Lebanon
A new policy implemented earlier this month prohibits drivers from working more than 16 hours nonstop. It’s needed because some public works employees worked as many as 32 consecutive hours during past storms, City Manager Shaun Mulholland said on Monday.
“People are fatigued and they’re operating thousands of pounds of heavy equipment with a plow on it,” he said in a phone interview. “Having people drive more than 16 hours puts them at risk unnecessarily.”
The move would make Lebanon one of the few Upper Valley communities to formally adopt a policy that limits its drivers’ time on the road, a step Mulholland says is long overdue. He instituted a similar policy in Allenstown, N.H. — where he once worked as a town administrator — after several incidents involving plows there.
Sleep scientists and policy experts have warned against fatigued driving, which sometimes is compared to drunken or impaired driving.
Driving after getting only four to five hours of sleep is comparable to driving with a blood alcohol content at or above the legal limit, according to a 2016 report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
The report found that drivers who slept less than four of the previous 24 hours had an 11.5 percent higher risk of being involved in an accident. Those who slept four to five hours had a 4.3 percent higher risk.
That’s partially why federal regulations forbid commercial drivers who are transporting property from being on the road more than 11 hours out of a maximum 14-hour shift. Drivers carrying passengers are required to stop after 10 hours.
But municipal and state plowing operations are exempt from federal regulations because they’re considered emergency vehicles, said Doug King, an engineer for District 2 of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.
The district encompasses 50 communities from Haverhill to Lempster and can mobilize more than 80 trucks for a major storm, King said.
“We let plow drivers regulate themselves. They know better than we do,” he said. “When they get tired, they take a rest.”
The DOT tries get plow drivers at least four hours of rest for every 24 hours on the road, and has space set aside in its maintenance sheds for employees to cook and relax, King said. It’s also not uncommon for drivers to pull over when they get too tired to continue, he added.
NHDOT spokesman Bill Boyton said on Monday that it’s state policy for drivers to take a two-hour break after 12 hours on the road.
In Vermont, state plow drivers operate under an informal guideline that they not work more than 16 hours without a break, said Tammy Ellis, a district transportation administrator at the state Agency of Transportation.
“In general terms, we try to operate as safely as we can but we also have limitations on staffing and personnel,” she said.
VTrans attempts to keep hours down by supplementing its workforce with substitute drivers — state employees who hold commercial driver’s licenses and can step in when a snowstorm gets overwhelming.
Drivers’ routes also are rotated, Ellis said, allowing some to take a break while others fill in.
Peter Kulbacki, director of Public Works in Hanover, also said there’s no “hard and fast policy” in place for his drivers.
But, he said, it’s not often drivers would be out for extended periods of time.
“It’s a very judgment-based call,” he said. “If someone’s tired, we encourage them off the road.”
While limiting driver hours will promote safety, it also comes with costs.
During major snowstorms, there will be times late at night when plows won’t be as active, Mulholland told the City Council during its Nov. 7 meeting.
“This city has had a very high level of roadway maintenance that I haven’t seen in many other communities,” he said in a CATV recording of the meeting. “Sidewalks are cleared, the roads are cleared, the parking lots are cleared very quickly compared to a lot of other communities. We’re not always going to be able to meet that with these heavier storms.”
Lebanon’s snow removal and ice control plan calls for plows to hit the road after 2 inches of snow have fallen and “continue until the storm has ended.”
Sidewalks and city parking lots also should be cleared 24 hours after the end of a snowstorm, according to the plan, which was adopted in 2008.
While Lebanon’s plows often are seen clearing city streets, state plows also lend a hand clearing major routes, including portions of Route 120, Route 10, Route 12A and Route 4 in the city. Lebanon also has agreements allowing Enfield and Plainfield to help maintain portions of Methodist Hill and Old Country roads.
The City Council is waiting to hear how Mulholland and public works officials plan to fill the potential gap in service, Mayor Sue Prentiss said.
It’s possible that the city could hire additional part-timers or might consider paying commercial plow companies to fill some routes during particularly troublesome storms, she said.
“We need to have a plan for how we’re going to manage this,” Prentiss said, adding she initially was hesitant about embracing Mulholland’s policy.
Prentiss recalled pushback from some residents when the city years ago proposed a policy requesting homeowners and business to shovel sidewalks. She said snow removal is a major concern for people, who often call or email to point out poor road conditions.
“I do hear from residents when they don’t feel the roads are being taken care of,” Prentiss said.
However, she said, safety has to be the highest priority for the city.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.