The Attleboro DPW lot. (Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ NewsRadio)
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Departments of Public Works all over the Commonwealth have been hard at work over the last few days, making sure municipal streets are in good shape after a 1-2 punch of winter weather.
But in three Massachusetts communities, they're dealing with a shortage of snow plow drivers—so if you've got a snow plowing business in Attleboro, North Attleboro, or Mansfield, the DPWs in those towns want to talk to you.
The pool of snow removal contractors has been getting smaller and smaller for the three towns. All three are down a handful of contractors this year, and Attleboro DPW Director Mike Tyler told WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe younger drivers don't want to work the long hours during big storms.
"Guys just don't want to do it anymore, whether it's quality of life issues, possible damage to their trucks," Tyler said. "The newer landscapers especially, they've got like, three brand-new 450s, and they're like, no, I've worked nine months out of the year, almost seven days a week. It's a quality-of-life issue for me. I want to take the winter off, and I don't want to ruin my equipment."
He said they've raised their rates by $10 an hour across the board to stay competitive, and also placed an ad in the local paper.
"We're trying to find inventive ways, by raising our rates and coming up with some incentives, to at least hold on to the ones that we have," he said. "We've lost, since last year, between five and six, so if you continue that trend over the course of five years, we're really gonna be in a bad place."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports
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