The Iowa DOT training videos have been a staple of winter maintenance training for many years. About four years ago, they benefitted from a total makeover, rebuilt from the ground up to reflect the advancements in technology that have worked their way in as common tools.
The video series is completely new, is posted for free on YouTube, and is a great resource that you can use with your crews as a standalone training series. There are thirteen videos totaling 94 minutes, for an average of seven minutes per topic. The videos deal with pre-season activities, equipment checks, proper clothing, snow fence, plowing techniques, wing and tow plows, and deicing chemicals and strategies. Granted, a couple of the topics may be less applicable to your particular roadways, but the majority of topics apply to everyone. So, maybe you don’t use tow plows, but you may want to learn more about spreader calibrations, how deicing chemicals work, or the advantages of anti-icing.
Each of these is a digestible nugget that probably goes well with pizza. Why not gather the crew in the shop once a day for the next 13 days and watch the whole series – okay, maybe Tuesday’s and Fridays for the next six and a half weeks. You can surely spare 7 minutes a couple times a week! They also fit in well with your tailgate safety talk program.
Additionally, these can be useful as a quick way to show an elected official part of what makes winter maintenance a challenge for you. You might even find some of these to be helpful in your social media outreach to the community – your creative impulses will kick in once you start viewing them. Meanwhile, remember to make safety the primary focus as your crews head out for each storm.
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