Colorado Voices
Snowplower: Joseph Yonkers
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A fleet of 100 cleared 6400 miles of road after Thursday’s storm in Colorado Springs
Joseph Yonkers is just one of dozens of City of Colorado Springs snowplow drivers working 24 hours a day to clear thousands of miles of roads following the snowiest March 14 in Colorado Springs history
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Colorado Voices is a local public television program presented by RMPBS
Colorado Voices
Snowplower: Joseph Yonkers
Clip | 4m 8sVideo has Closed Captions
Joseph Yonkers is just one of dozens of City of Colorado Springs snowplow drivers working 24 hours a day to clear thousands of miles of roads following the snowiest March 14 in Colorado Springs history
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipLot more into it than what people think, just jumping into a truck and driving around with a plow on the ground.
My name is Joseph Yonkers.
Im a North District drainage crew lead.
Been with the city two years.
I am responsible for ice-slicer route 3A.
I plow the AM shift from 12am to 12 noon.
This is the plow.
It is detachable, because these trucks will be broken down after the storm.
This in the back of the truck is the sander unit.
Youll see our two holding liquid tanks.
These hold Apex which is a material we use alongside the slice to help break up snow and ice-packed roads.
You know, both these tanks are 120 gallons, so thats 240 gallons worth of liquid, and then four to five tons of sand or slice in the back.
Yeah, they are a theyre a big weight.
We are a jack of all trades.
We do day-to-day operations for the city, from asphalt to signs and markings, to drainage.
But at the drop of a hat, we have to switch over and go to snow.
This is your main switch.
As you can see, it says “sand.
” It helps to remind ya.
[laughs] These are all your strobe light controls here.
You can just see it as it flashes on the side of the building over here.
Thats how you know theyre activated.
[Truck honks] This is my control.
So this button here runs my plow, and then these buttons right here, this turns on my Apex, which is a liquid; this turns on my material, my ice-slicer.
In white-out conditions, its it gets pretty difficult.
You know, you dont want to go much faster than twenty-five, thirty.
Lets see.
Ill try to keep up on 30th as much as I can, and then Im gonna go check Colorado.
I havent been over there, and its startin to come down pretty good again on the west side.
Yeah, pretty much chasin your tail.
I had a guy call me earlier tonight and was like, “Man, I just feel like I ‘m not gettin anything done.
” I was like, “Thats why were here for 12 hours.
” You know, you gotta remind those guys, you know, you can only do what you can do, man.
The storms gonna do what its gonna do, and we can only go so fast, and we can only do so much.
I mean, its always hard to find truck drivers.
You gotta have a mindset to drive.
Its hard to find guys that are willing to do this.
You know, its not something that someone just wants to wake up one morning and go, “Man, I just want to go plow snow all night.
” I got a line of traffic behind me.
I dont know if you can see it in the mirror too well.
We can only go a certain mile-an-hour to allow the material to do the job so it breaks up the ice.
people get upset and agitated, but guess what theyre gonna be upset and agitated once they get around ya because the road is gonna be just as bad as it was behind them when they were following, so like I said, I just smile and wave.
The gas stations people, you know, they they tell ya, “Oh, I appreciate what you do, you make it easy for me to get to work.
” So they give you a free cup of coffee every now and then, or a free donut.
You know, and it makes you feel good that when people tell you they appreciate what you do, You know, sometimes people honk and yell at ya, and tell ya to get out of the way, and and so when those people that tell ya they appreciate what we do for the city kinda helps.
Makes you feel a little bit better about your job.
You know, we try and make sure that the roads are safe as possible for you and your families to get home, and not just your familes, but our own families.
We have families working out there, day-to-day, and its something I enjoy being able to help out on.
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Colorado Voices is a local public television program presented by RMPBS