Maine Is Heading Into Winter With A Plow Driver Shortage…Again

According to a story yesterday from WGME - TV13, Maine is once again heading into winter, and some towns simply just don't have enough plow drivers to keep up. It's been happening off and on for a few years now, and it seems the only solution to the problem is to throw money at it.

Some towns have raised the starting pay for plow drivers by as much as $3.50 an hour to entice people to become drivers. Why the shortage, you ask? A couple reasons... Some people just don't like the monotonously long shift, plowing snow. there's also a fairly sizable group of folks who are retiring, and simply aging out.

It affects each town differently. Maybe in your town, the roads are just as good as they've always been. Other folks feel like their roads just never get plowed at all. Perhaps when you're driving around, and it seems like the town is doing a particularly horrible job at keeping up with the snow, it may be they're just shorthanded.

And with unemployment being at all-time lows in Maine, it's going to take more some pretty aggressive techniques to get people to want these jobs. Hopefully all these towns can figure out what to do about it, and fix it long term. Until then, give the plow guys a break. They're working harder than ever, to make up for what they don't have.

If plowing snow sounds like something you'd like to do with your time this winter, scope this link and see if it's a good fit for you.