<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1huKZj_1GwfxzRv00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1huKZj_1GwfxzRv00" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>Students worked with instructors learning to harvest and haul timber and operate commercial trucks. PHOTO / COURTESY PROFESSIONAL LOGGING CONTRACTORS</figcaption></figure><p>Many of the 15 graduates of Maine’s 20-week Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program already have jobs waiting for them in a field where demand for skilled operators remains strong.</p><p>“If you like the logging industry and that’s what you want to do, you’ve got a lot of opportunity in front of you,” Duane Jordan, president of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, told the program’s 10th cohort at last week’s graduation ceremony.</p><h2>$1.3B regional impact</h2><p>The Northeast region’s only college training program for operators of mechanized logging and forest trucking equipment provides hands-on experience with operating commercial trucks, loading log trailers and developing the knowledge needed for forest trucking. This year’s class is the fourth to have the opportunity to earn a CDL-A permit and receive preparation for the state driving exam.</p><p>Students spent the summer and fall harvesting and hauling timber at an active job site in the woods at the Kennebec Valley Community College Alfond Campus farm in Fairfield, using sophisticated machines like those they will encounter in the logging industry.</p><p>Students also received hands-on experience operating commercial trucks, loading log trailers and gaining knowledge critical to forest trucking.</p><p>Logging and forest trucking pumped an estimated $1.3 billion into the Northeast region in 2024, with Maine contributing $534 million of that amount, according to a study released earlier this year. Maine’s figure included $283 million in total labor earnings and an estimated $23 million in state tax revenues.</p><p>The Pine Tree State numbers represented 2,744 direct logging and trucking jobs, along with an additional 1,715 indirect jobs.</p><p>The study also flagged industry challenges including the loss of markets, market uncertainty, rising costs, shrinking profits, worker shortages and a lack of succession planning.</p><h2>Robust demand</h2><p>Demand for logging and forest trucking operators in Maine is high and projected to remain so for the foreseeable future, said Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast.</p><p>When mechanized logging equipment was first used by the region’s logging industry in the 1980s, loggers had to learn how to operate equipment largely on their own and made many costly mistakes, Jordan said.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=16Qjs5_1GwfxzRv00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=16Qjs5_1GwfxzRv00" width="1280" height="720" ><figcaption>The graduation was held at the training site in Fairfield. PHOTO / COURTESY PROFESSIONAL LOGGING CONTRACTORS</figcaption></figure><p>The program provides an opportunity for new operators to avoid mistakes and learn directly from the instructors, all of whom are veteran operators.</p><p>Since the program was created in 2017, 110 students have graduated and 71% are working in a logging-related industry today.</p><h2>Tuition-free</h2><p>Funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, the program is administered by Kennebec Valley Community College in partnership with the PLC.</p><p>The program emphasizes safety while giving students a foundation in timber growth, tree species and markets. Tuition and fees are covered, and the program provides all personal protective equipment. Scholarships from Skowhegan Savings Bank are also available to help students with living expenses.</p></div></body>

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Many of the 15 graduates of Maine’s 20-week Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program already have jobs waiting for them in a field where demand for skilled operators remains strong. “If you like the logging industry and that’s what you want to do, you’ve got a lot of...

Maine logging program graduates ready to step into high-demand jobs

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Many of the 15 graduates of Maine’s 20-week Mechanized Logging Operations and Forest Trucking Program already have jobs waiting for them in a field where d

Maine logging program graduates ready to step into high-demand jobs

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