LA GRANDE, Ore. — A shortage of road maintenance employees could create delays in snow removal this winter in Eastern Oregon.
“Fewer people will be running plows. Anytime you have fewer operators it means that work will take longer,” said Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson Tom Strandberg.
Craig Sipp, manager of ODOT’s Region 5, which encompasses a high percentage of Eastern Oregon, agreed.
“If we have back-to-back storms, it may take us longer to get to some of the secondary highways,” he said.
Sipp said ODOT’s Region 5 has approximately 12 unfilled road maintenance positions, significantly more than what is average for this time of year.
Open positions
Statewide ODOT has 167 road maintenance positions now open. There were 86 openings at the same time in 2020 and 29 in 2019 during the same period. Strandberg said ODOT’s Region 5 has seen openings for maintenance staff steadily rise since 2019.
Strandberg said it is not known if the COVID-19 pandemic is partially responsible for the employee shortage. Strandberg said 99% of ODOT’s employees in Oregon complied with the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate that took effect in October. This meant that 99% of ODOT’s employees either were vaccinated or filed for and received an exemption for health or religious reasons.
He said it is unknown if some of the employees who retired this year did so because of concerns about the state vaccine mandate.
ODOT always adds to its road maintenance staff in the winter, Strandberg said, and many of those hired are seasonal employees. He said that despite the labor shortage, travelers can expect to see ODOT maintenance crews clearing snow night and day.
“We will be keeping equipment on the road as much as possible,” he said.
Ace Clark, ODOT’s manager of District 13, which includes Union and Wallowa counties and most of Baker County, said that it has been difficult to hire road maintenance staff because there is so much competition now for employees due to a regional and nationwide labor shortage. With everyone competing for employees, many employers are boosting their compensation packages.
“It is hard to recruit when everybody is paying more. It is hard to compete,” Clark said.
ODOT’s problem is compounded by the fact that the road maintenance employees it needs must be skilled drivers with commercial driver’s licenses. ODOT will provide the training needed to earn a CDL, but Clark said he would rather hire drivers who have experience operating heavy equipment before they start working in bad weather conditions.
Clark noted that all inexperienced drivers will be paired with experienced ones initially to help them develop skills.
“We will be taking them on training rides,” he said.
He noted it is possible that ODOT road maintenance employees from other parts of the state could be brought in this winter to help with snow removal.
Another concern of Clark’s is keeping a supply of replacement parts available for snowplows. This is important because replacement parts may be difficult to get quickly due to supply chain issues.
“We have been trying to stock up,” he said.
Clark said he has talented workers who have multiple skills and he is optimistic things will go relatively smoothly this winter.
“We are very fortunate because we have very good employees,” Clark said.
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Safety first
Sipp said that anyone interested in working for ODOT this winter should contact the department.
“We want people to look to us for employment,” he said. “We want people who will enjoy doing this every day.”
Ken Patterson, area manager for ODOT’s Region 5, said motorists should be patient this winter since there may be times when snow will not be cleared as quickly as expected. He encourages people to avoid driving when conditions are poor. He said drivers should monitor ODOT’s road cameras on its Trip Check website to make sure road conditions are good before they start a trip. Patterson noted that many additional cameras on I-84 between La Grande and Pendleton have been installed within the past two years.
Strandberg also pointed out that about a dozen message boards have been added between La Grande and Pendleton over the past two years. The message boards alert drivers to upcoming conditions, including the presence of snow, ice, fog, slow traffic and accidents. Strandberg also urges drivers to be patient and noted that it is never a good idea to pass a snowplow, especially because ODOT now has winged plows with blades on both sides. He said drivers who find themselves behind plows are actually in a good position.
“The best place you can be in a storm is behind a snowplow,” Strandberg said, adding that drivers should never get too close to snowplows because they do make stops.
This winter ODOT crews will again be following the agency’s Winter Levels of Service guidelines, which prioritize the roads that receive the most service. The guidelines indicate that Interstate 84 is to be given the highest priority in Union County, Strandberg said.
Regardless of where one is driving in this region, Patterson said it is important to understand that ODOT maintenance employees “take personal pride in what they are doing” and care enormously about safety.
“We all have friends and family who are also traveling and we want them to get to where they are going safely,” he said.