Driving over Donner Pass can be a bit treacherous during a winter storm, and sometimes people get stuck.  But things can be much worse if you have a semi-truck stuck on that snowy mountain road. Luckily that's where Caltrans comes in, along with some new tools, the Pusher Trucks.

The California Pusher Truck Program has been in effect since the 1980's, and have been helping keep I-80 clear during winter weather.

“These vehicles are extremely important because they assist our road officers getting the freeways cleared, keeping traffic moving, really the safety and service to the general public," said Tom Brannon, Deputy Director of Maintenance and Traffic Operations for Caltrans District 3.

Caltrans says that without these trucks clearing semi-trucks from Donner Pass, a 4.7 million dollar per hour commerce rout, traffic would come to a halt a lot more often.

“The nights that we did not have the pusher trucks in operation, because they were down or for whatever reason, were very chaotic, and the nights that we had them on everything ran very smoothly because they got the trucks out of the way," says Brannon.

But because of the constant use, being run 24 hours a day during winter conditions, replacement trucks were needed. So today, in a partnership between Caltrans and the California Trucking Association, FedEx has donated 2 new trucks to help keep things moving, all fitted with the technology needed to keep everyone safe.

On top of the 4 to 5 thousand pounds of cement on the back, the trucks are also equipped with a special positronic rear end so that they can not only go on icy conditions but also on steep inclines.

"We are just trying to give that assist, because once they can get moving, it's that stopped part, when a big rig gets stopped on a hill, its really hard to get that 80 thousand pound load moving back up that hill," said Matt Tweed, Lieutenant for Truckee CHP.

The new pusher trucks are leased out to Caltrans for $1 a year, but they are in charge of maintenance and operators for the trucks.