Newest Addition to Street Department

It’s been 12 years since the city of Zanesville has purchased new trucks to be used for snow removal and dozens of other jobs.

As paving season begins, the city introduces the newest trucks in its fleet. Compared to the older trucks with ten foot beds, the new ones have stainless steel, 11 foot beds. Mayor Jeff Tilton explained how the new trucks will be put to use.

“With these new trucks we can do a lot better plowing. We can use them a lot better than with the smaller older trucks,” Tilton said. “We’ll be using them in the summer time for moving dirt and other projects, but most of the time we use them just for the snow.”

No matter the job, a couple of the men who drive the trucks on a daily basis say the difference is like night and day.

“I think they’re a lot easier to operate,” Mike West said. “They turn a lot better. Just a lot better truck.” Donald Wallace added, “it’s like going from a Volkswagen to a Cadillac. It’s just a completely different world.”

The city purchased the trucks for $135,000 each. Tilton and street superintendent, Jeff Shook, said the purchase of the trucks is a part of a larger project of revamping the city’s equipment. It’s all in an effort to make the street department more efficient.