PLC Member Weekly Update April 28, 2023

PLC Annual Meeting May 4-5 2023

Deadline to Register is TODAY!

The deadline to register for the PLC’s 2023 Annual Meeting May 4-5 in Bar Harbor is TODAY! We have more events planned than ever before so don’t delay, register now for the PLC’s biggest gathering of the year!

First, on Thursday, May 4th, you don’t want to miss our newest event that kicks off the Annual Meeting, from which all proceeds will go to support Log A Load for Maine Kids, Log A Load & Lobster! Join us for an amazing opportunity to raise money for the kids and experience Downeast Maine’s most remarkable renewable energy and blueberry fields, owned by the PLC’s Duane Jordan of Elliott Jordan & Son. There will be guests from the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals joining us for the day and a lakeside lobster feed!

On Friday, May 5th, please join us at the Full Board and Membership Meeting. This portion of the meeting is open to all PLC Contractors and is FREE to attend! We will be going over many important issues at the meeting and electing new PLC Board members.This is an important meeting you won’t want to miss.

Our afternoon events will begin with a lunch buffet and a chance to hear from our speakers, Scott Dane, Executive Director of the American Loggers’ Council (ALC); and PLC’s very own Andy Irish of Irish Family Logging, current ALC President. We are also pleased to report that Congressman Jared Golden will be attending the luncheon.

Retired New England Patriot Pete Brock, an offensive lineman with the team from 1976 to 1987, including the 1986 Bears-Patriots Superbowl XX game, will be our special guest and speaker at the Annual Meeting. Pete will be joining us on May 5 for our evening events including Social Hour, our Log A Load for Maine Kids Live Auction, Dinner, and our Evening Awards Ceremony!

Finally, the theme for this year’s meeting is “It Takes A Family” and we are encouraging all Members to bring their families to the event this year and to send us family pictures in advance of the meeting!  Businesses like yours don’t run without the support and sacrifice of your family members and we want to be sure to recognize everyone that plays an important part in this business. 

We look forward to seeing you all next week!

REGISTER AND VIEW EVENT INFORMATION HERE

If you have questions, please call or email Jessica Clark at (207) 688-8195 or Jessica@maineloggers.com

MLOFT Program Seeks Instructors and Students!

The PLC’s Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program, (MLOFT) an expanded version of our highly successful logging operations certificate program that will now include Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training, is actively recruiting instructors and students for the 2023 class.

Instructors for the program will work from mid-July to mid-October. These are ideal positions for experienced logging operators lookming for new opportunities, including retired loggers seeking seasonal employment. These are 14-week contract positions.  Pay range: $21.00 to $26.00 per hour, depending on experience. 60 hrs. a week on most weeks, overtime after 40 hrs.  The expected start date is June 17^th, end date is October 20^th. Anyone interested in an instructor position should contact Donald Burr at (207) 356-1541 or email dburr@nmcc.edu.. You may also  CLICK HERE.

The MLOFT program will run for 20 weeks, which includes the CDL training, from June 26 to November 9. The majority of training will take place at an active timber harvest site northeast of Old Town. The opportunity to earn a CDL-A permit and receive preparation for the state driving exam is a significant addition to the program. Tuition is FREE.

Potential students seeking more information should contact Holly Grant at Northern Maine Community College at 207-768-2856. Information may be also found online at www.bit.ly/2023MLOFT

Logger’s Voice Spring 2023 Now Available!

The Sping edition of The Logger’s Voice is now available! Copies have mailed out.

READ THE VOICE

PLC 2023 Logger and Fleet Safety Trainings 2023

Trainings are underway! Register Now!

The PLC is pleased to offer Logger, Fleet and CPR Training for its members’ employees in person for 2023, March 30-May 24!

Dues Waived for 2024: If your company attends PLC Spring Training with at least 50% of its employees you will not have to pay PLC dues for 2024!

Please review our Logger and Fleet offerings and return registration forms IMMEDIATELY to ensure there is room for your employees at the chosen location/s. For schedule and registration info CLICK HERE.

Don’t delay! Register now!

PLC Mud Season Reminder 2023

Mud season is now upon us, and that means many of you are facing the annual challenges of temporarily laying off employees or being laid off yourself.

Following extensive efforts by the PLC in 2018, laid off loggers will once again be granted up to a 6 week work search waiver while on unemployment, as long as they are able to provide a definite recall date to Maine’s Bureau of Unemployment Compensation.

The most important steps for logging contractors and employees to follow in order to take advantage of the waiver are the following:

1. A company provides an employee with a recall date.

2. The employee contacts the Bureau at 1-800-593-7660 selects option 2 and tells them the name of the company employing them and the recall date the company has given them. The employment representative will provide the necessary information needed for your work search waiver period and any guidance needed for future weekly claims for benefits.

3. The Bureau sends separation paperwork to the Company, at which point the Company will verify the recall date on the paperwork. 

4.  Phone lines are open from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM Monday through Friday. Monday’s are busiest at the unemployment office and tend to slow down each day following. Currently, the average wait times for phone calls are below 3 minutes, so please be patient and a representative will help you.

5.  For online self-service, click HERE. There are zero wait times and this option is available 7 days a week. Select “Create ReEmployME Account” if you do not already have an account created from prior years, or “Claimant Login” if you have filed through the ReEmployME system sometime within the last three years. Then select the “Unemployment Claim” tab at the top of your screen and go to “File Unemployment Claim.” Follow the prompts on the screen to file a new claim, or reopen an existing claim. The department is manually putting in a waiver through that date and will consider an extension as needed at that time.

Any questions may be directed to the Bureau at 1-800-593-7660.

Click here for more unemployment information and guidance

Logger’s Expo 2023

Free tickets and discounted tickets!

The Northeastern Forest Products Equipment Expo (The Loggers’ Expo) *May 19-20, 2023 is coming right up and the PLC has 20 FREE tickets to give away, first come first served! If you are interested contact Jessica at jessica@maineloggers.com.

The PLC has also secured a limited number of discounted tickets for PLC Members that you can take advantage of using a discount code that will allow people to register on-line for the Loggers’ Expo at the reduced rate of $5. Otherwise, you will pay $10 at the door. The code and link to register is below:

Attendee Discount Code – PLCMBR  Registration link – https://loggers-expo.eventregistration.io/step-1-prelim

*PLC also encourages members to consider attending the Expo’s Annual Loggers’ Banquet on Thursday, May 18th at 6 p.m. the evening before the Expo, where awards will be presented including to programs and individuals from Maine. You may register at the link above.

ALC Annual Meeting 2023 in Maine!

Reserve Rooms Now!

Save the Date for the 2023 American Loggers Council Conference and Membership Meeting at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine October 3-6!

American Loggers Council President and long-time PLC Board Member Andy Irish and his wife Kathy look forward to hosting timber industry representatives for the peak “Leaf Peeping” season. More details will be coming soon!

For guests who would like to reserve a room online CLICK HERE

For guests who would like to call to book their reservation lease call 800-207-2365 and refer to Group Code 86B5IN

PLC Members Only!

Equipment Cost Calculators Available

Members,

With expenses rising rapidly in the industry we know you are struggling to get a handle on your costs. This is a great time to utilize the cost calculators created in 2021 for PLC Members.

These new, easy to use, logging equipment and log trucking cost calculators are available on the PLC Members Only section of our web site You may access this private section of the web site with your member login or set up a login HERE.

These calculators allow you to quickly estimate the hourly cost of operation for any piece of your equipment.

DISCLAIMER: These calculators are being made available for your business use as a member benefit. They produce equipment estimates and are not official products of the PLC nor should they be used for negotiation purposes.

PLC Online Store

PLC Upcoming Meetings

PLC Annual Meeting/Full Board Meeting

May 4-5

Bar Harbor, ME

Stay Tick Free ME
Tickborne Disease in Maine

With warmer weather on its way, Maine’s ticks are coming out to play. May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month and Maine CDC wants to remind everyone to be “Tick Free ME.” Health care providers reported over 2,600 cases of Lyme disease in 2022 (data as of March 7, 2023). Deer ticks can also spread other germs that cause anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Hard Tick Relapsing Fever (Borrelia miyamotoi disease), and Powassan virus disease. Health care providers in Maine reported cases of all four of these diseases in 2022, with the highest number of Powassan cases in a single year in at least a decade.

The best way to prevent tickborne disease is to prevent tick bites. With warmer weather on the way, tick activity is increasing.  As a result, we all need to use proper protection methods against ticks and the germs they may carry. This May’s Lyme Disease Awareness Month theme is “Tick Free ME” This theme reminds each of us to focus on proper tick bite prevention techniques every time we enjoy the outdoors to stay tick free.

Ways to stay “Tick Free ME:”

• Know tick habitat and use caution in areas where ticks may live.
• Use an EPA-approved repellent like DEET, picaridin, IR3535, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Wear light-colored clothing that covers the arms and legs and tuck pants into socks.
• Perform tick checks daily and after any outdoor activity.
  

  LEARN MORE

NEW Featured HumpDay Safety Video – Ergonomics

CPR/First Aid/Bloodborne Pathogens certification: Did you know your employees are required to have this training every two years? If your employees need this training in 2023, contact Jessica at Jessica@maineloggers.com or 207-688-8195 and the PLC will schedule training in your area. THIS TRAINING IS FREE TO MEMBERS!

Now FREE to Maine Loggers! A $300 value!

LEARN MORE

FMCSA has Removed ALL-WAYS TRACK, LLC’s “All-Ways Track” ELD from List of Registered ELDs

Members, the Maine Forest Service is continuing to request public input on emerald ash borer regulation ahead of planned quarantine rule revisions. There are details in this bulletin. The Forest service is hoping to gather additional input through an on-line survey, which will be open until May 5. 

Members are encouraged to participate in this process as the rule revisions may impact your business and the spread of the emerald ash borer is already affecting ash wood and its movement in the state of Maine. Approximately 70% of ash volume in Maine’s forest is now in a regulated (quarantine or emergency order) area. If you have any questions please contact PLC.

The emerald ash borer is a destructive woodboring beetle first recognized in North America more than 20 years ago in Detroit, Michigan. Almost five years ago, it was first detected in Maine. Currently, this pest has been found in seven of Maine’s 16 counties.

USDA program aims to encourage forest landowners to store more carbon

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has kicked off what’s being billed as a “transformative effort” to restore New England’s forests through climate-smart forestry practices. Known as the “Climate Smart Commodities Partnership,” the $30 million program aims to encourage forest landowners to store more carbon on their land while also expanding markets for sustainably grown forest products.

Logger News Online April 2023

April 2023 Edition

Maine Tree Seedlings – April 2023

NSF awards Howell $550K for microfluidics research and development with Sappi

TRUCKING DISCOUNTS THROUGH THE ALC!

PLC Members, because the PLC is a member of the American Loggers Council YOU are entitled to special discounts on truck purchases! Click on the brand names below to learn more!

PETERBILT

WESTERN STAR

INTERNATIONAL

—

Fabian Oil Discount

Traction Heavy Duty Special

Wallingford’s Discounts

Maine Trailer Discounts

PLC Members get a 5% discount on culverts purchased at Treeline and Frank Martin & Sons

Hale Trailer discounts for PLC Members on new trailer purchases! Call Neal at 207-232-7969 for details!

Cross Arena Discounts for PLC! 

PLC Classified Section

Check out the equipment and job opportunities our members have listed at the LOGGING ZONE! If you have equipment for sale, are looking to buy, are looking for employees, or