INDIANAPOLIS — As temperatures plummeted around the city, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works (Indy DPW) and members of AFSCME Local #725 recently initiated a mock snow fight drill to help prepare the Indy Snow Force team ahead of the 2023-24 winter season.
This year’s snow preparation focus is on extensive training for snowplow drivers. Dozens of new drivers have joined Indy DPW’s ranks this year thanks to a new program that is funding CDL training for union employees. Mayor Hogsett’s 2024 city-county budget allocates additional funding for the program.
The new CDL training program is allowing Indy DPW union employees throughout the department to go through training and certification for the type A or B CDL licenses. This allows the city to bolster the number of CDL licensed drivers available at any given time, which is critical for snow season staffing. 38 employees have received CDL licenses through the program to date.
Training is a critical part of being well prepared for the winter weather. Snowplow drivers need to make a series of practice runs so they know the locations of potential hazards and other infrastructure before it’s covered in snow or hidden in the darkness of night. The process also helps drivers understand trouble spots including hills, sharp curves, intersections, and potential drift-prone stretches of their routes that may require extra attention.
Indy motorists are reminded that snow removal on 4,000 lane-miles of roadway takes time. During winter storms, Indy DPW crews can plow each thoroughfare roughly every three hours. Crews maintain that schedule of salting and plowing until there is exposed pavement on travel lanes.
Indy DPW has nearly 80 trucks and more than 19,000 tons of salt on hand ready to help make roads safer and keep Indianapolis moving. Our crews use a granular product which lowers the freezing point of water on roadways and sticks to streets once distributed by plows.
Indy DPW is currently hiring for various full-time positions within its operations and solid waste divisions, including positions that involve driving snow trucks. More info on open positions can be found at joinDPW.indy.gov.
