MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo.—More than 100 St. Louis County Department of Transportation employees were expected to be on the road Wednesday as part of a mandatory annual training to get familiar with plowing routes as the calendar turns to November and the winter weather season.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page took the wheel of one plow. County officials say they wished he had more company on the roads.
The department staffs 115 county plows, with one person per a 12-hour shift during a snow event. As of Wednesday, the county is short about 50 drivers.
“We’re struggling with staff like every business sector in the country,” Page said. “Hospitals and manufacturing, everybody’s struggling, but we have people in place to make sure our roads will be clear at least within 24 hours. Usually we do much, much better than that. Subdivision streets will get one pass at least within 24 hours, historically we’ve done much better than that.”
Overtime shifts will include pulling in recruits from elsewhere in county government who can operate smaller plows that don’t require a commercial driving license.
“We’ll just do our best to address our roads in as timely a fashion as possible and keep people working until the roads are clear," said Stephanie Leon Streeter, Acting Director of the St. Louis County Department of Transportation and Public Works.
As perks, personnel specifically hired for snow functions receive an additional $6 per hour and also receive “standby” pay for being on call for severe weather.
The shortage of plow operators at the county level matches the continuing issues facing the Missouri Department of Transportation, which said last month it will still be several hundred drivers short in the event of a statewide storm that requires at least two 12-hour shifts.
In previous years, state officials have moved staff around from region to region depending on the storm to cover shortages.
St. Charles County is down 14 “street maintenance workers” who would drive plows during a winter weather event. Mechanics and managers would have to get behind the wheel to cover shortages, a spokesperson told Spectrum News Wednesday