With the first snow in the forecast for the season, local road crews are starting to prepare for winter.

Mechanics with the City of Barrie are working hard to get vehicles ready for what could be the first winter storm of the season.

“We’ve got most of our winter control fleet in now, just doing the final touches. Blades are all on and tight, fuel is all up, oil is checked and levels are ready to go,” says City of Barrie Fleet Services Manager Brian Pirie.

The vehicles get serviced during the summer but the final check will ensure the fleet of 26 vehicles are ready when the snow hits.

“It’s important for us to have everything ready because this is our first line of defence for snowstorms; sanders and plows to get the roads cleared and safe for the public to get around,” says Pirie.

The machines will be ready to work and so will the drivers.

“We have a yearly program called snow school, where we bring our folks in and they do training on equipment, de-icing materials, new routes that they might have to contend with this winter,” says City of Barrie Roads & Parks Operations Manager Craig Morton.

Barrie used more than 20,000 tonnes of salt last winter. The city is stocked with 15,000 tonnes at the moment but more can be added.

Auto shops were also busy on Thursday changing tires. Experts say it’s crucial to make sure you have the right ones. Snow tires are recommended but if consumers only want one set of tires, drivers are encouraged to have all-weather tires, not all season.

“The all-weather tire gets the slush out of the contact patch and gets the tread rubber down to grip the road where the all season tire is going to ride-up on the slush and the care starts to slither around,” says Kaltire spokesperson Bill Gardiner.

Winter and all-weather tires are easily identifiable by the mountain snowflake symbol.

“It just gives you that extra margin of safety in your vehicle, you get precise breaking and steering with the vehicle,” adds Gardiner.

Stores are already stocking shelves and people seem to be buying.

“We’re selling a lot of snow shovels, salt and tonnes of snow blowers. They’re just flying off the shelves actually, it’s been really busy,” says Canadian Tire Salesperson Cassidy Hipson.