s Legal Fund.”

The issue is not lost on some state lawmakers. Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany. “As a proud owner of a family-operated trucking business myself, I fully support the Oregon Trucking Association’s lawsuit against the state of Oregon for overpayment of weight-mile taxes. Our trucking businesses have been paying far more than our fair share of highway taxes for too long. By 2025, that number will total half a billion dollars in overpayments. I urge my colleagues in the Legislature to consider future opportunities to resolve this injustice.”

The lawsuit claims that the Legislative Assembly “failed to comply with its constitutional obligations.” The Oregon Trucking Assn. is asking the court to declare the defendants violated the constitution by not making mandatory weight-mile tax adjustments. Furthermore, the lawsuit seeks to stop the “unconstitutional” weight-mile tax from taking effect in 2024 and for the state to conduct an immediate review and adjustment of revenue sources.

Plaintiff trucking companies also are seeking to recover the amount of weight-mile tax they have overpaid. Between those three companies alone, that amount comes to nearly $1 million.

“For far too long, Oregon trucking companies have paid far more than their fair share of transportation taxes,” Oregon Trucking Assn. CEO Jana Jarvis said in a statement. “By 2025, the trucking industry is expected to have overpaid by half a billion dollars. Trucking companies in Oregon simply cannot sustain paying the highest transportation taxes of any state in the country any longer.”

The lawsuit was filed in the Douglas County Circuit Court in the state’s 16th Judicial District in Roseburg.

“We initiated this lawsuit not because we don’t want to be paying taxes, but because we simply want to pay our fair share,” said Andy Owens, CEO and manager of A&M Transport. “Since 2022, we have paid over $292,000 more in taxes than we should have, based on the findings of the state’s own Highway Cost Allocation Study. Not only is the overpayment not sustainable for a family business like ours, it’s in violation of Oregon’s constitution.”

The other plaintiffs, Combined Transport Inc. of Central Point, contends it overpaid by $470,619 in taxes from Jan. 1, 2022 to the present, and Sherman Bros. Trucking of Harrisburg was overcharged $153,198 in taxes during the same time.

According to the Oregon Trucking Assn., the state constitution requires that the tax rate paid by trucks be “fair and proportionate to the costs incurred for the highway system because of each class of vehicle.” However, for at least the last six years, the state’s trucking companies have been forced to pay more than a third of all taxes owed by Oregon motorists despite trucks representing only 15% of vehicle miles traveled in the state.

U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities announces that Fritz Mason, Paul Hossain and Anna Torma were elected as new directors at the organization’s fall board meeting.

“Drawing upon diverse backgrounds, they each bring a distinctive perspective and unique vision. We look forward to collaborating with them to further the mission of the Endowment,” comments Pete Madden, President and CEO of the Endowment.

Mason is President of Lumber for Georgia-Pacific, where he manages the lumber manufacturing portfolio including 12 sawmills across the U.S. Mason brings more than 35 years of experience in various roles across the industry, including leading the lumber team at Georgia-Pacific for the last 16 years. Timber Processing magazine named Mason “Person of the Year” in 2020, and he holds an MBA from Portland State University and a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Humboldt State University.

Hossain is Vice President of Natural Resources and Climate Solutions for Weyerhaeuser, where he has worked for nearly eight years. He is responsible for Weyerhaeuser’s conventional energy, minerals, renewables, and climate solutions business. Prior to its merger with Weyerhaeuser, he was vice president of renewable energy and supply chain at Plum Creek Timber. He is a board-certified environmental engineer, with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University.

Torma is Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief ESG officer for PotlatchDeltic, where she leads ESG, government relations, communications, and community relations. In this capacity, she leads ESG reporting and strategy and participates in international, national and state industry associations and coalitions to address policies impacting the forestry industry. Prior to PotlatchDeltic, Torma was SVP of Corporate Affairs for Forestar and a paper and forest products equity research analyst for Torma Research and for Merrill Lynch. She has a bachelor’s degree in forestry from Lakehead University in Ontario, an MBA in finance from the University of Western Ontario, and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Western University.

The Endowment Board and staff recognized the achievements of outgoing board members Mark Emmerson, Kevin Schuyler and Caroline Dauzat. Emmerson was chairman of the Endowment board in 2022 and is chairman, chief financial officer, and a member of the board of directors of Sierra Pacific Industries. Schuyler is senior managing director of CornerStone Partners and served as the Endowment’s treasurer. Dauzat is a fourth-generation owner at Rex Lumber and has been a member of the Endowment’s board since 2020.

Martin Sustainable Resources LLC of Alexandria, La. has donated $1 million to Louisiana Tech as a leadership gift toward construction of the University’s new Forest Products Innovation Center (FPIC), with the assurance of another $1 million to be presented by this June.

The Center will be on South Campus and provide space for a transdisciplinary approach to solving the challenges associated with the timber industry. Groundbreaking is set for late spring.

“As the Chairman, CEO, and CFO of RoyOMartin, a subsidiary of Martin Sustainable Resources, I am excited to be the lead investor in Louisiana Tech University’s Forest Products Innovation Center,” Roy O. Martin III says. “The Center will play a key role in driving research and identifying sustainable solutions for wood products. I look forward to collaborating and working together in the new state-of-the-art center, where transformational discoveries will become innovative solutions, successfully increasing forest productivity in the region.”

The new building will provide space for research collaborations, not only within the forestry industry, but also with other state and national industry partners. Academic programs in forestry, agriculture, biology, engineering, science and other disciplines will all contribute to the learning, research and service created by the FPIC.

“I look forward to the successful opportunities that the Louisiana Tech University’s Forest Products Innovation Center will offer by serving as an essential link between University research and the needs for adopting new practices, technologies, and products for the forest and timber industry,” Scott Poole, President and Chief Operating Officer, RoyOMartin adds. “Innovation is the key component to the Center’s success, and Louisiana Tech University exemplifies an innovative-driven culture for learning and research.”

Although the interdisciplinary FPIC will be driven by Forestry, there will be a valuable Engineering and Science collaboration. The FPIC will house wood processing and testing labs as well as chemical engineering labs where industry can work with research faculty and students.

In addition, a U.S. Forest Researcher will be housed in the FPIC to bring another research perspective and identity to the Center that will provide more opportunities for enhancing the sustainability of forests and forest-related industries.

The University welcomes industry and private contributions to help secure funding needed to achieve the goal of developing the FPIC.

Kadant Inc. has completed its previously announced acquisition of Key Knife, Inc. and some of its affiliates for approximately $156 million in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments. The acquisition was financed primarily through borrowings under Kadant’s revolving credit facility.

Key Knife, a global supplier of engineered knife systems for custom chipping, planing, and flaking solutions for wood product industries, is headquartered in Tualatin, Ore. with 141 employees located primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Key Knife’s revenue for the trailing twelve months ending September 30, 2023 was approximately $65 million. Key Knife will become part of Kadant’s Industrial Processing reporting segment.

“We are pleased to complete this transaction and welcome our new colleagues from Key Knife to the Kadant family,” says Jeffrey L. Powell, President and CEO, Kadant. “Our acquisition of Key Knife expands our product portfolio and strengthens our respective positions in wood processing industries. We look forward to extending Key Knife’s strong brand into new markets and leveraging Kadant’s global sales network.”