PORT ANGELES — Band Trucking’s rigs will no longer be seen hauling logs on the North Olympic Peninsula.

The Port Angeles-based company, which employed 19 people, went out of business May 7. It had operated for 38 years.

Owner Dick Davidson said he could no longer justify running at a loss.

He said it has become too expensive over the last few years to operate a log-hauling company, and the money he gets for the jobs isn’t enough.

“[The logging market] is picking up a little bit as I understand, but that doesn’t affect you unless you can get more money,” he said.

“And I couldn’t be able to see how I was going to get that. It don’t leave you much left to do but just shut the doors.”

Davidson, 80, said the decision was still a difficult one to make.

“It wasn’t easy when you got dedicated people,” he said.

“I had one of the best crews I ever had in my life.”

Davidson said the news wasn’t too much of a surprise for his workers.

“They were expecting it for quite some time,” he said. “They knew we were losing money all along.”

Davidson, who grew up in the logging industry, said he was unsure of what he was going to do next. His father was a logger in Clallam County.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsula dailynews.com.