Several states are reporting road salt shortages after snow slammed the Eastern seaboard, on Wednesday. The snowstorm has caused havoc in ill-prepared regions, including in much of the South where local governments, schools and businesses are closed for a second day. It is the second such storm to occur in two weeks.

 In the North and in parts of the Midwest, nearly a dozen snowstorms have spread the salt supply thin. 





This winter has been particularly rough on municipalities stretching from Atlanta to New York. Last week, New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo announced the state was working to send more than 3,500 tons of road salt to communities with severe shortages, including in Long Island. The state has waived a federal restriction on hours for drivers of salt trucks to deliver the supplies in an attempt to increase salt deliveries to local municipalities (Press release; “Andrew Cuomo Declares State of Emergency”).

Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation has debunked rumors that a secret stockpile of salt was being held in or around New Jersey’s Met Life stadium (New York Daily News; “No Secret Stockpile of Ice Melt”).

 Just outside Philadelphia, Southampton officials reported that they had only half of the rock salt needed to prepare for this week’s storm — about 75 tons — leaving the township to limit salting to “essential roads and intersections” (CBS Philly; “Salt Shortages Causing Concern As 11th Winter Storm Approaches"). Dozens of municipalities across the country have voiced similar sentiment. 



Besides limiting the areas where salt is placed, several cities have been turning to alternative measures to deal with the salt shortage. Some cities have been mixing in sand with the salt, while others are adding cheese brine to melt icy roadways (CNN; “Brutal Winter Melts Salt Supplies Across Country, Spurs Cheesy Alternatives”). 



Contrary to the rhetoric in the news media, the nation isn’t actually facing a salt shortage, but rather a salt logistics problem. Although much of the salt is mined in the U.S. and Canada, a lot of it comes from Chile — and takes at least 21 days to reach the seaboard by ship. 

The brutal winter caught many municipalities off guard, causing them to gun through their stockpiles and forcing them into a corner as they wait for delivery (Popular Mechanic; “There Is No Salt Shortage — There’s A Salt Bottleneck”).  

"We have a problem that every time there's a really bad winter, there's not enough salt at the right location," says Morton Satin, vice president of the Salt Institute trade group. "If cities don't order anything until the last moment...it can be a problem."

On the flip side, the stress of winter has served as a boon to restoration and janitorial supply businesses; over the past couple of weeks, Sanitary Maintenance has had several conversations with jan/san distributors who have been inundated with ice melt orders, among other needed winter supplies.