Oakland County Looking For Part-Time Snow Plow Drivers Once Again

BEVERLY HILLS (WWJ) -- For the third year in a row, the Road Commission for Oakland County is hiring part-time snow plow drivers ahead of what promises to be another cold and snowy winter.

The department is looking for about forty drivers in all and spokesperson Craig Bryson says everyone is gearing up for what the weather service tells them will be a slightly colder than normal winter ahead, but one with less accumulation.

"Our full-time staff has been reduced due to budget cuts over the last seven or eight years, by about 40 percent in our maintenance department that does the actual salting and plowing," Bryson said. "We found a cost-effective way to maintain the level of services to hire part-time, temporary drivers to help out during the winter."

Helping ease some of the strain, Bryson says the Road Commission will be adding 18 new plows and trucks this winter, but expects it to still take years to get the rest of the fleet "back to where they want it."

"We've got about less than half the number of mechanics that we had prior to 2007," Bryson said. "We've got trucks that are breaking down a lot more and a lot fewer mechanics to repair them -- not a good recipe for the winter."

Bryson said that the department is looking for about 40 drivers in all and they're about halfway through the hiring process.

"First of all, they must have a CDL," Bryson said. "Then -- once they get through the interview process and the background check -- our trainers take them out in a truck and have them actually demonstrate that they really know what they're doing."

The agency has also brought back an additional four retired plow drivers on a part-time basis. The RCOC has reduced its staff about 35 percent overall since 2007, and nearly 40 percent within the Highway Maintenance Dept., as a result of the decline in state-collected road funding over the last decade.

While the addition of the temporary, part-time workers and retirees should help to alleviate some of the strain caused by staff reductions, the RCOC continues to struggle with the aging equipment.