Salt Shortage and Winter Safety
We wanted to talk about salt, because there’s a major salt shortage. Just not enough was produced, and we’re having a much more snowy winter.
We’re already 10 inches over the average that we normally achieve, so there’s not going to be enough salt. They cannot produce it fast enough to supply it. Like the one place, I think they had 130 semis and in 10 days they were down to 12 semis. So this salt is going to New York to PA. They’re not just supplying us locally, because New York and PA have been out for a while.
If you see salt, and your driveway or your sidewalk is something that you want to maintain and keep salted through the rest of the winter, buy a few bags because it’s not gonna be there much longer. Most of the wholesalers are already out.
We should get through the rest of the winter with what we’ve got stored up, but I know we went through about four or five pallets with the storm at the nursery to try to make sure that we could do a good job and take care of our customers. But there will come a point in time where it’s just out, and there’s nothing left.
Something else I want everybody to think about is other than getting your salt now, as the snow starts to melt you get the road spray, everybody’s using tons of the window wiper fluid. Get the negative 30-degree stuff, especially for the cold that we’ve got coming up. The negative 20-degree stuff will most likely freeze in the lines or in the container, and then you’re not gonna have windshield wipers and with that with the road spray you can’t see out your window. It’s a buck or two more a gallon, just spend the money, be safe, make sure you’ve got something in there that’s not gonna freeze up on you.
And make sure you start your car from time to time if you’re not going out. My car actually didn’t start on Monday, and Tuesday it was dead, so we had to jump it. It’ll help prevent moisture from building up in the tank itself, because as the temperature changes, you’ll get condensation inside an empty tank. Whereas a full tank, you won’t have that.
If you’re gonna be out doing any snow removal, I mean with the temperatures we’ve got, within minutes you can experience frostbite on the skin. So the most important part, you can layer up using thin layers and multiple layers. Make it so you still are mobile, and you don’t feel like the Stay Puft Marshmallow. But you do want to make sure that you’re keeping your skin covered, even if it’s just a thin pair of gloves, it keeps that air off that skin. And that’s really where a lot of it sets in so fast.
Stay warm and be careful!
Questions? Email us at [email protected] or call one of our two locations: Portage (330-499-0101) or Everhard (330-492-1243).