The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to have about 1700 plow trucks on state roads during the height of the storm. That’s less than normal because of the shortage of drivers.
Ohio Department of Transportation Spokesman Matt Bruning says 3300 drivers are working to clear roads, down from past years due to the inability to hire drivers.
“We hire about 500 seasonal positions each year. We hired about 75% of those positions this year. So it trends a little behind previous years. Certainly, it has been more of a challenge in our urban areas than elsewhere.”
Bruning says ODOT’s drivers have been trained how to do the job properly and are up to the challenge. In some cases, he says employees who work in other capacities for ODOT will be taking on some of the driving duty to help keep the maximum number of plows on the roads.