The Dirt - June

JUNE 2018
Building Better Communities

12 | Photo Spread MONTHLY COMMUNICATOR
20 | Wellness
23 | Company Picnic

Holiday Schedule • After Thanksgiving: November 23, 2018 - Unpaid Day Off
• Christmas Eve Day: December 24, 2017 - Unpaid Day Off
Emergency repair and snowplow crews will remain on-call • Christmas Day: December 25, 2017 - Paid Day Off
during Holiday Schedule. • New Year’s Day Eve: December 31, 2018 - Unpaid Day Off
• Independence Day: July 4, 2018 - Paid Day Off • New Year’s Day: January 1, 2019 - Unpaid Day Off
• Company Picnic: July 28, 2018 - 11 am - 4 pm • Good Friday: April 19, 2019 - Off At Noon
(Unpaid Day Off - Schedule Permitting) • Memorial Day: May 27, 2019 - Paid Day Off
• Labor Day: September 3, 2018 - Paid Day Off
• Thanksgiving: November 22, 2018 - Paid Day Off

HAPPY BIRTHDAYjune

1839 KELSEY BAKER 1-Jun 102 RUSSELL CORWIN 14-Jun 25 TROY BROAD 23-Jun
15-Jun 300 TAD ELLIOTT 23-Jun
2140 CHARLES HALL 1-Jun 2261 ALAN SHANKLETON 16-Jun 1569 GERALD GONYEA 24-Jun
17-Jun 203 MICHAEL FLAUGHER 24-Jun
506 JASON HORTON 2-Jun 2006 KIMBERLEY OHLERT 17-Jun 863 PATRICIA CARRUTH 25-Jun
17-Jun 928 JEREMY KASTL 25-Jun
1621 TOM FIELDS 3-Jun 2211 MARK KIPFMILLER 17-Jun 2210 DALTON MCCLURE 26-Jun
19-Jun 649 JEFFREY ELLIS 27-Jun
1788 MATTHEW MCGINESS 5-Jun 2204 JOHN LONG 19-Jun 2172 DENNIS MOORE 28-Jun
20-Jun 1278 JOSEPH SCHLINK 28-Jun
2191 DYLAN RANES 6-Jun 1408 DAVID WENDELS 22-Jun 98 KENT MEGILL 28-Jun
22-Jun 551 MICHAEL COE 28-Jun
1815 ROBERT ELLUL 8-Jun 701 GREGORY TOWN 23-Jun 1435 TREVOR SCHLICHT 29-Jun
23-Jun 1350 CINDY KARKER 30-Jun
1253 DONALD RONGEY 9-Jun 2088 WILLIAM LAUZON

1369 ALLEN SCHOFIELD 9-Jun 2150 MITCHELL MATZENBACH

2193 ROSS HANNA 10-Jun 735 JEFFREY MARCEAU

1538 MATTHEW KRUEGER 10-Jun 109 VICKY LONG

2095 THOMAS WOLF 13-Jun 777 BRIAN PEACE

1345 TYLER YOUKER 13-Jun 1579 WILLIAM AMES

2217 KRISTOPHER BUNCE 14-Jun 2069 JAKE RAMSAY

BUILDING BETTER COMMUNITIES SINCE 1956 THIS ISSUE 12 > Photos
Esphalt™ • Excavation • Concrete • Cranes 14 > Safety
3 > President 15 > Project of the Month
4 > Aggregates 16 > Cranes/Rigging
5 > Communications 17 > Trucking
6 > Human Resources 18 > Chaplain's Corner
7 > Spotlight 19 > Mechanics
8 > TC Excavation 22 > Pickle
9 > Hillman 23 > Company Picnic
10 > Concrete
11 > Asphalt

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

Hey, Team! operator was not yet in the loader and was able to come
around the corner, notice something was very wrong, and
It looks like we went from spring to pull the emergency cord to remove his co-worker’s hand.
summer in the blink of an eye; always We have conveyors everywhere that need to move. Make
nice to see the blossoms out. sure you are away from them when they are moving!!!
We are blessed with plenty to do, praise
God, but we have to make sure we Do you ever wonder where our industry will be in 100
are looking at things with the right perspective. We are years? Yes, Herman, you will still be here.  I came
stretched this season! While Elmer’s continues to hire across an article the other day noting that, 100 years
and train, let’s make sure we carry on with an attitude ago, the White Motor Co. introduced a truck to help pull
of gratitude. Let’s focus on the many things we can graders and rollers to compete with a team of horses! The
be thankful for every day, not what is missing. We are example they used was one truck maintained 55 miles of
blessed with good wages, we’re maintaining benefits, roadway per day with two graders – work that would have
and we have work for the year! The certainty of work this required four teams of eight mules for less than the cost
season is quite a bit different from 5 years ago. As we of mule feed (I know Rosa, the good ol’ days ). As GPS
settle in, let’s make sure we are keeping our eye on the begins to move our machines, where do you think we will
fact that when someone gets taken off a crew because we be in another 100 years?
are stretched, we are lucky to be in the GOOD TIMES.
I’m praying for all of you, truly.
We are working very hard to keep the disturbances to a
minimum but life happens, things change. Just know we Philippians 2:3-4; “Let nothing be done through
hear you. We are all in this together. Be thankful for all we selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of
have, put your name on your work, and have fun! The rest mind let each esteem others better than himself.
will fall into place. Let each of you look out not only for his own
interests, but also for the interests of others.”
SAFETY!!!! During spring training, which wasn’t very long
ago, we discussed any work around a conveyor belt must Until next month… stay safe and God Bless!
be done with the belt OFF!!! NON-NEGOTIABLE!! Well,
it happened. We had a worker have his hand snagged in –Troy
between the MOVING belt and roller. Luckily, the loader

3

Aggregates

Keep Safety The Top Priority

Welcome to June! We are blessed with an abundance of work. We are
trying to keep up with demand for materials. All crews and
It should go without saying that machines are running and we are even looking at pulling
SAFETY is our TOP priority. Shut out the additional Lippmann to get back online and keep
down equipment PRIOR to any up with demand.
servicing. Lock Out / Tag Out. Shut
Down. Power Down. Stop. We have many operations running; Hulbert, M-72, Tad’s
De-Energize Electric, Pneumatic, crew, Joel is screening, Hersha (which needs more
Gravity. Stop moving parts. Know the danger zones. material now), Ryan in the Bolen pit, and Alpena, which
Make safety your first thought. PLEASE Be Safe. Safety was selling more material than they were making to
replace it. These are all good challenges to have. There
is key to you and you are key to this team. We want are pits that have not seen much activity in recent years
everyone to Start Safe, Work Safe, and Go that are also getting used.
Home Safe!
Thank you, everyone, for working hard through this recent
change in Michigan weather from winter to summer. We
are finishing up clearing M-72 and will start stripping
topsoil for the next cell. We will also be stripping topsoil at
Hulbert pit, as long as Max lets us use some equipment
WITH operators… Max?

Think Safe. Be Safe.

– Grandpa Todd

4

Reprinted from Grand Traverse Business – Spring 2018
By Cymbre Foster

TRAVERSE CITY — Elmer’s trucks have been rumbling along the “If you can run it through the next five years, you’ll be able to run it
highways and byways of Michigan for more than 50 years. for as long as you want,” was Butch’s parting advice to them.
What started in 1956 with a dragline crane and a bulldozer has
grown to a conglomerate housed in 14 locations across northern and “Hard work, sacrifice, painful decisions, traveling farther for projects
mid-Michigan that provide heavy construction services. and an amazing crew with a service mentality got us through a time
when many of those in our industry were closing or moving out of
“Think from the ground down — asphalt, excavation, concrete ready- state,” Wildfong said.
mix supply, aggregate supply, trucking as well as specialized serves
like cranes, rigging, piers and piling services,” said Tonya Wildfong, PEOPLE MATTER
who co-owns Team Elmer’s with her two brothers, Troy and Todd Although there have been many changes over the years, what has
Broad. remained static is the company’s mission: “People buy from people.
They are headquartered just south of Traverse City — just look for Customers want a quality product for a fair price with exceptional
the big blue clock on the corner of U.S. 31 and Rennie School Road. service.”
When Elmer’s added several divisions in the late 1980s and early
1990s they decided they needed a name that would reflect the Team Elmer’s has become a force in its field because of the firm
philosophy and multiple divisions of the company. belief that people matter. “Your co-worker, the customer, the public,
our project impact — they all matter,” Wildfong said. “Most flag
“Team Elmer’s was the obvious choice,” Wildfong said. “It reflects persons on a job site will wave at as many vehicles as they can,”
our team concept — that no one succeeds alone. And it reflects she said. “It’s a small gesture to recognize that we understand traffic
our multiple divisions that work together to complete a project,” she delays are frustrating, we see you, and thanks for your patience.”
said. Those four divisions include asphalt, concrete, excavation, and
crane and rigging. The owners say they also owe their success to 460 dedicated
employees, including 41 women.
The backbone of the business and the key to Elmer’s success over
the decades is that they acknowledge the importance of people — “Our success is due to every person that gets up early, braves the
those who they serve and those that they employ. heat, cold, rain, ice, snow, grease, sand and then stays late until the
project is done,” Wildfong said.
IN THE BEGINNING
Elmer and Edna Schaub began Elmer’s Crane and Dozer by digging You can read the rest of the article online:
conservation ponds. They ran it until 1977 when Elmer decided to Go to grandtraversebusiness.cnhi.newsmemory.com
retire and offered Russell “Butch” Broad the chance to buy it. OR record-eagle.com/new/gt_business/ and click on
the "Dig It" icon.
Back then, Broad worked for Peninsula Asphalt and was the foreman
on a job on Airport Road near Logan’s Landing. Elmer, who was
driving by, skidded to a stop and
suggested Broad buy his excavation
company. At the time it included seven
employees, four tandems, one loader,
three dozers, two cranes, one lowboy
and an annual income of $275,000.

Broad went home that night, talked
to his family. He bought the business
and eventually expanded it across
northern Michigan. His three kids
bought it when he retired in 2009.

“Yes, it takes three people to fill his
shoes,” Wildfong said.

The trio managed to keep the Photo Credit: Record-Eagle/Tessa Lighty
business rolling along, even though
the country was in the middle of a
recession.

5

Human Cindy Karker - pictured middle
Resources 231-943-5544 Ph•[email protected]

Jennifer Flick - pictured left
231-943-5533•[email protected]

Kelsey Baker - pictured right
231-943-5577•[email protected]

New Hires Benefits Info

Please welcome the following new Flex Medical Spending 401k Meetings
& Benefits Questions
employees to Team Elmer’s! We thank those employees who attended the
If you have money remaining in your Flex 401k presentation last month. Victor did a
Hanson, Jeffrey - RediMix Driver - Traverse City Spending Account (FSA) from the 2017/2018 wonderful job presenting retirement options
plan year, submit reimbursable expenses to and resources to consider as you reach your
Jackson, Rodney - RediMix Driver - White Cloud 44 North by July 31, 2018 (for expenses prior retirement age. For those who did not have a
to July 15, 2018). Flex Spending Accounts are chance to attend, we do have the presentation
Wassmann, Jacob - Laborer Pit a use-it-or-lose-it account; any monies in paper form and would be happy to email it to
remaining after July 31, 2018 will be forfeited. you. Please contact Cindy in HR for a copy.
Gonzalez, Randy - Equipment Operator Asphalt

Misiak, Jesse - Laborer Dirt

Pinney, Dillon - Laborer Pit

Kenyon, Lonnie - Truck Driver - Traverse City

Klebba, Zachery - Intern Project Manager
Asphalt
FSA reimbursement or balance inquiries, BCN/
Makowski, Taylor - Laborer Asphalt HRA claims, bills, or your Explanation of Blue Care Network
Benefits (EOBs) please call: (BCN) vs. Auto
Sharp, Tyler - Laborer Asphalt 44 North @ (855) 306-1099, select Insurance Policy
Option #1 for the Call Center.
Addington, Samantha - Traffic Regulator Claims can also be emailed or faxed to: In the event an employee or covered dependent
Email: [email protected] (secured site) under Elmer’s group health care coverage is
Casey, Triston - Traffic Regulator Fax: (855) 306-1098 injured in a car or a truck accident, his or her
All other questions please contact: BCN health insurance coverage is primary
Felver, Scott - Equipment Operator Pits Brigitte Sloat and the auto insurer is secondary under the
Customer Service Rep. Michigan No-Fault law.
Proffer, Torey - Payables Clerk (855) 306-1099 Ext. 1010
[email protected] Coordinated coverage is less expensive. Please
Shankleton, Alan - Laborer Dirt notify your auto insurance carrier of this change
401k Beneficiary in coordination of benefits. Please contact
MacDonald, James - Laborer Asphalt Human Resources if your insurance carrier
If you have not completed your mandatory requires verification in writing.
Newman, Thomas - Truck Driver Hillman online beneficiary information with our
401k provider, One America, please do so Career Opportunities
Pasquino, Erika - Marketing & Communications today. Step-by-step directions are available
Associate at TeamElmers.com/Staff/Payroll & Benefits/ Job openings are online – encourage those
Frequently Used Forms/Beneficiary Form. interested to apply today! It's fast and easy to
Porter, Samuel - Laborer Asphalt apply to multiple openings at once.

Rogge, Justin - Laborer Asphalt Visit www.teamelmers.com/careers.

Carey, Thomas - Laborer Dirt

Lautner, Casey - Laborer Pit

Hunt, Robert - Laborer Dirt

Johnston, Jerry - Truck Driver - Traverse City

Liske, Allan - Laborer Pit

6

Employee Forms
Available Online

Please check out Elmer’s website at
http://www.teamelmers.com to download available employment
forms.
Click the Staff tab on the home page
Sign in using the information below
Username: staff
Password: c0ncr3t3
Click Payroll & Benefits icon
Click HR Employee Forms graphic

Accessing Your Paystub

Please check out Elmer’s website at
http://www.teamelmers.com to download available employment
forms.
Click the Staff tab on the home page
Sign in using the information below
Username: staff
Password: c0ncr3t3
Click Payroll & Benefits icon
Click on Employee Paystubs graphic
User Name: Employee #
Password: last four digits of your Social Security #, and
last four digits of primary bank account # (no spaces)

NEWBORN ANNOUNCEMENTS!

A daughter, Aiyana Grace - 6 lbs 2 oz, born May 12 to
Jonathan and Jamie Benson. Jonathan is an asphalt laborer.

A son, Ryker - 7 lbs 13oz, born May 23 to Nicholas and Ashlee Send.
Nicholas is a parts assistant.

A son, Sawyer Robert - 6 lbs 3.8 oz, born May 22 to Luke and Crystal Basel.
Luke is an equipment manager in Hillman.

7

Excavation

Back in Full Swing

What a difference a month makes! We Bring your ideas for improvements that will help the TEAM
went from frost laws and snow storms get better.
to 80 degree days. Summer has arrived
and we are going full tilt. Things are CDL classes started a few weeks ago and will be held
going fantastic, in fact. We have a every Saturday from 7 to 11 AM until people are ready to
large workload and we are getting an take their test. A big THANK YOU to Troy, Jim Perkins,
incredible amount of work done. Arriving at a jobsite that and the whole slew of truck drivers who are volunteering
you have not visited in a few days, it is amazing to see Saturday mornings to help you get your license. They are
how much the crews have accomplished. We are doing putting on a very comprehensive and informative class
a lot of things right and getting better all of the time. covering all aspects of the test. Don’t miss it.
Don’t let the 1 or 2 things that may go wrong dictate
your day. Focus on all of the positives and keep things in Until next month, keep calm and dig on.
perspective. Calm really is contagious!
– Max
Projects continue at the Village of Northport, Filer
Township Sewer, South Airport Road, Shanahan Retaining
Wall, and Camp Arcadia. We remobilized to finish up at
Turtle Creek Gas Station, Eastern Elementary, and the
DNR Shooting Range on Supply Road. Crews finished
work at Manistee Streets, Sewer and Water at Umber
Drive, and Wexford Landfill Cell Construction including
their new recycle area. We recently started or are starting
soon for Skyview Court Cherry Republic, Platte River
Campground, Boardman Valley and Bayside Parks, and
Kalkaska Memorial Health Center.

Like I said, we have a large workload and a lot going on.
We are still diligently looking for good help and hiring
those people to help fill out crews.

We resumed foremen meetings in May and will continue
the 6am meetings on the second Tuesday of every month.

8

Hillman Report

From the Sunrise Side Tim Leeck and crew are still coming to work every day
with smiles on their faces despite numerous setbacks
June already! It seems like we just this spring including crusher issues, making P-209 for
got going and now we’re counting the the Oscoda Airbase project and keeping it in spec, being
shopping days until Christmas! The way forced to shut quarry sales down because we were
things are cranking this year, with the under water; yes, under water with over three feet of
work load and hours, I guarantee that water in the bottom of the quarry preventing truck traffic
I won’t be the only one excited to see to access the materials. For a while it appeared we
winter this year! were creating Lake Elmer’s and we almost ordered the
pontoon boat and water skis! Nice work, guys. Way to
It’s unbelievable how many projects we are turning down
every week because we just can’t get there. What a keep pushing forward and staying
great problem to have! The projects positive! As summer pushes on, the
we have picked up since the last deadlines and pressures are going
newsletter include Roscommon to get tougher. The only way to get
Water Main Project, Montmorency through is to remain positive. You
Oscoda Alpena County Landfill in can only do what you can do with
Atlanta, Pride Road in Oscoda, Lake what you have and we understand
Kathleen Dam Removal project near that. Being shorthanded and not
Pellston, Bloom Road in Alpena, having the exact equipment you
Ellsworth Schools and Petoskey want or need is going to happen.
Streets, plus a few miscellaneous Stay positive and do the best you
smaller projects. In the effort to be can with what you have and it will
able to complete these projects be another successful summer!
and several more coming, we have
added 9 people to the roster and Quote of the Month
we're still looking hard to add more.
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive
The trucking division started out a bit slow with the terrible thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it
spring weather and the frost laws holding out for so long s parks e xtraordin ary resu lts. – Wade Boggs
but they are cranking now! We were fortunate again this
year and picked up the Lafarge Sand Haul, the Alpena Until next month, work hard, be safe and have fun!
County, Montmorency County, and Iosco County gravel
hauls, hauling lots of big rock to the west side of the state. – Mike
Along with our miscellaneous counter sales, everyone is
keeping busy.

9

Concrete

What’s In The Mix?

Season is officially rolling. I see consistent around the vehicle before we pull off a job, make sure we ask
work at the plants, pending weather. Even questions before we pull onto lawns, and get tickets signed.
with rain we are staying productive. We Train the new drivers the Elmer’s way. These are all things
are lucky to be in that position. Many of us we talked about and agreed to in our two safety meetings this
remember the struggles of a bad economy winter. We have to make better decisions and ask for help on
and those days seem distant now. Don’t sites if we need it. This is an opportunity to improve and get
take the “good times” for granted. Get in better, not a curse.
there and keep working hard; the rest takes care of itself. You
all are doing an awesome job with the work load this spring! Hard to believe the next newsletter will be July. Enjoy the
summer days and nights and keep what is important in front
of you.

If it can’t be done safely, find another way to get it done.

– jason

The sales staff has been actively seeing customers and
bidding work. Overall, we are hearing positive news about
work load. Our veteran and new drivers are doing well and
they are happy with the product. That is a testament to the
team we have. Every day we wake up to make the guy next
to us look good all while doing our job and, first and foremost,
doing it safely. Thank you for that dedicated effort.

We still need to keep safety in the front of everything we do.
We have had two seatbelt tickets this year, multiple reports
of speeding, and many avoidable accidents. Let’s walk

10

Asphalt

Paving The Way

Happy summer, Team! of June and July. Residential and commercial work
has been a constant flow into the office and Rod and
Wasn’t it like three weeks Sonny have been doing all they can to keep up the calls.
ago we still had snow on the Thanks, guys, for your efforts to keep our customers
ground? I’ll take the warm, dry informed.
weather any day and, with all
the work we need to get done, Large road jobs out for bid are plentiful. Manistee County
hope it is here for a while now. has a 20k ton job, Antrim and Charlevoix have one that,
combined, will be 15k tons. MDOT is putting out another
We have been cranking out the asphalt and putting out large mill and fill north of Elk Rapids that falls in the month
some really nice work. We managed to wrap up some of August. I’ll let you know next month how successful
large projects in the City of Manistee, the US-10 project, we are but, honestly, with our current backlog, we aren’t
and we finished up the high profile South Airport Road exactly hunting around for things to do. We have plenty to
project ahead of schedule. Thank you, dedicated crews! keep us going.
We still have a lot of county work slated for the remainder
Our asphalt plant upgrades are nearing an end. With
the new scale now in place and the three silos standing,
we just have a little tie in work to do with some cross
conveyors when we can find the right time to wrap it up.
Thanks to everyone for the efforts to get this project done!
It will help us tremendously into the future.

Thank you, all, for getting this season off to a tremendous
start. I am always amazed by the quality work our team
does given the enormous quantity of work we do all over
the map. Our communities appreciate the courtesy and
professionalism you’ve all shown.

There’s a word for that: Awesome.

Until next month, stay safe.

– Brian

11

Indigo Bluffs
Empire, MI

Water Main Project Lud
Elk Rapids, MI

Asphalt Plant
Traverse City, MI

First paving of the season Filer Township, MI
Duck Lake Rd, Grawn, MI
Merit Energy Company Nickerson Pit
Retaining Wall Kalkaska, MI Grawn, MI
Williamsburg, MI

McLaren Hospital
Petoskey, MI

12

dington, MI Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
Manistee, MI Manistee, MI

Concrete Plant
Ludington, MI

House Demo
Traverse City, MI

Falling Waters Lodge
Leland, MI

Wall Pour 13
Newaygo, MI

Safety

Team Elmer’s CSA scores are on the rise once again. This is
not a trend we like to see. It is very important everyone realizes
this can affect any future work we hope to bid. Bidders will
look at the data, determine we are a safety risk, and will not
use us. Consistent seatbelt usage is just one very simple thing
everyone can do to help. All of the trucks, cars, and most
mixers have shoulder straps that are very easy to notice when
not in the correct place. In the last 14 months, our team has
accrued a combined total of 9 seatbelt violations. Wear your
seatbelt in ALL equipment!

Are we having fun yet? Once again Team Elmer’s is blessed The Safety Department needs your help to reduce personal/
with an ambitious work load. However, this does not mean that recordable injuries. Please be sure to wear the correct PPE and
we cut corners concerning safety. The most important take use the correct tools for the job tasks. Also, please be sure to
away from any and all situations is to be SAFE! Remember: conduct pre-work safety talks at the job sites. When discussed
Safety Trumps Everything! as a group, safety talks not only paint a mental picture of the
work to be completed for the day, but may also highlight safety
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will be issues that could become a problem. These talks apply to
conducting an international safety check June 5th-7th which ALL job sites. Safety talks can be obtained from the Safety
focuses on Hours-of-Service. They will be conducting Level 1 Department.
inspections. Jim Perkins has been busy conducting commercial
vehicle inspections and he’s been finding various issues that We in Safety would like everyone to remember some key points
otherwise would have resulted in tickets. If you have any about heat related emergencies. It is important to drink plenty
questions regarding CDL/DOT regulations, Jim is available to of water or sports drinks containing electrolytes. Your body
help.
requires 2-4 cups of liquid for every hour worked
in hot conditions. Not drinking these liquids
results in fatigue, headache, and muscle cramps
or heat exhaustion. If not recognized and treated,
this will quickly become heat stroke. In heat
stroke conditions, the body is not able to cool
down because the body is not sweating. Please
remember and be able to recognize heat related
emergencies.

Start Safe – Work Safe – Go Home Safe

– BCautrticnha,, Eric,
& Tom

14

PROJECT OF THE MONTH

South Airport Road

2.5 miles of road REconstruction

15

Cranes & Rigging

Things Are Heating Up currently setting the new asphalt scale and silos for our
plant. You could also find us working in the middle of the
I hope everyone enjoyed the long night to replace HVAC units at Munson Hospital here
Memorial Day weekend! Welcome to in Traverse City for Cooke Sheet Metal. No rest for the
the official start of summer. weary!
Holy moly, suddenly the heat has
arrived. Use sunscreen and stay Everyone is doing a great job with the load that they are
hydrated out there. given! Thanks for doing your part even when it involves a
9:00pm to 6:00am or 2:00am to 12:00pm shift! Keep it up.
We are very grateful for the amount of work we have A big shout out to Barry and Jeff for joining our rigging
going on. We’re still picking stuff up and setting it down crews daily this past month.
but it’s not unusual for us to be booked two-weeks out.
Numerous machine shops have been replacing their Conduct is the best proof of character.

– Kent

equipment so rigging has been brisk. Century Extrusion,
Century Sun, Anchor Lamina, and Star Cutter are some
of those busy machine shops keeping us hopping. Cherry
Growers sold their building, auctioned off their equipment,
and hired our riggers to load it all out. We’ve had a crew
there almost every day for the last three weeks and
counting.

Our cranes have been equally busy setting rooftop units,
launching boats at the local marinas, setting trusses, and

16

Trucking

Get A Lead Of This – Equipment

Pedal to the metal time. All trucks into major breakdowns. Our mechanics are already
are running full tilt and haven’t busy doing everything they can to keep the equipment
stopped since we were able to repaired. Please don’t let a five-minute fix become a five-
get back on the road. Everyone is hour repair because it was not addressed timely. Proper
asking for trucks. There is more awareness, scheduling, and not abusing equipment can
work out there than you can shake help us keep the equipment working.
a stick at. Calls keep coming in for
a load or two here and there, as well as calls for major There have been some problems with LED tablets.
tonnage projects that we are being selective about as we Drivers just need to keep learning and assist each other
determine what we can fit in. June is going to be all hands on proper use. IT will keep after Cal/AMP to keep the
on deck in order to get through our workload. hardware working properly. One big problem has been
making sure that the tablets are connected. When
With that said, I would like to remind everyone that it is trying to do DVIRs and signing out at the end of the day,
very important we take care of our equipment. We need remember to give it a minute to send a message up into
to make sure we are doing a proper pre-trip inspection the clouds and receive one back before you power off.
and an important post-trip inspection at the end of the The number of problems each week is getting to be less
day. We don’t have the time to let little things turn and less as we learn right from wrong on the tablets.
I would like to remind the drivers to manually touch
the ON-DUTY button, not the DRIVING button when
they stop because it takes six minutes for it to change
automatically.

The 2018 season is just starting and we have a long way
to go yet. In addition to taking care of yourself, PLEASE
be sure you are taking proper care of your equipment.
Do pre- and post-trip inspections and do the right thing.
Remember, it’s a marathon and not a sprint.

Thanks for all you do. Enjoy these spring days and be
ambassadors of the road. Set a good example out there.

–jim

17

CHAPLAIN’S CORNER

You Are Not Alone

Greetings! try to compensate for their loneliness by viewing online
pornography or hooking up with people through chatting
One of my favorite Bible verses says, “This is the day the sites or using a particular dating app. Others may try to
Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Every day cure the pain of loneliness by turning to alcohol or drugs.
we have the choice to be grumpy or thankful. My hope is People who struggle with compulsive shopping are often
that you choose to be thankful. trying to fill the void of loneliness.

We started a new Men’s study a few weeks ago entitled Are you lonely? If so, how do you cope with loneliness?
A Man and His Family. We meet Wednesday mornings Here are some healthy ways to cope. First of all, maintain
at 6am in the Broadroom at our Traverse City location. a consistent healthy relationship with God through prayer
Please contact me if you are interested in attending. The and Bible. In the biblical book of Hebrews, God reminds
next Financial Peace class will start on Saturday, August us that He never leaves us or forsakes us. He is only a
11. We will meet for three consecutive Saturdays from 9am prayer away. As we pursue a relationship with God, He can
until 3pm in the large training room in Traverse City. The fill our lives with His presence. Volunteering to help others
class is open to all employees and their family members. can be a great way to take the focus off of us and put it on
Please contact me if you are interested in attending. others. If you are married, I would encourage you to share
your feelings of loneliness with your spouse. Perhaps it
I am convinced that loneliness is a bigger issue in our would be helpful to seek marital counseling as a means
world than most people realize. More and more people are of building a greater level of relational intimacy into your
sharing with me how they feel so alone. Loneliness can be relationship. Taking the initiative to get together with a
the result of many things. Some facing a struggle in their friend or relative can help to deal with loneliness.
lives feel that no one understands what they are going
through. Many spouses feel all alone in their marriage. In reality, loneliness is something we can do something
Perhaps their spouse works a lot. Maybe their partner very about if we so choose.
seldom shares an intimate conversation with them. Often
times the lonely spouse will describe their relationship as God Bless,
being like two roommates living together. The death of a
loved one can cause us to feel lonely. We miss that person – Tom
who was always there for us.

Are you lonely? Loneliness is one of most difficult
emotions that we can experience. Often people will try
to cope with loneliness in unhealthy ways. Many people

18

Mechanics

NEVER Cancel Re-Gens – We Mean It

Another spring start-up in the books! DEF fluid, we keep a stock of 2.5 gallon boxes in the mechanic
Needless to say, active jobs have been shop. If you have any questions regarding the re-gen process,
keeping the
shop busy with please give me a call.
breakdowns and If you have any tire related issues, please
service calls all call Andy Dahl directly. He will be taking
over the map. care of all of our tire needs from here
I would like to forward.
thank all the mechanics for putting in
long hours and working so diligently to As always, if you have any equipment
get equipment back on the job. issues or break downs, please call me
and we will dispatch the closest mobile
I’m sure most of you have seen some mechanic to your location. Dial 231-642-
of the new equipment rolling around 1501 or go to the MECH SHOP –TC
by now. It will take a bit of time to get contact in your company phones. The
acquainted with it, of course. Please toll free number is 1-800-230-4590.
make sure there is DEF fluid in the tank
and DO NOT SHUT ANY EQUIPMENT Until next time, keep it running!
OFF DURING A RE-GEN. If you need
– Eric

Greasin' Time Great job to all mixer and truck drivers for being patient with the
new GPS cradles this year. I know Kristina and Catrina have
The grease schedule has been made for the been working with everyone to get them compliant on their logs.
Traverse City tractor trucks and tandems. For the few people who have had equipment issues, thanks for
Please check it out in Dispatch if you hanging in there. Every day we learn new things about these
haven’t already done so. Scott is working systems. We continue our efforts to better trouble-shoot and fix
hard and doing a great job to get everyone’s any problems that may occur. Your patience has been greatly
trucks and trailers greased every night. appreciated!
Anybody that greases other equipment, we
have plenty of grease on the shelf here in the shop office. Are you due for service? Remember to keep track of your
equipment when it is due for service and give me a call with a
A FEW DOS AND DON'TS TO REMEMBER: little notice. Thanks!

• Remember to use No.2 grease in the summer time! – Jason

• Never use any questionable DEF fluid.

• Don’t re-use jugs or bottles for DEF fluid as contamination

can cause major problems to the exhaust after treatment

system.

• We have DEF in the shop office by the grease for any off-

road application that requires DEF on the job site.

19

Mind Your Posture

Posture is how you position yourself. In the car, at the desk, standing in the grocery line, and walking; the
way you position your body throughout the day not only has a dramatic effect on you in the present moment
(drowsiness, tension, and sore muscles) but it also will affect your long-term health.

We all know that ‘bad posture’ means slouching in the chair, crossing the legs for extended periods of time,
rounding the back, jutting the chin and head forward while working on the computer (and the list goes on).
The bottom line is that years of poor posture can create a plethora of health problems.

To name just a few, poor posture leads to:

- Tight and tense muscles
- Weak muscles (tight does not mean ‘strong’)
- Sore and achy joints
- Neck and shoulder pain
- Fragility in spine
- Higher risk of joint injury
- Low back pain
- Impair proper digestion
- Decrease flexibility
- Diminish balance

Did you know in any 3-month period, about 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. has at least 1 day
of back pain?

There are simple things you can do to improve and maintain your posture.
1. Be mindful of your posture during everyday activities, like driving to work, sitting at the desk, standing at
the sink, walking, sitting at the table, and sitting on the couch.
2. Take frequent breaks for stretching and moving your body in different ways. Try a few of these: stand up
and lift one arm up and overhead to side-bend, roll the shoulders up to the ears and then back and down a
few times, do controlled neck rolls, and round and flex the back while sitting.
3. Stay active by challenging yourself to get up and off your chair at least every hour.
4. Maintain a healthy weight.
5. Make sure work surfaces are at a comfortable height for you, whether you’re working in an office, doing a
hobby, preparing dinner, or eating a meal.
6. Wear comfortable, supportive, and low-heeled shoes.

Questions? Ask Jackie.

616-309-2778
[email protected]

20

Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
Manistee, MI

Manistee, MI

Traverse City, MI Petoskey, MI

Falling Waters Lodge
Leland, MI

Filer Township, MI

Concrete Plant Elk Rapids, MI 21
Ludington, MI

GIVE 'EM...

1 SERVICE All of the South Airport
Crew with special kudos
Make serving others to Jason Ruppert, Jake
your #1 priority. Trowbridge, Walter Peer,
and Sean Carr.
You’re in a noble profession.
Be proud of what you do and The area west of M-37
was full of utilities and
where you work. hard clay. There was
an extreme amount of
2 ATTITUDE hand shoveling, utility
coordination and stress involved with constructing the storm sewer and
Choose your attitude. undercut in this section. The crew did an excellent job of finding everything
How you think about customers they could and ensuring it was built correctly and done safely. Thank you also
to Jeff Saxton, Max Bott, and dispatch for altering schedules to allow us to hold
is how you will treat them. onto Jason longer and make sure the work was able to be completed without
Remember your mental any damage to utilities.
“I Like Yous!”
When asked to get a job
3 CONSISTENCY done on Saturday and
confronted with missing
Customers return because they parts and no businesses
like what happened last time. open that might be able to
help, Doug Boerma spent
Stick to your high a couple of hours digging
service standards. through the spare parts in
the shop to find something
4 TEAMWORK that would work so the
excavator could be used
Go out of your way the following Monday.
to make each other look good.
AJ Lawhead rescued a
Everything you do ends up dog named Gracie who
in front of the customer. escaped from a local
kennel. Gracie wandered
around for about 3 hours
before finding a safe
place to lie down at our
bunker hill pit. That’s
when AJ showed up to
do his drone calibration.

Gracie’s tag only had a
phone number that went straight to voicemail. After stopping at a couple of
homes nearby, AJ took Gracie to his house for the afternoon and came back
to work.

The owner, Cindy, was extremely grateful for his kindness. She was in
Chicago and would not be home for a couple of days. She called Elmer’s
to express how nice it is to come across caring human beings and wanted
to reach out to AJ's employer asking about his favorite foods. Sounds like
some Red Bull and cherry Pop Tarts are in AJ's future.

22

THE PICKLE

THANK YOU! Katie Howard always
Mill/Prep Crew: Tyler Youker, Don Rongey, goes above and
Gary Duff, Colton Helsel beyond to help collect
Asphalt Crew: Rick Kevwitch, Kelly Looze, money, find old invoic-
Travis Trobaugh, Marvin James, John es, reset passwords for
Benson credit cards, and get
Truck Drivers: Jim Demitrof, Bob Boone, credit apps back fast.
Kevin Sutton, Mike Bosack She's always willing to
help!

In the pouring rain, Doug Clough, Justin Kelenski, and Jason
Ruppert volunteered to flag traffic to help with the move of the
JD 800 Excavator
to Filer Township
– there wasn't
enough room to
put it back togeth-
er along the road,
so we needed
to set up a lane
closure.

RSVP to the Company Picnic by June 16th for FREE SWAG!

WANT FREE STUFF? PLEASE PRE-REGISTER FOR A Where:
GOODIE BAG BY JUNE 16th! Butch’s Farm
Go to www.teamelmers.com/company-picnic to register. 700 Broad Road
Traverse City, MI
Who: 49685
Team Elmer’s employees, employee's spouse or sweetheart, Follow signs to park
and dependent children 18 and under, grandchildren 18 and in field
under (hosted by employee), are welcome! Retirees and their
sweetheart or guest, come on down. We hope to see you there. When:
Saturday, July 28,
What: 2018 11 am - 4 pm
Team Elmer’s Company Picnic! We start eating at
Midway games, tattoo art, clowns, bounce houses, photo booth, 12:00 pm
prize cube, Oasis Tent, steaks, chicken, burgers and brats, corn Company photo at 2:30 pm
on the cob with butter to your elbows, ‘tater salad, beans, and
that’s how we roll – rolls. Separate prize drawings for employee Why:
grandchildren under 18 and employee dependants under 18. Because we love you!
We'll see you and your family at the picnic!

Goodie Bag will be ready for you when you check in, pre-packed Accommodations:
under your last name. Please include your t-shirt size. Yes, we Coming in from out of town and spending the night? The
are having the same super simple registration tables as last year Traverse City Film Festival is the following week. Check local
and more photographers! LESS Lines, MORE Party! campgrounds, hotels, AirBnB, VRBO.com, or outside of Traverse
All Team Elmer's employees will be entered into a Grand Prize City for accomodations.
drawing. You must be present to win.
23

AN EOE/AA EMPLOYER PRSRT STD
U.S. POSTAGE
3600 Rennie School Road
Traverse City, MI 49685 PAID
TRAVERSE CITY, MI

PERMIT #568