A little bird told me that the Highway Department has decided to keep the sand spreaders on their dump trucks a little while longer just in case we get some snow or ice. As a result, the DPW had to use two front-end loaders to move the sand pile at the Simpson pit (on Cross Road) from one location to another, a very inefficient process.
What is more concerning is that when it came time for a coffee break, I have been told that those DPW workers drove the two loaders about 2.5 miles to the Deep Meadow store and then back to the pit. It had to have taken them more than an hour to get there, get their coffee and get back to work; and there were two of them. Think of the cost in manpower and fuel to just go get coffee.
Are either of these activities really responsible use of taxpayers’ money?
Couldn’t DPW wait until the spreaders were taken off the trucks to move the sand pile?
Couldn’t the management of DPW let the loader operators use a pickup truck to go get their coffee?
Every little bit of inefficiency costs us money we didn't have to spend. It is a matter of attitude and that starts at the top with management.
I would value a comment from the DPW supervisor of this crew. Is that the Highway Supervisor?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Jay Perkins could weigh in on this issue?
DeleteThe DPW supervisor, having become aware of this posting, checked into the matter. The "little bird" did not know the complete story behind the use of front end loaders to move the sand pile. They were clearly the proper choice of equipment to move the pile only about 100 feet. He did, however, take the appropriate action with the general foreman regarding the use of front end loaders to get coffee and to extend the crew's break time. It is important for readers of this blog to know when follow up action is taken on a concern. In this case it shows the responsiveness by this supervisor to immediately follow up on such matters.
ReplyDelete