Department of transportation and county highway officials have long scrutinized budgets for projects such as road repaving and reconstruction projects, traffic management plans, sound barriers, safety initiatives and signage.
Although vision-obstructing noxious plants and weeds have a short incubation period before they can pose problems, roadside vegetation management also has been exposed to budget cuts.
Simply put, everyone is trying to do more with less. One way roadside vegetation managers have approached this seemingly impossible task is by choosing the long-term vegetation control herbicides provide as opposed to the short-term fix mowing offers.
Although herbicide application has long been a labor-intensive process, vegetation managers are changing that by integrating an herbicide acquisition service that relieves application crews of most preparation steps and post-work cleanup responsibilities. As a result, workers are spending more time on the rights-of-way eliminating target vegetation and less time in the shop.
Here’s a look at how two state DOT officials are turning the heads of their counterparts around the country by increasing efficiency, decreasing worker exposure and improving environmental stewardship—all while reducing costs.
“X”ing out exposure
When the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) became one of the first organizations to receive premixed herbicide combinations in returnable, refillable herbicide containers back in 1999, it was a big move in the vegetation management industry. At the time, there was uncertainty over whether the concept would become a smart alternative or a novelty of little use.
Eight years later, VDOT roadside managers like Jim Helvey only wish the herbicide acquisition service, known as Continuum Prescription Control & Container Management System, supplied by Dow AgroSciences, had been available sooner.
“We’ve come to take benefits like reduced worker exposure, precise mixtures and less inventory management for granted,” said Helvey, who oversees the 12-county Salem District in southwestern Virginia. “The entire focus of the program is directed toward streamlining the vegetation management process and increasing productivity.”
VDOT spray crews use herbicide mixed with other products to eliminate a variety of vegetation along its roadsides. While properly mixed treatments have resulted in excellent control over the years, pouring products from containers into spray-truck tanks exposed workers to chemicals, increased the potential for spills and left the door open for inaccurate mixes. But contract mixing changed all of that.
Crews use truck-mounted sprayers to treat broadleaf weeds such as kudzu and woody species like tree of heaven. Invasive plants like multiflora rose are sprayed via handgun.
The just-in-time delivery feature of the herbicide acquisition service is another benefit Helvey values. It takes only three days for products to arrive after an order is placed as opposed to the 10 days it took before switching to the program.
Instead of having to order an entire season’s worth of herbicide at one time, assistant inventory managers can spread herbicide costs over the course of the treatment season by keeping track of inventory and making smaller orders when necessary.
“Having fewer containers on hand makes inventory tracking easier for our workers and reduces the amount of space we have to allocate for storage,” Helvey explained. “And having to handle fewer containers in storage decreases the chance of accidental spills or ruptures.”
To top it off, acquiring most of its herbicides in returnable, refillable containers has led the VDOT Salem District to reduce the number of 21?2-gal containers sent to landfills by as much as 200 a week during the eight-month treatment season. That means 200 containers no longer need to be triple-rinsed on a weekly basis and crew productivity and acres increase.
Bama’s enthusiasm tide
The eight years of success experienced by VDOT has other transportation departments adopting the Continuum system. In fact, the Alabama DOT (ALDOT) implemented the service in 2005. As the state agronomist for ALDOT, Howard Peavey spent two years carefully researching and calculating the benefits of converting the entire herbicide application operation to the system. This was essential, because convincing a large state agency with 41 districts to make a major investment and switch operations is no easy task.
ALDOT installed a closed chemical loading system on each of the trucks in its fleet, eliminating the lifting and pouring of 21?2-gal herbicide containers into the two 70-gal cone tanks on each truck. While this process took workers more than an hour, it is now handled in less than 20 minutes by connecting the loading system to the valve on the 15-gal returnable, refillable containers.
Eliminating the need for triple-rinsing the thousands of 21?2-gal herbicide jugs has been one of the most significant advantages of the returnable, refillable containers. Peavey said ALDOT eliminated the use of more than 10,000 jugs in the first season alone.
One of the biggest challenges posed by the conversion to the herbicide acquisition service was changing the way product was ordered.
“It was a challenge convincing the people at our district offices that we could order the products as they needed them,” Peavey explained. “They were more reluctant at first at the concept of ordering as they need it—using a just-in-time delivery system. But it’s really nice not having to keep large quantities of inventory around.”
ALDOT currently receives several herbicides through the returnable, refillable program, including Dow’s Accord XRT and the same brand-name triclopyr product VDOT uses. Although the state has yet to order premixed products, Peavey has contemplated doing so.
“Contract mixing is definitely an option we’ll consider,” he said. “We’re also looking to incorporate other products into the delivery system.”
All returnable, refillable containers delivered to ALDOT come with a bar code affixed to the top that is scanned upon receipt. Not only does this allow the service provider to pinpoint the location of each of its containers, but it also helps Peavey keep track of his inventory with the supply-chain management and tracking software.
By logging on to his online account, Peavey can see how many containers are located at any of the 41 district offices.
“This is a great tool because it tells us how many containers are at each office without someone having to count them in person,” he explained. “Seeing the number of unreturned drums at a site serves as a great reminder for us to call and have a truck sent to pick up the empties.”
With the transition complete and one spray season under everyone’s belt, Peavey can focus his attention on finding ways to maximize the benefits offered by the herbicide acquisition service and improve operations and worker safety for ALDOT.
