Citation

Jackson N. Am. City Cty. 2008; 123(4): 38-41.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Penton Media)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Unusually harsh winters can play havoc with available road salt supplies. This article describes how highway and public works departments plan their road salt needs and discusses some alternatives that public works officials can consider in the event of shortages. Although salt is cheap and plentiful, salt companies must guess each year how much should be mined for winter. Those guesses are based on the orders placed by highway and public works departments, who are advised to estimate their orders by taking 100% of the average of the amount of salt they used for the previous five years. Many contracts with salt companies guarantee the purchaser that up to 120% of their order will be available to them at the contract price. This is usually sufficient, but on occasion localities may need even more than the 120%. Although regional salt stockpiles are available to replenish agencies that need more than their average amount, many agencies leave tons of their reserved salt in the stockpiles until they need it, taking up room that could be used for extra emergency salt. In harsh winters, so many municipalities need salt at the same time, from the same stockpiles, that those supplies begin to run low, and trucks have a difficult time delivering the salt. Using trucks to transport salt also drives up the cost, since it is much cheaper to transport large volumes of salt by rail or barge than scrambling for it at the last minute, when trucks are the only transportation available. In many communities, officials are stretching their salt supplies by combining it with agricultural-based products, chemicals or heavy volumes of sand. Some areas also are considering additional storage, including regional storage facilities, to avoid shortages in the winter months.