National Hardwood Magazine - Christmas 2022

RAILWAY TIE ASSOCIATION Continued from page 31
of the major class Canadian railroads, are members of
the RTA.”
RTA hosts several meetings and events throughout
the year. Irby explained, “We have represented and
have been an advocate for the wood crosstie for over a
hundred years. Yet, we still have room to grow. We can
grow in the sawmill sector and the railroad sector. We
have great producer members that are part of the treating
community, tie processing community, etc. but if we
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Turman Mercer-Sawmills
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don’t have more of the raw material producers and more
of the end-users all being a part and contributing, as well
as participating in our events and the RTA at large, we
are underserving the masses.”
Irby also said the RTA hosted a tie grading seminar
recently. “The seminar is our premier annual education
event. We have people come and spend several days
with us learning about ties and the process of treating
ties. For next year we have added a new section to the
seminar that’s actually treated tie
inspections, so we simulate an ontrack
scenario, and we grade ties.
In the past, the Tie Grading Seminar
has been more focused on
ARRINGTON, VA
green ties to help sawmillers and
tie buyers understand grade because
the grade is important even
though it’s an industrial product.
We want to be safe, and efficiency
is a close second, proper grading
of ties is absolutely critical to our
Nation’s infrastructure. Railroads
appreciate their involvement in
RTA for that and so much more.
The Tie Grading Seminar has value
for them as well as the other
events.”
Irby indicated the softwood
sector is becoming more involved
with RTA. “The softwood industry
presence is growing, and we have
some railroad constituents that
are interested in learning more
about softwood products and
how they can be applicable in a
track setting beyond just bridge
ties. Dense softwoods are gaining
traction for track use so that could
be something we may have more
potential to grow membership in
the forest products sector. It’s all
about awareness and that’s what
we are trying to do – raise awareness.
“Becoming a member of the
RTA is a networking opportunity,”
he continued. “Producer membership
is only $425.00 annually.
Our associate member category
is beyond reasonable at just $75.00 a year. With RTA
membership, they will get our Crossties Magazine which
publishes six times a year that has data in the back of it
as well as feature articles throughout. RTA membership
also gives them access to our full database and we are
the only entity that can triangulate data from alpha to
omega in the wood crosstie world. We have volunteer
members that represent the tie purchasing community
that feed our database every month with what active
purchases are being made and that
is the first leg of the three-legged
‘data/statistics’ stool. The second
leg would be we have all the producers
that are producing treated
ties and selling those ties to the railroads
providing us that data. Now,
since we know what green ties are
being put into the marketplace (leg
#1), and we know what treated ties
are being sold to the railroads (leg
#2), thus the way we collate all that
is by adding the third leg of the ‘data’
stool, which is railroad tie installs.
Each month we validate all this data
and so it’s got a highly correlated,
very high degree of accuracy for our
member benefit. We are the only
ones collecting that level of information
focused on the wood crosstie
from point of source to end use
and relaying that information to our
membership. The power of our statistics
is profound because member/
prospects feel like they absolutely
have the pulse on the industry by
what data/statistics RTA collects and
then provides.”
Irby said the benefits of becoming
an RTA member include collaboration
with other associations. “We
provide events throughout the year,
and we collaborate with so many
other associations that we can fend
off any overreaching regulation
when it comes from a governmental
affairs perspective,” he explained.
“We do that at both state and federal
levels. We have great partners
like the Hardwood Federation, Na-
tional Hardwood Lumber Association, Hardwood Manufacturers
Association, and so many others on the Hardwood
side that help us operate in that forum. We have
The Treated Wood Council and Creosote Council on the
treated forest products side and many other great players.
We are all looking out and representing basically
the same broad community although we have our own
little wheelhouses within our prospective audiences that
we must serve.”
Please turn the page
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John Pysh, President; Max Kutz, General Manager; John Toncich III,
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2253 State Rte. 227
Pleasantville, PA 16341
Phone: (814) 590-6730 • Fax: (814) 589-7831
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