As winter approaches, snow plow drivers, also known as snowfighters, will be needed. Handling a snow plow requires skills beyond being a good driver. It requires multitasking, experience driving on untreated roads, and the ability to stay calm in stressful situations.
Developing those skills on the job can be dangerous and costly. Mistakes from inexperience can lead to broken equipment, injured employees, and possible legal problems due to crashes. Instead of dealing with those problems, a better investment would be in a snow plow simulator.
Why You Need a Snowfighter Simulator
Investing in a snowfighter simulator is investing in your drivers' safety, their career, and your organization’s future.
Train and Onboard Throughout the Year
The availability of a snowfighter simulator means you can hire and train your fleet throughout the year. With a simulator, you don’t have to wait until winter to train and can have plow drivers ready to go when winter arrives.
The year-round training availability allows for a constant stream of hiring and training. When winter comes, you won’t rush to find and train drivers because you’ll already have them in your fleet.
With enough qualified drivers, your employees will feel less stressed and burned out, which is good for employee retention and safety. Burned-out employees are more likely to make dangerous and costly mistakes behind the wheel or quit the job.
Safety
Plow drivers have to deal with some of the most dangerous road conditions. A simulator gives your new drivers experience in overcoming these hazards in a safe and controlled environment, posing no risk to the driver, their vehicle, or others.
Being a snowfighter is not as simple as driving down a snowy road. The driver is responsible for operating the vehicle while being aware of the plow’s position and the flow of salt or gravel behind the truck. These additional responsibilities add stressors to an untrained driver leading to more safety issues.
With a snowfighter simulator, snow plow drivers can experience all of these responsibilities in a controlled environment that doesn’t feel intimidating but is manageable and familiar.
If a driver makes a wrong choice using a simulator, it’s easy to provide direct and immediate feedback, reset the simulation, and allow them additional opportunities to improve their skills.
Save Real Plows for Snow Days
Many people are interested in becoming snow plow drivers. Plow companies have raised their starting wages due to harsh winters and a lack of snow plow drivers. Without a simulator, more time is needed to allow new drivers to train in an unused parking lot or shadow an experienced driver. Taking needed plows off the road for training means they spend less time as a critical part of your snow removal team.
Instead, you can train new drivers using the simulator. The snowfighter simulator reduces the time needed to train drivers with a supervisor. This allows more of your snowplows to be available when needed.
Save Money
A simulator saves your organization money in the long run because mistakes can be costly. One mistake could mean you’ll have to replace equipment, trucks, and even employees who may be unable to work due to an injury. This kind of problem can pop up a lot during the winter months.
You also don’t have to worry about using fuel while training in a simulator. You can use a snow plow simulator hundreds of times without a fuel drop—a huge savings considering current fuel prices.
L3Harris Snowfighter Simulator Can Prep Your Drivers This Winter
L3Harris has created a variety of driver training services. Investing in an L3Harris snowfighter simulator provides access to different environment scenarios to train your plow drivers. They can train in dense cities, freeways, or rural areas. Have them work around traffic, pedestrians, and other typical obstacles on the road.
You can even change the time of day and weather conditions beyond snowy weather. Every scenario you come up with you can play out in our simulation.
Our simulators also come with:
- Snowfighter training curriculum for different snow and ice removals
- A realistic interior, including functional snow plow controls
- A simulated spreader
Learn more about investing in our snowfighter simulator before it’s too late. Winter will be here before we know it.
