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Driving Conditions are Difficult Also on Forest Roads

With the onset of highly variable weather conditions, when thaw alternates with snow and rain, driving conditions are difficult throughout the territory of Latvia, including on forest roads. JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM) calls on drivers to exercise special caution when driving on forest roads.

In several sections of the road, the grooves left by cars are covered by ice and water.

“Currently, the situation on forest roads in all LVM regions is similar – driving conditions are particularly difficult. Road spreading or grooving is usually used to improve driving conditions, but these works are ineffective at the moment when snow is melting rapidly, and it is raining. Therefore, we call on drivers to be extra careful and choose the appropriate speed for driving,” says Jānis Buņkis, Head of LVM Forest Infrastructure Planning.

Considering the very difficult driving conditions – icing, wet road surface, solvent – for safer driving on forest roads, drivers of timber trucks use snow chains, which help to drive on frozen ice or a layer of driven snow.

In situations where timber transportation is not possible due to dangerous road conditions, work tasks are changed after contacting the logistics specialist, and the timber carriers are directed to roads where safe driving is possible.

“Driving conditions also have a very significant effect on the driving speed, as a result of which the total delivered volume per day is much lower these days because safety comes first and the drivers drive more carefully,” says Ivars Korsaks, Head of Deliveries at LVM Koksnes produktu ražošana un piegāde.

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The network of forest roads created by LVM ensures that even in such changing weather conditions there are warehouses that can be accessed by timber carriers, thus providing deliveries to customers. In general, the fulfillment of the volumes of deliveries is not threatened at the moment.