It's been the break the Thruway Authority needed.

"The guys are so relieved. They've been through a tough winter already. We've been numerous storms," said Matt Latko, the acting director for the New York State Thruway Authority's Buffalo Division.

The Buffalo division plows from the Pennsylvania line to Victor, Exit 45 east of Rochester, plus the 190 all the way to the North Grand Island Bridges.

"Trucks take a beating, so when we get the downtime, it's fixing everything from lights, electrical problems, to hydraulic hoses that are worn through,” said Timothy Koester, a Thruway Authority mechanic in Buffalo.

But Koester says fortunately, the issues this winter have been minor.

"It's been mostly small stuff. It's been a pretty good year," said Koester.

In fact, of the 77 plows in the Thruway Authority's Buffalo fleet, only three are out of service for repairs. And they'll be back up and running by the end of the week.

While Thruway Authority crews are plenty busy inside working on maintenance and other repairs, that's not all they're doing. They're getting bundled up to hit the streets and do pothole repair.

"When we get a break like this, we can do more extensive patching, besides just putting a cold patch in and repair. We can make our own hot material which performs much better during the winter time. It's going to be a difficult year, just with the freeze thaws and how cold it's been and we're already seeing it," said Latko.