Check Out the MnDOT Snow Plow ‘Car Wash’ (VIDEO)
You know how dirty your car or truck gets when you drive thru all this muck, imagine how filthy plows get! I knew they had to clean them, but never really thought about it until MnDOT posted a video of their "car wash".
- MnDOT plows 30,585 miles of state highways and interstates in Minnesota. One mile of a four-lane road equals four lane miles. The Twin Cities Metro area has 4,087 lane miles that MnDOT maintains.
- MnDOT has more than 1,800 full-time and part-time snowplow drivers. All operators are required to have a valid Class B commercial driver’s license. MnDOT also provides extensive two-week training for new operators each year at Camp Ripley, Minn., and annual refresher training for veteran plow drivers.
- MnDOT has 840 snowplows, including reserve trucks that provide backup if a snowplow needs maintenance or is damaged.
- MnDOT has 150 truck stations statewide, with 19 of those in the Twin Cities Metro area.
Fully equipped trucks weigh as much as 15 times more than an average car.
A single-axle plow (one set of wheels in the back) can weigh up to 50,000 pounds when loaded. A new single-axle truck costs $170,000. - A tandem-axle plow (two sets of wheels in the back) can weigh more than 70,000 pounds when loaded. A new tandem truck costs $210,000.