BUTLER TWP — The state workers in charge of plowing snow across Butler County are gearing up for another winter.

The state Department of Transportation had its annual winter maintenance inspection Thursday at its county office.

The department’s 42 plow trucks were reviewed from top to bottom to make sure they are in proper working order.

Bob Skrak, the county maintenance manager for PennDOT, said his crews are hoping for a better winter than a year ago, but said he isn’t sure of what type of weather to expect.

“It’s too early to tell,” he said. “But we struggle with winter every year.”

This past winter had particularly cold temperatures and lots of snow, and it nearly exhausted the department’s salt supplies.

Skrak said the difficult part about winter storms is predicting them.

“Every storm comes a little differently,” Skrak said.

Skrak said weather forecasts are a vital part in direction. The department watches storms as they move in from the west, staying in contact with Ohio’s Department of Transportation and PennDOT offices in other counties.

“We try to time it perfectly,” he said. “We don’t want (our drivers) out there waiting around, but we can’t show up too late.”

Skrak said November and March are the two most difficult months to predict.

“Once we get into our regular winter patterns, weather is a little easier to predict,” he said. “But those two months are fickle. You never know.”

Skrak said heavy snow combined with rapid drops in temperature are the most difficult storms to fight as they can quickly form ice on the roads.

But there is no set technique on how to best treat roads.

“It mostly comes with experience,” Skrak said. “I always say it’s more of an art than a science.”

The department runs 42 drivers at a time during two shifts each day. Shifts are typically 4 a.m. to noon, and noon to 8 p.m. However, crews work in 12 hour shifts during bad snow storms.

Skrak said each PennDOT truck is responsible for about 45 miles of roads per day. Those drivers are assigned to a route around one of the eight stockpiles of salt across the county.

The department’s largest plow trucks, each costing about $200,000, are equipped with a 12-foot wide plow and are capable of carrying 15 tons of salt.

The trucks get about 5 miles per gallon of fuel.

Skrak said his crews use up to 21,000 tons of salt each year. The cost of salt increased to $71 per ton this year, up from $68 last year.

To help reduce its dependancy on salt, the department began experimenting with beet juice last winter. The sugars in the juice, nicknamed “beet heat,” allow salt to work at lower temperatures.

“It doesn’t do anything by itself,” Skrak said of the juice.

Typically salt loses its effectiveness below 17 degrees, but the juice last year allowed salt to work in temperatures below zero, Skrak said.

While the juice worked well last year, Skrak said the state still is experimenting on whether the juice is cost effective.

Maintaining costs is just as important for the department as maintaining equipment.

“The less money we spend in winter, the more money we’ll have for road maintenance in the summer,” Skrak noted.