DOT Prepping For Winter

(Ames, IA) — The Iowa Department of Transportation is already gearing up for the winter season even though the start of winter isn’t officially until December 21st. DOT Winter Operations Administrator Craig Bargfrede says they’ve been doing a lot of maintenance on the trucks and the equipment, making sure everything is functioning properly. The agency typically brings on more than 600 temporary workers during the winter timeframe, with many of them becoming snowplow drivers. He says they have been able to fill only about three-dozen of those 630-plus jobs. He says a lot of the seasonal workers are farmers or work in construction and other areas that are still really busy this time of year.