Some plow drivers in Minnesota are using a special tool to keep them on top of the weather. At the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Albert Lea Truck Station, plows have a gadget that gives them the latest weather, road conditions and radar updates.
Trucks at station are outfitted with something called the Maintenance Decision Support System - or MDSS. The system gives drivers the latest weather updates, pavement conditions and it also recommends which chemicals to use and how much. It's linked to computers back at headquarters.
"You can go into here and you can click on a route and you can go down to like I-35 northbound. On the driving lane and you can go up into here and it's road temperature is 29 degrees Fahrenheit," said Wayne Golberg, Albert Lea Truck Station Supervisor.
During a recent storm, Golberg tracked the truck's locations and the different road conditions throughout the county. The computer can remember that data for use in future storms.
"And when you come back it's all calibrated," said Gary Zech, MN DOT snow plow driver. "You can look it up two weeks later and still get the same figures. And it's for calibrating how much we use and what cost. We're trying to figure out the cheap way to do this."
Drivers believe it's a better and cheaper way to clear the roads with just the push of a button. Mn DOT says it costs about $2,500 to set up the system in each truck. The Albert Lea station is one of the first in the region to use the gadget.