Technology: Automatic Vehicle Location

The advent of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology on snowplows has opened up a world of possibilities for using data to improve winter operations. By using GPS technology to track plows’ progress along their routes, AVL provides a data set that can help agencies optimize route efficiency. Knowing a plow’s location also lets supervisors evaluate plow sensor data and adjust to changing conditions in real time. Many agencies allow the public to track plow locations online, and some go a step further, with camera feeds providing an operator’s-eye view of the road.

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Clear Roads Resources

Clear Roads Case Studies on the Utilization of AVL/GPS:

 

Product Experiences

Every year, Clear Roads member states share the results of pilot-testing of winter maintenance products and materials that their agencies have conducted. View product experiences for AVL for 2006-2021. Products reviewed include:

  • Cirus (now CPS) GPS/AVL
  • Geotabs

Other Research and Resources

RESEARCH

RESOURCES

 

Videos

Advancements in Snowplow Technology (Minnesota DOT, 2017)