Snow Plowing In San Diego

How snow plow drivers are trained

Jobs in Roads

Plowing Snow is More Than Blade to Blacktop

“Don’t ever put your truck in four-wheel drive while it’s moving—
you’ll end up with gears all over the road.”

Equipment Operator Doug Wells explains snowplow equipment during training at Division II headquarters in San Marcos.  Wells developed the class as part of DPW’s Good Ideas program.

These words of wisdom from Equipment Operator Doug Wells were part of the snowplow course he developed and taught DPW crews.  Wells devised the training after approval of his Good Ideas submission.

“I thought we should have more qualified snowplow drivers available to help us,” Wells said.  “I spent about two weeks putting together a training plan that touched on all aspects of what we do.”

Management reviewed and approved the training and Wells became a teacher.  “I was nervous the first day because I’ve never taught before.  But after I got going, I just followed the course outline.”

That outline covers plowing techniques and other important information such as types of snow, traffic problems and accidents in snow, law enforcement agencies and their roles, snow equipment types and specifics on plowing individual roads in the County.  Roads managers are impressed with Wells’ efforts.

Public Works Manager Tom Herzberger said when snowstorms hit local mountains, crews plow 24 hours a day on 12/12 shifts—12 hours on duty, 12 hours off.  In the past, there were just a few drivers to handle the work and all had received on the job training from several different trainers.

 “There’s a real benefit to have standardized training,” said Herzberger.  “We’ve more than doubled our number of qualified drivers and each has the same knowledge of the job.”

Division II Superintendent Mike Pinnick is enthusiastic about the course.  “It provides consistent information and printed materials that will improve our ability to do the job.”

Charlie Garcia, Division I Superintendent, says operations will be improved during storms.  “Having a broader base of qualified drivers gives us the ability to draw from other road stations and crews.”

Wells’ classes drew students from the striping and construction crews as well as stormwater teams.  Other students came from stations in areas that don’t normally plow snow.

But the classroom course is not the end of training.  Each driver will spend at least eight hours riding with a plow driver to learn the intricacies of snow removal.

“You don’t just jump in the truck or motor grader, drop the blade and plow ahead,” Wells said.  “You need to know about safety, dealing with emergencies and snow conditions.  Weather changes rapidly in the mountains and we need to recognize when it’s happening and deal with it.”