State Fleets Prepare for Continued Severe Weather

With severe winter weather expected to continue this weekend, fleets are preparing their crews and vehicles to respond quickly and efficiently.

The Indiana Department of Transportation scheduled a full call-out of plow trucks beginning Friday morning. The state’s 1,092 snow plows will be in place along 929 designated snow routes, and subdistrict garages will be fully staffed with technicians until operations have concluded, reports Tristate Homepage. Drivers and mechanics will work 12-hour shifts as long as needed.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) deployed workers early Friday morning to salt and plow roads, reports The Leaf-Chronicle. In preparation, the agency stocked up on 229,000 tons of salt and more than 1.6 million gallons of salt brine, according to Clarksville Now. More than 800 plow trucks are ready to work, including 108 new trucks that were added to the fleet this month.

TDOT shared the following video explaining how they make their trucks snow-ready.

Heavy rain and snow are expected to hit the State of New York, with potential flooding a concern. The New York Thruway Authority has 667 supervisors and operators ready to deploy 358 large and medium plows, 11 tow plows, and 54 loaders with more than 100,000 tons of salt on hand.

The New York State Department of Transportation has 1,548 large plow/dump trucks, 201 medium plow/dump trucks, 328 loaders, 40 truck/loader-mounted snow blowers, 50 tow plows, 20 graders, and 14 pickup trucks with plows ready to deploy.

New York State Police plans to add additional patrols to affected areas as needed, and all available 4X4 vehicles will be in use. All specialized resources, including aircraft and boats, will be staged and ready for deployment.

New York State Parks has more than 950 emergency equipment resources on hand, including light- and medium-duty plows, snowmobiles, 4X4 vehicles, ATVs, and portable generators.