Four practical steps to get more performance from Ice Slicer, from reading the storm to optimizing your routes. A guide from EnviroTech Services and Redmond.

Every winter maintenance team wants the same thing: clear roads without wasted material, wasted miles, or wasted hours. The good news is that better results do not always require more product. They usually require better know-how.

Here are four steps to help your crews melt more with less.

1. Know your product and the storm

Matching the right product to the conditions is where every storm response starts. Knowing what your deicer does best, and what the storm is bringing, lets you make smarter decisions before the first truck rolls.

• Combine reliable weather forecasting with road data, such as RWIS (Road Weather Information System), to see what is coming and what the pavement is doing.
• Adjust your application strategy and rates to fit the storm conditions and your location.

2. Calibrate

Do not assume the settings that worked last season will work for every job. Calibrating your spreaders for each storm helps reduce waste and keeps your application where you want it.

• Measure the door or gate height.
• Run the spreader and measure pounds per revolution.
• Count how many revolutions per minute.
• Use a calibration chart to find your pounds per lane mile.

3. Pre-wet

Pre-wetting Ice Slicer helps kickstart the brining reaction and reduces bounce and scatter, so more material stays on the road where it can work. According to Redmond, shed crews have found that pre-wetting has helped them use up to 53% less product. Most pre-wet treatments start as low as 4 gallons of liquid per ton of dry deicer.

4. Optimize routes

Every load and every man hour counts. Route optimization software can help your team:

• Cover more miles per load
• Minimize empty miles
• Cut unnecessary reloads
• Adjust routes in real time based on storm conditions and actual material usage

Put it all together

These four steps work best as a system. Know the storm, calibrate your equipment, pre-wet your material, and plan your routes. Each step trims waste, and together they protect your budget, your performance, and the environment, which is what we are here to do.

Ready to dial in your winter program?  contact your EnviroTech Services representative at 800-369-3878.