COLUMBUS, Ohio — Possible snow is finally in the forecast this weekend after a slow start to winter in central Ohio, and many snowplow operators are eager to get back on the roads.
“It has been a lot more difficult than other years. This year in particular, there has been no snow. We have only been out twice to salt,” said Luke McIntosh, Chief of Operations at Precision Hardscapes & Excavating.
Without any snow to plow, McIntosh has had to pivot his focus to the hardscapes and excavating aspects of his business, doing more work like installing patios.
“So we are staying busy, trying to stay busy with these types of jobs so it is still difficult when the ground is not frozen and it is cold things don’t dry out things are muddy it is a nasty mess and hard to get stuff done,” said McIntosh.
He has had to lay off some of his staff, while his snow removal equipment sits in storage, ready to go when Mother Nature calls.
“Without the snow, there are a lot of operators that count on us to do work for, so if we are not getting snow, they are not working, so that hurts the bottom line as far as next season they may go elsewhere, so it is a struggle, we really need the snow,” McIntosh said.
He is hoping snow will pick up in the new year for the sake of his business. Meantime, the Ohio Department of Transportation is keeping a close eye on the weather as well and is ready to mobilize its drivers.
“We still have some salt coverage left over from this last weekend, but they will do some pretreating we will go over our trucks and equipment to make sure everything is clean and mechanically sound, ready to hit the road, thankfully because it has been a mild winter this fall we still have plenty of salt so no issues with material, we can get the trucks up and ready to roll,” said Matthew McGuire, a public information officer at ODOT.
Last year, ODOT told 10TV it was down 30 drivers for the central Ohio region but this year, McGuire said staffing levels are much better.
“We are still down some positions but not where we were at last year so definitely some improvement there,” McGuire said.
ODOT reminds drivers to give snowplows room on the roads. They also say if you don’t have to go out during a snow event, it is best to just stay home.