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Toledo snowplow drivers working overtime to keep you safe

Richard Hendrickson has plowed Toledo's streets for 33 years. Before calling it a career in April, he's working every day to clear the roads and keep neighbors safe.

TOLEDO, Ohio — As our First Alert Weather Team tracks another round of snow this week, plow drivers have already been working around the clock since before Monday night, doing their best to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Every day for more than 30 years, Richard Hendrickson has woken up and gone to work as a heavy equipment operator for the city of Toledo. 

In the winter, that means plowing snow. But it's not typically as much as we saw this week.

"This is probably one or two on my journey," Hendrickson said. "About four or five years ago, we worked like 40 days straight. We're on like 16 days right now."

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He says the job can be both fun and infuriating.

"It is easy to get frustrated with the residents and I'm sure they get frustrated with us because we're in their way going back and forth to work or wherever they're bound to," he admitted. "But our job is to clean the streets up."

That's why Hendrickson pleads with the public for help: remove cars and other obstacles from your street, especially in neighborhoods.

"Residential (streets) are the hardest, especially when cars park on both sides of street and in this kind of snow, as you probably know, you can't see the curbs," he said.

RELATED: Which Toledo streets get plowed first?

Credit: WTOL

Hendrickson has been doing this for more than three decades now, making sure his neighbors in Toledo are all safe on these snowy days. But as they say, all good things come to an end, and after 33 years in the business, he's calling it a career in a few months.

"I get a lot of waves. Some good, some bad. Probably more on the bad," he said. "But we do appreciate the good waves and thank yous and honking at the kids."

After all, Hendrickson said the frustration is drowned out by appreciation.

Come April, he'll turn his attention to relaxation.

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