In order to introduce students from the Faculty of Forest at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU) to the execution of transport tasks and to demonstrate their practical application in the field, staff from the AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) Supply Process invited fourth-year forestry engineering students to head into the forest.
“We took the students to a timber depot in the Daudzeva parish of the Vidusdaugava region, where a wide range of timber products was gathered in one place. This allowed the students to, firstly, assess the accessibility of timber from the perspective of the roads used for transport and, secondly, to demonstrate their knowledge regarding the variety of assortments and volume determination,” explains Signija Cera, Supply Manager at “LVM Mežsaimniecība”.
To give the students an opportunity to become acquainted with the machinery used for timber transport services, two timber trucks were waiting for them at the Daudzeva parish depot in the Vidusdaugava region. The drivers from LVM transport service providers SIA “Panātre” and SIA “Egles dēls” spoke about the specifics of their work and the additional equipment on each timber truck – such as an extended-reach loader, tyre pressure control systems, and axle weight indicators – while further explaining and demonstrating how these assist in daily operations.
The practical execution of transport tasks was also demonstrated – where and how a timber truck driver receives a task, how freight waybills are processed, how routes to the depot and delivery points are received and utilised, how to identify the timber being loaded at the depot, and what information the timber truck driver transmits online to LVM after the cargo has been loaded.
Following the practical session in the forest, during which they explored the daily life of a timber truck driver, the students travelled to Gravāni in the Sala parish of Jēkabpils municipality to visit the repair workshops of LVM service provider SIA “Egles dēls”. The company provides timber transport and logging services, allowing them to offer a comprehensive insight into work within the forestry sector.
The manager of SIA “Egles dēls”, Mairis Miežāns, spoke about his career in the forest sector – from skidding timber as a tractor operator to becoming the owner of a stable forestry service company, with a fleet including seven modern timber trucks, three harvesters, and three forwarders. As one of his main tasks, the expert highlighted the building of a good team, where ensuring employee wellbeing is becoming increasingly important. “In order to attract qualified specialists and retain them in the company, it is essential to consider not only the physical working environment, including new machinery and its equipment, but also the emotional environment. Nowadays, the relationships with immediate colleagues are important to employees, as is the support of their manager,” notes SIA “Egles dēls” manager M. Miežāns.
To provide future forestry professionals with a broader insight into forestry issues, LVM experts regularly hold lectures for students of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies Faculty of Forest and organise field seminars in the forest for those interested, in order to give them an idea of their future profession and answer the students' current questions.