Plowing Roads in White Out Conditions~Real Time Dashcam View
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- While out on a salt run one night in late March 2017, we were hit with a major snow squall that reduced visibility down to zero at times. There were even reports of thunder and lightning during the night as you will see at the end of this video. A lot of trucks had to stop plowing and pull off the road as they could not see due to white out conditions. I just took my time, occasionally stopping until I could see the road again. It took me 45 minutes to travel about 8 miles back to home base. I hope you enjoy the video and be sure to give all the snowfighters out there the thumbs up next time you see them clearing the roads this winter!
Thanks for watching!
Wow, good thing those streetlights were visible....can't imagine you driving without them...in total darkness. I would have pulled over.
Yes, I am glad I wasn't on the other end of my run when this storm picked up as there are no street lights or houses in that area to help guide me!
I used to love to drive in the snow in New England. Actually drove in my 1974 VW Dasher wagon (FWD), from NW Connecticut to White Plains, NY in the blizzard of 1978 when they closed down the state. Had a CB back then and no fear......retired now in OH and get pretty mild winters compared to CT, so when I can travel via your plowing videos and those of "Riding shotgun" when he's trucking through snowstorms in UT and CO, bring back memories. Thanks for sharing your skill and profession with us.
Damm that was some serious plowing. Who said plowing is boring
It sure wasn't boring that night! lol
Just a thought: Installing a white or amber LED lightbar above the cab could help in those low vis situations.
Do you have a roof rack of lights? The right ones can really light up the scene.
No, just the plow light and fog lights behind the plow.
Have you ever staged yourselves at a fire station to plow in front of the EMS or fire trucks in case of emergency?
No, but we do sometimes get calls to open up the roads for ambulance or fire trucks during snow storms.
Dude that's not zero visibility, zero visibility is when you cant see the plow and you have to use a flashlight to see the ditch on the left side of you for distance.
Thundersnow!! Awesome but deadly in a nasty squall like that. Hoping your buddy that went over the bank was okay. Scary trying to drive and work in one of those squalls. Thank you for the wonderful video!!!
Thank you Dana! Billy was fine and was picked up shortly after. He went off the road on his way in to work.
Those are some tough conditions , people don’t realize what a difficult job highway snow plow driving is. I used to be in the industry for 28 years before retirement. The last 15 years I did the training of new winter auxiliaries and every year it was the same, about half of the new employees would quit after the first or second storm and a maybe one or two would featuring the following winter, many of these guys were million milers with highway or logging experience. The story was always the same, “ there is no way they would out on the roads in those conditions if they weren’t told that there job depended on it.” Snow plow operators do not have the option of getting a room or pulling over and climbing the bunk .
I don't envy DOT plow drivers one bit. I'm being serious when I say it's always nice and sort of a relief to tuck in behind a plow in a blizzard on the TCH and let him lead the way for as long as they can... Thanks for doing a great job while doing it in some of the most dangerous weather conditions.. 👍
Thank you gmctech! We appreciate when people are patient and not trying to pass us when we are trying to do our job.
@@JimHowDigsDirt safest place is behind the plow guy. without them, no one could travel in winter, so we should all be grateful for you guys and your work. too many people take things for granted, and are always in a rush or distracted while driving. i just dont understand it. but, be safe out there, we appreciate what you all do. =)
I always get behind the plow and give a good 10 car lengths out on country roads I travel on in bad snow. Snow drifts get bad stuck more than a couple times seeing a plow up ahead or behind I'll let them pass so I can have a clear path to get where I'm going.
I was already tired while watching. In such weather, it is better not to go anywhere on the road. When the shallow ends, then it makes sense to drive out onto the road. I think so.
yee haw thunder snow nice to see that once in a while rare but interesting
Yeah that was pretty cool! That was the first time I ever saw thunder and lightning in a snow storm!
Looking to get a camera for my Peterbilt for snow storms. What do you use? Thanks!?
I use a couple of GoPro 4 silvers for videos on the outside and have a DOD dashcam inside the truck. I also just bought a GPro Max 360 camera that I will be trying out in the near future.
@@JimHowDigsDirt awesome! Thanks for the info. Keep on truckin
i miss stepping in helping to drive plow trucks. usually did that in bad weather when folks needed some rest. a job i really enjoy doing. now even that are regulated all the fun out of, gps trackers and a such low speed limit for the plows.
Yeah it's all about safety nowadays! I guess that's a good thing!
Wipers are icing up, try turning off the defroster so the glass cools off. Get the heat on your feet and you may be able to run with the wipers off if the snow is dry
Yeah you're right! All depends on the temperature and type of snow. Thanks for the comment Ralph!
That’s normal where I live! When Lake Effect snow starts up it’s zero visibility. I’ve been on the road and been within a few feet of a tractor trailers rear bumper and didn’t even know it!
Yeah, I can imagine the kinds of snow squalls you get blowing off a lake! Stay safe out there!
I never understood why they don't put bright yellow led lights on plow trucks, yellow light cuts right through snow/dust
I agree! We have lights with yellow covers over them but not nearly as good as LEDs.
What's wrong Jim, no alarm beepers this morning. You most have got that fixed eh. =)
Yeah...I think the snow squall fixed the over speed alarm, lol.
This February, the PNW was hit with a pretty impressive snowstorm. The snow was unusually dry, and blew everywhere except where we tried to cast it. We plow in teams on this section of Interstate 90, and it's pretty unnerving when your front blade is about 3 meters from the right rear of the plow truck in front of you, and you can't see them, except for the occasional flash of a strobe light. And because of the increased amount of precipitation per hour, we were putting down very little sand, which makes the road surface darker than the berms, ditches, sky, everything. Hence, everything is white, and it's like flying inside of a ping pong ball. Whiteouts are probably the most intense weather conditions I've ever plowed in.
Thanks for posting this, Jim.
Wow that's nuts! I guess I'm lucky I only have to plow out in the sticks. Thanks for sharing your story!
@@JimHowDigsDirt Hey brother Snowfighter, make no mistake. I really appreciate your videos. Inspired me to invest in my own GoPro 5. I'm no Cecil B. Demille like you, but I'm figuring it out. And after watching your adventures, it makes me wish that I was back up on the two-lane where I began 5 years ago.
Be safe, my friend.
@@xx5zi Thank you White Rose! You stay safe out there too brother!
White Rose Society that’s how they plow the 401 in Ontario Canada every winter about 6 trucks in formation don’t get stuck behind them in the morning or you will be late for work lol they go the speed limit but seems slower depending on the storm it’s 100 km and hour I suppose the go about 80 not that much slower better to be safe than sorry
This will be my 20th year doing snow, still love doing it just don’t like the way the County I work for does things. All go not much on the rest.😴 be nice if we had trucks like the one u drive. We have internationals and they have nothing but problems.
Yes I hear you! We gotta take the good with the bad!
That's not zero vis ... you can still see the blade. =)
Lol
@@JimHowDigsDirt I've only once driven in worse. Was Thanksgiving time about 15 ish years ago. You could see at best one car length ahead. You couldn't see the car or even the tail lights of the car you knew was only 2 or 3 car lengths ahead of you. 4 inches of wet mess already on the road and coming down fast enough to build on the wipers between swipes. Target for the evening --- 2 miles down back roads. Somehow we made it there. And thankfully the snow had let up and the plows had made a run before we left. But that's one of two snowy trips I'll never forget.
@@nerdgarage one night last winter I went about 2 km across a piece of road that is in fields I couldn't see the a thing just like you had a piece of plywood tied to the windshield only way I got through was hold her tight to the bank and look out the drivers door and try and seen the other bank and pray like hell there wasn't and car stuck the middle some where.
Its times like that why we use ditch markers and all they are is a young birch cut and limbed to make a 8 foot spring pole put them on the edge of the shoulder with a piece of reflector tape on the top. I'm telling you there are nights I could get out and kiss them they have keep me out of the ditch numbers of times when visibility is low and for when you and shelving banks they are great to you know how fair you can get your truck over.
Yes, that would be a great way to help stay on the road! I could have used some on this particular night for sure. I'm just glad I had street lights to guide me!
Question. I came over the Cobequid Pass yesterday and saw some nice new Mack pole trucks with European style rear spreaders. Is that common for new equipment or just on the pass?
The DOT have been replacing older trucks with new Mack trucks with ePoke salt spreaders the last few years. These units have the spreader sticking out the back and are likely what you are referring to. I just got the keys to one of these new trucks last week and will running it this winter. I will be posting videos of it in the near future!
JimHowDigsDirt that sounds great. I look forward to seeing it in action.
the intercom is very clear in this.
Yes, the radio is just below the dash cam!
lolol its not safe enough for the large DOT plow to be moving but heck a little hatchback burns right on past.
Snowstorms make people crazy, lol.
Did this for 30 years with DOT in Newfoundland..Nothing boring about it.
No, I bet it certainly wouldn't be boring with the amount of snow you get over there! You could probably write a book about some of your adventures!
Nice video again bud i hope you film this winter tho !
I go back on call starting Sunday for 17 weeks! Stay tuned for more!
@@JimHowDigsDirt cool !
Gotta love Nova Scotia Winters , especially down here in Cape Breton , she changes every 5 mins , got hammered again last night with another 25 cms , got snow Banks in my yard 5-8 tall , another 15-25 coming tomorrow , stay safe out there , Miss driving the Roads myself , had quite few knuckle buster nights driving from Cape North to Sydney in my Tandem Boom truck on way back from my runs up north . Up there some serious snow in the Winters .
Those LEDs lights suck in heavy SNOW conditions. I feel sorry for you. I can say without a doubt that sodium light you stop infront of the visibility was 50 % better.
I just have regular halogen headlights in this truck and a set of yellow fog lights. Another person commented "You guys need to invest in LED lights or for more $ LightForce Lights where you can see 4 miles in the snow" Now I would like to see a side by side comparison just to see which would be better! Thanks for the comment!
@@JimHowDigsDirt Jim I have been in Fog that even the Scottish would call fog in Pennsylvania and Tennessee the white on White just blinds the crap out of you. In the fire service we actually had our red lights and white lights on separate switches because of the blinding factor of it.
How would amber lights work in that thick fog?
What plow set up do you guys use? Here in NY State Highway we use Henderson and Viking.
They use a lot of Craig plows here where I work. I don't think I have ever seen a Henderson or Viking on any of our equipment. Are they pretty good plows?
@@JimHowDigsDirt Henderson is built real well. Not a fan of Viking. They are built cheaply in my eye.
Complaining about no low beams, he’ll I find in one out conditions less is more when it comes to lights, easier to focus when you aren’t lighting up the snow in my opinion. Our plows we can shut the plow lights off and run the factory head lights on the truck, makes us visible and stops from lighting up the snow so much. Great video sir!
Another great plowing video from Nova Scotia. Beautiful country and wonderful people. Thanks for all the work bringing this video to us.
I think it’s going to be a long winter love your videos here in Ontario it’s nice today Sunday the 8 of dec we’ve got dumped on twice now getting my ole dually with 4 wheel drive back on rd tomorrow I think will be a long snowy winter I guess you guys are all around the ocean ther so you are gonna be busy as usual although I think it isn’t as bad as it was years ago down ther but you guy in the maritime always get more than your share good videos stay safe
A dislike really? You should be required to state why you dislike a video. Always a hater in the bunch.
I miss plowing the roads it was a cool job.
Thanks Jim! Maybe they just disliked the snow lol.
Love the vids boss! Keep them coming.
You bet! Thank you!
My favorite new subscription, thanks!
Let's hope it's a big snow winter...
wow that looks very cool that would screw my eyes up after a while .be hard outside of town with no lights helping to get your bearings still this is when I would like it best lol
You guys need to invest in LED lights or for more $ LightForce Lights where you can see 4 miles in the snow
I think bright lights would make it worse wouldn't it? It would be nice to see a side by side comparison! Thanks for the comment!
JimHowDigsDirt not LightForce’s
Is this county?
Yes, Pictou County!
Challenging job for sure , I miss the adrenaline ride !
Yeah, it sure can be an adrenaline rush at times!
👍😉
Thanks Jerry!
Is that one of the older Mack's the county has
This truck is an six wheel drive Western Star with a Caterpillar engine!