This was in the Sun Post... That's my uncle Tom...
Plow jockeys: Brooklyn Park drivers have tough job
By stefanie briggs - Sun Newspapers
Thomas Alfred Hanson of Brooklyn Park has been plowing the city's streets since 1990.
The job found him as much as he found the job. Before coming to the city he changed tires on Greyhound and Metro Transit buses for 11 years and before becoming a city snowplow driver he worked part-time on the city's road crew.
"I just want to make the roads better if at all possible," Hanson said. "I like working for my city. I live here, work here and watched it change."
Plow driving appealed to Hanson because he likes being outdoors. An avid hunter and bicyclist Hanson can be seen riding his bike even in the winter.
"The coldest I've done is 18 below," Hanson said. "I usually drive my truck after it snows more than two to three inches."
On Jan. 7, Hanson woke up at 4 a.m. to arrive at work by 5 a.m. and get out before the morning commute fills the roads with drivers. Hanson said he's worked 16-hour shifts or longer depending on the weather.
Before getting into his three-year-old orange Mack plow truck Hanson dons a fluorescent yellow and orange vest to keep him more visible should he need to exit the vehicle.
Inside the snowplow cab there are an array of switches, knobs and buttons to push, turn and move plows, scrapers, spinners, drop salt and more.
Snow is falling lightly and Hanson has been working for nearly five hours before reporter joins him. He said around 9:30 or 10 a.m. is a good time to go back out and check the streets even if it's not snowing because there's less traffic.
In about three miles, he's put down 4,825 pounds of dry salt on the section of road.
"The temperature right now is so cold that it takes a lot of chemicals to work," he said.
Drivers are often assigned to particular roads and work in pairs.
"After we get done doing the main drags we branch off and start doing the residential roads," Hanson said. "We work from one part of our area to the next part of our area and try to meet each other in the middle somewhere."
Doing so avoids streets inadvertently left unplowed.
The driver's side-mirror shows both wind and road temperatures so Hanson can more accurately determine conditions.
There are many different methods and ways of snowplowing like "shelving" or "winging back" the snow off the streets.
"That's when we go around and push the snow back on the boulevards or the right of ways with our 'wings' or other pieces of equipment," Hanson said. "The banks are lower so when snow comes off the plow it goes up on the boulevard instead of driveways or other areas."
Hanson said he tries to plow at just the right speed on residential streets to spread snow in such a way that it doesn't pile unevenly at the end of driveways, but that often depends on what obstacles he has to plow around like vehicles parked on streets.
"That snow that I have to leave around a vehicle often stays there and becomes another large patch of ice when the weather gets colder," he said. "When you drive down a street you can feel those bumps that make things worse because people have parked on the street."
One of the biggest challenges Hanson and snowplow drivers face is the holidays.
"People have so much on their mind other than snow removal and driving safely," he said. "I find once the holidays are over that improves a bit because people are little more relaxed without the pressing deadlines they've put on themselves."
But in nearly 20 years of plowing, Hanson has only been in three accidents, and all were the other driver's fault. He asks that people understand that plows take it slow for a reason. By checking blind spots and making turns slowly snowplow drivers do many things to keep themselves and others safe.
Hanson hopes that people can be more patient when they encounter snowplows because, in the end, they are just trying to help drivers, he said.
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