Truck driver shortage impacts Tusc County Engineer’s Office
The county engineer’s office is responsible for the maintenance of the county’s roads and bridges including snow and ice removal.
According to information on the website of the American Truckers Association, there is a shortage of truck drivers. The trucking industry will need to hire roughly 1.1 million new drivers over the next decade.
As the nation emerges from the COVID lockdown, this shortage of qualified drivers is affecting the operations of the Tuscarawas County Engineer’s Office.
According to Joe Bachman, Tuscarawas County engineer, there are very few applicants for current county openings.
“A few years ago, we would typically get 10-15 resumes dropped at our office every month, and as positions came open, we would contact qualified applicants. In the last 10 months, we have gotten a total of five resumes,” Bachman said. “We have had an ad on the county website for the last few months. We have had the normal retirements and resignations, but we are having a hard time finding replacements.”
Bachman said employees need to have a commercial drivers license to operate the tandem trucks used to plow snow.
“This is the same CDL necessary for all truck drivers, so we are competing with a lot of employers,” he said. “Our compensation package is very competitive within the industry. Our benefit package is in excess of 60% of base wages including sick leave, vacation, holidays, health insurance and a retirement benefit second to none, and we do not experience layoffs during weak economic periods.”
The county engineer’s office is responsible for the maintenance of the county’s roads and bridges including snow and ice removal, paving, bridge replacements, chip and seal roads, culvert replacements, slips, bridge inspections and more.
To obtain an application for a highway maintenance worker II position, go to www.co.tuscarawas.oh.us/Employment.htm.