Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will be coming to Kendrick Forest Products in Edgewood, Iowa, to sign the overweight trucking bill and take a tour.

Kendrick has been working with the Iowa Wood Industries Association (IWIA) to get an overweight bill passed that would allow the overweight hauling of raw forest products with permits.

The IWIA consists of many Iowans in the wood industry and the process of instituting the overweight bill has been over three years in the making. SF 629 for Raw Forest Products was signed by the president and speaker on May 3 and sent to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds who will be signing the bill into effect on May 20.

The governor’s tour will start at KFP on May 20 and include the all five companies under the Kendrick, Inc. brand. Sawmill, custom cabinet shop, wood sign manufacturing facilities, and retail store, The Markket.

There are currently 24 states that allow the forest industry to haul overweight with permits. A handful of them are Iowa’s neighbors. That has put Iowa companies at an unfair freight disadvantage when competing with neighboring states.

Many of KFP’s railroad ties and green lumber go to Wisconsin, a state that offers overweight permits. For example, now that Iowa will begin offering overweight permits for forestry products, KFP will be able to get 10-18 percent more weight on trucks that are going to Wisconsin.

The passing of the raw forestry bill will help many Iowa companies in the wood industry be more competitive in the selling of their products in the global market, especially for species such as red oak, ash, hard maple, hickory and basswood.