Behind the Scenes of City Snow Plows

It’s a big job for city snow plow drivers. One driver told FOX Fort Wayne on days like today adrenalin kicks in. Snow plow drivers are on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, and pull hours of overtime when winter weather turns nasty.
 
Brad Kennedy, has driven a city snow plow for 30 years and says “On a day like today when you get snow continually for 8 hours it becomes a harder day. By the time you get done with what you started it seems like when you get to the end of your route and turn around you have to start all over again. It looks like you haven't done anything.”

For drivers who are annoyed by the gang of snow plows making it impossible to pass, there's a reason they run in packs. Brian Shimkus, a snow plow supervisor for the Streets Department, says “You clear off a lane and a half at a time running 2 trucks together and it makes the whole process faster.”

The streets department doesn't put salt down until there's a lull in snow fall. Shimkus says “We don't want to throw salt down and have it just covered up with snow. Our intent is to keep the streets wide open.”

Snow plowers say passing cars is a concern. Not only is it dangerous, but it can ruin a cars paint job.  Kennedy says “A lot of times if were salting we can't afford to shut it off every time someone tries to pass and the salt is basically rock crystals and it will scratch your paint. So our advice is to stay back and give us our space.”
 
Shimkus adds to that saying “Were out here doing a job and we are doing the best job we can. If everybody is patient we will get everyone home safely.”

The streets department says there's very little turn over with drivers. They assign drivers to the same routes year after year because familiarity is very important. The better the driver knows the trends of an area the better they can prioritize the roads on that route.

To see maps detailing the 2010 snow plow routes visit:
http://cityoffortwayne.org/publicworks/street-department/snow-removal/snow-routes.html