On heels of Wednesday's snow, plow drivers preparing for second blast on Friday
ADDISON, Ill. (CBS) -- Through one winter storm and waiting on the next; that's the situation for snow plow operators around the Chicago area.
Plow drivers were still clearing some streets in the city and suburbs on Thursday, after up to 3.5 inches of snow fell across the area on Wednesday.
Crews from Addison went home for the day by Thursday afternoon, but their break won't last long. Plows will be out again on Friday, with another snow system arriving Friday evening.
Addison got a fresh delivery of road salt last week – 500 tons – but used 200 tons of that to salt the streets on Wednesday.
Officials said it was all-hands-on-deck when the storm hit.
Their crews started working 12-hour shifts to get 23 trucks on the road at a time. Officials said they work with the police department to decide when to call plow drivers in, taking their cues from officers on the road.
Addison's street crews were still doing some minor cleanup work 24 hours after the first flakes. They said the Wednesday snowstorm was mainly a plow event, involving hours of scraping snow from the streets.
"This is what you want," said Addison Chief Streets Department Foreman Ronald Remus as he drove a plow truck. "There's no snow or ice on the pavement."
But the snowstorm Wednesday was a long one, with hours of plowing before crews could drop salt. With more snow in the forecast now, department leaders knowing how tough it can be for their crews.
Thus, the Addison Public Works Department is trying to prevent burnout.
"Everybody is away from their families, you know, and after the storm, they have to go home and take care of their own properties," said Addison Public Works Director Ryan Hayden. "So it definitely draws on them — the long hours, and just doing all of that."
At least one crewmember told me he slept at the Addison Public Works Department during snowstorms. They have cots on hand for storms with lots of accumulation as an option for employees who would rather not risk it on the roads — even after a long day away from the comforts of home.
Remus said when he is on close to 12-hour shifts, he is on the road driving "pretty much the whole time."
"We will come in for like a 20-minute break, or you come in for more fuel or more salt," he said, "but other than that, everybody's in for the 12 hours."
It is still too early to know when exactly the Addison crews will start their 12-hour shifts on Friday.
