DELAWARE- With winter's chill lurking just a few months away, Delaware finds itself in a tight spot, grappling with a shortfall in its snow removal workforce.
Delaware's Department of Transportation (DelDOT) is looking to fill almost 80 open positions, the majority in its maintenance and operations division.
Although the First State did not see much snow last year, many are predicting a white winter this time around. If those predictions hold true, DelDOT snow plow drivers will have their work cut out for them.
The department is responsible for plowing about 90 percent of all roads in the state, according to spokesperson C.R. McLeod.
"If we do see significant winter weather, whether it's in one county or the entire state, that is going to be problematic for us," McLeod warned. "It is ultimately going to take us longer to clear roads when we have this high vacancy rate."
Zach Stracher has been operating DelDOT equipment for the past 6 years. He said if the staffing shortage continues, he and his fellow operators will have to shoulder a heavier workload.
"It puts a lot of stress on all of us guys," Stracher shared. "With not enough help it is going to be a lot busier for us who have experience and we have a lot of new people that don't have experience so it's going to be hard for them to catch on."
The shortage stems from a wave of retirements, but also "the challenge of private businesses offering significantly more money," according to McLeod.
McLeod said the state has been working to increase pay through sign-on and retention bonuses.
DelDOT also has a 'paid volunteer snow program,' where part time employees are hired to be on-call during the winter.
A list of open positions can be found here.
