As the snow poured down, so did the complaints about the snow removal in Ludvika. This was because the EU requirement for a longer 24-hour rest meant that the snowplows either had their current work shifts cut short or postponed the start of the next work shift.
– It is of course good that the staff have the opportunity to recover between work shifts, but it means certain difficulties for us, says Göran Gullbro who is the director of technology and projects in Ludvika municipality.
Can’t be solved quickly
For next winter, Gullbro plans to train more staff to be able to work with snow removal. The goal is to have two entire work teams that alternate and can run every other day.
– Just go home and go to bed and come back eleven hours later. The rest will have to wait, says Thomas Hedman when we join him in the plow truck.
– We prioritize plowing up so that it becomes passable on streets and cycle paths. But there may be plow banks left at driveways and garbage cans, for example. There we have to “clean up” later.