The so-called "pothole killer" machine is coming to Hoboken, one of several cities in New Jersey contracting the truck after a brutal winter left behind more potholes than usual.

The city says it will be completely repaving more than 50 blocks of roadway beginning this spring. The pothole killer truck has already repaired hundreds of potholes and utility cuts along Washington Street.

The single-operator truck uses spray injection technology to quickly clear potholes of debris, apply liquid asphalt to fill and seal it, and then top it off with a dry aggregate coating -- all taking about 90 seconds per pothole. The weight of the traffic then packs it all down.

City officials say the truck is a better, more long-lasting solution than the cold-patch material used in the past to fill potholes, which was more easily ripped out and often required heavy-duty equipment to vacuum up gravel and rocks from roads.

Leo Pellegrino, the city's environmental services director and a lifelong resident, said he decided after last winter that the old way of fixing potholes was the root of the persistent problem.

"We knew after the snow, we were going to have the same problems," he said. "We wanted to be proactive, come up with a better solution than we had last year."

Over two days in January and then two more in March, one pothole-killer truck filled 200 potholes a day, a far more efficient pace than the usual five-man crew, which filled 50 potholes a day at nearly three times the cost, according to officials.

The workers who used to make up the five-man repair teams won't be displaced, city officials say. They'll have other work to do.

Residents can report potholes at hoboken311.com.

New Jersey transportation officials said earlier this week they expect to have to repair nearly twice the average number of potholes this year after a challenging winter season that has ripped up roads across the state. The state DOT is deploying 13 pothole-killer trucks well into April, longer than normal.