FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — The North Carolina Department of Transportation continues winter preparations, and employees are using one of two simulators that create realistic winter road conditions.
What You Need To Know
- NCDOT has two snow plow simulators
- The simulator creates a real-world experience of winter road conditions
- Employees say using the similar helps protect their snow plow equipment
Jake McKinney, a NCDOT employee who has used the simulator, says running an actual plow on a road without snow or ice just wears the blade out unnecessarily, making the simulator perfect.
“When you’re in the simulator, you can feel the rumble strips and steering. You can feel if there’s a bump, you feel it in the seat, you feel at the steering wheel,” McKinney said. “It’s as good as it gets without being out in a truck.”
Wendy Shepherd is a health and safety consultant with NCDOT. She says the virtual training is a win-win all around.
“Typically, whenever we are using our plows, we’ve got to be careful about going over railroad tracks, manholes, things like that, because they damage our equipment,” Shepherd said. “So when we’ve got situations like this where they can practice using a simulator, it helps keep our equipment safe and operational.”
McKinney is grateful to be able to get behind the wheel before the roadways get icy.
“It’s fantastic. It’s as close to being [in the] real world without sitting in a truck,” McKinney said.