Longer winter service with consequences: 180-strong team on standby
01.12.2023 – On Tuesday night, the municipal winter service had its first job. The Stadtservice of the Stadtwerke was first on the road in the evening with a large spreader and two small spreaders, in the morning from 7 a.m. 75 employees were on duty with brooms and gritting material.
Over the years, however, the municipal winter service has been called upon less and less often. Nevertheless, the Stadtservice of Stadtwerke, which is responsible for this, faces a special task this year. The new winter service regulations that came into force in the 2023/24 winter season provide for longer clearing times until 10 pm. This affects not only property owners, property management companies and janitor services, but also the municipal utilities. At the same time, their employees are legally entitled to 11 hours' rest at night before they are allowed to return to work the next morning after an evening shift. This can lead to delays in regular services.
Such scenarios are becoming increasingly unlikely in view of climate change. The last severe winter season in Stadtwerke Offenbach was in 2013/2014, but last year the snow heroes from Stadtwerke Offenbach only had six call-outs, which barely lasted longer than two hours. Nevertheless, the dispatchers Fabio Messena and Dominik Wehner have to plan for the possibility of winter every year.
Winter service has priority
The Stadtwerke's winter service team is primarily made up of street cleaning staff, but if necessary also includes employees from the green areas, road maintenance and drainage departments. On the duty rosters, the street sweepers, gardeners and drainage workers become a collective clearing squad in the event of snowfall and icy conditions. Around 180 men and women are available for the winter service tours on around 220 kilometers of road, including cycle paths. Crosswalks, bus stops and public steps are also on the snow crews' schedule. These areas for pedestrians are cleared by the so-called manual crews, who are out and about with brooms and snow shovels.
"The winter service serves to reduce hazards for road users and has top priority over all other tasks," says Heiko Linne, Operations Manager at Stadtwerke subsidiary ESO Stadtservice GmbH. "If our so-called manual crews are out and about in the city until 10 p.m. in the evening, they must be able to rest for 11 hours afterwards according to the law." If it snows again in the morning, there is an exception to the rule that people can go out to clear snow again - the duty to ensure road safety then takes precedence.
Six large emergency vehicles keep main roads clear
There are fewer problems with the allocation of the six large emergency vehicles, each of which has two drivers who can take turns. They keep the main roads in Offenbach clear in snow and ice according to the priority list. This year, a so-called spreader is also in use, which communicates with the carrier vehicle thanks to special technical equipment. This allows the driver to set the required amount of grit to the nearest gram.
So that the drivers know when they need to be ready for action, Fabio Messena and Dominik Wehner have had the forecast for possible snowfall sent to their offices and cell phones by the German Weather Service every six hours since November 1, as they do every year. If, for example, freezing rain is forecast for 2 a.m., the emergency team arrives at the depot in Daimlerstrasse well in advance so that they can set off at any time when the precipitation begins.
"Fortunately, we are currently a very good team"
It has already happened that the bad weather front has changed its mind and preferred to steer clear of Offenbach. "Fortunately, we are currently a very good team where no one complains if they have spent the night up all night for nothing," says the dispatcher. "Anyone who works here also knows how necessary our work is for safety, at least on the main roads. But we can't be everywhere at the same time, which is why drivers always have to adjust their driving style."
Martin Wilhelm, the department head responsible for Stadtservice, is pleased that the Stadtwerke team has such a good overview of the weather situation and professionally ensures safe roads and paths.
Martin Wilhelm, responsible department headI would like to thank all the employees who are out and about in sub-zero temperatures and sometimes in the dark, ensuring the safety of the people of Offenbach.
