October 4, 2015

How Heavy Duty Snow Plows Keep the World Turning in the Winter

For those living in locations that receive the brunt of what cold winters have to offer, it comes as no surprise how costly the frigid weather can be. Harsh weather hinders travel, causes water and ice damage, and can even wear down vehicles. This translates to major expenses for civilians, businesses, and governments each winter.

During peak snowfall, it’s not unheard of for large areas, or sometimes even entire cities, to shut down roads and businesses to deter people from traveling. However, even when pedestrians are confined to their homes there are still costs to be paid.

A single day of snow-related shutdowns in New York City, for example, is estimated to consume $700 million in economic costs; $152 million of which is lost from retail sales. Fortunately, city wide shutdowns are not very common; but that doesn’t mean the work going into maintaining safe passage with salt trucks and heavy duty snow plows is an easy task.

While practices such as wearing proper clothing and transmitting weather advisories are essential to an individual’s safety, likely the most important factor is snow removal. Because the majority of people drive a personal vehicle to work, keeping roads and highways clear saves hundreds if not thousands of lives. Canada alone spends an average of around $1 billion on snow and ice removal annually.

There have been large advances in the mechanisms that facilitate removal, such as large trucks that disperse ice melting rock salt on the roads after specialized heavy duty snow plows have scraped off the first layer. In some instances the snowfall is so heavy that it can weigh down on previous layers and become extremely dense. In these cases, heavy duty snow plows become a necessity to keep everyday facilities accessible.

Roads and highways aren’t the only modes of transport in need of clearing. Unsafe conditions in parking lots and walkways can deter travel as well, which in turn hurts businesses. Snow pushers have been shown to improve snow removal by close to 500%, which not only saves on clearing costs, but in the case of commercial facilities keeps customers safe.

Due to how hazardous winters can be, a multitude of safety measures must be taken to ensure pedestrians’ safety. It’s easy to underestimate snowfall until it leaves a sheet of frozen water covering everything you can see, leaving you locked in your house.