■ Contractors View Safety On I-81 As More Than A Job

By IAN MUNRO

Daily News-Record

For Glen Rutherford, the sign he’s doing a good job means that no one can tell he’s been to a spot at all.

“The goal is to keep the road clean and the public safe,” Rutherford, 50, of Front Royal, said behind the wheel of a Ford truck as the early morning sun started to scatter the clouds.

Rutherford works for DBi, a contracting firm that helps the Virginia Department of Transportation keep traffic rolling down Interstate 81 as smoothly and securely as possible.

“It’s ever-changing. All day long. You think you’re doing the same thing every day, but there are small variables in there that change up every day,” Rutherford said.

The crews also help address crashes, including fatalities, which are the hardest, he said.

And for Rutherford and the other local DBi workers, reducing such occurrences is more than just clocking hours.

The DBi crews first meet around 7:30 a.m. for a meeting and then split up and head out for the first drive of their day through their watch zone.

Rutherford patrols a 70mile loop through Shenandoah County on I-81 along with Jeff Gineris, 49, of Woodstock. Other crews patrol other areas, such as Frederick and Warren counties led by Len Winnings, 73, of West Virginia.

Winnings said he does a 100-mile loop, which along with other tasks for I-81 safety, racks up about 60,000 miles a year on a truck.

And each day brings new challenges that can come on suddenly, they said.

“A mile up the road, the whole day can change,” Rutherford said. “It’s very unpredictable.” n the first drive, they space themselves apart and make note of what needs to be done — sign adjustments, guardrail repair, roadkill removal and debris disposal, among a variety of duties.

“It’s the same stretch of road, but constantly changing scenarios,” Rutherford said.

Such as recently, when a tree fell and hit a tractor-trailer, injuring the driver, Rutherford said.

On routes, DBi workers like Rutherford remain alert, radio switched off, because sometimes there are issues they come across that need to be immediately addressed, such as a large object in the middle of the roadway, which could cause drivers to swerve into each other or off the road, he said.

And sometimes this requires workers to step into a lane, if even for a moment, at any time of the day.

“You’ve got to keep your head on a swivel out here, pay

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company, not directly from the government. When you turn age 65, you will have the right to enroll in one of several Medicare-approved Part D prescription drug plans.

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Former employer

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Medigap insurance –

Medigap is supplemental health insurance you buy from a private insurance company to fill in some of the gaps in Part A and Part B. Medigap policies pay some or all of Medicare’s deductibles and co-payments, and some cover a few services that Medicare doesn’t.

Medicare Advantage

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This article contains basic information about Medicare, services related to Medicare and services for people with Medicare. If you would like to find more information about the government Medicare program, please visit the official U.S. government site at medicare.gov.

Wells Fargo Advisors does not provide legal, tax or accounting advice, but your financial adviser will be happy to work with your chosen legal and tax advisers to help you achieve your financial goals.

Insurance products are offered through nonbank insurance agency affiliates of Wells Fargo & Co. and are underwritten by unaffiliated insurance companies.

This article was written by/for Wells Fargo Advisors and provided courtesy of Matthew Frakes, financial adviser in Harrisonburg at (540) 801-3211.

Investments in securities and insurance products are: NOT FDIC-INSURED/ NOT BANK- GUARANTEED/ MAY LOSE VALUE Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. attention all the way around you,” Rutherford said.

He said DBi and VDOT workers, the VDOT Safety Service Patrol, tow-truck operators and Virginia State Police all work hand in hand and have solid communication between each other to address issues. fter their first lap in the morning, they’ll meet back up — these crews at a VDOT and DBi work yard just off Exit 298 to Strasburg — grab the tools and maybe special vehicles they’ll need, and then head back out, remaining vigilant for any immediate issues.

The most common problems are litter, debris and dead animals, Rutherford said.

“Picking up litter drives us nuts, man,” Winnings said. “People throwing junk out the window, losing stuff off their vehicles.”

Winnings has been with the company for a decade and said he can still be surprised by the things they find. He and coworker Cody Darr, 24, of Middletown, cleared a swing set from I-81 two weeks ago, Winnings said.

Certain problems tend to appear in certain seasons, such as more tires blown in summer’s sweltering heat and more bucks struck by vehicles in late fall and early winter during mating season, according to Rutherford.

And sometimes, local DBi workers come across household pets.

Rutherford described one day where he found a dead cat. Later on, while working near a fence line, he was approached by a couple of farmers clearly looking for something. When the farmer asked about a cat, Rutherford’s heart sank as it matched the description of the one he had loaded into a trailer for disposal.

“You could see the air go out of the old man,” he said, adding that upon request from the owner, he reunited the cat’s remains with him.

The most common animals crews have to dispose of include deer, squirrels, raccoons and possums, though crows and falcons are not too rare. It is unusual to come across bears, which stink the most, according to Winnings and Rutherford.

Other issues are year-round, such as guardrails needing repair that are often only identified by Bi or patrols since many crashes that cause the damage go unreported, according to Rutherford.

But the nonstop nature of keeping traffic on - rolling and the infrastructure solid doesn’t rattle Rutherford.

“I like to think of it as doing my part,” Rutherford said.

Contact Ian Munro at 574-6278 or imunro@dnronline.com. Follow Ian on Twitter @iamIanMunro

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his announcement.

As of May 15, bars can serve alcohol even after midnight and dining rooms can be open between midnight and 5 a.m.

Other amendments, which went into effect May 15, include increasing the capacity at indoor gatherings to 100 and to 250 at outdoor gatherings.

The restaurant and hotel industries were most impacted by the pandemic with millions losing jobs and countless businesses closing.

However, as interest in going out to eat returns, the reduced number of restaurants means increased business for those remaining, according to osario lfieri, owner of omano’s Italian Bistro in McGaheysville.

“A lot of restaurants closed and are not open anymore, so it created a vacuum for people to go somewhere else,” he said.

Alfieri said his eastern Rockingham County restaurant saw its best James Madison University graduation weekend to date.

“People from Harrisonburg are more willing to travel because I’m not that far away and they’re at capacity in town,” he said.

He also said there is more travel around Massanutten Resort. efinitely, in comparison to this time last year, there’s way more tourists,” he said.

Capacity is also less of an issue than the 6-feet of distance between tables at Romano’s, according to lfieri. He said even if he was able to open at full capacity, he would still be at 50% since he has to keep one booth closed between seating, cutting his available tables in half.

The pandemic still impacts how much more customers translates to profit because of increased overhead, according to the operators.

Supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic

Daniel Lin / DN-R

BoBoKo server Amanda Carrera brings out an order.

have caused backups and price increases across a variety of products including lumber, steel and food.

Prices for meats, such as pork, beef and chicken, are up 5 -6 , according to lfieri.

Some prices have increased four- to five-fold for products restaurants need, according to Ridwan. He said he is trying to ride out the current cost increases so he doesn’t have to adjust menu prices, but may have to in several months. djusting prices is a difficult problem for restaurant owners stuck between the chance for more business, but higher prices immediately eating that margin up. t is a fine line to know how to price your products when, on my back end, the price is rising,” Smith said. “We still want to have a fair price and be competitive.”

But it’s not just getting customers through the door, but also workers, since many may have left the industry, face child care issues, health concerns or simply prefer the available unemployment support, according to lfieri and previous interviews with restaurant employers and employment experts.

“Everybody’s hiring because nobody wants to come back to work,” Alfieri said, who added that some people may be able to make more money on unemployment than working at a restaurant.

Jobs in the service sector are typically lower paying. Jobs in preparing and serving food are in the lowest paid occupational group, and workers of these positions had a median wage of $24,220 in May 2019, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

One approach employers use to attract more workers is to increase pay or bene-

Daniel Lin / DN-R

Romano’s Italian Bistro owner Rosario Alfieri preps food in the kitchen of his restaurant.

fits — something other industries can do easier than restaurants, where the profit margin is 5% to 6%.

And though things are still better than they were months ago for the restaurant industry, according to Smith, it’s still not a pre-pandemic world.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Smith said.

Contact Ian Munro at 574-6278 or imunro@dnronline.com. Follow