Minnesota Highways, December 1954

              mm
mmwm
VOL.  4,  NO.  2
1246 University Ave., St.  Paul 4, Minn.
DECEMBER,   1954
New Overtime  Pay Plan  Explained
Reporter Goes For
Ride in Patrols 'Ghost   Car'
Some 15 hours in the travels of one of the Minnesota Highway Patrol's new "ghost cars" is graphically recounted in the fol-
bwing feature story, reprinted from the Little Falls Daily Transcript. The reporter accompanied patrolmen in the car for a firsthand view of highway haunting. Ghost cars are the "plain clothes"
vehicles of the Highway Patrol, operating sans the usual identifying equipment.
It's 3:15 p. m.—a pretty autumn day.
Highway Patrolman Robert Johnson, Little Falls, is driving the "ghost car". That's what patrolmen call the unmarked
cars put into operation last summer.
This is a blue 1954 model. It has no red lights or fender
light, no Highway Patrol emblem, no tax-exempt license
plates. The aerial is inconspicuous.
But it's equipped with two-way radio, a siren under the
hood,  a  "souped-up" engine,  and
a spotlight marked "stop" with its
red lens turned inward.
We're nearing Randall on U. S.
Highway 10 as Johnson spots a
car bearing Illinois plates speeding
toward us. Johnson hits the brakes,
swerves to the dusty shoulder,
then    whirls    the    unmarked    car
id.
he patrol car's motor races as
Johnson shifts into second to gain
speed. We slip up behind the Illinois car. He's doing 70. Johnson
pulls alongside, flashes his red
spotlight at the driver and sounds
his horn.
The speeder stops on the shoulder and we pull up behind him.
Johnson gives him a warning ticket
at 3:30 p. m.
"He didn't recognize this as a
patrol car," says Johnson as he gets
back behind the wheel.
Heading toward Randall again,
Johnson overtakes a Minnesota car
traveling at 75. He slows down to
50 in the Randall 30-mile zone. It's
3:45 p. m. as we signal him to the
shoulder.
The driver's from St. Paul. His
wife and youngsters are in the car.
A banner on his rear bumper reads,
(Continued on page 6)
Several factors make necessary the revision of the Highway Department's Overtime Policy, Commissioner M. J.
Hoffmann said this week, in giving a detailed explanation of
its projected operation.
The revised Overtime Policy applies only to positions in
salary levels Nos. 1 to 21, inclusive. The policy remains unchanged for levels 22 to 38.
Half-Holidays Are Set
Governor C. Elmer Anderson
has authorized half-holidays on
December 24 and 31 for all state
employes, in the observance o'
Christmas and New Year's day.
Highway Department offices and
shops will close at noon for the
half-holidays.
>easton's Greetings;
It is indeed appropriate that, as we near the end of the
year, we pause in our daily labors with slide rules, transits, calculators or typewriters and allow ourselves to become imbued
with the holiday spirit. So many of us become so engrossed in
our day-to-day work that we fail to appreciate the many people
with whom it is our good fortune to work and it is only on such
occasions as Christmas that we suddenly become aware of our
associates and that they are every bit as human and friendly as
we believe ourselves to be.
Every one of us can look back on the year 1954 as having
been a good year for us and for the Department with which we
are so closely associated. We have just completed a tremendous
amount of work—not only in the actual construction and maintenance of highways, which is, of course our primary task—but also
in many other ways. We have continued our efforts to streamline
our activities in order that more might be expended on physical
accomplishments and less time and effort devoted to necessary
"house-keeping" activities.
As I write this our state is achieving a heartening reduction
in the number of people killed or injured on our streets and highways—an accomplishment which ranks far beyond any physical
progress we have made during the year.
May I extend to each of you my sincerest wishes for a
very Merry Christmas and a most Happy New Year.
C-^©4^£^C^r€^C--S-Sr€-C-C^-C--€~C-€'£-C-&C
Official announcement of the revised plan was made by the commissioner in a memorandum last
month and became effective December 1.
Factors which led the department administration to revise the
previous policy on overtime work
were described by Commissioner
Hoffmann as follows:
Increased work loads for all
Construction   division   personnel.
A backlog of work in the Road
and Bridge Plans divisions and the
increased demand for additional
plans for those divisions.
Lack of skilled draftsmen in the
labor market.
Need by the Plans division for
additional data from Materials and
Research and Construction, Field,
preparatory to the design of additional roads and bridges.
Further, it was felt, the commissioner said, that inasmuch as
the working hours of project engineers are largely governed by the
contractors, overtime performed
by civil engineers II should be recognized as a liability of the Highway Department.
Result of  Careful  Study
"The revised statement of overtime policy," said the commissioner, "is the result of a great deal
of careful study and analysis of the
various work schedules and overtime needs of each employee unit.
Payment for overtime can be made
by three methods—compensatory
time off with pay, cash overtime
payments, or a combination of cash
payments and compensatory time
off.  No one of these methods  of
(Continued on page 4)