Seasonal Hat
Today’s entry is a question; what occurs in a seemingly normal person’s brain when they get behind the wheel of an SUV or a mini van on a winter’s day and asked to share the highway with snowplows? Does anyone have an answer? Let me expand:
A hat that I’ve been wearing since the winter of 1984 is that of ,winter maintenance personal on the 401 highway, over the years I’ve done it all, from a wing operator to supervisor of a fleet of trucks and large group of dedicated operators.This winter I’m a plow operator with a sander/salter on the large plow truck that I’m asked to navigate through large volumes of crazed car and truck drivers all the while attempting to make the road a safer place to be.
I had the joy of spending a fair chunk of the holidays on the 401 in my snowplow and seen things that force me to ask what’s going on?
Here are a few facts:
Ditches are not designed for car parking
Four wheel drive will not assist you when trying to stop on icy roads at 120 kms but may help you get out of ditches if your vehicle stays on it’s wheels.
Mini vans are not equipped with a protective force field, even if you have installed a” baby on board” sign.You are driving a car on earth, not a space ship on a far away planet. By the way, the same strong, reinforced plow designed to push snow off the road works well to remove cars too and keep in mind that my seat is at the same level as your roof rack!
The only one that can come back time and time again from getting run over by a ten tonne truck is Willie E Coyote. Sorry to break the news to you but he is a cartoon character and not real.
And lastly, the single finger, number one salute, or the waving of ones fist is not an appropriate gesture to give someone that is trying to save your life.
Snowplow operators find no enjoyment in holding traffic at 40 to 50 kms. It’s just that no one has figured out how to get the slop and snow off truck windshields and how to keep salt and sand on the road where it will help you, at higher speeds. Do you know why snowplow operators are race car fans ? We are trying to develop a faster snowplow! Until then, we max out at about fifty kms.
So the next time your on the highway delayed behind a snowplow, consider yourself lucky!
Leave a Reply