On April 29, 1939, Poulter and The Research Foundation of the Armour Institute of Technology showed the plans to officials in Washington, D.C.

On October 24, 1939, the vehicle was fired up for the first time at the Pullman Company just south of Chicago and began the 1,640 km (1,020 mi) journey to the Boston Army Wharf.

During the trip, a damaged steering system caused the vehicle to drive off a small bridge on the Lincoln Highway and into a stream near the town of Gomer in Ohio, where it remained for three days.

The Snow Cruiser arrived at Little America in the Bay of Whales, Antarctica with United States Antarctic Service Expedition in early January 1940 and experienced many problems.

On January 24, 1940, Poulter returned to the United States, leaving Dr. Franklin Alton Wade in charge of a partial crew, which included Theodore Argyres Petras, the pilot of the Snow Cruiser's plane, US Marine Corps Sergeant Felix L. Ferranto, the radio operator, and C. W. Griffith, the diesel mechanic of the vehicle.

The crew conducted seismologic experiments, cosmic-ray measurements, and ice core sampling while living in the snow- and timber-covered Snow Cruiser.

[8][9][10][11] The interior of the cruiser was laid out as a mobile habitat able to support a team of explorers for an extended trip.