KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This week’s cold snap helped to bring into focus plans for the upcoming winter.
As organizations plan out their winter responses, one area that’s still in high-demand: qualified snow plow operators.
In a news release Tuesday, the Missouri Department of Transportation said they’re facing a “critical shortage” of plow operators heading into the winter season.
“With years of high turnover, we are nearly 30% below the staffing we need in order to cover more than one shift in a statewide storm,” MoDOT director Patrick McKenna said. “If a widespread winter storm lasts more than one 12-hour shift, we will not have enough employees to fill all the trucks on the second shift and therefore, it will take longer to clear the roads.”
McKenna said that shortage could lead to delays and impacts across the state.
MoDOT is planning a drill throughout the day Thursday to help crews get acquainted with their routes.
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