1 of 3 A Mack truck owned by the City of Des Moines, fitted with plows and being prepped for winter snow removal. This was the same vehicle driven through course during the WHO radio media tour on Friday.
2 of 3 Mirrors are extremely important when guiding the side plow wing.
3 of 3 Des Moines snow plow truck driver Kiel Hoppenworth, navigating the obstacle course on Friday.
(Des Moines, IA) -- Snow plow truck drivers for the City of Des Moines are getting all set for some wintry days ahead.
"We're just now getting ready to put snow plows on. We're putting spreaders in, getting them calibrated, making sure all the equipment is up and running to its efficiency," said Shawn Kannenberg, equipment operator and part of the winter maintenance committee with Des Moines Public Works. He says it takes a large amount of equipment to move snow off of a roadway.
"We do have wing plows on a majority of our trucks," he said, "each wing sticks out three to four feet past the width of the truck itself, plus the front plow is actually a little bit wider. We could take up a lane, or lane and a half, plowing snow."
To train drivers, they've set up a snow plow truck obstacle course in their supply yard. Cars were each represented by a 55-gallon drum, curbs were represented by a piece of rebar protruding from a parking cone. Kiel Hoppenworth, a maintenance worker and driver for the City of Des Moines, drove through the course this morning with ease. He says the biggest real-life obstacles are vehicles. He said it was especially bad during severe winter weather last season.
"Some were stranded on both sides of the road, so I can't even get a truck this big down the street," Hoppenworth said, referring to the Mack truck he had just driven through the course. He said he would still do as much as possible to clear the roadway of snow. "I would...back down as far as I could, to the cars, then push it all out."
Snow plow truck driving is fun, take it from this WHO radio reporter who was given the chance to drive the truck through the course, however, it takes a lot talent to make it happen in real life.
"When we went to spot training last year, they said it takes a special kind of breed to do it," Hoppenworth said, "I suppose that could be true, I mean, this wouldn't be for everybody."
Even with that, the city says all of this year's snow plow truck driver positions are filled.
The city says it expects to use more brine on the roads this year. They also say the biggest obstacles are vehicles in the roadway, and requests motorists and residents clear vehicles off of unplowed roads this coming winter.