March 29, 2024

The Snow Men: Paying Homage to Those who Clear the Roads

Feb. 27, 2002
It was the blizzard of ‘78, and for two days in January, a snowstorm raged, dumping over
30 inches of snow in some areas and paralyzing traffic. Winds gusted to 50 miles an hour,
closing all major and secondary roads in several counties. The 140-foot training vessel Allegheny capsized in her berth at the Maritime Academy, the airport shut down, and cars were abandoned wherever they got stuck.
Most of us were holed up in our homes, but for a few brave souls, duty called. John
Linnerson had only been driving a county snowplow for a few years, and he and another driver
had the task of opening up the roads out to Acme. But something unexpected happened when
they got to Four Mile Road.
“There was a big drift, and we rolled it back and rolled it back, and the last time I hit it,
there was a car in there,“ he said. “The snow was so bad that by the time you plowed from the
Woolen Company to Acme and back, you had to literally get up on your truck and clean the snow off the hood with a shovel. We had a lot of snow. I didn‘t get home for three days.“

A Stressful Job
Linnerson will retire next year after working for Grand Traverse County for 30 years. He
has a few stories to tell of getting out of bed at 3:30 a.m., driving his Ford Ranger (two-wheel-drive, mind you) into the county garage, and heading out with a plow into white-out conditions and drifting snow. It‘s been a good, steady job that‘s allowed him to raise his family in Traverse City. But it‘s also been stressful.
“Any time you‘re out there, it‘s very stressful,“ he said. “When you go home, you‘re
whipped. I find that if I put my radio on the Interlochen station and listen to classical music -- not real loud, just in the background -- that kind of calms you down and gets you through.“
Of course, it‘d be a little easier if pedestrians and drivers would use a little common
sense. Like, don‘t try to pass a snowplow in a blizzard. And get out of the way if you‘re on foot.
“We slow down if we see people, because you can really throw the snow out there,
especially with these new plows,“ said Linnerson. “School kids can sometimes be a problem.
They want to get out there where the plow is and get covered with snow, but that‘s a crazy thing to do. Sometimes I‘ve had to stop and have a little talk with some of them and explain the hazards of it.“

12-Hour Shifts and White-Out Conditions
Mark Makowski, superintendent of the Grand Traverse County Road Commission, noted
that while most people are respectful of the plows, there are always a few that try to tail-gate or pass.
“I‘m always amazed,“ he said. “I don‘t know what the hurry is, and why an extra minute
or two to a destination is so critical.“
Grand Traverse County has 28 daytime runs that plow about 780 miles of road. The day
crews work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the night crews from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. But either may be
asked to work 12-hour shifts during nasty weather conditions.
“Some of our trucks run 24 hours a day when we‘re battling the snow and slippery roads,“
said Makowski. “With three different shifts, one truck could be driven by three different drivers over the course of a 24-hour day.“
And it‘s not an easy job. Snowplow drivers have to do several things at once -- watch for
cars and pedestrians, operate an under-body scraper, keep a plow down in front of them, spread salt and sand on the road, navigate hills and curves, and deal with traffic -- often during white-out conditions.
“Every once in a while I‘ll talk to someone who thinks it‘s such an easy job and all they
have to do is drive around all day,“ said Makowski. “Well, nothing could be further from the
truth. There‘s a lot going on inside the cab.“

On-Board Computers
The tandem axle trucks, which make up most of the county fleet, weigh about 25,000
pounds (about 12.5 tons). Add to that an extra 20,000 pounds (10.5 tons) of material and we‘re
talking 45,000 pounds altogether.
And they‘ve come a long way from the Walton‘s Mountain-type trucks with no radios.
For one thing, each truck can now be equipped with both a sander and plow, whereas they used
to be separate vehicles. Modern trucks also have on-board computers that determine how much
material to disperse and at what speed.
The sanding mix has also evolved over the years -- from pure salt to MDOT‘s “sensible
salting“ mix of two buckets of salt to one bucket of sand, stockpiled inside the county‘s salt shed and loaded onto the trucks as needed.
“We‘re always aware of environmental issues and the cost of these materials, so there are
things the drivers watch for on the road to determine how much salt to disperse,“ noted
Makowski. “Sometimes at night, they‘ll use a 50-50 mix. Other times, pure salt works well, but only in a vary narrow temperature window, from the upper 20‘s to around 30 degrees.“

That Freight Train Sound
Gordon Zoulek, street superintendent for the City of Traverse City, oversees ten drivers
who plow about 100 miles of road within the city boundaries, starting at 5 a.m. and ending by
mid-afternoon.
“It‘s not an easy job, and as the day goes on, traffic gets heavier,“ said Zoulek, adding that
while they do knock a few mailboxes down now and then, it‘s usually from the weight of the
snow coming off the truck rather than a direct hit.
“The guys know how much that snow weighs, so they‘re real cautious of pedestrians,“
said Zoulek. “And sometimes you‘ll hear a driver on the radio to the next truck letting him know there‘s a pedestrian up ahead. They realize those trucks are big and heavy and won‘t stop on a dime. And they‘ve got a hundred things on their minds...not just the snowplowing, but all the controls inside the trucks and the computers that monitor what they‘re doing with the sanders. It‘s quite complex.“
And while they‘re often accused of going 80 miles per hour, Zoulek said the trucks
simply don‘t go that fast. “They usually plow in second or third gear. They‘re all automatic
transmissions, and the only way they can push the snow is to be down in the lower gear. But with the diesel engine revving at high rpm‘s, it sounds like a freight train coming down the road.“
Still, with all the strains and stresses of driving a snowplow, many county and city
workers have been doing it for over 20 years and wouldn‘t change a thing. Just ask John
Linnerson.
“I feel the Lord has blessed me with this job,“ he said. “The best thing about it is when
you‘ve got a clear day with the sun shining, and you‘re plowing down the road with that beautiful arc of snow blowing off there. When you look behind you, everything‘s clean. That‘s a good feeling.“

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