Salt has been a hot topic among snow and ice management professionals since the conclusion of the 2014-15 snow season.
Last winter's unprecedented tenacity for many regions of the snow industry – we're talking about you New England – left many commercial snow and ice management professionals scrambling for available salt or counting their change to meet rising prices.
To better gauge how snow fighters are addressing the Winter 2015-16 salt and deicing needs, Snow Magazine, in partnership with Arctic Sno Pushers, surveyed reader from throughout North America in late summer via the internet research portal SurveyMonkey. Here are some of the results to better benchmark the salt and deicing needs of your winter operations against.
And for more insight on the state of salt, check out “Here we go again” on page 58.
The Run Down
A snapshot of how the average snow fighter integrates salt and deicing services into their overall winter operations.
Purchasing
"Where am I going to get my salt?" It's a common question heard around the industry when winter is at its worst.
According to respondents, contractors prefer to purchase both bagged and in bulk, typically from a supplier they've been using for some time. In fact, only 35% indicated they've changed suppliers recently.
However, contractors continue to hedge their bets on winter's severity and are nearly evenly split as to how much salt they'll secure before winter begins, with only 27% committing to the full amount.
And despite last season's severity, more than half (52%) plan to purchase the same amount as last season, and nearly half (47%) expect to pay around the same price.
Explore the September 2015 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find you next story to read.
Latest from Snow Magazine
- NOTEBOOK: Go With The Flow
- NOTEBOOK: Winter Equipment Offers the RoadMAXX System
- NOTEBOOK: Yanmar Unveils Compact Loader Lineup
- NOTEBOOK: Schill Expands in Southwest Ohio
- October Cover Story: Achieving Wet Pavement
- August 2022 Cover Story: Beat The Odds
- May 2022 Cover Story: Bullish on Snow & Ice
- 2022 Top 100