Crews clear the path

It's 4 a.m. Jason Sellers rams his 2007 white GMC truck up against a pile of snow. He checks his mirrors for obstacles, backs up, slams his foot on the gas and rams the pile again. Sellers, along with five other members of the Hillsdale grounds crew, are tasked with clearing Hillsdale College's paths, roads and walks.
Sellers said the typical day for a grounds member starts at 7 a.m., but during the winter it can range from 3 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. In the case of major storms, such as the snow storm last week, which dumped 5 to 14 inches of snow across southern Michigan, plowing may start at midnight.
"There are only five of us; and there's a lot of campus," Sellers said.
Grounds crew director Mike Wiseley said this year is especially bad. For one, the ever-falling snow prevents the crew from keeping the walks safe. There's also the matter of salt. Wiseley said a normal winter requires 50 tons of salt. This year, they've used 70 tons and have ordered another 50.
After that, there is the equipment. Wiseley said a broken tractor causes an avalanche of problems. First, a crew member and tractor are prevented from clearing snow. Second, retrieving the tractor takes time and manpower, allowing more snow to build up, in turn causing the whole crew to fall behind schedule. Finally, the cost of repairs have to be factored in, along with how the crew will catch up on its daily tasks, like garbage collection and moving furniture.
Today, they're down a member and a tractor.
Each member has a specific piece of equipment to use on their routes. They use two trucks with plows, two stieners, which move snow and spread salt, salt-spreaders and two toolcats – one of which has a massive brush for clearing walks and shooting snow several feet off the path it's clearing.
Wiseley's route has him pummeling snow in the parking lots of Moss, Kendall, Lane, the loading docks and Chi Omgea. He also stops to shovel the steps at Moss, Kendall, and Lane. The crew must also clear Hillsdale Academy, the gun range and various off-campus rentals. Each member has a similar regimen and each tries to be done by eight a.m.
Wiseley says some mornings are worse than others. Monday, Wiseley was down a man, a tractor and his plow. On top of that, Sellers backed into a telephone pole – which, Sellers said, is getting off pretty light.
Wiseley said the crew gets calls about snow needing to be removed - Sellers recalled a student complaining that the snow plows blocked his car in.
"Security went over there and they said they couldn't find a car that couldn't get out," Sellers said.
And that was that.
Cars and islands, Sellers said, are the biggest problems for a plower – they force the plower to stop and maneuver around the obstacle. The best lots, he said, "are the ones where you can build momentum and go straight across."
The best snow is cold and light. The heavier, the more problematic it can be for the equipment.
"When one thing breaks everything seems to follow it," Sellers said.
Sellers doesn't navigate the long mornings without some help.  He tunes in to Q106, which plays the most music in the morning, and drinks Pepsi to keep awake.
"That's a pain in the butt," Wiseley said.