A snow removal company will be able to spend its money more effectively if it can calculate how much salt it will need to buy. If you under or over on your estimate, you risk incurring additional expenses. It’s crucial to make sure you have enough ice melt or road salt to service your customers throughout the entire winter season, but you don’t want to store more than what is needed either. The amount of snow expected, average temperatures, and the size and type of surfaces being treated are just a few of the variables that go into this computation. It might be challenging to estimate how much road salt and ice melt is required for a parking lot, a road, or any other location, but it can and must be done to keep your snow and ice management company operating efficiently.
Considerations for Road Salt Coverage
No one can foretell the future, but with a little planning ahead and the help of an excellent salt coverage estimator, anyone can have a fair sense of the amount of rock salt you’ll need to get through the winter. Let’s take a closer look at some of the main elements that might influence the quantity of bulk salt you’ll need to purchase.
- Amount of snow expected to fall
The most crucial consideration when determining how much salt you should purchase is snow. Your company’s location and services will determine how much salt is required. Your company should place bulk purchases for calcium chloride, sometimes known as rock salt, before the start of the season to save money. Calculate the snowfall from the previous season and use it to guide your buy. Factor in any new business and lost business (if applicable). Review your snow removal plans and that should give you a good idea of the square miles of coverage you need to service this winter. Your best option for estimating how much rock salt to purchase is to use the season as a guide, albeit this may not always be correct since each season is different.
It can also help to review long-range weather forecasts and even the Farmer’s Almanac to try to predict how the upcoming winter will compare to past years.
- Type of snow removal accounts that you service
As a snow management company, you will be servicing a large variety of property sizes and types at a given time. This is where you need to take a look at the exact type of snow removal accounts that you will be servicing to estimate how much ice melt product is needed. Based on that, you can decide the nature of deicing solutions that you would need.
For example, if you are going to serve a residential property, you will come across the need to use an ice-melting solution that creates less damage on the lawn or is more pet-friendly. You will need to understand the needs of your customers and then decide the most appropriate deicing solution that you should be using.
- The number of accounts you serve
Similar to the type of accounts, it is also important to focus on the total number of accounts that you are serving. If you are serving a higher number of accounts, you will need to get more deicing products. That’s because you will have to offer your snow and ice removal solutions to larger square footage. Depending on the total number of accounts that you have to deal with, you should order or buy the deicing materials accordingly.
- Take a look at the application rate
Determine how often and precisely you will apply salt if you have a significant area of snow to clear, such as a driveway, parking lot, or any other type of property that must be removed. To maximize your buy, there are several methods to calculate this. You don’t want to use it too much or it will be wasted, but you also don’t want to use it too little, or you run the danger of being hurt.
- Be mindful of budget constraints
As you purchase deicers, you will have to spend your money on them. This is where you will need to take a look at your budget and see whether it is affordable for you to get them or not. As you shop around for deicers, you will notice that bagged deicers are quite expensive when compared to other options. If you are working with a tight budget, sand would be the best option. However, sand alone is not so effective. Therefore, you may think about purchasing bulk salt, which is quite affordable.
- Have a good ice melt storage plan
You should never ignore storage considerations as you spend your money on purchasing ice melt solutions you need. In other words, you need to check your storage space and see the amount of deicing solutions that you will be able to hold at a given time. It is not a good idea to store deicers just outside, without a proper container or cover. This would create a negative impact on the environment. On the other hand, you will not be able to use the deicing solution for long, and you will have to end up facing fines as well. This is where you will need to go ahead with ordering deicing products based on the storage space that you have. If you have more clients to serve, you should invest in getting additional storage space.
- Surface Composition
It’s crucial to take into account the location’s surface area when making your salt purchase. You must research what surfaces are safe to apply rock salt on, whether they are dirt, asphalt, cement, or gravel. The ideal surfaces for salt are cement and asphalt, thus they are the ones you should buy in large quantities of. By selecting the appropriate deicer, you aim to make the ground as safe as possible for pedestrians.
- Don’t ignore spreader equipment
Last but not least, you need to take a look at the spreader equipment. Based on the equipment you have; it is important to decide what type of a deicing solution you will be able to use. The spreaders are usually tailored to specific materials. Therefore, you need to stick to that material as much as possible.
If you would like assistance with estimating your product needs, ask one of our experts today!