Plow drivers deal with un-fun part of Tahoe snowstorms
By Kathryn Reed
Bouncing. Snowplows can do this even though the machines literally weigh a ton and then some. Even with chains on all six tires, if they are carrying enough snow, especially uphill, it’s far from a smooth ride. And these monsters also slide.
Operating heavy equipment isn’t easy under the best of conditions. Best of conditions for a plow driver would be adequate visibility, no obstacles and a road surface that doesn’t resemble a Zamboni having just cleared a sheet of ice.
It’s Feb. 17 and the snow is dumping in South Lake Tahoe. Visibility is less than ideal. Vehicles are coming and going, and this contraption is supposed to zig and zag to accommodate them. Mailboxes are on the edge of driveways looking like targets.
Visibility is lacking for snowplow drivers during a storm. Photos/Kathryn Reed
With 130 miles of streets to clear in the city limits, the 16 plow drivers work 12-hour shifts (6 to 6) at times when it’s dumping like it has been for the past few days. The city is divvied up into routes, with a team working a particular route.
It’s a little before 6pm in the employee room at the snowplow yard. Dennis Hillyard is telling Bobby Maxwell what the day shift was like, what he accomplished, how the machine is operating. Something isn’t quite right with big blue so Maxwell takes an older machine that rattles onto the streets of South Lake Tahoe.
Before he leaves the yard Maxwell tests the hydraulics. It’s a bit like a pilot going through a checklist.
The instrument panel is not as complex as that of an airplane, but there is certainly more to do at all times while the machine is in motion. No autopilot on this rig.
Five controls on the left, six on the right and the foot pedals require dexterity, concentration and quick thinking. Plus, there are levers to the right dealing with front wheel drive and being able to lock the rear axels. Windshield wipers clear – though not well – the moisture from the glass on top and below. The radio to home base is to the left.
There’s the plow in front, the belly blade and the gate to contend with on the machine.
That’s what these guys, and it is a male dominated profession, contend with just in their small sphere that is not designed to carry a passenger.
Outside their sphere of influence are driveways, intersections, drainage areas, street signs, mailboxes and vehicles.
And then there’s the public. Some don’t know how to drive in the snow. Some don’t care their vehicle is on the edge of the driveway looking close to losing a front bumper. Some people come out to stare. Others throw their arms up in disbelief about the berm that just got left.
“There’s never anything positive from the public when you’re plowing,” Maxwell says.
He’s had people chase him in their vehicles. He doesn’t stop; thinking nothing good could come of the confrontation.
But that doesn’t mean he is callous about leaving a berm. He said he and co-workers do their best, but when it’s coming down as fast has it has been with this storm, the accumulation means the snow has to go some place.
“You can only carry so much snow,” Maxwell explains. “The gate really only reduces the berm. It does not eliminate it.”
Headed up Bode Drive off Pioneer Trail the machine is resisting, it’s bouncing a bit. That driveway is going to be bermed. The gate, the device that is used to avoid berms, has to be released. And simple physics prove plows can only carry so much snow before it spills over.
Houses on the right corner of an intersection are apt to receive the biggest berms. Such are the hazards of the plows having to clear an intersection, with some of that snow from the street getting dumped right away.
People who plow their snow into the street – which violates a city ordinance – are apt to get a larger berm because it’s just more snow that has to be moved out of the street.
It’s not one pass that Maxwell makes on what is called the Heavenly route. He said he and Hillyard are about quality, not the distance.
Other operations
South Tahoe plow drivers are responsible for all the city streets, while Caltrans contends with all state highways, just as NDOT does the highways in Nevada.
In El Dorado County, the main arterial roadways and school bus routes are the priorities when it comes to clearing the 158 miles on the South Shore. The county also has 35 miles of pavement in the Tahoma area to contend with.
“We have been hit by the budget to some degree, but it is not affecting snow removal operations,” said Tom Celio, El Dorado County deputy director of maintenance and operations.
The county also runs two 12-hour shifts and breaks the work into zones.
Douglas County is only responsible for a handful of streets at the lake, which is done by two private contractors. The rest of the South Shore is either covered by homeowners associations (like in Glenbrook) or general improvement districts (like the streets off Kingsbury Grade). Douglas County School District plows Warrior Way for the schools along there.
Once the streets all get plowed, then the blowers come out in all the jurisdictions. The guys driving the blowers are the same ones who had been in the plows.
I live in the city and have only seen a plow once in a 24 hour period-whats up? I drove into the County where they get double the snowfall and the roads were better maintained.
Does Heavenly pay extra to get access roads to their county property plowed first? I live just off one of their access roads (Needle Peak) and have to wait at least 20 hours before they do my side street while skiers are freely accessing this county property.
It’s too bad that the public responds exactly as the employee expects. “There’s never anything positive from the public when you’re plowing,” Maxwell says.
It seems an unreasonable expectation that snow will be removed from the streets moments after falling from the sky or even days after during a storm week like this. Learn from our own history and plan accordingly.
Is it presumptuous of me to think we live in Tahoe to enjoy the snow? As we continue to be blessed an enormous amount of the fluffy white stuff this week, be a mountain person. Be reasonable. Grab a shovel and help a neighbor. Wave hello to the plow driver. Otherwise, as my Grandfather used to say, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. And hey. There’s always Florida!
My request is that they use the drop gate as they pass driveways. Some of us senior citizens have a hard time removing a 3 foot berm consisting of huge chunks of ice which have turned into a veritable wall of concrete. Even the snow blower won’t cut through it. That having been said, I think these guys are doing a good job. Almost 5 feet of snow in three days in Meyers and I was able to get out and get to work.
They do use the drop gates, but with this quantity of snow, there’s still a LOT that escapes and blocks the drive. It’s annoying, but they do what they can with what they have to work with. It’s even harder in the neighborhoods where the houses are all side by side by side. Where the heck are they supposed to put all the snow? They’re plow drivers, not magicians!
That said, some of drivers are definitely better than others. As in any job.
Great Job! Where would we be without you? We have, in the past, been stuck for days while waiting for a plow….this was a long time ago… we, in the neighborhood, finally lined our collective blowers up across the road and marched them from our street to the school bus route that had been plowed. We all get together and talk about it every once in a while and chuckle. That was a huge snow fall and nothing was open, the passes were closed, everything came to a stand still, we skied to work. This is snow country and closures happen. Now, when there is a big snow, our driver makes a pass so that we can get out and comes back to clean up later. This makes sense to me. Anyway…Thanks to all the winter warriors we call plow drivers. Thanks for keeping our roads open and us safe. Thank you too CalTrans for keeping the pass safe for travelers. Things have certainly gotten better over the years.
Yea, definitely give these guys a break. Good article thanks Kathryn.
They USUALLY use the drop gates. I have sat in my living room, watching out the window, as the plow went by without dropping the gate. That’s when I get the 3 foot berm. Otherwise it is less than 10 inches which is quite managable.
I know these guys take a lot of guff from unhappy residents and I feel for them but sometimes they deserve it. The last time I saw the grader in my neighborhood was last night about 9pm. Nothing since and the road is a mess. The side streets here in Meyers are almost non-passable.
Don’t forget to send *positive* emails to the snow removal department when they do a good job. I am sure they receive too many mean emails, send a nice one to break the negative energy.
TK, zip down to POMO St it’s clear lol. Actually the guys do a great job in Meyers, I mean come on, where are they going to put the snow? The gate can only handle about 2 feet and we have been getting 4 feet at atime out here. That snow has to go somewhere, you can’t put 6 pounds of crap in a 5 gallon bucket. They don’t have time to back up and do each driveway twice although that would be nice for us residents, leave it at the second house lol. Our new motto could be: We screw the other guy and pass the savings onto you.
The snowplow drivers do a good job under difficult circumstances. Just wish they’d clarify the whole berm policy.
But remember that parcel tax increase, supposedly strictly for snow removal, they tried passing back in I think ’04? With the automatic increase every year? And remember how they tried to sell it to the public as crucial if we were going maintain snow removal service? Well it was defeated, and we still have snow removal service!
I find that the plow drivers do a fine job. I wish we had more blowers to keep the streets wider and safer.
The county could do a better job plowing popular recreation access areas.
Parker, that parcel tax is designated for purchase of replacement snow removal equipment (graders/blowers) only–not snow removal operations. The snow removal fleet is aging and the equipment is extremely expensive.
So many are complaining about the current poor condition of the roads. The deteriorating roads are a direct result of deferred maintenance. The attitude that “everything’s working fine” with the plows and blowers is a recipe for a similar disaster with the snow removal fleet. Well, one day your road won’t be plowed, because the old grader finally gave out.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in snow removal, including the ladies in the office who take incredible abuse. They all work VERY hard, and then have to go home and shovel their own berms after an exhausting, cold day.
And anyone unhappy that the snow removal crews seem slow should remember — every car that is parked in the right of way or stuck because someone used poor judgment and decided to venture out when they shouldn’t have, SLOWS DOWN THE WHOLE OPERATION and could also prevent a fire truck or ambulance from getting down your street.
Dryclean,
As far as i know, and i could be wrong, heavenly uses their own equipment to clear the road down to needle peak and ski run, thats why needle peak past the turn always looks like a mess.
3+’ high and 3+’ deep, by 15′ long berm in my driveway was absolutely brutal on my back today, of course I have no skills with snow removal, so maybe I’m doing it wrong. Chopped away with shovel, as blower just wanted to climb it and tip over backward. Was hard large chunks of icy snow. There must be a better way? or better equipment to prevent it, I realize it would be a pain in the a** for them to delicately go by each driveway, and would slow the whole process down, but you would think there is some better equipment out there, to prevent this?
It is appreciated once you break through the barrier, to have a nicely cleared road :)
city …….KEEP THE GUY WHOSE PICTURE SHOWN OUT THE PINE NUTS NEIGHBORHOOD,Heavenly CA. area. ….
when HE FILLED IN FOR THE REGULAR GUY…HE SCREWED THE WHOLE HOOD UP…
The Great plow driver we had for years is excellent,runs the blower, red face,glasses,actually friendly.I give him A personal Christmas gift every Year to take home share with Honey.(he’s that good)!!
The guy know how plow,and he doesn’t leave unworkable berms in our drive-ways ,holds the gate down, leaves in front the second home owners that never show their faces till July to labor-day…he makes many extra efforts to help both the year round locals ,leaves it in places never used.
This way it should be.
They do pretty good job(reality strikes here) they are using world war 2 equipment…how come we can’t qualify for a grant for new plows?
Try being in New York City in a snow storm….they don’t know the meaning of efficient snow removal..locals laugh their butts off.It’s insane,beyond anything you could ever experience witness.No wonder New Yorkers are so damn rude.
Pasion4Tahoe, the parcel tax was a way to free up money for equipment maintenance so it could be used for other the purposes-wages, pensions, benefits, etc. It didn’t pass and things are fine!
This town’s govt. has a real bad habit of going-‘We can’t meet all our obligations and commitments, so let’s try to find a way to get more from the taxpayer!” In ’04, they tried to use the necessary service of snow removal as the “Crisis Issue”.
The drivers work hard and do a good, but not perfect job. But like everyone else, they need, and looks like they have 6 yrs. later, to figure out how to make due. If most of the town can, then those that provide govt. services should be able to as well!
Parker –
I respectfully disagree.
Capital costs must be considered.
I hope the plow that serves your neighborhood doesn’t give out during the next storm!
It might help if there was a published standard set by the city and put in the paper a couple of times during the winter. What should we expect? A six inch berm? A 6 ft. wide/3-4 foot high berm? We get them all. In big heavy snowstorms do we just get a lane wide enough to get two cars by on the street? OR what? If there were a standard that snow plow drivers were expected fulfill, I think we would have a measurement we could understand. Does the first run just skip dropping the gate at the driveways? We put the poles out to mark the edge of the street, so that the plows know where to plow. Rarely, even after the third go-over, do they seem to plow to the pole on the side. However, on our street, which has a slight curve, they make a big curve at the house before ours, leaving 6-7 foot pile out in front of the mailbox, the only mailbox on our side of the short street. If we all understood what standard to expect, it might be easier to swallow what seems to be sloppy service.
Also, I think 12 hour shifts are MUCH too long for anyone to be working up in that very heavy equipment. It’s not healthy and can lead to worker’s comp injuries, which, in the end, cost the city more. Please re-evaluate those 12 hours shifts!
Granny …First of all get a post office box…I see the people all the time move there damn mail boxes out onto the street, thinking the plow driver will stay further away from the curb or ditch,I see people on purpose leave their cars,trucks, hanging out the driveway with the same intent.
The first pass a scrape,the second pass is a push back.(with any good luck the city streets super send the blowers out to widen before disaster strikes).Fuel prices are soaring,they got be wise with their budgeting cost, make every dollar count.
There’s no way to set a standard cause it might snow 4 foot here, 10 blocks away snow foot.
You want groomed service ,call a private snow removable,there’s some pretty nice groomed out pads around town,this hard work,when it rains on the fluffy and you keep driving over the berm,it be there till spring.
I crack up with these people with monster 4 wheels drives,they keep rolling it down, down,till rain warmer weather comes and they to get stuck in their own driveways.Then they call private snow removable when there’s 3 foot solid ice..I got tell them, I can’t use TNT to blasts it free,you’re hosed till summer.
With longer days coming and fast freezes over night ,the smart residents stays on top of it,cause there’s a lot cold and snowy days left to be had.
Oh, for all you people who leave your autos in the street,if a plow pushes a berm up against you shiny ride, caves in the side ,your insurance and you are responsible for it, not the city.
I got a running bet with a bike guy about he’ll need chains for the may bike race ..This Tahoe..it can snow at any given month regardless of the calendar.
If so many folks have a problem with snow , why do the live in a ski resort town? High five to the plow drivers!
You can always set reachable standards. HTMAL: We do have a service who does a wonderful job at our home. No, all of the drivers are NOT wonderful, but some are. Also, having 12 hour shifts is not a good human resources practice when so many demands are put on their bodies. I wish we had that snow plow driver that you are talking about! We’ve had some excellent drivers in the past but also some who are either not skilled enough or don’t care.
We love the snow, Angi. It’s just that the city needs to set “best practices” and do better training of their part time seasonal help.
Grannylu,
I guess it has never occurred to you that there aren’t that many people who want to work as hard as our snow removal guys do. It’s not easy to recruit qualified people–even in this recession.
Passion4T, really? Hmmm? Now THAT is another problem all together, eh?
Lets do the math, 16 men working 12 hours equals 192 hours divided into 130 miles equals .667 miles per. man hour less than 1 mile per hour. You make the call. Oh I live in the county and sevvice has been fine.