Dorset Council investing £3.5 million in new gritters
A total of 25 vehicles are being brought into the fleet
£3.5 million has been spent on bringing 25 new gritting lorries into Dorset Council's fleet.
Ten have already been out on the county's roads, with 15 more due to be delivered by next winter.
They're to replace some older machinery that's over 10 years old and becoming unreliable, with expensive maintenance costs.
We're told the new vehicles are the cleanest and most efficient diesel heavy goods vehicles available in the UK.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel, and Environment said:
“I popped over to our Ferndown depot recently to meet some of our dedicated crew and saw some of our new vehicles in action.
“Investing in a new fleet of vehicles was a necessity for the council. The old lorries have provided years of steadfast service, but the time had come to replace them with vehicles that are more reliable, efficient and better for the environment.
“Combined with our route-based system using local ground temperatures, we can identify the roads needing to be gritted, rather than a blanket approach, saving money, salt and time.
“Our crews are on call for 6 months every winter to keep our roads safe. Please be courteous when you see them and if you are behind a gritting vehicle, please be patient.”
Each time they go out, the vehicles treat 684 miles of roads on Dorset Council’s 23 main gritting routes.
The council uses a route-based weather forecasting system to identify which roads need to be gritted.
90 members of the council’s regular highways team are on standby during the winter months for on-call duties day and night.