‘Sense of obligation’ motivates drivers Northeast winters are brutal and dangerous, especially for the men and women operating snowplows. Before a storm begins, an army of snowplow operators descends on town, city, county and state roads with a singular goal — clearing the roads so we can all travel safely. To get a glimpse of life behind the wheel, The Work Force spoke with Conard Johnson, motor equipment operator and 26-year veteran plow operator from Rotterdam. Johnson has seen storms of all kinds, logged thousands of miles on town roads and even walked away from a lightning strike on the job. What’s it like to be out in a storm all day? Johnson: It definitely gets monotonous. You get tired. You get eye strain, especially at night. The nights are harder. Storm days mean your life outside of work is on hold. You have to move everything around to be available. When you get a call at 3 a.m., are you ever just tempted to not answer the phone? Johnson: No, you know, I would say that 99.9 percent of drivers feel a sense of obligation. I don’t know how else to put it except to say it’s a feeling of almost a moral obligation. When we get to the end of our regular runs, dispatch tells us what runs are not finished. We all converge there to get the job done. It’s like bees in a hive. Rotterdam Motor Equipment Operator Conard Johnson has logged thousands of miles plowing roads and has seen his share of challenges. What things can the public do to make your job easier and safer? Johnson: Some people just don’t get it, like when we have to back up a truck. State Department of Transportation law requires us to minimize back-ups, but there are times you still have to do it. It always amazes me the drivers who block the lane and don’t move out of the way. Sometimes you have to get out of the truck to ask them to move. Sometimes people leave their garbage cans or their car at the end of the driveway because they don’t want snow there. That is not helpful. During a storm, you’re going to get some snow at the end of your driveway. We don’t live in Florida. I tell people to treat us like a fire truck, pull over, make some room. How do you stay safe? Johnson: You have to have your wits about you. It’s stressful. You can get on edge. You have to know when you need a break and you have to take it. Also, having a supervisor who values safety makes it easier. Here in Rotterdam, our supervisor makes sure we take our breaks and even brings in food. Breaking up the runs by about four to five hours “I tell people to treat us like a fire truck, pull over, make some room.” helps immensely. Safety is big. Describe a typical storm day. Johnson: Well it starts with the weather reports. From Continued on page 9 8 The Work Force March 2015
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