Talkin Winter Ops

This National Briefing segment is presented by Anna Arvidsson Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute and features the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Technical Committee on Winter Maintenance and Response to Weather Events (AKJ17)   If you want to submit your name to become a Friend of the Committee create your TRB account and follow the navigation to AKJ17 at https://...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Peter Nutz, City of Vienna Austria and features the World Road Association’s Winter Service Technical Committee.  Check out their work products and get more information about PIARC’s Winter Service Technical Committee at their website https://www.piarc.org/en/PIARC-knowledge-base-Roads-and-Road-Transportation/Road-Safety-Sustainability/Winter-Service...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Jed Falgren Minnesota DOT and features the Maintenance Operations Technical Working Group of AASHTOs Maintenance Committee. One of the 5 Technical Working Groups of this Committee, Maintenance Operations focuses on activities like winter maintenance, work zones, and safety.   If you want more information about this Technical Working Group you can chec...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Dave Huft South Dakota DOT and Ben Hersey DTN and features the Maintenance Decision Support System Pool Fund Study.  This organization is advancing winter maintenance decision support through advanced forecasting and understanding of the winter weather system yielding an operational system to aid agencies in winter maintenance treatment strategies. Ch...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Danny Varilek South Dakota DOT and features the Clear Roads Pool Fund Study. Clear Roads’ work focus is on all things winter maintenance and includes management of the Qualified Product List (QPL) for roadway deicers.  Check out their work and get more information about Clear Roads at their website https://www.clearroads.org/   or by emailing Danny Va...

This National Briefing segment is presented by James Roath Michigan DOT and features the Aurora Pool Fund Study. Aurora's work focus is on road weather, instrumentation, and forecasting among other related activities.  Check out their work and get more information about Aurora at their website https://www.aurora-program.org/  or by emailing James Roath at RoathJ1@michigan.gov or Zach Hans at...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Matt Morreim City of Shorewood, Minnesota and features the American Public Works Association (APWA) Winter Maintenance Subcommittee. The Winter Maintenance Subcommittee’s mission is to promote the development and use of the safest, most cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally sensitive winter maintenance technologies, equipment, materials, and...

This National Briefing segment is presented by Jed Falgren Minnesota DOT and features AASHTO’s Winter Weather Management Technical Service Program. The Winter Weather Management’s work focus is on on the identification, promotion, and collaboration efforts necessary to implement and advance state of the practice winter maintenance and road weather techniques.  Check out their work and get more inf...

Welcome to the 2026 National Winter Maintenance and Road Weather Briefing series! Each year, this special event brings together organizations from across the winter maintenance, road weather, and highway operations community to share their latest initiatives, innovations, and accomplishments. This year, eight organizations are participating, offering insights into their work and the practical bene...

No matter where you live or where you operate, people have come to expect that they can get where they need to go, whenever they need to go. And while snow and ice may be more common up north, winter weather isn't just a northern problem. States in the South don't deal with winter storms nearly as often, so building and maintaining a strong snow and ice program takes a little different a...

Every agency has gone through it.  Perfect planning for winter, perfect preparation for that first storm, then mother nature sends a curve ball, all the planets line up and all the little things add up to a big thing.  That’s what happened December 1st, 2025 to the Missouri DOT in the St. Louis area.  Becky Allmeroth, Chief Safety and Operations Officer at the Missouri DOT sets the stage and tells...

On this episode were going to showcase the work of a couple of innovative maintenance professionals long time friend and listener, Phillip Anderle turned me on to at the last APWA Western Snow and Ice Conference.  These two guys created a winter app for smart phones and tablets that makes gathering storm response data from the crews much easer and checks it for accuracy before it gets input into t...

Born out of a desire to improve winter operations across state lines the Interstate 80 Corridor Coalition has grown into the second longest corridor coalition extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  Likewise, the operational focus has also grown beyond winter operations to leverage coordination in the areas of traveler information, freight and economic efficiency, and smarter technology deplo...

While it's important to have stockpiles full, equipment repaired and ready, and staff training and assignments set, it's important to have your home weather ready as well.  After all, when you're out there battling the weather, there's peace of mind knowing that your own home and family are safe and sound.  On this episode we're Talkin' Winter Ops with Jake Sorber, Re...

The Pacific Northwest Snowfighters Association will be holding their biannual conference for winter maintenance professionals and practitioners May 2026 in Spokane, Washington.  This best in the west winter operations conference is a perfect time for exchanging ideas with your peers, finding out the latest and greatest in winter maintenance operations research, and interacting with vendors and sup...

From that moment the very first engineering project was completed the age of maintenance began.  While the initial delivery of the public work carries a lot of fanfare nothing is more important than keeping it functional and in service.  Maintenance organizations have been intrusted to manage every aspect of those assets since before Asset Management was a thing.  From mowing and debris pickup to...

In this episode we’re revisiting an earlier episode of Talkin Winter Ops that you may have missed.  In this episode we visit with Dr. Scott Koefod, inorganic chemist, about just how salt works when used as part of a winter maintenance strategy.  Sign up for email notifications on future episodes and other communications associated with winter maintenance and winter weather management by clicking o...

Winter maintenance is more than work plans, budgets, disasters and recovery.  Your family plays a huge role in your public works career and public service often demands family sacrifice during times of crisis.  Lots of times the two worlds of work and family overlap and sometimes collide. Mike Duffy is the Assistant Public Works Director at the City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Janis Duffy works for...

Developing an infrastructure project is series of compromises and tradeoffs and so often maintenance and operations considerations end up on the cutting room floor.  Unfortunately, those decisions have implications that agencies have to live with for a long time.  In the case of the GARS Intersection project in Fairbanks, Alaska everyone knew that snow removal was to be a significant consideration...

A hundred and fifty years ago road departments leaned on the farmers next to the road to help maintain it and often times paid them to do so.  As time marched on and road departments became DOTs with dedicated maintenance workers and tools and technology advanced there is still a lot of innovation that takes place in the maintenance garage.   On this episode we're talking winter ops with Indi...

The easiest snow flake to remove from the roadway is the one that never lands on it.  Seems obvious but how to make that happen?  On this episode we’re Talkin Winter Ops with Dan Gullickson, Minnesota DOT supervisor of their Blowing Snow Program.  Ever since the 1880’s when the railroads first started building snow fence to protect the track and the work on snow fence design that was part of the S...

This briefing features the No Boundaries Pool Fund Study.  The No Boundaries pooled fund project is a community of practice of state DOT maintenance and operations professionals who share innovative maintenance technologies and practices to promote adaptation, implementation and broader use. Check out the PRESENTATION SLIDE DECK and If you want more information about No Boundaries check out the NO...

This briefing features the work of the American Meteorological Societies Committee on Road Weather and Technology.  Focusing on advances weather science and technologies to fashion solutions to advance mobility during winter events the committee has many projects relevant to the highway community. Check out the PRESENTATION SLIDE DECK and If you want more information about this Committee you can c...

This briefing features the Professional Snowfighters Association a North American based non-profit professional association dedicated to creating a community of practice, based upon adherence to sound science as it seeks to improve knowledge and practices in the pursuit of safe and sustainable snowfighting by the winter maintenance community.   For more information about this organization you can...

This briefing features the international Winter Service Technical Service Committee of the PIARC.  This Technical Committee focuses on activities facing all winter maintenance organizations across the globe.   Check out the PRESENTATION SLIDE DECK and If you want more information about this Technical Committee you can check out their website at: PIARC Winter Service TC or email Chair Peter Nutz  ...