$4 gallon gas benefits woodworkers

[Robert Meyer]

I've been thinking that a positive side effect of $4-up gas prices may be the elimination of offshore plywood. As transportation costs rise the globalization process in wood products will come to a halt. This will encourage localization and we may see the BORGs full of American made plywood. Of course this won't necessarily mean thicker surface plys, but it will be easier to pressure the manufacturers into producing better quality materials. I know prices will rise and we will have to carry large panels home on our bicycles, but think of never sanding through a 1 mil surface ply again! Sweet.

[Prashun Patel]

Yeah, but it still costs a bundle to ship lumber cross country and from Canada.

I think gas going higher is good for the entire economy. Apart from pushing us to develop better fuel technology, in the short term yr right - it'll drive localization, which is better for the average business.

I think fuel costs'll hit the companies like Walmart and BORG the worst - which really means bad things for price, but good things for quality.

[alex grams]

Being an engineer in the offshore/shipping/oil industry and living in Houston, I can't really complain about the job security.

Though it has stopped me from getting a new truck when my old 30mpg car still runs well. I just feel like a city-slicker red-neck when i load up some lumber and it sticks out of my small car's trunk...

[Prashun Patel]

Yeah, I got laughed at over at the Journal of Light Construction forum for revealing the same thing!

[Tom Esh]

For sure it will change some habits. In my case I usually drive 20+ mi to my lumber supplier to pick & choose pieces. However since they also deliver for no extra charge (yet) I'll be using that service more. I suspect I'll come out ahead even if they eventually do have to tack on a delivery/fuel charge. It's a much more efficient use of fuel. They only make the trip when they've got a full load, which thanks to their commercial business works out to about weekly.

[J. Z. Guest]

I don't think it necessarily means better quality. If we put our minds to it, we can make crappy stuff here too. After all, we've learned from the best!

[Jacob Reverb]

Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to make much difference, at least not yet, simply because ships are by a big margin the cheapest way to transport cargo.

Remember, domestic plywood has transportation costs, too -- except most of the shipping is by truck or train, which are both far more expensive on a per-sheet-transport-cost basis than ships.

On top of all that, Chinese mfgrs sell plywood a lot cheaper than U.S. mfgrs.

If anything is going to get the Borgs to sell decent plywood, I think customer preference and demand will have far more influence than fuel costs for the foreseeable future.

[Ben Cadotte]

You wanna know why its going to be a bit longer for this to happen?

Look up Emma Maersk cargo ship. It carries at a minimum 15% more (more deppending on who is doing calculations) containers than the next largest container ship and is nearly 1/3 faster. It also has the same number of crew. It cannot fit in the Panama Canal so its strictly a transpacific ship. More are comming. Just like getting better mileage out of a car they are doing the same with container ships!

[Paul Johnstone]

I've been thinking that a positive side effect of $4-up gas prices may be the elimination of offshore plywood. As transportation costs rise the globalization process in wood products will come to a halt. This will encourage localization and we may see the BORGs full of American made plywood. Of course this won't necessarily mean thicker surface plys, but it will be easier to pressure the manufacturers into producing better quality materials. I know prices will rise and we will have to carry large panels home on our bicycles, but think of never sanding through a 1 mil surface ply again! Sweet.

I'd love to see HD and Lowes start to carry better quality plywood again.
I don't expect it to ever happen though. There will always be enough people that just grab whatever they have and be thrilled to save a couple dollars.

I suspect HD and Lowes may find a domestic supplier of bad plywood. That doesn't really help us.. Bottom line is that you have to go to a specialty supplier and pay more if you are concerned about quality..

[Steve Sawyer]

I don't think it necessarily means better quality. If we put our minds to it, we can make crappy stuff here too. After all, we've learned from the best!

I got a weird flash of pride awhile back when I bought some of those $5 plastic totes at the local BORG - the kind with the interlocking closure flaps on the top - and saw that they weren't manufactured in China, but in Indiana! I told the LOML - "See! We can make cheap crap here and successfully compete with the rest of the world!"

[Mike SoRelle]

I don't think it necessarily means better quality. If we put our minds to it, we can make crappy stuff here too. After all, we've learned from the best!

You underestimate us, I have no doubt that we Americans can crank out EVEN CRAPPIER stuff than offshore suppliers...

[Lee Koepke]

Yeah, but it still costs a bundle to ship lumber cross country and from Canada.

I think gas going higher is good for the entire economy. Apart from pushing us to develop better fuel technology, in the short term yr right - it'll drive localization, which is better for the average business.

I think fuel costs'll hit the companies like Walmart and BORG the worst - which really means bad things for price, but good things for quality.

it will be interesting to see the end result. the walmarts of the world thrive on distrubution efficiency, thus ending local retailers ... if you can no longer cost effectively distribute to the massive store locations, will the small vendors resurface ????

[Michael Donahue]

I'd love to see HD and Lowes start to carry better quality plywood again.
I don't expect it to ever happen though. There will always be enough people that just grab whatever they have and be thrilled to save a couple dollars.

I suspect HD and Lowes may find a domestic supplier of bad plywood. That doesn't really help us.. Bottom line is that you have to go to a specialty supplier and pay more if you are concerned about quality..

I know that alot of people complain about HD or Lowe's plywood, but many times the market isn't really there for them to supply the kinds of plywoods that we woodworkers really want. A buddy of mine works at the local HD here in CT and they started selling some better plywoods about 3 months ago. They now have an A1 cherry ($95ish), B2 maple ($70ish), a prefinished maple and a few other nicer plywoods, all made by Columbia. They haven't exactly been flying off the shelves though. My buddy said they haven't sold a single piece of cherry and maybe a half dozen of the unfinished maple. The $30 sheet of chinese cabinet-grade birch though flies off the shelves when they can get it.

I really don't think gas prices are going to get much better hardwood plywood in these stores anytime soon, especially if those who do sell some don't see much of a need for it.

On the plus side, I found a few pieces of the B2 maple in the scrap bin and got them dirt cheap!

[George Bregar]

I think gas going higher is good for the entire economy. Apart from pushing us to develop better fuel technology, in the short term yr right - it'll drive localization, which is better for the average business.

ROFL. And to meet the 10 letter requirement ROFL.

[Lee Schierer]

it will be interesting to see the end result. the walmarts of the world thrive on distrubution efficiency, thus ending local retailers ... if you can no longer cost effectively distribute to the massive store locations, will the small vendors resurface ????

I guess I don't see the logic, don't the small vendors also have to get their materials shipped from somewhere? Since the small retailers buy in smaller quantities, they can't get bulk pricing discounts and shipping small packages from lots of places to one location has to be more costly than shipping lots of stuff to a distribution center and then sending trucks with small quantities of lots of different things to one location.