For many local governments, next winter’s preparations are already underway. They begin when Michigan Chief Procurement Officer Jared Ambrosier puts out the question across the state to different agencies, asking them how much road salt they’ll need?
“They utilize the prior year’s usage to determine what they are anticipating they’ll need for next year, and the contract does allow a little bit of overage in delivery in case they have undershot what they need,” Ambrosier said.
The state typically buys between 800,000 to 1 million tons of road salt. It’s then barged into the ports of the Great Lakes, loaded onto trucks, and sent across the state to be delivered. To get the bulk deal, Michigan cities, counties, school districts, universities, and colleges will need to respond with their order size by next week, which is about eight months before winter officially begins.
