Southern New Hampshire is expected to get hit with up to a foot of snow on Thursday, which the state Department of Transportation says will put their snow plow drivers into overtime. Those drivers are already gearing up for the storm.
Bernie Huber has spent nearly three decades catching a nap in the driver’s seat of his plow truck.
“It’s not the Hilton, but when you’re tired, it works,” Huber said Wednesday.
It’s just what you do when it’s snowing in New Hampshire and you work for the Department of Transportation.
The older one becomes, the overnighters are a little harder,” Huber admitted.
When asked what has kept him going for his 29 years at the DOT, he chuckled and said, “I enjoy it.”
Most crews coming off a 24-hour shift were already back at the maintenance garage in Hooksett on Wednesday afternoon, fixing broken equipment and fueling up in time for the next storm.
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“It’s turning into an expensive winter,” New Hampshire DOT spokesperson Bill Boynton said.
He said the DOT has already used up almost 70 percent of its winter maintenance budget and it's only halfway through the season.
“Yesterday, for example, the snow had virtually stopped by early evening but crews were out all night because roads froze up,” Boynton said.
Those same crews will do it again Wednesday night, thankful for coffee – and considerate drivers.
“They go by, toot their horns and wave and stuff like that,” DOT driver Lenny Desrochers said. “I love it, I really do.”
The DOT will be asking lawmakers for a $6 million transfer to complete its winter maintenance work.
