They are a vital part of our lives, especially during these long, winter months. Now with Salem County receiving more snow this year than anyone can remember in the past, they are needed more than ever. However, it seems as though no one really pays them much mind until we’re all snowed in, stuck in the house with four feet of snow outside. Who are they? Our beloved snow plows, of course.

                It’s a sad fact that we fail to give these workers the credit they deserve, hardly even a second thought until they fail to clear our roads and driveways. This job, though overlooked, is extremely dangerous and costly. In truth, it is a task much more complicated than it seems. In order to thoroughly comprehend the daunting task many men and women take on each winter, you would have to talk a walk in their shoes, or rather, a ride behind the wheel and plow. Larry Gant, a year-round worker at the R.E. Pierson Construction Co. and part-time snow plow, sheds a little light on those often dark and always cold treks.

“The hardest part about it is the hours you have to put in,” Gant expresses, recalling the last storm which had him out on the road for 39 straight hours. “There’s a lot more to it. Bumps and ruts in the road bust cutting edges on the plow, which have to be changed. That makes it hard to clear the road.” When further asked about these cutting edges, something lost on most of us unsavy in the ways of the snowplow, he responded, “During the last storm, we broke nine cutting edges and had to change them all. It takes a lot of time.”

Clearly, with a 39 hour work shift, one that involves nothing but endless roads of white and countless repairs, it is not only time consuming, but energy draining as well. It’s a wonder how most snow plows, who often hold other jobs as well, make it through the night. Constant Wawa runs, perhaps?