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Snow-removal operators get jump on winter – Metro US

Snow-removal operators get jump on winter

Winter is a few months away, but the city of Ottawa is getting into snow removal mode now.

Over the next few months, operators will be training on and getting reacquainted with snow removal equipment.

The fleet department will put up to 400 students through the school over the over the next three months, said Dan O’Keefe, the city’s manager for road and traffic operations.

Operators are training on plows, salt trucks, graters, loaders and the smaller sidewalk plows at training schools around the city. Training starts in the classroom, but finishes on roads around Orléans, Cumberland, Kanata, Stittsville and Bells Corners to give operators some time to get accustomed to maneuvering in traffic.

Salt trucks are one of the most technical machines, since it requires constant multitasking, said O’Keefe.

“They have to monitor the traffic conditions, they apply salt and they are also running controls for the plows that move the snow,” he said. “It’s a fairly complicated skill to operate one of these things.”