As winter pelts areas throughout the United States, snowplow operations continue to encounter a major issue: personnel.
State of Affairs for Hiring New Plow Operators
According to sources like the New York Times, the effects of the Great Resignation of 2021 has trickled down to the transportation industry. Finding and retaining workers has become difficult in the snowplow industry due to a few factors. These include competitive pay, shortage of qualified individuals, and lack of licensing.
Transportation departments have sought to increase their pay to stay competitive amongst other companies who require drivers. For example, Colorado’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) increased its base monthly pay for snowplow operators by almost $100 and will pay a bonus for snow season performance.
Furthermore, transportation departments are encountering a lack of individuals qualified to operate commercial vehicles. As this problem spans the entire transportation industry, finding a pool of candidates takes longer. Additionally, the pandemic caused many motor vehicle departments to temporarily close down, thereby slowing down commercial licensing for individuals.
Where PlowOps Makes the Difference
Once transportation departments overcome these hurdles, the next challenge involves training and familiarizing new personnel with the roads and snowplow process. That’s where PlowOps comes in and significantly reduces operator training time for our clients.
By having our tablet dashboard installed in every snowplow vehicle, new drivers have the route handy at all times, along with situational awareness as to what roads are already being plowed. At the same time, our software allows managers at the main transportation office to monitor new drivers and guide them for more effective plowing. This minimizes time and expenses otherwise spent on ride-alongs, classes, or other training methods traditionally implemented for onboarding new plow operators.
One of our clients, Deschutes County, shared how our tablet dashboard with real-time reporting assisted their new drivers: “One of the drivers, a newer member of the team, didn’t know the roads very well, and he was super excited to have the dashboard tablet.” The dashboard assists new drivers in which routes to take and minimizes duplicate plow efforts on the same roads.
Let Us Help Your New Drivers
As transportation departments continue to hire new drivers and build back up personnel, it’s essential to ensure plow operations and community safety are not negatively impacted. By investing in PlowOps, snowplow operators need less time and encounter fewer errors as roads are cleared during a winter event. Contact us for a demo and more information on how our software simplifies the process for new drivers.
