Who are the "plowers" and what do they do when there isn't snow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they are sanitation workers, since we've been informed there will be no garbage or recycling pickup this week.

I don't think so. I think the no trash pick up has more to do with the snow on the side of the roads than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Well, I know that my friend's husband, who has been plowing this week, has that as part of his job description as a groundsworker for a school system in the area. So in warmer weather, he does upkeep of landscaping/playgrounds/parking lots, etc on school grounds. And when it snows, he plows out streets and parking lots of the schools, and probably some other areas too, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they are sanitation workers, since we've been informed there will be no garbage or recycling pickup this week.

I don't think so. I think the no trash pick up has more to do with the snow on the side of the roads than anything else.

I only skimmed the email, but I could have sworn when I got an email from my city saying there was to be no garbage pickup this week, one of the reasons cited was because they were having sanitation workers help with plowing.

Could be wrong - like I said I only skimmed that email.

[Anonymous]

I am one of the women who has a family whose husband is plowing. This winter, he has missed Christmas, New Year's, his own birthday party, one of our children's bday parties, and as of right now, I have not seen him in 8 days. I have two small sons and am 6 months pregnant. He has been sleeping about 4 hours a night at an office, in a chair.

I am not complaining, just stating the facts. Maybe remember these facts when you look out of your house in desperation (which I understand, I feel it too). Everyone is working REALLY hard. REALLY REALLY hard.

[Anonymous]

My hat goes off to all the plow guys. OP, just to give some perspective, I grew up in Michigan. On Tuesday, my parents who still live there got about 8 inches of snow. Their county/municipality takes care of salting/plowing the main roads and if they wanted to wait, they could but instead their neighborhood association contracts with a private snow removal company to do the plowing of the neighborhood streets. Each household pays about $300 a season for this service. Then, they also contract with another service to plow their driveway.

My point is, that for people that live with a lot of snow, you pay to get plowed.

These poor guys are dealing with a TON of snow for this area and insufficient infrastructure to deal with. I guarantee that Loudon county probably doesn't have a slew of snow plows just waiting to be used.

[Anonymous]

This topic hits pretty close to home for me. Who are plowers? Why theyre your neighbors, the parents' of your childrens friends and schoolmates. They are regular people who eat and laugh and have families that they work very hard to take care of.

Like my dad. He worked 30 years and ended his career as a foreman for road crews under the purview of NJ DOT. His job was keeping the highways in good repair as well as making new ones. When it snowed, or even just a call for a big snow, he'd be at the yard for days, working 12 hour shifts. It wasnt so bad when he still worked at the yard that was only a few miles from our home, but later in his career he was promoted to foreman and transferred to a yard an hour away. That was when we didnt see him for days after the snow; before he'd just come home and crash. To put it into even more perspective, it was snowing when my mother went into labor. His brother had to drive my mother to the hospital because he was working.

He hasn't been retired long and this year was the first big snow that we've had since then. And yes I enjoyed calling him up and teasing him about it immensely.

Like 17.14 said, these are real people who are working very hard to get the roads as clear as they can. And whats more its not the drivers in the trucks who are spitefully deciding not to plow your streets: Generally its main highways, thorofares, and snow emergency routes get plowed first and continuously while the flakes are falling. Once the snow stops they may give it another scrape down to the asphalt. Then they'll concentrate on main neighboorhood thorofares and then smaller side roads and cul-de-sacs.

As has been said over and over on the news, this is an historic amount of snow, and a big part of the problem is not just moving it but where to put it. We were driving down river road today and one lane was being taken up by a front loader that was digging up the snow and depositing it out of the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My hat goes off to all the plow guys. OP, just to give some perspective, I grew up in Michigan. On Tuesday, my parents who still live there got about 8 inches of snow. Their county/municipality takes care of salting/plowing the main roads and if they wanted to wait, they could but instead their neighborhood association contracts with a private snow removal company to do the plowing of the neighborhood streets. Each household pays about $300 a season for this service. Then, they also contract with another service to plow their driveway.

My point is, that for people that live with a lot of snow, you pay to get plowed.

These poor guys are dealing with a TON of snow for this area and insufficient infrastructure to deal with. I guarantee that Loudon county probably doesn't have a slew of snow plows just waiting to be used.

Many neighborhood associations in this area do this also. Although since we don't get nearly as much snow typically as in Michigan, its usually not anywhere that expensive. Often times landscapers, or other private contractors throw a plow on the front of their truck when it snows and take on extra work plowing out neighborhoods and driveways for $, and there are a ton of people who are willing to do this, even in this area. Not that this answers the OPs question, but agreeing with PPs point that you can always pay to plow.

[Anonymous]

I am no scientist, so maybe someone who is could help me out: would it be possible to keep a batch of highly trained specialized snowplough workers (e.g. Mexicans, Canadians?) in suspended animation, and thaw them out after a major snowstorm? then when the snow is cleared, they could return to their base (e.g. in Gaithersberg and Leesburg) and sleep again, until the next storm?

TIA!

[Anonymous]

Op, if you live in Loudoun, there is a 90% chance you live in an HOA. Talk to your HOA, they handle the contracts. I've heard in some communities in DMV, some of hte HOAs are practically bankrupt, have not paid for snow removal and will not pay for snow removal. This is because of the housing crash and people defaulting on the condo/HOA fees. My brother lives in such a community in fairfax and I kid you not, he shoveled a path out of his parking lot to the street, it took him all day. He is someone who does not get paid if he does not work, so he had no choice other than to get to work or miss rent, so he shoveled the length of a block to get out of his parking lot.....so you could just pick up your shovel and make a path....

I live in Loudoun as well, but do not live in an HOA, VDOT plows my community. I must say, they have done an AWESOME job, wayyy better than the HOA communities they are still waiting on their contracted snow removal companies.

I live in a "working class" community, many people who live in my community work in some sort or construction or landscaping. Most ALL of them run plows in the winter for extra money. In addition to VDOTs own resources that run on state payroll, they contract out a lot of plowing to people like my neighbors.

[Anonymous]

"so he had no choice other than to get to work or miss rent, so he shoveled the length of a block to get out of his parking lot.....so you could just pick up your shovel and make a path...."

People here have absolutely no idea.

[Anonymous]

I think they plow wheat fields in South Dakota when they aren't plowing snow.

[Anonymous]

In my newish neighborhood, some of the streets are plowed by VDOT, some (newer) by the HOA, and some (the newest) by the developer. If they really haven't plowed since the end of the storm, you can call VDOT at 703-383-8368.

It does seem strange to me that the counties in VA don't have any responsibility for the streets - plowing or building or maintenance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am one of the women who has a family whose husband is plowing. This winter, he has missed Christmas, New Year's, his own birthday party, one of our children's bday parties, and as of right now, I have not seen him in 8 days. I have two small sons and am 6 months pregnant. He has been sleeping about 4 hours a night at an office, in a chair.

I am not complaining, just stating the facts. Maybe remember these facts when you look out of your house in desperation (which I understand, I feel it too). Everyone is working REALLY hard. REALLY REALLY hard.

Thanks 17:14 for sharing your DH with us this winter. We appreciate it!