The Vermont Agency of Transportation or VTrans has launched a competition inviting Vermont elementary schools to help name the state’s big orange snowplows. The contest wraps up on October 22.
[Above photo by VTrans]
“Many of us saw the news coverage that went viral last year about the tradition in Scotland of naming their snowplows. While keeping Vermont’s roads safe for winter travel is serious business, naming the plows sounded like fun,” said VTrans Secretary Joe Flynn in a statement.
“We hope that Vermonters will support this opportunity for children throughout our state to see the name they created on a snowplow that is maintaining Vermont’s highways,” he added.
[Editor’s note: In January, the Kansas Department of Transportation explained why snowplow trucks must travel at slow speeds during winter operations – primarily for safety reasons.]
VTrans said it received many inquiries from the public last winter about whether it would consider naming its snowplows. The agency said its new ‘Name a Plow’ program offers an opportunity for children to “put on their thinking caps” and come up with creative names for the state’s snowplows.
VTrans currently operates a fleet of 250 full-size plows and it hopes to match every participating school with a truck.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to work together to name a snowplow that will keep the roads around their school safe,” said Dan French, Vermont’s secretary of education.
“This is a great way for students to learn about the important work that goes into making Vermont a wonderful place to live, work, and play in the winter months,” he added.
State departments of transportation in various parts of the country host similar snowplow naming competitions, including Minnesota, Colorado, and South Dakota.
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