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Help Wanted: Ohio needs more snowplow drivers

Ohio Department of Transportation

There's a shortage of them going into this winter.

Ohio is one of six states that’s looking to hire more than 100 snowplow drivers, with winter just a few weeks away. And that’s not an easy task this year for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

ODOT’s Matt Bruning says the state usually hires about 500 temporary snowplow drivers each winter. He says retired workers or those who work in construction during the summer usually sign on to drive plows in the winter. But it’s not so easy to get enough this year.

“There’s such a high demand for CDL drivers across all sectors of the economy and not just here in Ohio but all across the country,” Bruning says.

Bruning says the state has a 95% record of clearing roads within two hours of a snow event but this year, if there’s a shortage of drivers, it could take longer to get those roads cleared.

Contact Jo Ingles at jingles@statehousenews.org.
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