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Missouri Department of Transportation employees cut grass Wednesday afternoon on the North Belt Highway. MoDOT has offered a four-day work week to some of its employees.

Lower revenues for highway construction and road maintenance have caused area transportation officials to channel employees’ schedules into a four-day week.

The savings from a switch to 10-hour workdays for Missouri Department of Transportation District 1 will help bolster those funds, said Engineer Don Wichern. Many staff members are adjusting schedules for the change as a way of conserving fuel, he said.

The revised and staggered-schedule week still allows MoDOT offices to remain open for business Monday through Friday to serve the public. The move is based only on a state government recommendation and is not mandatory for all employees, Mr. Wichern said.

Asking employees to show up one less day for the week could be an idea for private business, as well, one employment specialist said.

“I think we’ll see more companies leaning in that direction,” said Larry Mace, president of The Staffing Center in St. Joseph.

For now, Mr. Mace said only a few companies that work with the employment service have assumed four-day work schedules.

Among the advantages are cutting commuter time and expense by 20 percent and extending three-day weekends to employees, he said. A disadvantage is that extremely busy companies will have problems utilizing their equipment and maintaining productivity over 24-hour periods, he added.

Two other officials, however, don’t sense that four-day weeks will gain wholesale traction as an efficiency-driven innovation for companies.

“I’m afraid we’re going to see this (five-day schedules) run a little longer,” said Mike Waltman, manager of policy of communications for the Missouri Division of Work Force Development.

Mr. Waltman doesn’t anticipate that other state agencies are planning to introduce four-day weeks.

Missouri Municipal League Executive Director Gary Markenson said most cities will be unable to handle the four-day week since essential services — police and fire among them — must be conducted daily. In one exception, however, Mr. Markenson said St. Louis suburb Black Jack, Mo., currently follows a four-day schedule. City hall is closed Fridays, according to its Web site.

Bethany City Administrator Tony Stonecypher said officials are considering a four-day week to cut costs. The proposal will next be discussed at tonight’s Board of Aldermen meeting, he said.

The reduction would save costs incurred by Bethany’s utility and street crews. Only routine city services would be provided during the shortened week, and emergency services would be unaffected, Mr. Stonecypher said. The water and sewer department also would continue to work daily, he added.

“There’s a possibility of saving 15 to 20 percent on fuel usage,” he said.

MoDOT spokesman Jeff Briggs in Jefferson City said the agency’s south-central district began a pilot project of staggered-schedule four-day weeks May 1. He called MoDOT’s interest in the switch statewide an “assessment process.”

“We’re seeing if we can make this work,” he said. “So far, they’re encouraged,” he said of the pilot program.

Customer service and productivity will not be allowed to decrease, and efficiency will remain the primary goal, Mr. Briggs said.

Ray Scherer can be reached at

rscherer@npgco.com.