Out All Night: Plowing During A Blizzard

Man in pickup truck plowing road during snow storm

Snow and ice do not happen as much here, of course, as up North.

But the effects are all as disruptive. Snow needs to be removed, plowed.  Roads need to be salted, especially with the most snowfall in more than a decade.

We might take it for granted, that this gets done. But there is a small (or not so small) army of government and private workers who jump into action when the snow starts falling.

While most of use were warmed up at home on Thursday and Friday, Jordan Ward and the rest of his co-workers at Colorburst Landscaping were working in shifts around the clock, laying tons upon tons of salt and plowing snow that just kept falling.

Colorburst has headquarters in Brentwood and in Nashville, where the serve dozens of properties- banks, stores, etc.

He was one crew among nine, with four or five workers in each. His crew was responsible for seven properties around Maryland Way. He talked to us on Saturday.

“We would go by and salt properties and shovel. Other crews plowed. Then later in day we went back, and repeated, like 8 times.”

On Thursday he was at work from 3 a.m until Noon. Then he went to the main headquarters in on 245 Wilson Pike in Brentwood to rest and do it again. At least 20 employees did not go home from Thursday or Friday until Saturday- going out and plowing and salting and coming back to rest, while another crew went out, then going out again when another returned.

“My immediate boss, Mike Waters just got off [at 2 o’clock on Saturday afternoon] after plowing since like 9 p.m. Friday night.”

Some worked as many as 30-35 hours in last few days.

He describes one shift that lasted from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Friday morning:

“Load truck down with about 5,000 pounds of salt, spent five or six hours spreading it until it was gone. Have 45 minute sbreak. Then do it again.”

We have this mostly unseen army of workers to thank for the snow and ice not being much, much worse. It is not without risk, and takes a lot of energy.  So this winter if you see a plow or a salt truck, make sure to give them a wave and a smile, or buy them a coffee if you see them at the gas station.