When you’re stuck in a massive snowstorm on a Wyoming highway this winter — or when you can’t leave your home for days because the roads are closed — here are a few things to think about while waiting for an underpaid snowplow driver to rescue you.
Opinion
The Wyoming Legislature put $1.4 billion into savings earlier this year, the largest deposit like that in the state’s history.
Wyoming’s “rainy-day fund” is the richest in the nation, topping $2 billion.
The state’s fiscal picture is bright as the Legislature prepares for its February budget session. Thanks to an uptick in tax revenue from the oil and gas industries, lawmakers will have a $178 million surplus on their hands.
But there’s a reason you’re likely stranded and waiting for the roads to open. The Wyoming Department of Transportation cannot hire enough snowplow drivers to keep up with the weather.
Despite the state’s tremendous wealth, the Wyoming Legislature refuses to provide WYDOT with the resources it needs to pay competitive wages.
Cody Beers, a WYDOT spokesman, told Better Wyoming that 61 of the agency’s 450 full-time snowplow driver positions are vacant going into the 2023-24 winter. On top of that, 31 of 50 temporary driver positions are empty.
Beers said many people with the skills required to drive a snowplow can find better pay in the private sector — especially in the oil and gas industry.
While Wyoming residents may prefer limited government, only scorched-earth anarchists don’t think plowed roads are a public service that people should expect in 2023.
Wyoming has the resources and the wherewithal to keep you from being stranded this winter. Unfortunately, the Legislature prefers to hoard its wealth instead of paying competitive wages to state employees so that you can get to where you need to go.
Tammy Johnson has seen the Legislature fail to adequately pay state workers for years. The executive director of Wyoming AFL-CIO said lawmakers tend to view their job as “cutting corners and saving money” instead of making strategic investments for the state.
“If you want to have qualified, available snowplow drivers, then you need to look at them as an investment in the state,” Johnson said. “If you want to have clear roads, you need to pay the going rate.”
In fact, paying for snow removal is an investment in the state’s economy. Ensuring people and goods can travel safely and efficiently across Wyoming keeps businesses functioning smoothly.
It’s important to the U.S. economy, as well, since Interstate 80 — which is often closed through Wyoming — is one of the nation’s most important shipping corridors.
According to the National Transportation Research Nonprofit, $68 billion in goods move to and from Wyoming each year. But poor travel conditions threaten this industry.
University of Wyoming economist Anne Alexander has pointed to I-80’s closure near Elk Mountain as a considerable problem to commerce. She said keeping it open could have more than a billion-dollar impact.
While Wyoming residents may prefer limited government, only scorched-earth anarchists don’t think plowed roads are a public service that people should expect in 2023.
In addition to trucking and shipping, road closures and dangerous travel hurt other types of business by preventing people from getting to where they need to be during Wyoming’s long winter.
Paying higher wages to snowplow drivers so that WYDOT can more easily attract and retain workers would be a valuable asset for our state.
Some policymakers in Wyoming have recognized that underpaying snowplow drivers hurts both travelers and businesses. But they have done little about it.
Last year, lawmakers increased starting pay for WYDOT snowplow drivers by 83 cents per hour, bringing them up to $18.14 an hour. The average hourly wage for a snowplow driver in the U.S. is $23.57, according to ZipRecruiter, or about $49,000 a year.
Some private companies in Wyoming are advertising up to $30 per hour for snowplow drivers, or about $62,400 a year, making WYDOT wages far below market rate in the state.
When the Legislature convenes, it will have a significant surplus of funds that could address this problem. The state’s residents can see whether lawmakers will do right by state employees and increase snowplow driver pay, or if their stinginess will leave us stranded.
Unions!!! We need them for plow drivers!……… Come to this century legislators . Do some work for once.
Excellent article!
This is very sad to hear! I doubt that not one of these law makers would last a month as a plow driver! You don’t only need to be one of the best drivers to survive but a little crazy as well ! I have never drove snowplow but school bus out there with them! The state has always been cheap when it comes to transportation drivers like it said paying good drivers costs money, it’s a investment training comes at a cost!
While I am not arguing that snow plow drivers should be paid more – market conditions warrant that – but you cannot have your cake and eat it too. The same people clamoring for higher wages are the same people complaining that property taxes are too high. So what do you want, higher wages and higher taxes, or lower taxes and underpaid snow plow drivers?
Just because the state has a surplus this year does not mean they will have one next year. If you want higher wages for State employees you need a steady revenue stream. Simple economics
That’s what economic forecasts and budget projections are for. It’s also why WY has a rainy day fund. There is saving, and then there is hoarding; there is a line between the two which should not be crossed.
You would think WY Dot could do with out the higher up people that never see horrible roads. And keep our roads safe by giving the maintenance staff the people they need to keep the roads safe. Get real people one life should be worth it! Pay them higher wages.
I believe that snow plow drivers are not the only critical positions the state is underpaying. Nurses at State Hospitals, 911 operators, patrolmen, health and medical providers are among the most critical shortages but there is an exodus of State Employees finding much greener pastures in the private sector. State government is having a difficult time staffing and maintaining many positions. If the Legislature does not recognize the impending crisis and offer adequate pay and incentives for workers, we will indeed be in a disaster situation.
$18.14 an hour, and need a CDL, AND it’s seasonal?? Who could resist? Of course, the legislators will all just scoff and say “People just don’t wanna work anymore” like all of MAGA country that are baffled people don’t want jobs that don’t pay a living wage anymore.
POUND WISE AND POUND FOOLISH is not something to be proud of, Wyoming lawmakers. “Let those with eyes, see.”
Employees at fast food restaurants are making $15 an hour. Which they deserve. Our legislature lacks the knowledge or competence of how to use money. So they just cram it into savings. They turn down easy federal monies.
I wonder what their personal savings accounts look like. Most, with the exception of those that inherited money, are probably pretty dismal
Wake up……..pay all state employees a livable wage. Pay snow plow drivers, who have a tough and dangerous job more than a livable wage
Totally agree. I’ve been with WYDOT for 34 years and have always said that the snowplow drivers don’t receive near enough for what they do. Of course, if they raise the maintenance crews pay, they’d have to raise a lot of other employees wages.