MONROE, N.C. — An on-the-job driver simulator in Monroe is allowing North Carolina Department of Transportation snow plow drivers to train on winter weather removal ahead of future storms.
"You can't wait until it snows. It's too late," Mark Scott, a safety consultant with NCDOT, said Tuesday.
The NCDOT says the simulator helps drivers learn critical decision-making skills by mimicking the conditions plow drivers may face in real life
"We can do potholes. We can do manhole covers," Scott explained. "Once you get four inches of snow on the ground you can't see."
Drivers can also use the simulator to practice clearly intersections, which Scott called one of the most dangerous places for their operation.
"If they don't plow correctly or clean it off, we'll have essentially a big speed bump at the intersection."
The NCDOT says the machine is not only practical for learning but also for cost saving.
"I think this is the way to go," he said. "There's substantial cost savings available and the carbon emissions from putting several dump trucks on the road."
The NCDOT calculates that simulated training saves taxpayers $158 an hour, or up to $1,500 a day, in training costs.
Scott said officials are exploring an even larger simulator that could simulate bigger equipment like forklifts or cranes.