BOWLING GREEN, Ohio —
With winter weather approaching, the Ohio Department of Transportation is making sure everyone and every truck is ready to keep the roads clear.
ODOT mechanics are finishing up yearly inspections of the trucks this week, where they go through each vehicle one by one to make sure all the lights and functions work.
The district mechanics check vehicles year-round, but with the winter weather right around the corner, they want to make sure they are ready.
"We come around to every county garage before the winter starts and do an inspection just because it's the safest and best way to have as many eyes on the trucks as you can," ODOT District 2 mechanic Dillon Kline said.
The district mechanics are going to every garage throughout the eight counties it serves.
The trucks may have been used for different purposes throughout the years like hauling gravel or trees, so it's important to make sure their winter functions are ready to go.
Mechanics check the plows, brakes and salt spreader equipment on the different vehicles.
The district has been focusing on brine and liquid application on the roads.
"We do what we call pre-wetting the actual rock salt," ODOT District 2 public information officer Kelsie Hoagland said. "This is where we put brine on it just to make it starts working once it hits the ground quicker. And so that's something that we do, but brine is really one of those tools that you can use ahead of a storm just to make sure that there is some layer of defense already down."
Hoagland said the brine doesn't work if a storm starts off with rain because it will wash away any brine on the roads.
Trucks may not have to go out this week, but it's critical to get them up and running before the snow comes down.
"If these trucks can't go out and put salt on the road or push snow off, the roads won't get cleared when there's a snowstorm," Kline said.
Hoagland said it's important to remind drivers to not get too close to ODOT trucks when driving.
"These trucks have flashing lights that are visible from far, far away, even in treacherous conditions and so we please ask that you give these drivers room to work," Hoagland said. "They need space to adequately do their job, and they're doing their job so that you can get to your job so that you can get to your life functions and every other thing that you have to do."