VDOT needs more snow equipment, appeal dimmed by requirements, said OSIG

VDOT is facing a shortage of equipment, especially for levels 4 and 5 of its mobilization plan, according to a performance audit from Virginia’s Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG). They concluded when it was released this summer.

Level 4 refers to conditions where there is 50% - 100% chance of precipitation with up to 6 inches of snow or ¼ inch of ice. The pavement temperature is 15 – 19 degrees, and the response plan is salting and plowing operations that include plowing subdivisions and sanding as necessary.

Level 5 involves the same conditions except the pavement temperature is 10 - 14 degrees and all resources are deployed.

According to the OSIG, there are fewer contractors interested in working on VDOT’s snow contracts because of additional requirements.

With added requirements, such as workers compensation insurance and automatic vehicle locator (AVL) monitoring devices, for example, VDOT has experienced a reduction in the number of contractors interested in meeting these requirements, the OSIG said.

And those who take the offer for the upcoming season should be prepared that there could be additional scrutiny because when VDOT’s snow plow operations were audited, issues were found, and the department has agreed to make changes.

Corruption-driven audit finds problems

The OSIG conducted the performance audit on snow removal in response to an $11 million bribe scheme that sent two VDOT supervisors from the Burke Area Headquarters to federal prison.

The audit revealed a number of issues whereby snow removal operations weren’t being handled according the guidelines.

VDOT did not always obtain, verify, and record documentation that a contractor’s equipment had proper insurance coverage before the contractor used that equipment in snow removal operations, the OSIG’s audit found. In one instance in the Fredericksburg District, the OSIG found four vehicles with no insurance coverage.

Further, there was little to no validation to ensure trucks reporting for snow removal services were the same trucks that were pre-approved to perform those services. The audit highlighted the snow event on January 15 – 16, 2022. No validation of trucks was done at the Fredericksburg District, Chancellor AHQ, the report stated.

The OSIG stated that the Fredericksburg District Infrastructure Manager admitted there is no large-scale checking of items such as VIN’s, insurance and tags, especially in the bigger urban areas since logistics makes this difficult. VDOT performs spot checks, but not comprehensive checks of every single piece of equipment for every storm, the district infrastructure manager added.

But OSIG said the lax validation creates the possibility that contractors substitute uninspected vehicles, which increases the risk of accidents. The OSIG recommended that in addition to leveraging AVL technology, VDOT needs to conduct physical checks on a random basis.

VDOT management concurred with all findings in the audit and plans to implement corrective actions by December 15, 2022.

But with or without contractors, clearing the roads is VDOT’s responsibility.  

Without sufficient resources at mobilization levels 4 and 5, major snowstorms have the potential to be crippling, the OSIG declared. If a major statewide storm occurred, preventing contractors from one area to fill the gaps in another, VDOT would not be able to keep up without hiring equipment at costly rates and potentially accepting contractor equipment when that equipment has not been inspected or properly insured, the audit stated.

The OSIG recommended that VDOT might need to consider options, such as using state employees from other agencies who have commercial driver’s licenses or training VDOT staff who don’t normally operate such equipment to do so during snow storms.