OTA Dispatch Issue 2 2019

HISTORY Darrel Boyer left his father’s trucking company, Coos Trucking, and started working for a local operation with his very own chip truck. Darrel became a very successful driver there and managed to get twice the work done, partially due to some double shifting with a friend. In 1972, he and his wife Jackie incorporated Terrain Tamers. The company is still headquartered in Dillard, a small town outside of Roseburg with an additional terminal in Salem, still a chip hauler, and still family-owned. So, why the company name? Darrel had owned an off-road accessory store and “Terrain Tamers” was from the advertising for the hover crafts they sold. Darrel’s son, Brant Boyer, is the current president and owner, but it wasn’t just the simple matter of inheriting the trucking business that his parents built. Darrel instructed his son to “get into the real world first.” Brant had worked at Terrain Tamers in the shop during college summer breaks. “My dad always said, ‘If you want to make a good living, either be a business owner or a salesman.’ I graduated from Linfield College, but after working as a financial advisor for six years, I decided financial sales wasn’t for me,” recalls Brant. “My dad also said if I wanted to run a business, I would have to know all the working parts. So, I got a CDL and started driving for Terrain Tamers. I worked at the Salem terminal for two years to help the sole manager of that location then moved back to Dillard.” The company now operates just under 60 trucks and primarily hauls wood chips. During the exclusive OTA tour with Terrain Tamers’ Safety Director, Christie Wuerst, and Recruiter, Amanda Pratt, we got to see the chip loading in action at the Roseburg Forest Products (RFP) mill, another OTA member and one of Terrain Tamer’s biggest clients. During production at the mill, which is located just a few miles away from Terrain Tamer’s Dillard location, the wood chips travel along a conveyor across the road to a large housing container, tall enough for a truck and trailer to fit under. The driver pulls up and fills the trailer from the bottom of the container using the lever and, of course, a good eye and experience. It can’t be too full or they’ll risk an overweight load. The driver will then scale, typically on-site, and be on his or her way. RFP has a unique facility keeping themselves and Terrain Tamers busy as they operate 24/7. 18 Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Oregon Truck Dispatch Chipping Away at Challenges for a Safety Success Story