In 2000, FERIC estimated the reduction in stem breakage and damage in a hot-logging system in which delimbing was integrated with skidding. The results showed that in a well-synchronized operation, no significant productivity loss occurs. Certain types of damage, notably those that arise at the small end of the stem, can be significantly reduced because the skidder no longer creates piles of wood at roadside before delimbing. During the study, 48% of the stems from a traditional system (with skidding and delimbing in separate phases) exhibited at least one form of damage, compared with only 27% in the integrated system.