February storms come up the coast and reach New Brunswick sideways, and by the time Route 27 has gone white the plowing is already underway. U.S. Snow Services works only that season — plowing driveways and lots, shoveling walks and entryways, spreading salt and de-icer, and coming back for a second round when the wind fills things in again. There is a particular quiet at five in the morning with a lot cleared and the salt down, nothing left to do but the next one. Opening a path before anybody has to ask is the whole of the job. The trucks run through New Brunswick, Highland Park, North Brunswick, Edison and Piscataway.