The Newton County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the creation of a CDL driver position and the leasing of two “roll-off” trucks.
According to Interim County Manager Harry Owens, the CDL driver position, which was expected to cost $45,000 for the salary and benefit package, was needed to “keep the roll-off trucks running.” The county currently employs four CDL drivers.
Roll-off trucks are created so dumpsters and bins can be easily loaded or unloaded into position.
“With the number of drivers we have, it’s not sufficient,” he said in a later interview. “It’s not a cure for the volume [of household waste] we’re experiencing, but it’s our effort to help keep [those] bins available for the citizens. This is a measure to increase our ability to meet the demand.
County Transportation Director Aaron Wadley warned the board there had been difficulties attracting applications for an existing opening for a CDL driver.
Chair Keith Ellis said he thought there had been difficulties attracting applicants for three openings in the public works department.
Only one of the openings in public works has been filled. “We’re still recruiting for two applicants for public works,” said Keyra Fray, Human Resources Director for the county in an interview later. She said candidates will be interviewed for those positions next week.
Fray said the county is finding it difficult in the current market to attract CDL drivers. “We haven’t been receiving a substantial amount of applicants for those jobs. The market conditions have changed, construction has increased, and the demand for CDL drivers has increased.”
In the past, the county usually advertised employment opportunities on the web site. Fray said they have worked to increase responses to job openings by advertising in the local paper, announcing it on the county’s Facebook page, and posting openings at the Georgia Department of Labor and Georgia Local Government Access web sites
Wadley told the commissioners the lease for two additional roll-off trucks would cost the county $28,575.96 per truck, per year for five years. One of the trucks was needed to replace a recently wrecked truck, and the insurance payment of $35,000 would offset the cost of the lease for the first year.
Currently, Wadley said, there are six trucks in the fleet, with only four or five operational at any given time as the fleet ages, estimating the cost of repairing them had been $238,000.
The two additional trucks would cost $285,759.60 over five years and bring the number in the fleet up to eight.
