With winter approaching, PennDOT seeks snowplow drivers

On a dry, sunny day this week at PennDOT’s maintenance yard off Route 981 in Unity, several snowplow truck drivers were navigating an obstacle course through the 11-acre property.

They were honing their skills for the day or night in the not too-distant future when they will be required to rid state highways of snow.

“It shows their ability to manage the plow,” Melissa Maczko, a spokeswoman for four-county District 12 based in Uniontown, said Wednesday.

The drivers had to maneuver the plow truck through a narrow concrete median-barrier designed to simulate a one-lane bridge. They also practiced drills to help them navigate curves in the road and avoid mailboxes.

The sessions will be conducted over the next two weeks and are designed to test the skills of the PennDOT district’s 100 snowplow drivers, in PennDOT District 12, which covers Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene counties, Maczko said.

Westmoreland County has eight openings for full-time snowplow drivers, while Washington County is looking for 14.

Each driver gets two opportunities to maneuver the vehicle through the obstacle course, Maczko said. Drivers are graded each time, getting points for each time a cone or mailbox is hit.

“It’s like golf. The lower the score, the better,” Maczko said.

Driving the snowplow obstacle course is a requirement for new drivers and is required once every four years for the veteran drivers, Maczko said.

“This refresher course is good for older drivers. The more practice you have, the better you get at it,” said Ray Laney of Derry Township, a PennDOT driver for the past eight years.

An 11-foot-wide wing plow serves as an extension to the 12-foot-wide snowplow. Drivers also are graded on how often they are able to drive the course with the wing extended, or retracted when steering through a narrow stretch. The key is to keep the plow on the roadway as much as possible, said Jay Ofsanik, a PennDOT spokesman.

Before the snow flies this winter, the drivers will do a test run of their assigned route, so they can report any problems along the highway There may be some obstacles they can see in the fall that could be covered by the snow in the winter, Ofsanik said.

The new temporary drivers will have a two-week training sessions.

“The more you drive it, the more comfortable you become,” said Laney, who works out of PennDOT’s shed in New Alexandria.

The challenges to operating safely does not always come from removing the snow on the highways, said Laney, who is responsible for clearing snow along Route 22 from New Alexandria to the Indiana County line, and from routes 982 and 217.

“It’s the other drivers who don’t give you enough cushion (distance behind the truck) or try to pass” the snowplow that can make it unsafe, Laney said.

Route 30, east of Laughlintown and up to Laurel Summit is the most dangerous road to plow, Laney said. There is little room for errors and the weather can change as driver’s climb the hill, he said.

”You want to come home (safely) and you want them to come home” without getting into an accident, Laney said.

Drivers needed

Like so many trucking firms in the region, PennDOT is looking for operators who have a commercial driver’s license, Maczko said.

Those hired on a temporary basis are paid $18.50 an hour with benefits for seniority from when they start on the job.

While the drivers — a mix of men and women — are hired for the winter season, they are fulltime employees and if it’s not snowing, they are engaged in other maintenance activities. The season extends through April.

“It’s pathway to full-time (employment),” Maczko said.

The pay scale is for those hired fulltime or for seasonal work, Maczko said.

PennDOT also has openings for diesel mechanics, auto mechanics and some semi-skilled positions, Maczko added.