City of Wolverhampton Council’s gritting team is on constant standby 24/7 until the spring and drivers are ready to go out day or night and treat the roads with rock salt if temperatures are due to drop below freezing.
The council has almost 5,000 tonnes of salt in stock which is replenished as needed depending on how severe the winter weather is.
So far this winter, the team has been called out 20 times, using 950 tonnes of salt and covering 8,160 miles - the distance from Wolverhampton to Sydney.
During winter 2022/23, crews were called out 54 times, used 2,457 tonnes of crushed rock salt and covered 22,083 miles – almost the length of the earth’s circumference.
Each call out covers 51% of all Wolverhampton’s roads and takes between 3 to 4 hours to complete.
Councillor Craig Collingswood, cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: “I want to give my thanks to the entire team who make our fantastic gritting operation possible.
“Our crews are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - including over Christmas and New Year. That call out could come at any hour of the day or night and they must be ready to respond immediately.
“We may not always see our crews, but they are out there keeping our roads safe and we’re very grateful that they are.
“I want to say a big thank you to all of our gritter drivers and crews for their fantastic work over the past few months and wish them all the best for any upcoming journeys that the city may need.”
