Cole, Jefferson City address truck breakdowns between snowstorms

Two public works departments in Cole County experienced a number of equipment issues during last weekend’s snowstorm. Officials with both the Jefferson City and Cole County public works departments said those breakdowns have been addressed, and they are prepared for the second round of snow this month.

“Everything went semi-according to plan,” Larry Benz, the director of Cole County Public Works, said when recapping coverage of last weekend’s historic snow total. “We had a few breakdowns, but we’ve got them all repaired and back up and running.”

“When you run trucks that hard and make them work, there are going to be breakdowns. That’s just part of having equipment,” Benz said.

Britt Smith of Jefferson City Public Works said maintenance crews worked on repairs throughout the week, and that they now have all trucks prepared for the chance of snow Saturday. A crew of 24 driver along with support staff will be on call tomorrow, Smith said.

Benz and Smith said they plan on delaying any pretreatment because of expected freezing rain Friday evening and early Saturday morning. Both said crews will be called in during the expected transition from rain to snow.

Benz said he will call in just over 30 personnel when they learn what time the rain will transition to snow.

“We’re expecting (to have) at least an hour once it starts snowing before it really starts sticking. That’ll give us a chance to get some pretreatment down,” Benz said.