Keep Your Chainsaws Sharp and Your Backups Sharper: A Road Super’s Guide to Backup Saws

You know what’s worse than a beaver dam blocking your culvert? A beaver dam blocking your culvert and your only chainsaw refusing to start like a teenager on Monday morning. Highway superintendents, listen up: If you’re only relying on one chainsaw to keep your roads clear of fallen tree…continue

Dam Beavers! A Road Superintendent’s Guide to Dealing with Nature’s Little Engineers

So you’re a highway superintendent just minding your business, sipping your burnt gas station coffee, when the phone rings: “There’s a pond forming on Maple Hollow Road and the water’s coming over the top!” That’s right. The beavers are back. Again. Welcome to the…continue

Don’t Fill That Sinkhole!

There you are, sipping your coffee, thinking the day might actually be calm, when suddenly the phone rings. A resident reports that “a chunk of the road just collapsed under my Subaru.” You head out to investigate and sure enough, there it is: a small blacktop crater that looks like the …continue

Can You Say No to a Utility Road Cut? Kinda, Sorta, Maybe

Let’s say you’re a highway superintendent enjoying your morning coffee when BAM! – you get word that a utility crew is planning to slice up your freshly paved road like it’s a sheet cake at a church picnic. Can you stop them? Well… you can try. And if you play your car…continue

Call Before You Catastrophe: Why Digging Without a Locate Is a Terrible Idea

Let’s paint a picture: it’s a sunny Tuesday, your crew’s out on the shoulder with the backhoe, ready to dig. You’re swapping jokes, maybe arguing about where to get lunch, and then BOOM. You just turned a quiet ditch project into a fireworks show by hitting a gas line. Congra…continue

What Belongs on a Work Order? (And Why It Matters)

Let’s be honest. No one dreams of paperwork when they sign up to run a highway crew. But a good, simple work order can save a road supervisor from all kinds of headaches later on. Whether it’s a routine pothole patch or a full-day ditching job, having the right info on a work order helps…continue

Handling Roadkill: The Glamorous Side of Highway Maintenance

Ah, roadkill, the unsung mascot of every highway department. It doesn’t matter if you’re running a sleepy rural township or managing a busy county road crew, sooner or later, your phone will ring with that inevitable complaint: “There’s a dead something-or-other in the middle…continue

Dealing with Big Mouths, Bigger Egos, and the Rest of the Crew

If you’ve been in this line of work long enough, you know the type. The loudmouth. The guy (or gal) who never misses an opportunity to make themselves the center of attention at the shop. Who constantly peppers meetings with “Well, that’s not how I would do it” comments. Who …continue

The Heavy Equipment Every Small Highway Department Should Have

Running a small highway department? You don’t need a million-dollar fleet, but you do need the right tools to keep your roads safe and your crew productive. The good news is, with a solid core set of equipment, even the smallest towns can punch well above their weight when it comes to road mai…continue

How Cold Is Too Cold for Rock Salt?

When the snow starts falling, rock salt (sodium chloride) is the go-to weapon for most highway departments trying to keep roads safe and passable. But like any tool, rock salt has its limits, and knowing when it stops being effective can save you time, money, and a lot of wasted effort. Let’s …continue

Recruiting for the Highway Department: It’s Not All About the Paycheck

Let’s be honest, recruiting good people for highway department jobs isn’t getting any easier. You’re often competing with private contractors who can offer higher wages, especially when it comes to drivers with a Class B CDL in their pocket. Civil servant pay? It’s not exactl…continue

Crack Sealing Can Help You Stretch Road Life

You don’t need to be a pavement engineer to know that cracks are bad news for your roads. But here’s the good news: you can fight back, and one of the simplest, most cost-effective tools in your arsenal is crack sealing. Let’s take a quick drive through the why, when, and how of cr…continue