Snow is a part of winter life in Northeast Pennsylvania, and with it comes snow-covered roads.

Nobody knows this better than Corey Reph, assistant county manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Carbon County. Reph gets weather updates on his computer, while checking a weather app on his personal phone, and fielding phone calls on his work phone.PennDOT in Carbon County is responsible for maintaining more than 400 lane miles of road. When a storm is about to hit, crews go from their normal eight-hour work day to a 12-hour day, working either midnight to noon, or noon to midnight.PennDOT's arsenal for snow removal includes 17 active plow trucks and one reserve in Carbon County, working out of four depots. The depots are spread out across the county, located in Hudsondale, Penn Forest, Mahoning Township and one off Route 80. The state also uses subcontractors when necessary.Before the drivers start plowing, each is responsible for doing a 64-point check on his vehicle, which includes tires, fluids, lights, the plow and the aggregate spreader system on the back of the truck. Once the truck passes, the driver loads it with 10-15 tons of a 50-50 mixture of anti-skid material and salt. Each driver is responsible for a specific route, and normally it's the same route each time they go out.The plows won't set any land/speed records, averaging between 25 and 30 miles per hour in most areas, although the trucks on Route 80 in upper Carbon will operate at about 50 mph.Bob Kulp, a seasonal driver for PennDOT for the last two seasons, has a route in Lehighton and Mahoning Township. The 42-mile route takes him approximately two-and-a-half hours. Nine hours into his shift on Wednesday he had traveled 160 miles, and had already gone through more than a 65-gallon tank of fuel. Fuel mileage is dependent on the load being pushed. Clearing a wet, heavy snow will consume more fuel than a light, powdery coating.While on their routes the drivers also keep an eye out for road problems, low hanging limbs and ice formations that may become problematic. These conditions will be noted and taken care of on days when there are no storms.When each road gets plowed comes down to traffic, and the average number of vehicles that travel the roads in a given day. Interstates and similar roads like routes 248, 209 and 443 are top priority. Once those roads are passable, the trucks will clear the next busiest roads, and then the roads that have very little traffic. Some state roads are even maintained by the townships or boroughs in which they are located, with the state reimbursing the towns."Our trucks will also try to help the towns with their roads when possible, but the state routes take priority," Reph said.Knowing how to maintain the roads comes back to Reph juggling cellphones and receiving weather info on his computer. Educating himself on what kind of weather is coming helps him decide how to direct the truck operator on their task. For example, if the temperature is below 25 degrees calcium will be added to the cinder/salt mixture to make it more effective. If the forecast is showing sleet or freezing rain following a snowstorm, the drivers may not completely clear the snow to make the roads more passable.Reph mentioned that PennDOT tries to do whatever it can to make it safer for the traveling public, but there are things the public can do to make it safer too.If you must drive and encounter a plow, you should always stay well behind it, both for your safety, and for the plow driver. Passing a plow truck is highly discouraged.PennDOT has travel information readily available by checking

www.511pa.com, where you can find travel conditions, incidents, construction and even live traffic cams.