US Foods keeps truck fleet clear in winter

Winters in Norwich, Conn., are cold, snowy and long, and it can be a nightmare for those involved with trucking fleet maintenance—like Ken Cassar at a local US Foods distribution facility.

One of the nation’s leading food and food service products distributors, US Foods serves independent restaurants as well as health care, hospitality entities, educational institutions, and retail operations across the region. Its Norwich truck fleet is on the go almost around the clock. Removal of snow from the tops of trailers was an annual and increasing problem for the facility, as more and more states in the northeastern United States and Canada have passed legislation requiring it.

For US Foods’ Norwich facility, snow removal was a seasonal headache. They used a number of methods to remove snow, all of which were slow and difficult. Then they discovered the FleetPlow.

The FleetPlow is an adjustable height plow assembly that scrapes snow off the top of trucks when they pass through it. It is available in automated or pendant-controlled models, as well as portable models that can be relocated after the snow season ends. The heaviest duty FleetPlow 440T is fully automated, portable, and can remove up to 24 inches of wet, heavy snow in less than 30 seconds, up to 60 vehicles per hour. And while it can remove 2 feet of snow easily, it is gentle enough on the roofs of trucks to prevent damage.

“The FleetPlow has been great for us,” said Cassar. “We probably run 30 trucks a night through it, then clean up the ground level snow afterward with a Bobcat or plow. It works very well. We’ll use it after heavy snowstorms, we’ll use it after small snowstorms… it’s just very practical.”

Cassar feels that FleetPlow has greatly enhanced the company’s efficiency. When asked what US Foods was doing before the FleetPlow, Cassar joked, “We were taking our chances on tickets.”

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