Every business with a car park, a yard or a footpath has a duty to keep it usable when it freezes, and the week it actually freezes is the week the suppliers run out. Sites that plan ahead buy in December and store it. Sites that do not spend January ringing round. Arranging van hire in Warrington for a morning is enough to stock a site for the winter, and collecting salt and grit is a straightforward job with two traps in it, which are weight and corrosion.
A Small Load That Is Anything But Light
Rock salt and grit are among the densest things anybody puts in a van. A stack of bags that occupies a modest corner of the load area weighs a great deal, and a bulk bag is a different proposition entirely. Every vehicle we hire sits at or under three and a half tonnes gross vehicle weight, which includes the vehicle itself, the fuel and everyone in the cab, so the usable load is smaller than the empty space suggests. Ask the supplier what the bags actually weigh and how many make up the order, then work backwards. This is a load where two trips is frequently the honest answer, and where an overloaded vehicle is genuinely unpleasant to drive on the sort of road surface you are buying the salt to deal with.
Why An Open Deck Suits It Best
Salt is corrosive, it escapes from bags however careful you are, and it works into every seam and corner of an enclosed load area where it then sits and does damage. A flatbed dropside van is much the better choice, because bags load over a dropped side rather than being carried through back doors, a bulk bag can be placed by forklift in one movement, and the deck washes down properly afterwards. Cover the load with a tarpaulin rather than leaving it open, both to keep the salt dry and to stop it blowing about on the road. Where the order is small and has to stay dry, an enclosed body will do provided the bags are intact and you sweep it out thoroughly at the end.
Loading Dense Bags Properly
Keep the weight low and over the axles rather than stacked high or piled at the back doors, since a dense load at the rear lightens the steering in exactly the conditions where you want it heavy. Lay bags flat rather than standing them upright, and build the stack no higher than it needs to be. Put a sheet or boards down first, because a split bag on a bare deck means salt in every crevice. Strap across the stack, since bags slide against each other more readily than people expect. Bulk bags should be placed rather than dragged, and it is worth checking the lifting loops before anyone puts a forklift near them.
Storing It So It Is Still Usable In February
Salt absorbs moisture and sets solid, and a pallet left in the open in December is a single lump by the time you need it. Store bags off the ground on a pallet, under cover and out of standing water, and keep bulk bags closed rather than open to the weather. A dedicated grit bin is better still if the site has one, provided the lid actually closes. Break the order into what you need at the entrance, the car park and the footpaths rather than storing all of it in one place at the far end of the site, because nobody grits a path at seven in the morning if the salt is a five minute walk away.
Clearing Up And Protecting The Vehicle
Sweep out and wash down at the end of the job rather than the following week. Salt left on a deck or in a load area will keep working, and it does not stop because the job is finished. Pay attention to the corners, the deck edges and the underside of any dropped side, which is where it collects. If the vehicle has carried bagged salt in an enclosed body, get the load area properly swept before anything else goes in, since salt dust transfers to the next load and is exactly what you do not want near furniture or fabric. Our guide on how to return a hire van in good condition covers what we look at.
Buying Early And Booking Early
The whole point of doing this in December is that suppliers have stock and you are not competing with everyone else on the first hard frost. That applies to the vehicle as well, since a cold snap is exactly when demand for vans rises. We are open Monday to Saturday from 8am to 4pm and closed on Sunday, and booking at least two weeks ahead brings a ten per cent advance booking discount on selected vehicles. Short and long term hire are both available with no deposit required on most vehicles, and there is free secure parking on site. Sites around Risley van hire and Burtonwood van hire are a short run from the depot.
Sharing An Order With Neighbouring Businesses
Salt is cheaper in quantity and most small sites need less than the quantity that gets the better rate, which makes it an obvious thing for neighbouring units on a business park or a parade to buy together. One vehicle collecting a shared order costs a fraction of three separate deliveries and takes one morning rather than three. It works best when somebody takes responsibility for splitting it on arrival rather than leaving a shared pallet in a shared yard, which reliably ends with one unit using all of it. Agree beforehand who is storing what and where the grit bins are going. The same arrangement suits a residential street or a small estate where several households want a supply for a shared access road that nobody grits officially.
Tell us how much you are buying and whether it is bagged or bulk, and we will tell you what that actually weighs against the vehicle. Call the depot on 01925 396 222 before the forecast turns.
