As the New Year approaches and the possibility of bad winter weather increases if you haven’t already organised a winter gritting provider for your business now is the time to do it. You may already have a winter gritting contract set up with a gritting provider, but how do you know that the company you chose is reputable and can deliver on it?
To assist any business looking to set up winter gritting maintenance Clearway Gritting has produced a five point service plan. These are the key issues you should discuss with any gritting company you employ.
1. Length of time in Business
Clearway Gritting has the largest centralised fleet and range of gritting vehicles in the south east of England. During the fifteen years Clearway Gritting has been in business we have seen competitors enter the snow clearance industry after bad winters such as last year with the ‘Beast from the East’ as demand for winter gritting increases. However, some of these competitors shut down when we experience milder winters as they often can’t get enough contracts to keep them going when there is no bad weather.
Over the past fifteen years Clearway Gritting has built up a large client base and we specialise in retail park gritting, hospital gritting and general winter gritting for private companies. We grit pavements and footpaths, carparks and private roads for businesses to ensure they can keep open during any bad weather.
2. Gritting Premises
When you set up your winter gritting maintenance contract it is important that you visit your gritting provider’s premises. Ideally the gritting provider should be located in the same county as your business so they can get to you easily in heavy snowfall.
Clearway Gritting is based in St Albans, Hertfordshire and operates from a further six other sites in the south east. Clearway Gritting winter gritting depots serve the south east from:
- St Albans, Hertfordshire
- Little Staughton, Bedfordshire
- Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Harlow, Essex
- High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
- Barnet, North London
Who grits your car park?
If you are looking for a winter gritting company to grit your company car park so you can keep open during heavy snowfall give Clearway Gritting a call on 01727 851837. We find that getting car parks gritted in bad weather is one of our client’s main objectives. Not only do we grit company car parks but since we established in 2003 we have gritted car parks for retail parks, industrial parks, supermarkets, universities and hospitals.
3. Winter Gritting Fleet
Your winter gritting provider should have a reliable fleet of winter gritting vehicles that can be used to grit your business premises during bad weather. The Clearway Gritting fleet is expanding rapidly and currently totals 19 spreaders and 54 snow ploughs. These vehicles are located across our premises. All Clearway Gritting’s winter gritting and snow clearance machines are modern and well maintained so we always offer our clients preventative and reactive gritting reliability and efficiency. Before the winter gritting season begins we provide refresher training for all our drivers so they are familiar with our winter gritting vehicles.
4. ISO Accreditation
If your winter gritting maintenance provider has the International Standard Organisation (ISO) accreditation they have been rated by an external agency. According to the ISO website this accreditation ‘provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.’ Clearway Gritting has been awarded ISO accreditations for three key business areas – Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety.
5. Guaranteed Salt supplies for gritting
We call it ‘grit’ but what Clearway Gritting spread in car parks, pavements and on roads is actually rock salt or marine salt. Saltis spread in advance of snowfall to form the saline solution and lower the possibility of snow and ice forming. This reduces the need for snow clearance and makes the operation much more effective. If you are looking to set up a winter gritting maintenance contract check what salt your provider uses and make sure they have enough salt supplies to last them over the winter gritting season, even if we have a bad winter. The Clearway Gritting fleet has expanded and our operating range has increased, so we review our salt providers for each winter gritting season. For the last two seasons we used one salt supplier who guaranteed that we can get all the salt supplies we need. In the previous winter gritting season this totalled between 3-4,000 tonnes of salt.’
Peter Boniface – Operations Manager, Clearway Gritting, St Albans, Hertfordshire, said: ‘We recommend you use our five point service plan when you choose your winter gritting maintenance provider. It will allow you to choose a gritting contractor who can deliver on their service contract in bad weather. This should allow your business to keep running during heavy snowfall. Remember to choose a gritting company that can organise general winter gritting for all your business needs, including: gritting for pavements and footpaths, carparks and private roads. The gritting company you choose should use a modern gritting fleet with roadworthy modern machines. If your business is looking for a reliable winter gritting provider please contact us on 01727 851837 ’
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