Ground Speed Spreader Controls

Highway salt applied at the wrong time may be wasted. Salt applied at the wrong rate for conditions may be wasted. Apply it at too high a rate, and salt is left over after the melting is complete. If salt is applied too slowly, it may have to be reapplied.

In 1993 New Brunswick Department of Transportation began installing ground speed spreader controls in new and retrofitted snowplows. These computerized spreader controls, now the standard New Brunswick’s snowplow fleet, read the truck’s travel speed and apply salt at the correct rate regardless of variations in speed.

The controls also allow the operator to easily vary the application rate according to conditions, without worrying about the speed.

The computerized controls provide a readout of the amount of salt and application rates used that can be incorporated in the supervisor’s daily salt use reporting.