Youngstown to get first new snow truck in 10 years
Parts shortage delays street department from receiving two others
YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s street department next week will get its first new snow-plow truck since 2008 while it continues to wait for more than a year for two other trucks to be ready.
The city ordered two snow-plow trucks in October 2018, with Concord Road Equipment Manufacturing Inc. of Painesville hired to put the plow, dump bed and salt spinner on them, said Kevin Flinn, buildings and grounds commissioner.
But the parts have been on back order this entire time so the street department can’t use the vehicles, he said.
“It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s beyond our control,” Flinn said.
Concord is the main manufacturer of equipment for snow-plow trucks in northeast Ohio and “because we ordered two, we’re not a priority,” said Kyle Miasek, the city’s interim finance director. “They’re short on parts. We’re waiting for a back order to build out the trucks.”
Miasek said he hopes the two trucks will be ready by February.
The city agreed to a five-year lease-to-own deal for the two trucks last year, paying $270,000 for the two — $54,000 annually, Miasek said. The second payment was made Wednesday, he said.
“We agreed with a bank so we have to pay,” Miasek said. “We learned a valuable lesson. We went with the preferred vendor, but because of the order size this is what happened. We’re looking at other suppliers.”
Jeff Warfield, Concord’s president, couldn’t be reached Thursday to comment.
Meanwhile, the board of control Thursday approved spending $148,202.94 on a snow-plow truck that Flinn said will be delivered next week.
The truck is a prebuilt demonstration model, which is why it is arriving so quickly, he said. Stoops Freightliner of Dayton is delivering the truck.
The department has the money to purchase the truck because of savings in overtime, operating supplies and “doing a good job of reducing expenditures,” Miasek said.
The department has 20 trucks, ranging from 11 to 20 years old, and has had problems with the fleet, Flinn said.
The normal life expectancy for those vehicles, Flinn said, is eight to 10 years.
The city typically uses 13 trucks with drivers working 12-hour shifts when plowing and salting streets, Flinn said.
During a snowstorm last month, seven trucks stopped working while spreading salt, he said.
“One truck isn’t going to change anything,” but it’s a start, Flinn said.