Aquavit Alley winds its way through the snowy Jämtländ County winter about 20 miles south of Mählers’ factory in Rossön.

It’s called Road 989 on the Transport Administration map, but is popularly known as ‘Aquavit Alley’. According to legend, it got its nickname when the regional centre of Strömsund got a liquor store, after which many residents drove into town from the small villages to the northeast of Stromsund to buy wine and spirits. Mike Rudfjäll from Rudfjälls Åkeri AB has the job of ploughing Aquavit Alley for Peab. One cold January day we drove out to meet snow plough driver Lars-Evert “Larse” Totsås, when he was working his shift. I joined him on a detour to the little village of Hössjön, and the dark blue Volvo FH 510 with a + Mählers DPD combination plough and HDU side plough were throwing the snow just fine.

The DPD follows the road

“I think the DPD sits on the road very well and is very responsive,” replies Larse without hesitation when asked what he thinks about the new plough. He explains that initially he had the wheels lowered a little to far, before he finally achieved the best ride by dropping the plough fully onto the road. “We can easily complete a full ploughing season with the Coromant cutters, so there’s no problem dropping the plough completely,” according to Larse. Not only is Larse pleased with how the plough runs, he also likes its ability to plough equally well right and left. “The narrowest roads often get completely blocked, so being able to choose the direction I throw the snow is an advantage, and it makes no difference which direction I’m travelling in. And because its the same height on both sides, throw height and length are excellent,” says Larse. It’s been a snowy winter in Jämtland, and in two months Larse & Micke have ploughed around 18,000 miles, so Larse knows what he’s talking about.