The Livingston County Road Commission will have the same number of routes and trucks to plow county roads this winter but three fewer drivers to fill those trucks due to budget constraints, Managing Director Mike Craine said.

The shortage means it will take longer to clear roads when the smaller driver rotation is maxed out because fewer back-up drivers will be available, Craine said.

"You always need some surplus operators, simply because not everybody can come to work every day," he said.

Road Commission drivers were preparing Tuesday for the first snow of the season. The National Weather Service predicts above-average snowfalls and colder-than-usual temperatures for Michigan this winter.

Craine said the Road Commission's truck fleet is ready to face winter, in part due to truck purchases in recent years that were required to comply with U.S. environmental regulations on engines. The fleet of 19 large trucks has been well maintained, he added.

"We were maybe better off than some with the age of our truck fleet, but it's been two years since we've bought trucks," he explained.

The commission is paying $54.50 per ton for salt this winter through a contract with Detroit Salt Co., the same rate the company charged last winter.

The continued price is considerably more than in previous years, including the $49.72 per ton Detroit Salt charged in 2009, however.

The commission purchased about 20,000 tons of salt for the season.

The commission's situation isn't alone in anticipating challenges keeping roads plowed and salted with fewer workers, aging equipment and less money than prior years.

The Road Commission for Oakland County, for example, has 50 fewer employees this year than it did in 2007 and hasn't purchased new plow trucks in four years.

Some of its oldest plow trucks were considered "beyond the point we should have replaced them" in 2007, said Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Oakland commission.

Unlike other state road commissions, Livingston road crews won't be required to enforce plowing restrictions on roads based on traffic volume, however, Craine said.

"We don't put those restrictions on. They have not proven to be very useful for us in that way," he said.

"We will put everything we have at a storm," Craine added.

http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20111130/NEWS01/111300306/Road-clearing-time-will-slip-result-budget-woes?odyssey=nav|head