This story was updated at 11:25 a.m. on Feb. 25 with response from A&H Equipment.

The city controller’s office on Tuesday said it is not surprised by problems with snow removal in Pittsburgh, blamed the issues on GPS technology being used by public works drivers, and said it raised concerns about the technology in June.

During the most recent series of snowstorms, the controller’s office said “many city streets were missed entirely by the city’s snow removal trucks.”

In its latest performance audit, the office took aim at the GPS Snow Plow Tracker system, which was intended to optimize routes, “control the amount of salt spread over streets, and allow the public to track the location of city plow trucks during winter storms.”

Michael Lamb, the city controller, said the office did an audit of the contractors’ and subcontractors’ handling implementation of the technology. The audit showed the companies “failed to consult with on-the-ground Public Works employees who had years of familiarity with routes. The optimized routes planned by the system were either inefficient or hazardous to drivers.”

Mr. Lamb said the audit recommended that DPW hold A&H Equipment Co., “the contractor that installed the GPS and salt-spreading technology,” responsible for fixes. He also said A&H, based in Zelienople, should refund the city for hours spent by city mechanics attempting to solve issues that centered mainly around the installation of salt spreaders on city pickup trucks.

Tripp Amick, president of A&H, said when the controller’s office released its initial report in June, the company had already begun repairs in May. Mr. Amick noted that the Department of Public Works responded to Mr. Lamb’s report by saying that A&H was honoring its warranty and making the necessary repairs to 18 affected vehicles.

“As of today, we are aware of only one (1) unit that is potentially having any A&H installed equipment issue,” Mr. Amick said. “As indicated in the (public works) response, we continue to support our installation.”

The audit also included frustrations by DPW drivers, who said new routes were one to two hours longer than the previous routes and said the system was designed for a flat, grid-based city. Drivers said they were excluded from the process when the new technology was implemented.

“Our drivers knew this system was not working as intended,” Mr. Lamb said. “Pittsburgh has a unique terrain, and relying solely on mapping software isn’t going to cut it. DPW needs to go back to the drawing board with the system’s contractors and implement the feedback of drivers who know these routes better than any software can.”

Mr. Lamb said the Public Works Department also is accountable for the problems. “We were told by Public Works that the fixes would be in place by now, and clearly that isn’t the case,” he said.

Councilman Anthony Coghill, who represents Brookline, Overbrook and other southern neighborhoods, said “it doesn't surprise me that the controller found issues.”

Mr. Coghill worked with the mayor’s office to look at GPS and salt-level usage on Public Works vehicles after his constituents complained of untreated streets during the Christmas snowstorm.

“There were a lot of things that contributed to the breakdowns, especially with regulating salt. We changed that,” he said. “But there are issues there, it needs to be looked at, no question.”

The public works department could not be reached for comment. In a separate statement, Timothy McNulty, the mayoral spokesman, said the city canceled a contract with a navigation vendor — Magellan — “after discovering issues with the system last summer.”

Since then, he said, the city “has been testing and installing replacement software onto the snow truck tablets. Furthermore, DPW drivers, supervisors and foremen had direct input into the continued revisions of optimized snow routes and continue to be engaged in further advancements of the technology.”

In the audit, Mr. Lamb wrote that the city, beginning in the winter of 2018-19, entered into an agreement with several contractors and subcontractors to improve snow and ice removal. These are the roles those companies had:

● Quetica was contracted to install a more detailed plow tracker system “with better salt spreader controls and optimized route directions for snow and ice control vehicles.”

● Skyhawk Telematics “created the new snow plow tracker with more details including where salt had been spread or if a vehicle had its plow up or down.”

● A&H, he said, “installed this new technology into the vehicles, including a salt spreader system that was designed to dispense an even coating of salt treatment per mile based on the speed of the vehicle.” Mr. Amick clarified that A&H was “only responsible for the installation of the specified equipment onto the vehicles. Once installed each unit was tested before being accepted by the City. As expected, there were issues. Some pertained to the types of equipment being tied into the systems, and some to the age and condition of the equipment being adapted.”

● Magellan “created a new set of optimized routes for vehicles and designed the system devices used to feed the directions to drivers.”

Mr. McNulty declined to offer more specifics but said “we've been working constantly to address the technology systems.”

Mr. Lamb’s office said this winter’s snowfall amounts — “Pittsburgh’s 1,200 miles of paved road have seen double the amount of snow this year than in a normal winter” — exposed the problems with the technology and the DPW’s management of it.

“The City had a pass last winter with very few snow days, and even this winter, there are fewer people on the road due to COVID-related teleworking,” he said in a release. “We are in our seventh winter with this expensive technology. We should have this new system fully functional by now.”

Mr. McNulty said the public works department is capable of handling problems when they arise.

“Supervisors and foremen are trained on how to track and identify streets that for whatever reason are not treated using these technology tools; on how to tell when trucks are not reporting to the Snow Plow Tracker; and how to have the trucks serviced when these issues are identified,” he said.

First Published: February 23, 2021, 6:01 p.m.