It’s Time to Name Some Plows!

The City of Madison Parks and Streets Divisions, and Wisconsin Salt Wise, are asking for your help.

There are five vehicles in the City's snowplowing fleet (one from Parks, and four from Streets) that need names.

And you can help by submitting names, and then voting on the finalists.

The Equipment

The five pieces of equipment are used in different parts of snowstorm response operations.

The equipment is used on plowing snow from roads, paths, bus stops, and sidewalks – and one truck can even pre-treat roads, too. 

Photos of the equipment, and a more in-depth description of their duties can be found on the “Name the Plows 2025” page

How to Submit Names

Naming suggestions can be sent to dropoff@cityofmadison.com. 

You have until 4:00pm on January 24, 2025 to submit your name suggestions for them to be considered in the final election.

Residents can submit one name, or several.  If your name suggestion is intended for a specific piece of equipment, please identify which vehicle you are suggesting in your email. 

The goal of this is for some lighthearted fun.  The more pun-filled and playful the name suggestion, the better.  References to everything from high art to video games to sports figures to modern pop stars to local characters are all appreciated. Outright silliness is also welcome. 

Further details about what is expected from the name suggestions can be found on the webpage. 

The name suggestions must be received prior to 4:00pm on January 24, 2025 to be considered to be finalists.

The Election Process

Once the names have been received, a list of finalists will be selected from all of the name suggestions for each of the vehicles.

Wisconsin Salt Wise will then host an election to choose the winning names.

We anticipate that the election to choose the names will start on February 3, 2025.

Details about the election are available on the plow naming webpage.

About Wisconsin Salt Wise

Wisconsin Salt Wise is a coalition of several organizations with the goal to reduce salt pollution in our water.

Their website has numerous resources for both homeowners and winter maintenance professions to be sure you are using salt correctly in the winter months.  Their web address is www.wisaltwise.com.

Additional Information

More information about City of Madison winter operations, including techniques on how to salt correctly, can be found at www.cityofmadison.com/Winter. 

In the “Snow Removal” section of the City’s winter page, you can find the page about naming snow plows for this winter, and you can also see  the results of the previous snowplow naming election, too.