Our customers across Canada and the US have good things to say about their experience with Caribou Software.
The Logger's Edge has made my life a lot easier, and I'm really glad we made the decision to get it. Preparing contractor pay statements takes less than half the time it used to take us. And I love the look-up capabilities in the system.
Now when someone comes into the office wanting to know the rates or cycle times on a block, it's all right in my system: no more digging through binders! And it's great having our trucker list so readily accessible - even for guys that just haul a couple loads - we have their information right there - again, no more digging through binders.
~ Susanne Luethi, Freya Logging Inc - Prince George, British Columbia
At Thompson River Lumber Co we have been using the Caribou Software Cutting Edge program since 2006. We also utilize the weigh scale portion of the program. The Cutting Edge system has really helped to simplify our log accounting with its intuitive entry and ease of calculation.
The printed Vendor statements are professional and easy to read for our landowners. We have always received great support from Caribou Software any time we have run into an unusual circumstance that we need “exceptions to the rule” to handle logs received, i.e. payments on partnerships and multipayment levels. You simply cannot go wrong with this payment system and I can’t imagine using anything else. We are looking forward to many more years of our partnership.
~ Teresa Phillips, Thompson River Lumber Co - Thompson Falls, Montana
I highly recommend Logger's Edge. It saves me valuable time every week. I was hesitant at first to spend the money on this program but after talking with another company in our area that had just bought it and how happy they were with it, I finally broke down and called to schedule a meeting. During my first phone call, Caribou was able to put my mind at ease by telling me all of the program's capabilities and how it would match up to my needs.
The program is very user friendly and easy to learn how to navigate. I love how easily accessible everything is on the home screen. The tract setup wizard makes setting up new tracts a breeze and loads are easy to edit. Any time I have a question, the Caribou Team is quick to help. I have zero regrets about investing in this program. I actually wish we would've swapped over earlier!
~ Shanna Batchelor, Big Creek Timber Company - Malvern, Arkansas
I highly recommend Loggers Edge. It saves me time and money! I usually process about 200-300 tickets per week. It used to take me two days to just do tickets. With Logger's Edge, I can do all of the tickets, employee payroll & stumpage at once.
I import load tickets which is amazing! I can import all my loads from the four major mills in under 10 minutes. I used to have to manually enter each load so this has been a huge time saver itself. The imports also drastically eliminate errors in the data entry. Believe me when I tell you it’s the best thing since buttermilk!
I researched and demoed other software programs before making my decision, but nothing comes close to Loggers Edge! Like anything new, it was a bit intimidating at first, but after two weeks into using it, I felt like a pro! There is no long wait time for customer support. Jai, Carter and others are there for me each time I ever need a helping hand. The founder Teresa is a down to earth, easy to speak with person. If you’re a timber buyer or a logger, I highly recommend you give them a try.
This is the future of the timber industry with the simplicity we all love. Caribou has hit a home run with this one. I'm not paid or compensated to write this; as a matter of fact, if you like, you can get it from the source: my email is rocky@rangeforestry.com. If you want a logger/ timber buyer to give you the ins and outs of this software, feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
~ Rocky Burch, Range Forestry LLC. - Range, Alabama
I have been using Logger's Edge for about 6 months now and while I am still learning the program I loved what I have learned so far. We purchase some tracts of wood based on a composite price per ton. We can quickly enter in tickets to do our settlements and then run reports each week to see how we are doing.
It used to take a lot of time and work in excel to get the numbers we needed, Logger's Edge allows me the ability to run weekly reports off the tickets entered & quickly see the data I need in different layouts with the click of a button. It has cut my paper work time by at least 50 percent if not more. I enjoy the ease of entering tickets and how fast it is to generate reports. And also the ability of the program to allow you to customize a specific report.
~ Kyle Lott, Lott’s Logging Inc. - Pearson, Georgia
I am approaching being a one year veteran of Logger's Edge (LE). Having put 65 different contracts in the system and nearly 8000 load tickets, I feel as though I've hit some, but certainly not all, of the high points. I haven't had the opportunity to get into equipment costing as we had discussed it but am at the point where I can begin that process. Here are some of the things most notable in my mind:
1) Contract input is very simple and sets everything up from the very beginning. Whether it be a simple contract cutting contract or a pay-as-cut timber purchase contract. I have not gotten into lump sum purchases with depletion and interest costs and calculations, but see no issues with those types of contract entry. At this point in time we are able to purchase all our timber pay-as-cut.
2) As our crews come to the same shop each evening, daily or every other day ticket collection is not an issue. If I'm not able to collect scale tickets myself, I have a drop box in which to leave tickets if need be. From there, with contracts already set up in LE simply sorting tickets by market in numerical order takes very little time. Ticket entry could not be simpler. Ticket number, date and net weight are all that's required and move on to the next one. Do that for each of our four crews each day or every other day. At the end of the week, after all tickets are logged in, run the calculators and everything is done. At this point LE will let you know if you have any input errors or have left a market off the contract or whatever. I have worked with many error messages and am well versed. As I have had many, many years of logging tickets from writing each one down individually to excel spreadsheets to LE, this is the best I've ever worked with. I have had the opportunity a couple times to have to do a whole week of ticket input for each of the four crews all at one time and can truly say that I cut my time by 50% vs the next best system I used before. Without a doubt.
3) The biggest advantage I see with LE is, it is truly ONE STOP DATA ENTRY. Once tickets are input and the calculators are run, everything is done. Just go to Invoices and it's all there. Contract Trucking Payment, Stumpage Payment and Logging Payment. That's it, as well as anything wanted regarding crew production or anything else.
4) Scale ticket delivery reconciliation is very simple. Once a settlement is received, one simply goes to the appropriate date, contract and crew, check tickets off as being settled and all is done regarding payment and cost for that given time period.
5) A huge plus is support from the staff at Caribou Software. A few hours of online training and startup is quite easy. After purchase support is excellent. Email or call and response is great. Their knowledge is excellent and can guide anybody through any issues.
~ Chris Reynolds, Reynolds Forestry Services, Inc. - Andalusia, Alabama
"We are a Heli-falling operation located in Duncan, BC, and we have projects scattered throughout remote areas, most of which are only accessible by float plane or crew boats. Before we adopted E-time, we relied on the supervisors entering time sheets into Excel spreadsheets, that were then shared with the office via Dropbox. Once the time sheets appeared on the office computer, the time sheets would be re-keyed into project spreadsheets to report on total man-days, hours and productivity statistics.
We adopted both Logger's Edge and E-Time in the Winter of 2018, and it has streamlined our processes and gives us much more timely data. Our supervisors enter the crews' time daily on their ipad or their laptop. Because the internet connections are often slow and unreliable, Dropbox would sometimes have trouble sending Excel files which meant that the supervisors would often prefer to wait until the cut-off to get me the data. With E-time, the time sheets transmit much better and the supervisors are much better about getting the time in on a daily basis.
What is a big time saver for me is that I now have mandays, hours and productivity stats by simply selecting what I need. I just log onto E-Time, review and approve the time sheets, and then my time sheets appear in my Logger's Edge system. I do all the reporting I need to do in the Logger's Edge. No more duplicate data entry into all sorts of Excel files, and no more scrambling at the end of every pay cut-off to get the data re-keyed.
Logger's Edge and E-time have been handy business tools for streamlining our processes."
~ Keri McKelvie, Coastal Falling Operations, Ltd. - Duncan, British Columbia
"We are very happy with our Logger's Edge purchase. In fact, my boss and I were just commenting the other day that we wish we would have adopted Caribou sooner instead of staying with our old Excel worksheet approach. Excel was much too prone to errors, and one error in one place could have ramifications in multiple places. I could never have trained our new log payment assistant on my old Excel system, but with the Logger's Edge, I have been able to offload much of the day-to-day responsibility to him. And that is great because it means that if I am away for a few days, the work can still get done in my absence. We are probably saving 2-4 hours a week, and the entire work flow is so much smoother now that we are no longer reliant on our old spreadsheet system. I can't imagine handling our increased volume in Excel. I definitely encourage anyone who is still relying on an Excel-based system to make the switch to Caribou. You'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner."
~ Lynn Heard, Port City Timber Inc. - Climax, Georgia
"I used to do all our ticket tracking and settlements in Excel myself, and there was no way I could delegate the work to someone else without worrying about how many errors had crept into the spreadsheets. The Logger's Edge makes the process so seamless by leading me through the steps and eliminating so much of the room for error. I've now hired a clerk who was new to the business and not real comfortable with computers, and it was easy to get her trained on the Logger’s Edge. I now have more time to be in the woods, and more peace of mind that the results are accurate! In fact, we recently had a tract with 16 different pay rates for stumpage, and it was easy to set those rates up in the system and have it all "just work!" It would have been a nightmare doing that tract in Excel."
~ Griff Wilson, WilRidge Forestry, LLC - Chester, South Carolina
“Investing in the Logger’s Edge was definitely one of the better business decisions we’ve made in recent years. With three crews on three different tracts, it’s really helped reduce the stress of staying on top of the jobs. It helps us ensure we are paid properly for all our tickets, and gives us really good visibility of the production and profits of each job. I am out in the woods a good bit of the day, but still have time to run the Logger’s Edge myself, without the need for extra clerical help to keep it up. Usually, my intuition about how we’re doing on each job is pretty accurate, but seeing the results in the software to validate my intuition gives me that extra peace of mind to sleep better at night.
Before we got the Logger’s Edge, our business reporting was pretty much non-existent. But it’s interesting what you learn from being able to keep closer tabs on your tract by tract production and costs. We recently harvested two tracts, both with the same prices paid by the mill. One was closer to the mill, but had poorer quality wood; the other tract was further away, but the wood quality was sufficiently better that we thought we’d do much better in terms of our profits on that higher-quality tract. In reality, it turned out that while we did somewhat better on the tract with the higher quality of wood, the extra transportation costs ate up more of that additional profit than we expected. We would never have been able to see such differences before we had the software.
I’d definitely recommend this software to any logging company with two or more crews, and would even recommend it for single-crew companies if they had a lot of prices to keep track of, and wanted better visibility of their tract by tract performance.”
~ Dirk Bennett, Bennett & Sons Logging, Inc. - Fulton, Mississippi
"We are very happy and loving the program! Here are a few of the reasons why:
-It has helped streamline our paper work. You just have to enter a ticket one time and you get very nice vendor statements, invoices & reports from it.
-The software is customizable, and being able to drill down and sort the data in the way we need has made it easy to do our mill reconciliation from all our different mills. I love that I can easily go back and make changes or update rates as needed.
-The only issue we seem to have is if we keypunch something incorrectly, but the error checking in the program makes it really hard to make a mistake!"
~ Kevin Jester - K.W. Jester Logging, Inc. – Arkadelphia, Arkansas
"I wish I would have gotten the Logger’s Edge Software in place 5 or 10 years ago!
We have really gained immensely on time savings with our contractor and employee pay statement creation – at least a couple hours every week. We now spend that time (and more) being more thorough in our stumpage reconciliation with the Ministry, which the Logger’s Edge information helps with.
I also really like the fact that I can see how much my own crews costs are costing me as compared to hiring a contractor, as well as how much the cut-skid-load costs vary from one block to another.
It’s a wonderful tool to see what each activity of our operation is costing per tonne."
~ Shannon Clouthier, Hec Clouthier & Sons Inc. - Pembroke, Ontario
"I am very pleased with Logger's Edge and I am very thankful for the team at Caribou. The patience our Caribou trainer gave me was amazing. She took the time to train me but also guided me through each step and explained why and how things are done, because I knew nothing about logging lol. By the time my sessions were over I felt that I had made friends with all of you. Every time I called there was always a willing and friendly voice on the other end. I appreciate the reassurance and I am comfortable with the program knowing that ya'll are just a phone call away. I wanted to express my thanks and let you know that my experience has been very enjoyable. What ya'll do and the way you treat people does not go unnoticed!! Once again thank ya'll"
~ Natosha Martin - Bearcat Logging - Oakdale, Louisiana
"We get more done in less time with the Logger's Edge! The software has cut the time we spend on our load ticket tracking and payment/reconciliation process in half. With the software, I now enter the tickets once, not multiple times, and if I make a mistake, I correct it in one place, and the correction flows down to every settlement and every report automatically.
Our mill reconciliation process is much faster and smoother as well. Plus, the software generates tract profitability reports automatically so that we don't have to do that as a whole separate step. And the Georgia Timber Tax feature has been a big help. Overall, we are very pleased with the system!"
~ Joy Thornton - Coldwater Timber Company - Elberton, Georgia
Here is what we appreciate about The Logger's Edge:
Ease of use and straight forward setup.
Implementation of the system was very straight forward and was accomplished much quicker than we had anticipated.
The customer support we receive is terrific; someone is always available for help and/or questions. The on-line team viewer makes this support very beneficial and practical.
Now that we are up and running the requirement for support is very minimal, as the program is so user friendly that most staff can deal with issues that arise from time to time.
The ease of importing loads from various destinations, as well as the import of Suzie logger data from the loader is probably the best feature of the program, missing information is identified immediately (i.e. Timber mark or rates not set up). This process is virtually fail proof.
The ability to query down to a particular load in variable formats (i.e. load #, weight, date etc) is a huge asset and makes for quick changes or corrections where necessary.
I enjoy using the program, it has relieved us of a lot struggle and stress of performing our sub-contractors and drivers pay, as well as our ability to track our daily load production.
I would highly recommend this program to anyone in the logging industry.
~ Jeannie Radcliffe - Clusko Group - William's Lake, British Columbia
"One of the biggest benefits is the reduction in the time we spend entering tickets and generating pay statements and reports. Where we used to spend a whole day entering ticket information and generating pay statements for the week, it now only takes us about 3 hours."
"Another big benefit is the accessibility of the data. I used to have to dig through folders to find and individual ticket, or a certain weeks statement. Now, I can just go to the software, and pull up that same information in a matter of seconds. Also, the ability to generate and print reports on how a tract is cutting out, profit and loss, and weekly production is a huge asset."
"The Caribou team is very helpful whenever I have a question about anything. They are very easy to contact, and they are also very good about keeping in touch to make sure all of my needs are met with the software. They are always coming up with ways to make the software better." ~ Nate Faircloth - Peach State Timber Company - Cordele, Georgia - April 2016
"With the Logger's Edge, I just have to enter my tickets once, and that's it. From there, it lets you pull pretty much all the information you want in whatever variation you need. It generates my landowner, contractor, and trucker statements all at once. Plus, I can pull my tract profit and loss reports and reconcile my mill settlements, just by keying the tickets one time."
"The Logger's Edge saves me so much time every week compared to my old pen and paper method. My old manual process took much longer, and required way more cross-checking. In the last few years, our volume has doubled, and yet I spend about half the time I used to spend on my paperwork. The software is just a beautiful thing!"
~ Michele Tarkenton - Seaboard Timber Co., Inc. - Plymouth, North Carolina
"After using Logger's Edge for 10 years, I would never go without the program. The biggest benefit of the program is that all of my valuable logging details are in one location. The program links block information to revenues and makes paying employees and subcontractors a breeze. A few of my favorite features are the ability to electronically import load detail, the BC Fuel refund reporting, and the endless block production reporting that is available and my most recent favorite is the retro conversion module. We have critical block costing reports at the click of the mouse. "
~ Denise Wiens - Barlow Lake Logging Ltd. - Vanderhoof, British Columbia
"I love Caribou and their Logger's Edge software for many reasons, but the biggest is that it saves me TIME TIME TIME. Not to mention, it gives me the ability to run any type of report you could imagine. After many years of fighting with Quick-books and Excel, I was blown away at how easy & efficient the Logger's Edge is for entering tracts & loads. Then add how amazing the Caribou Team has been and this program is a no-brainer! Teresa, Jai & Brad have gone over & above to teach & answer any questions I have had. These guys & the software have made my world a HAPPIER place, and I cannot thank them enough! I definitely urge any logging company to just give it a try, you will not be disappointed! ~ Katie - South Central Timber Harvesting & Land Clearing, LLC - Williamson, Georgia
"It has saved me a huge amount of time compiling information for my landowner and trucker payroll and mill statements, and I run a lot of averages on trucking costs. I can enter the information once and it is basically all done." ~ Curt Bisballe - Bisball Forest Products - Lake City, Michigan
"The software has been a real life saver for us! Last week, we needed to look up some tract and delivery information from 6 years ago, and it was an easy click of a button instead of having to dig through old paper file folders. All our ticket information is so accessible with the Logger's Edge, and we are able to generate all kinds of reports like landowner payments and volume summaries. We sometimes have as many as 15 crews on the go, and I can't imagine handling pay day without it!"
~ Plains Logging Co. - White Plains, Georgia
"The biggest thing for us is that they will tailor the program to meet our needs. Right now we are facing a lot of big issues, such as the bugs and the resulting light loads. They have helped us and our need to deal with that issue. As well, they understand the diversity within the industry – the Coast is different from the Interior, and the Interior is different from the North."
~ Sue Hagarty - Roga Contracting - Kamloops, British Columbia
"Using Caribou Software has really transformed our logging business with both speed and accuracy. My secretary would spend all week processing tickets and paying landowners and after using Caribou Software it takes her two days!"
~ Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. - Hiram, Maine.
"The Logger’s Edge has greatly simplified our weekly ticket process. It's cut our ticket handling time by 60+ percent relative to our spreadsheet system. I still use Excel all day every day, but NOT for my ticket tracking. For ticket processing, Excel is slow, cumbersome and leaves way to much room for formula and copy/paste errors. The Logger's Edge has checks and balances built into it so I don't have to spend nearly the time I used to cross-checking all my work."
~ Joseph Parnell, Owner - Parnell, Inc. - Maplesville, Alabama
"We have been a client since the summer of 2004. Logger's Edge has helped us streamline our information tracking, allowing us to manage our company more efficiently and effectively. Our work environment is always changing and Caribou Software keeps up with those changes. One of my favorite reports is the Fuel Rebate report! This report allows me to input all the information I need to complete the rebate at the time I enter the block information. At the end of the year it's a simple print of the report instead of hours of calculations. Plus, their support staff is second to none. They are friendly and knowledgeable and I haven't had a problem yet that they haven't been able to handle within 24 hours, either by phone or internet. I often work in the evenings which makes it difficult when I have problems. I had a problem which I needed help with, but was playing phone tag. One of the ladies, (Jennifer), knew that I often work late and went way out of her way to post an extensive "self help" instruction page. You don't often find support like that and you simply won't find a better program!"
~ Theresa Philips, President, Pitka Logging Ltd - Vanderhoof, British Columbia
"The Logger's Edge has made my life so much easier --- I feel so fast and organized in printing my statements. I am sure we have overpaid people in the past, and the system makes it so easy to catch mistakes. We have definitely made back what we spent on the program!"
~ Jenny - South and Jones Timber Company - Evanston, Wyoming
"One of things I like about the program is how easy it was to use and knowing that Jai or one of the support team members were always available if I had any issues.
It does take a little time to get the setup information in but once you do it is easy to enter tickets and the program generates all kinds of reports.
Jai always made me feel comfortable so I was never afraid of poking around and learning the program, I knew I always had support if I ever did something wrong."
~ A.W. Madden Inc. - Linda - Milford, Maine
"The fuel rebate reporting system is absolutely excellent. In fact, it is such a good system that the Victoria taxation branch actually complimented us on it! We can reconcile statements and it generates a very professional detailed pay statement that I can attach to my stubs. I know the truckers really appreciate this. And the support we have received from Caribou staff has been "stellar"."
~ Janice Himech - John Himech Logging - Houston, British Columbia
"The program is so flexible and saves me time, super easy to enter tickets and get the pay statements & reports I need. Every time I have called Jai and the rest of the team have always been rights there.
Very refreshing to know that I can call and get help when I need it. They do their best to help right away."
~ Jim Mackenzie - Southern VA Forest Products, LLC - Courtland, Virginia
"The software is the best thing we’ve ever purchased! It doesn't hardly let me make a mistake."
~ Pam - Bett's Forestry - Blountstown, Florida
"The load import feature saves me so much time, and the software is great for allowing us to track our production by block and even by equipment. But to me, the service is what really makes the program what it is! Your service is fantastic!"
~ Gulbranson Logging Ltd. - Vanderhoof, British Columbia
"I really like the software. Its is fast and easy to use. I can say working with Logger's Edge saved half of my time. I surely recommend the software."
~ Christine - Pineland Contracting - Moonbeam, Ontario
"When we first got started with the Logger's Edge a couple years ago, we just used the very basic load ticket tracking and payment features of the system. This season, we have gotten Caribou to help get us set up with the overweight features, and it, coupled with the ability to import our loads from Canfor, has saved us huge amounts of time relative to our old, manual processes. The software also helps us catch errors way more easily because it provides a natural way for us to complete our checks and balances efficiently. We probably save at least 3-5 hours a week, relative to our old procedures.
We also recently got set up with the Block Budgeting features that allow us to set up the mill targeted rates per hour and productivity targets by phase of operation. We are very excited to be able to track our actual productivity against the mill targets for each block to have a better understanding of our performance."
~ Blue Valley Enterprises - Vanderhoof, British Columbia
"Shortly after I joined Northland Harvesting, they purchased the Logger’s Edge, and I am so glad they did! It is so much more straightforward and easy to follow than all the spreadsheets that the company was maintaining. I love the fact that the Logger’s Edge provides a single point of entry for all my load tickets and time sheets. There is no more entering and re-entering in spreadsheet after spreadsheet. Once it’s in the system, I can generate my employee and vendor pay statements, and my revenue reports with just a few clicks of the mouse. We can now complete in a day what used to take us about 2.5 days.
I also appreciate that the system has checks in place, so if I miss something in my setup or data entry, it tells me that! I also appreciate that whenever I call, everybody there is wonderful to deal with."
~ Karen at Northland Harvesting - Newberry, Michigan
"This new, AMAZING software has us quadrupling business without adding office staff! We are still LOVING the software and it’s great to be able to process my tickets from anywhere – even from the beach!! -- as long as I have my laptop."
~ Ashley from Twin Rivers Timber - Fitzgerald, Georgia
"I'm glad I invested in Logger's Edge because I'm able to keep track of Landowner Settlements, Mill Reconciliations, P&L & Tract Statistics, Quarterly Timber Tax Reporting, and Vendor 1099 Statements with ease. Logger's Edge is also very user friendly and the Professional Team there are always there for me when I need Tech Support. It saves me time by catching errors before Settlements are processed. I enjoy being able to use the Business Reports feature of the Software to manage my Planning and Financial Analysis. The reports also look very professional"
~ Shane from Ohoopee Land & Timber, LLC. - Cobbtown, Georgia http://www.ohoopeelt.com
"I purchased The Loggers Edge System and have been nothing but satisfied. The system does everything I wanted and more. After learning a few new features I didn't really think about when I was looking for new software I realized I had hit a home run with this investment for my company. The software has made running my business more efficient not only in quality reports for my landowners and in office use, timber tax form creation, P&L summaries and tract summary information but it has cut our office time in half with an easy to use format.
The Caribou Team is always ready to help and is by far up to any task, problem or answer that you might need help with.
Thanks for your product and making my business more productive and efficient."
~ Ben from H&H Timber Company - Metter, Georgia
"The Logger's Edge has made my life so much easier, and I'm really glad we made the decision to switch from our old program. It has easily saved us hours of time - up to a day every week! Change is sometimes hard, especially when you are used to the program you have been using. That said, compared to our old system Logger's Edge was very easy to learn and intuitively laid out, and the rate and block setup is much easier. I like that we have the ability to do deductions right onto the statement using the miscellaneous expenses, our fuel surcharge is now automated and the calculators help catch any errors that may occur. The support team is always there to help whenever we have questions."
