The DeLea Founders Insurance Trust (DFIT) held its second annual Snowplow RoadEO on November 6, 2019 and nearly 40 operators from eight local agencies competed for skill and time navigating the course. Some 15 volunteers were on hand to setup and run the competition at the Dover International Speedway.
Similar competitions are held across the country to sharpen truck-handling skills, remind drivers of the many hazards that await them with the winter storms, and help them balance speed with safety. The course this year included 13 events. Several of the events brought the truck as close as possible to roadside hazards like curbs, parked vehicles, and mailboxes. Others required some finesse through a serpentine area or tight turns or backing into docks. Finally, another class involved simulated pushing of snow into a defined area (the barrel push). The course requires dozens of temporary traffic control drums and cones, which were on loan from the Delaware Department of Transportation.
The course tests the driver’s ability to maneuver the truck with finesse at a productive speed. Each event includes various point deductions if a drum or a tennis ball is struck or for being too far from a cone or drum or for failure to push the drum into the innermost box. As a result, a low time does not guarantee a top position if the operator does not control the vehicle well in the process. Drivers were given the opportunity for two runs, and most improved substantially on their second run, both in terms of time and minimizing lost points.
As a result, we do not know the winners as we go to press. Scott Stohrer (PMA Group) is the DFIT lead for the RoadEO and will be crunching the numbers through a large CRAY supercomputer over the next week or so. Winners will likely be announced at the November 19 Safety Committee Meeting.
Official competition was in two categories: Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) and non-CDL (it is overly simplistic, but for our purposes, a CDL is required to operate a vehicle with a gross vehicular weight rating of 26,000 pounds or more). Some CDL drivers competed in the non-CDL categories as well. 
Kent County called an audible and arrived with a commercial mower equipped for plowing. Literally now in a class of his own, he ran the course in remarkable time and, less remarkably, maneuvered much more deftly than his 26,000-pound colleagues. The entry caused quite a commotion and it seems a third class may be necessary next year…possibly even a specialized, second course to simulate the pedestrian walkway environment.
DFIT is a self-insurance workers compensation group exclusively for Delaware local governments. It currently consists of 27 Delaware local governments. Through their Stewardship Committee and their Safety Committee, DFIT members are actively engaged to identify injury risks in their work environment and take direct action to mitigate them. The results are noticeable, as they have seen the number and severity of injuries generally decline; fewer employees injured, less lost time, and lower medical costs – win, win, win.
The Safety Committee regularly discusses near misses they have encountered, mitigative actions they have taken, and safety procedures they have implemented. They develop and deploy tailgate safety talks. They bring in speakers (including the Delaware T2/LTAP Center) for training and demonstrations (such as equipment blind spots or ladder safety). And now, they have another great way to promote safety through the Snowplow RoadEO.
The Delaware T2/LTAP Center is happy to assist with DFIT’s program, including the Snowplow RoadEO and we look forward to another great event next fall.
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