David Munoz and the Roads Most Traveled

It's 3:00 am on a frigid, late-January night, and David Munoz makes his rounds along the streets of Greensboro.

A week earlier, Winter Storm Fern brought inches of ice and now a second record-breaking snowstorm blankets the city in more than a foot of snow.

To make matters worse, Triad temperatures never rose above freezing. Ice and snow that melted under the sun's warmth refroze overnight, compounding the adverse traveling conditions.

"When we get winter weather like that, we always hope for help from Mother Nature - to get some warmer temperatures," recalled Munoz, a street maintenance supervisor for the City's Transportation Department. "We had some ice, we had some snow, and temperatures didn't get higher than the teens; that makes it very difficult for our operations in clearing roads."

Munoz was one of the many hardworking City employees who worked tirelessly around the clock to clear streets for safe passage.

During the weeks that felt like a winter apocalypse, Munoz served on the overnight shift and was supervising the dozens of teams manning 42 plow trucks. The shifts were grinding, as Munoz and the others worked for 12 hours a day.

"We come in at 10 o'clock at night, and we don't get off until 10 o'clock the following morning," Munoz said. "You're asking people to break their natural sleep cycle, and the first couple of days are rough! About 3 o'clock in the morning, the wheels start falling off.

"We're two weeks into it, you're changing your sleep pattern as you get home at 10 o'clock in the morning - you take a shower, get something to eat, and then try and fall asleep at 12 in the afternoon. You have to prepare your mind and your body when you do these 12-hour overnight shifts. We've had guys sleep right here at the Medford Operations Center because they said they couldn't make it home."

All in all, Munoz drove around 125 to 150 miles per shift without leaving the city limits.

City crews prepare annually for winter weather with specialized training in the fall. This year's training begins in mid-October. Employees test drive snowplows along a makeshift obstacle course in the First Horizon Coliseum parking lot. It proves very useful, Munoz said, but nothing beats training on snow-covered streets.

"Me and my counterpart were just saying how anybody who got hired in January has had training already," Munoz said with a laugh. "It was a rough two weeks for those guys, but I tell you what, everyone got some good drive time and got some experience under their belt."

While the snow program is a big deal for the department, it's only a small part of Munoz's job.

Greensboro typically does not average much snow, compared to other parts of the country, but road maintenance is a year-round exercise. When not preparing for or executing winter weather operations, Munoz oversees many of the Transportation Department's street-related concerns, like concrete operations, pothole repair, and working with the Water Resources Department to repair roads impacted by ruptured waterlines and similar projects.

As a supervisor, Munoz doesn't get as many chances to do hands-on work anymore, but he enjoys working on construction-type projects that let him participate in something bigger than himself.

Munoz grew up around men who worked with their hands, including his father and a handyman named Mr. Ford, so it didn't surprise him to finding his calling in a field that requires by hands-on work.

His passion for building led him to his first stint as a City staffer in 1995. The Mount Vernon, NY, native worked from 1995 to 2003 as a City Transportation Department crew member and supervisor. After working in Atlanta and Durham, Munoz returned to his crew supervisor's post with the City in 2006. He finds fulfillment in leading the teams under his purview.

"I like working with my hands, and while I don't get the opportunity to do it as much as I used to, I go out from time to time, because sometimes you have to show the young guys that you can still do the job," Munoz said with a laugh. "My title is street maintenance supervisor but I consider myself a coach. If you think of any head coach, most likely they played the game. I've played the game. Now I'm helping to teach 'the game' and lead the younger guys to success."