How Cold Weather Affects Your Salt Delivery
Sudden snowfall can happen at any time in winter and as the recent weather events showed, it can have a big impact on the UK’s transport and logistics.
Storm Goretti brought in heavy rain, strong winds, and most importantly, snow and ice. As the yellow, amber, and red weather warnings were issued, the depth of snow varied from region to region. Many parts of the UK quickly became snowed in, with the record snow depth being reported at 46cm in Tomintoul, Moray.
While these figures may be considered ‘normal’ in other countries, for the UK it brought widespread disruption. Roads quickly became unsafe, while many train journeys and flights were cancelled, putting the transport network under huge pressure.
At Online Rock Salt, we always do everything we can to deliver our salt to our customers in a timely manner. However, even with our team working around the clock, severe weather can still delay deliveries.
UK Snow and Its Impact on Logistics
The UK is particularly vulnerable to disruption when snow and ice hit.
Colder countries, such as Finland, which sees 100-225 snow days per year on average, design their infrastructure to cope with winter conditions. This includes having heated roads and train tracks that prevent ice and snow from forming. Drivers also switch from summer to winter tyres, which are made from a softer rubber to provide better grip. In many countries, including Germany, this is a legal requirement and drivers who fail to do this can be fined. Councils also heavily invest in rock salt and equipment such as gritter trucks and snow ploughs in order to remove snow and de-ice roads first thing in the morning so that people can travel safely.
In contrast, the UK’s infrastructure is not designed to handle heavy snowfall. While it also uses heated points for trains in critical areas, coverage is limited to major junctions and high-traffic routes. Heated roads, however, do not exist in the UK and would be extremely expensive to introduce. This also goes for having large supplies of rock salt and winter equipment. Since the UK only tends to get 13 days of snow on average, every pound that could be spent on preparing for a harsh winter will be weighed against how long the disruption will last. This opens up room in the budget to be used elsewhere. As a result, being prepared for winter is often not a priority. Typically, only the major roads, which are required by the Highways Act 1980 to offer a 'reasonably practicable and safe passage', are cleared of snow and de-iced. These make up around 40% of UK roads.
A highway authority are under a duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that safe passage along a highway is not endangered by snow or ice.
The remaining 60% expose drivers to serious road hazards. Most UK drivers use summer tyres year-round, which can make stopping distances up to ten times longer on snow, greatly increasing the likelihood of accidents. When these do happen on busy roads, it can lead to road closures and widespread delays.
These conditions create many challenges for logistics. Our deliveries are made using 18 tonne trucks, which are harder to manoeuvre and need more space to stop safely. If major routes are closed or severely delayed, drivers may need to reroute or, in extreme cases, wait until conditions improve. This can result in missed delivery slots. Snow and ice also pose safety risks for logistics personnel, who may slip on ice while loading vehicles or face dangerous driving conditions.
How We Prepare
At Online Rock Salt, we do everything we can to reduce the impact of snow and ice on our business.
It all starts with planning ahead. We check the weather forecast regularly and watch it closely for any changes. This allows us to grit our site the night before temperatures are expected to drop.
By doing this, ice and snow are less likely to form, keeping our staff safe and allowing them to work efficiently without delays.
For deliveries, we use a trusted third-party haulage company, which has been around for a number of years. Their drivers know how to handle different weather conditions and choose the safest routes. To learn more about this, check out our ‘How We Deliver’ blog.
Our staff are also trained to operate equipment safely in cold conditions and follow clear procedures when loading and unloading vehicles. This reduces the risk of accidents happening.
Why Sometimes This Isn’t Enough
Sometimes, even with all the precautions that we take as a company, cold weather can still affect your salt delivery.
During periods of heavy snowfall, such as Storm Goretti, some areas of the UK can become snowed in, with no safe access in or out. Snow also often leads to road closures and an increase in accidents, making certain routes unsafe for larger vehicles. In these situations, asking our hauliers to continue with deliveries would put drivers and other road users in danger.
Demand for de-icing salt rises sharply too. While we hold thousands of tonnes of salt, that stock still has to be physically loaded, transported, and delivered. When demand peaks, our site operates 24 hours a day. However, even with round-the-clock work, lead times can increase as orders are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.
Our hauliers also operate using a hub-and-spoke distribution system, where loads move through central hubs before being delivered to customers. If one of these hubs becomes snowed in, it can have a serious knock-on effect on deliveries across multiple regions. Even if local roads appear clear.
This is why we recommend ordering salt in advance, before the temperature drops. Where possible, it is best for customers to hold their own stock in a grit bin and simply top it up as required, rather than relying on last-minute orders. Not only will this save you money as the increase in demand for salt during the colder months can drive prices up, but it will also guarantee that it is ready to use whenever you need it.
As Storm Goretti showed, sudden cold snaps can cause a massive disruption to transport across all of the UK. With only 40% of roads gritted and limited winter infrastructure, heavy snow can quickly cause road closures and major delays. Even with all the right precautions taken by our team, there are times when we cannot do much about this and simply must wait until the conditions improve before we can deliver your salt safely.
Make sure to always order your de-icing salt ahead of any cold snaps. That way, you won’t get caught off guard by a sudden change in the weather and are not risking being left without it when you need it most.
Stay one step ahead of winter! Order your de-icing salt today and be ready for the next freeze.
