(Iowa) -- The Iowa Department of Transportation has a saying: “Winter starts on October 15th.” And while it may be warm outside right now, winter is on the way.
“We can get winter at just about any time. It’s nice now, but we have a lot of equipment to get through. If we waited until the last minute, the forecast might change, a storm could roll in, and it takes time to get these things ready,” said Tina Greenfield with the Iowa Department of Transportation.
The DOT has begun preparing its fleet of more than 900 snow plows for the winter season. These plows are distributed across 100 garages statewide, ready to clear federal and state roads when needed.
“They all get looked over to make sure there’s nothing that needs to be addressed before they’re put under the stress of snow plowing,” Greenfield said. “Snow plowing causes a lot of wear and tear on a truck.”
Each plow must be inspected, outfitted with the necessary machinery, and calibrated. Many trucks still don’t have their front plows attached, but Greenfield says that’s by design. The front plows are only installed when needed, and it takes just about five minutes to do so.
So even though temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s over the past few days, the snow plows are ready to hit the roads if the forecast calls for it.