What is a person who transports a raft of floating logs downstream to a sawmill called?

Log driving is a means of moving logs (sawn tree trunks) from a forest to sawmills and pulp mills downstream using the current of a river. It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America.

The log drive was one step in a larger process of lumber-making in remote places. To ensure that logs drifted freely along the river, men called "log drivers" or "river pigs" were needed to guide the logs.

The drivers typically divided into two groups. The more experienced and nimble men comprised the "jam" crew or "beat" crew. They watched the spots where logs were likely to jam, and when a jam started, tried to get to it quickly and dislodge the key logs before many logs stacked up. If they didn't, the river would keep piling on more logs, forming a partial dam which could raise the water level. When the jam crew saw a jam begin, they rushed to it and tried to break it up, using peaveys and possibly dynamite. This job required some understanding of physics, strong muscles, and extreme agility. The jam crew was an exceedingly dangerous occupation, with the drivers standing on the moving logs and running from one to another. Many drivers lost their lives by falling and being crushed by the logs.

Log drives were often in conflict with navigation, as logs would sometimes fill the entire river and make boat travel dangerous or impossible.