FARMINGTON — Sitting high above the snow-covered road in one of Farmington’s Public Works plow trucks Friday, Ron Jalbert knew just where the wing and dustpan of the plow were touching the road.

That knowledge — almost a sense — comes with experience as the wing on the right can’t be seen from the driver’s seat.

Jalbert controlled several gears and levers, raising and lowering the plow wing while watching where he was sending hundreds of pounds of snow from the lanes on the Wilton Road.

His eyes darted from one mirror to another, keeping track of motorists around him as well as the road.

His truck was one of nine trucks and a loader working the roads of Farmington. They started early Friday, laying down a layer of salt before the snow really started to fall.

After a day that began at 6 a.m. and was likely to stretch past midnight — well after the snow stops, Jalbert and the other drivers will return Saturday to clear plowed snow before another storm expected later in the weekend.

Public Works Director Denis Castonguay said the department is doing well this year with supplies of salt and sand, but overtime has taken its toll.

Storms arrived, one after another, for a few weeks. Many came on weekends and nights, quickly boosting the overtime, he explained.

His crew knows what’s expected. They are called in at all hours to keep the roads safe for others. It’s not an easy job, and not one that just anyone can do, he said.

Jalbert, 48, started in 1990 plowing sidewalks, he said. Normally an equipment operator for the department, he learned to drive the plow from another driver.

For years, his route covered the hills of Farmington — Voter, Bailey and others.

It’s not coming down the steepness of Voter; it’s starting up, loosing control and starting to slide backward, Jalbert said.

“Nothing you can do. It’s the worst feeling. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” he said.

Drivers sometimes follow too close behind. If the plow slides back down, it’s going to take the other cars with it, and “there’s nothing I can do,” he said.

The plow trucks, while large and loaded with sand/salt, are as sensitive to road conditions as a car. If anything, the chances are greater for a rollover, because they are top heavy, he said.

Jalbert’s current route covers Routes 2 and 4 from Farmington Motel out to Bouffards Furniture, part of the Intervale and High Street. From the Hippach Field, he heads out to Bouffards on the inside lane, coming back on the opposite inside lane. This time he turns and goes back out, covering the outside lane of the four-lane highway.

The low speeds, up to 25 mph, mean cars start to collect behind him.

“Most are pretty good, but there are a few,” he said, explaining how some will pass him in opposite lanes that are not plowed. Some even come up behind him on the right where the wing is throwing snow.

“I can’t see them,” he said. “There’s a lot to contend with,” dealing with the computer, plow and wing as he drove.

It’s the weight of thrown snow that pushes mailboxes over — not the plow, he said, slowing so that he didn’t throw snow onto a car trying to enter the highway.

A computer in the truck regulates the amount of salt dropped in a line that other vehicles then scatter across the road. As Jalbert’s truck’s plow scrapes snow from the road, more salt drops.

Jalbert turns and does it all over again.

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