Any Gritter drivers on here?
Discussion
As we are technically into gritting season now are there any other drivers on PH... council or National Highways (Highways England)?
I've had my Winter Maintenance ticket for 5 years now and grit for NH. We've had a new fleet of Volvos with Romaquip bodies in for this season. Anyone have experience with them?
I've had my Winter Maintenance ticket for 5 years now and grit for NH. We've had a new fleet of Volvos with Romaquip bodies in for this season. Anyone have experience with them?
snowandrocks said:
Out of interest - are you just employed seasonally or do you cover other duties over the summer months?
We do maintenance all year round... crash barrier repairs, resurfacing, lane closures, incident response etc. Gritting is just an extra thing that gets in the way for 6 months.Defcon5 said:
I always thought gritter drivers were the bin lorry drivers
That's probably the case on the council side.I work for the local council on the gritting during the winter, the rest of the year we do road maintenance from relaying tarmac to getting down on to our hands and knees with a trowel to clean out cattle grids. The wages are shockingly bad but the variation in daily duties is great. No experience with Romaquip kit sorry.
HelterSkelter said:
snowandrocks said:
Out of interest - are you just employed seasonally or do you cover other duties over the summer months?
We do maintenance all year round... crash barrier repairs, resurfacing, lane closures, incident response etc. Gritting is just an extra thing that gets in the way for 6 months.Defcon5 said:
I always thought gritter drivers were the bin lorry drivers
That's probably the case on the council side.Squadrone Rosso said:
Can I ask. How exact is this a word? Cwmtwrch. It looks like my attempt at texting when full of beer! (yes I am aware "it's Welsh you tard!") I think there's a distinction between ploughing snow and gritting.
Any vehicle actually ploughing snow can use red whether it's a tractor or lorry or whatever.
Gritting on the other hand can only use red if they're purpose built.
The army of tractors that keep the roads open here in Aberdeenshire are certainly running on red in any case. They have an arrangement where the council supply and maintain the actual plough then pay the farmer an hourly rate for being out.
Any vehicle actually ploughing snow can use red whether it's a tractor or lorry or whatever.
Gritting on the other hand can only use red if they're purpose built.
The army of tractors that keep the roads open here in Aberdeenshire are certainly running on red in any case. They have an arrangement where the council supply and maintain the actual plough then pay the farmer an hourly rate for being out.
Edited by snowandrocks on Saturday 30th October 12:59
snowandrocks said:
I think there's a distinction between ploughing snow and gritting.
Any vehicle actually ploughing snow can use red whether it's a tractor or lorry or whatever.
Gritting on the other hand can only use red if they're purpose built.
The army of tractors that keep the roads open here in Aberdeenshire are certainly running on red in any case. They have an arrangement where the council supply and maintain the actual plough then pay the farmer an hourly rate for being out.
Interestingly there's actually no distinction between the two, otherwise you'd risk creating a loophole that allows gritters to be allowed to run on red for spreading material outside of winter months; i.e: spreading granules to soak up fuel and oil at RTC sites, or summer surface gritting to prevent tar melting in hotter weather, etc.Any vehicle actually ploughing snow can use red whether it's a tractor or lorry or whatever.
Gritting on the other hand can only use red if they're purpose built.
The army of tractors that keep the roads open here in Aberdeenshire are certainly running on red in any case. They have an arrangement where the council supply and maintain the actual plough then pay the farmer an hourly rate for being out.
Edited by snowandrocks on Saturday 30th October 12:59
It's worded in law as "to deal with frost, ice, or snow" (Fuels for use in vehicles (Excise Notice 75) section 8.11 - March 2019), and basically covers all duties related to winter maintenance, provided it's a purpose built truck, or something that's been converted for use for the duration of the winter months (think bolted on, rather than strapped on); and specifically covers either snow/ice removal, related training duties, or travelling to a place of maintenance.
Tractors were entitled to use red from 2013 onward under the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act amendments afaik - which aimed to take some of the rural loads away from local authorities, allowing them to prioritise other routes, and is frankly a great thing if you happen to drive in rural areas in the winter!
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