DELAWARE, Ohio — For hours Tuesday afternoon, crews in Delaware county filled up the plows with load after load of salt.
Four storage facilities across the county currently hold 9,300 tons of salt that’s ready for Wednesday’s winter roads.
Snow plow drivers will work in 12-hour shifts.
“They want to stay out over 12 hours but after that I say you start to get a little sleepy so we make sure they get enough rest,” said Jerry Ungarshick, Delaware County operations manager.
They also conduct a plow driver safety check every two hours.
The staffing strategy is key with the need for plow drivers.
“We are in a shortage right now and that’s where we have to divide up,” Ungarshick said.
Two drivers returned from retirement to help out.
And you can help out too, by keeping this in mind:
“Stay back from [the plows], let them do their job they’re trying to make [the roads] safe for you,” Ungarshick said. “A lot of people don’t realize because we have 17 routes we can’t get to every road right then and there. Usually a route will take two and a half hours to get all the way around to treat and clean up.”
In the city of Marysville, public service directed Jeremy Hoyt, said they’ll have 14 to 15 plows out at a time with at least five of those drivers beginning at midnight treating the roads.