Missouri DOT Facing Covid-19 and Shortage of Plow Operators

Missouri Department of Transportation has a shortage of more than 400 plow truck drivers and heavy equipment operators, according to a report from KOMU 8 TV.

The shortage is not new to MoDOT, but the Covid-19 pandemic is proving to be a challenge for the upcoming winter season.

"We have very strict enforcement of social distancing in place and the most significant challenge ahead of us is really winter maintenance both on a staffing front and an operational front," MoDOT director Patrick McKenna told the station.

McKenna said that as of Wednesday, they had four new Covid-19 cases. That brings the department to a total of 68 cases since the pandemic started.

When an employee tests positive for the virus, the worker and the people they work closely with have to go into quarantine for two weeks.

"Because of the pandemic, if we end up losing crews for a multiweek period to quarantine related to the virus, we can literally, if we're also short of crews, we may not be able to send crews from one county to assist another county, as we typically do," McKenna said.

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Source: KOMU 8 TV