Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has developed a solution with the aim of improving road maintenance operations that monitor salt levels in plow trucks.
The idea for the retrofit, dubbed the “Salt Seeing Eye,” stemmed from Skylerr Valentine, a plow truck operator, and his frustration with repeatedly stopping his plow truck to manually check salt levels.
“I would make a 70-mile round trip, having run out but no idea where,” Valentine said in a statement. “I had no idea how long ago it had been or how many miles really had nothing on the road.”
In newer plow trucks, small ladders are fitted to the side of the truck bed, making access to the salt compartment somewhat easier. However, older models, which are still widely used across Idaho, require operators to navigate from the cab stairs to the rim of the truck bed—a maneuver that can be dangerous in icy conditions.
Seeking a safer and more efficient solution, Valentine proposed using a surplus wing plow camera to monitor salt levels visually. He collaborated with Dalton Rice, ITD fleet manager, to repurpose the outdated camera and enlisted the help of ITD electricians Josh Harris and Justin Romrell to mount and wire the device.
“It was a lot of work, figuring it all out just right,” Valentine said. “We really tried to make sure it was waterproof and could stand up to the elements. I wanted to see it put to the test this winter.”
The camera provides real-time visual feedback inside the cab, just beneath the tablet typically used by plow operators. While existing tablets display wing plow positions and salt output rates, they don’t indicate when the salt in the truck bed is depleted. This often leads operators to believe they are still salting the road when they are not.
During this winter season, Valentine has already seen the system’s benefits firsthand. While plowing the five-lane section of U.S. 20 west of Idaho Falls, he determined from the safety of his cab that he could complete one more pass without needing to stop for a refill—a decision that would have previously required a manual check or premature return to the shed.
Looking ahead, Valentine and the ITD team hope that this innovation will become standard on all new ITD trucks.
Source: Idaho Transportation Department
