Questions for UDOT
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uy local.
It's a popular mantra, embraced by every chamber of commerce worth its salt.
Hire local, too. Wages and taxes, for the most part, stay close and keep on circulating through our economic engine.
That philosophy is getting a real-world workout when it comes to the $264 million expansion of I-15 between Riverdale and Farr West. Some Top of Utah trucking companies are upset that a Nevada trucking company is doing work that could be done by idled Utah drivers.
Weber County Constructors got the bid from the Utah Department of Transportation to perform the freeway rehab -- adding lanes to 10 miles of the roadway, rebuilding bridges, etc. And according to UDOT, the contract did not require Weber County Constructors -- a combination of Draper-based Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Co. and Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction Co. -- to hire local crews.
In fact, Weber County Constructors has hired lots of local labor for the job, which is scheduled to be complete in fall 2008. Our reporter Scott Schwebke wrote last week that "WCC employs nine local trucking companies and five out-ofstate companies, as well as more than 40 subcontractors and local materials suppliers for the I-15 New Ogden/ Weber (NOW) expansion project ... ."
But for local companies that have trucks sitting idle and that have laid off workers, it's tough to see Nevada drivers and a Nevada company -- Lakeside Specialized Transportation out of Verdi, Nev. -- doing the work. (Our guess is that local motels and restaurants may feel differently.)
The local companies' questions are valid. Why hire from out of state when local companies are willing to do the work? Were the out-of-staters hired because they charge less? Are Utah companies' prices competitive?
And what obligation does UDOT have in these situations? Should the state be writing contracts with incentives for contractors to hire more local subcontractors? Does it make sense do that, with more earned wages remaining in Utah after the projects are complete?
Or, is it less expensive for taxpayers, in the long run, to spend as little as possible, no matter where the workers hail from, to build our highways?
We're sure some accountant on the state payroll has run these numbers. So it would be interesting to hear the logic behind the way UDOT crafts its road-building contracts. It would, if nothing else, satisfy these Top of Utah trucking companies' quest for answers.
