(Photo by Jess Mancini) Jesse Kehl of the Ohio Department of Transportation District 10 headquarters in Marietta performs an equipment check Monday during the annual inspection of snow and ice removal equipment and plows.

Trucks and plows were checked and inspected Monday at the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 10 headquarters in Marietta where mechanics and drivers prepared for the coming winter.

While crews in District 10 and around Ohio will be ready for snow and ice removal, the best advice for residents is to be watchful of slow-moving plows and get out of the way, District 10 Highway Technician Eric Gandee said.

“Move over, slow down,” Gandee said. “And stay home if you don’t have to be on the road.”

Equipment inspections are conducted each year by ODOT statewide and include safety checks on plows, trucks and equipment, hiring of additional mechanics and drivers and making sure salt stores are filled and ready when winter comes.

According to the transportation department, the first day of measurable snow is early November in northern Ohio and late November for southern Ohio.

Statewide, 22 plow trucks were struck on the road last winter, four fewer than the previous years, ODOT said.

Giving a wide berth to the plows can help prevent accidents, said Ashley Rittenhouse, District 10 spokeswoman.

“We’re traveling slower than most traffic,” she said.

Washington County has 23 plow trucks, 27 fulltime and seasonal drivers, three mechanics and 10,080 tons of salt, Rittenhouse said.

“We do hire a few extras for wintertime to make sure we have plenty of staff,” she said.

Last year for the 2023-24 winter season, snow and ice operations involved crews driving 37,633 miles in 3,871 hours in Washington County, spread 2,423 tons of salt and used 97,400 gallons of deicer for pretreating and treating Ohio and U.S. routes outside of cities, the transportation department said.

Among priority roads in the district are Interstate 77, U.S. 50 and high-traffic roads, Rittenhouse said.

Routes are predetermined and most of the drivers have experience, Gandee said. Refresher training is conducted each year, too, he said.

“This is a familiar activity to us,” Gandee said.