The fast-moving wildfires have devasted communities and scorched over five million acres across the Western United States. Many of the fires are still not under control, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes. Over the last two weeks, various facilities closed to protect workers’ health and safety. The suspension of logging activity and smoke disrupted lumber mill operations, warehouses, transportation, and employees serving the forest products family. While trucking shortages already existed in the industry, the fires further exaggerated the availability of trucks hauling lumber to California. Furthermore, railroads fell behind schedule to push empty railcars to mills for loading and transit. Combining the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfires have disrupted the balance of an ordinarily reliable supply chain.
We understand that you may have growing concerns regarding product availability and inventory levels. Even as the wildfires continue to spread across the West Coast, we want to inform you that our operations have been running without significant interruptions. All seven Hayward Lumber locations are open, and we can serve our customers during this challenging situation. However, these unpredictable challenges also mean that communicating and planning are more important than ever.
Looking ahead, we want you to know that we are monitoring inventory levels closely and evaluating our supplier networks. Our procurement team is regularly communicating with our suppliers to assess and identify potential weaknesses in the supply chain. Due to the evolving wildfire conditions in the Pacific Northwest, on top of the numerous disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see shortages that may impact our ability to satisfy some of our customers’ demands. At times deliveries may be delayed, or there may be spots where we are short on a particular dimension, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
We sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding as we are navigating through these challenging times. Please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to answer your questions.
Thank you for being our customer!
