Modern technology has no cure for bad weather. However, GPS technology is helping the county’s salt trucks get Winnebago County’s citizens to work in a more efficient manner. Winnebago has installed GPS tracking devices on all of its salt trucks. The new tools promise to help Wisconsin get back on its feet as the weather takes hold.

The GPS trackers do more than just keep tabs on the salt trucks. The county’s highway leaders can also track how much salt is applied to the streets and what kind of salt is used. Winnebago County can then crunch those numbers to map out the most efficient method possible of getting all of its nearly two thousand miles of road cleared.

Managing winter weather is absolutely crucial to the economic function of any region—especially the American Midwest. While winter is simply a part of the culture there, and the people of Winnebago have created a culture of integrating the weather into their life pattern, it is impossible to predict function. Weather ebbs and flows; there are still winter storms so horrid that even the experts in Winnebago, Wisconsin may be nonplussed. A county that cannot move food trucks, sell gas, teach its children, and maintain law enforcement due to weather is always at a greater risk. The faster Winnebago gets back on the road, the better.

GPS technology promises to make Winnebago’s winter months more manageable, thanks to the improved function of its salt distribution trucks. The method for getting the roads clean hasn’t changed; but the method will become more efficient thanks to what modern GPS technology has brought to the county of Winnebago, Wisconsin.