NHLA Inspection Services provides financial guarantees on lumber shipments, independent quality checks and onsite lumber inspection training.
Have a picky customer that you can't seem to satisfy? Taking on a new customer and not sure how they will grade your lumber after you have shipped it? Have a high dollar item to be shipped with little margin for error?
If you have any of these problems, call a National Inspector to “ship it on certificate.” The Inspector will grade your lumber and strap and seal the load with official NHLA steel clips.
If there is a legitimate complaint against any loads that are strapped and sealed, NHLA will refund the monetary value difference to the shipper after re-inspection.
Don’t ship lumber without the NHLA Financial Guarantee.
Stand Up to the Test of Independent Quality Checks with the NHLA Certification Program
The NHLA Certification Program is designed to help buyers find sources of lumber from suppliers that allow three independent quality inspections per year. During these quality inspections, NHLA National Inspectors choose the species, grades, and thicknesses to grade. If the lumber is found to be within 4% money value, the member company site is considered “Certified.”
The Certified status of participating member company sites is published in the NHLA Annual Buyers Guide and the on-line directory.
Shippers benefit by receiving detailed reports three times a year showing the actual shipping quality graded by a neutral third party. Whenever possible, the reports list the Inspector's name(s) so that you may follow each Inspector's grading accuracy over the long haul. Shippers may use the “Certified” logo in their company advertisements.
All Certified members agree to abide by the Sales Code when resolving disputes.
Hire a NHLA National Inspector for Onsite Lumber Inspection Training at Your Facility
With the high cost of raw materials today, accurate inspection of incoming or outgoing lumber can be the deciding factor in making a profit.
NHLA Inspectors can train your inspectors on:
- NHLA Rules
- Grading accuracy
- Recognition of individual species characteristics
- Ability to upgrade lumber prior to shipment
NHLA Inspectors will train at your location, whether on the grading chain or “on the pile.” This optimizes learning because the training is done on your lumber, with your equipment, at your speed and at your facility.
A visit from an NHLA National Inspector can also improve your overall operation. Inspectors, yardmen, sawyers, buyers, sellers, office personnel, edgermen, and other employees versed in the basics of the grading rules are valuable assets.
A “rules conscious” employee will result in a more carefully manufactured product, more profitable yields from the log, a keener sense of the value of lumber being sold, and a more consistent product to the customer.
The Association will provide instruction at the sponsoring member’s facility taught by a qualified NHLA Inspector. In addition to a thorough explanation of the Sales Code, the course will answer the following questions:
- What is a legitimate complaint?
- What is NHLA's role in resolving disputes?
- When can a buyer refuse a load
- Ability to upgrade lumber prior to shipment
For on-site courses, the sponsor provides instruction materials based on the type of class scheduled, facilities for classroom work and an outdoor location to practice grading lumber.
Don’t lose any production time. Call your National Inspector today!
For more information on any of these services contact:
Mark Horne, NHLA Chief Inspector
Direct: 919-941-0324
Cell: 919-389-5089
m.horne@nhla.com.