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How Fleets Are Handling the Recent Winter Storms

From compacted snow to snowplow breakdowns, to dealing with citizen complaints, here's how municipalities have been handling the recent winter storms.

December 4, 2019
How Fleets Are Handling the Recent Winter Storms

 

Photo via Pixabay

2 min to read


Winter storms are raging, and government fleet employees and vehicles are out on the streets making sure residents can still get around.

The City of Duluth, Minn., faced plowing challenges as residents continued to travel despite a “no travel” advisory. This compacted snow and created ruts on residential streets, resulting in crews having to use a plow and a grader down each street, Fox21 reported. The city is using 20 plows and 18 graders, and crews were working 24 hours a day as of Monday afternoon.

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New York City’s snow equipment is breaking down while responding to the city’s first significant storm of the season, the city’s mechanics union said. At least seven salt spreaders, three mini spreaders, and four other vehicles broke down during the weekend; the union leader blamed shoddy work by private garages and shrinkage of the city’s unionized garages, according to the New York Daily News.

A week after a major storm and after resident complaints, the City and County of Denver on Monday dispatched 30 plows to drop de-icer on residential streets, which still have icy ruts, the Denver Post reported. This is a change from its normal policy of dispatching pickup trucks with plows that aren’t equipped to spread de-icer on roads.

The City of Fitchburg, Mass., received nearly 25 inches of snow in the past few days, or more than a third of its average annual snowfall, the Sentinel & Enterprise reported. The city was ready for the storm, with 25 plow trucks, spreaders, and other heavy equipment, as well as contractors with an additional 58 plows and 10 spreaders ready to assist. The city pre-treats roads with salt and sprays calcium chloride on the salt to help it stick to the road.

St. Louis County, Minn., is expected to approve the purchase of a dozen snowplow trucks costing nearly $1.6 million just days after one of the largest snowfalls in the area, the Duluth News Tribune reported. The Mack Granite tandem axle diesel trucks replace units that are 20 years old and are expected to be delivered next winter.

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