Plow truck drivers still needed as PennDOT prepares for winter weather

PITTSBURGH — Like so many places, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is also hiring. They have been holding job fairs and recruiting events for months and still have hundreds of openings across the state heading into winter.

“We are down,” said Lori Musto, assistant district executive of maintenance for PennDOT District 11. “We’re always looking.”

According to agency spokeswoman Alexis Campbell, PennDOT has filled about 41% of its 695 temporary operator positions and 94% of its permanent operators.

Locally, Beaver County is seeing the most openings. All 16 of its temporary positions are open, plus another 20 full-time employees.

Besides operators, PennDOT says it’s also looking for diesel mechanics and tunnel maintainers.

Musto says they’re currently down drivers, but they’ve been down like this before.

“We don’t guarantee necessarily anything, especially when you’re dealing with weather,” said Musto. “You’re dealing with possible accidents. We can’t control crazy drivers all the time. We don’t have what we call a dry road policy. Roads will become snow-covered, but we do have contingency plans and we will be out during every event. The same as we have in the past.”

Musto says contingency plans are in place. Part of those contingency plans include something called mobilization teams. This allows operators to cross district or county lines as needed, depending on how a snowstorm moves in.

PennDOT also relies on agreements with municipalities.

“Our municipalities take care of the state roads within their municipalities for us,” said Musto. “It allows us to focus on the higher-level interstates, and they take care of the lower volume roads for us.”

If you’re interested in applying for a job with PennDOT, CLICK HERE.

PennDOT is having open interviews every Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at its Rochester Maintenance Building located at 155 Stewart Avenue, Rochester, PA 15074. PennDOT is also visiting the New Castle School of Trades monthly.

Staffing is a ‘concern’ for PennDOT as we approach snow season

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