How are your supplies lasting?? Rock salt, calcium, etc...

[jakegypsum]

Hey Guy's,
How are you de-icing compounds holding up??? Running out?
We are blowing through the rock salt and calcium thanks to the colder temps and all the frozen snow & ice. We tried to order another trailer of rock salt today. No luck. One of our distributors joked about salt & calcium being taken off of the market. I also heard on the news that the DOT in the Phila area is running low too. Hopefully it will loosen up in the next couple of days. Jake.

[digger242j]

Our supplier is out of Calcium, and won't be getting any more. The factory told them (a couple of weeks ago), they'd be able to ship some by the end of February. They told the factory to keep it--if it didn't come until late February they'd be sitting on most of it all summer. Starting to worry about the supply of rock salt too...

:(

[SunServicesLLC]

I spent the better part of the morning trying to find bulk salt in the DC Baltimore area and NOTHING. They all said the same thing, all our inventory is on hold for the municipalities. The answer of when it was gonna be available, NEXT WINTER. Am I the only one that is gonna be screwed? I NEED bulk if anyone has ideas i would love to know.

[CPSS]

We haven't had any problem getting bulk salt. We get it fron the Port of Albany, and they still have plenty. We have gone through over 100 tons so far this season.

[JD PLOWER]

Our supplier has started to ration and the prices have gone up 2 dollars per ton. We have enough for now since we have nothing major on the horizon.

[jakegypsum]

Well, we sold out. Rock salt & calcium.
I stashed a fair amount for my accounts but with the way the temps are staying cool, it is tough to say how long it will last. We were able to get a trailer load of salt ordered today but it's going to be a week to 10 days before we see it.
It's going to fun. :rolleyes: Jake.

[Big Nate's Plowing]

I drove around today to all the chain stores (lowes HD andersons) I got to andersons and was 3rd in line at the automotive desk for salt the son of a bitch in front of me bought 10 pallets and sold them out. ended up driving across town for the last 35 bags of salt that I could find, paid $2.48 for 50's the local water softner supply place had 50# bags for $7.00 each :eek:

[topgunlandscaping]

the detroit salt mines are dried up right now, had to get it fron another mine up north, the pric went from $48 a ton to $65.00 a ton, but now my supplier has a lot so im sure we will be ok

[BRL]

A fellow member here called me up asking if I would buy some from my supplier to give to him before this last storm. LOL Like that would happen, I'm not taking a chance of becoming blacklisted there ;)

I sent my guy out the night before the storm to try to get some bags to ballast the Blazer so I'd have one less thing to do the day of the storm, but all of the Home Cheapo & Lowes type places were bone dry. I don't know if Anderson's is a similar type as the other 2, but those places won't sell pallets to us contractors for some reason. :confused: So the following day I went to my bagged supplier & got their last full pallet, and they only had a partial pallet left after that one. They said they had gotten a busy signal for 5 straight hours at that point calling their supplier, so we guessed they weren't getting more by storm time, or shortly thereafter LOL

My bulk supplier had 4 or 5 pallets in their yard that I've seen in the same spot for a while now, so I wasn't too concerned about that if I really needed bagged. They haven't had any problems getting bulk lately, so if you guys can get a tandem up to Newark, you should be able to get some.

However last storm was a different story LOL. I was second in line for their 7:00 AM opening on the 19th, but there was only a tiny mound in the corner of the bin :eek: Luckily the guy in front of me wanted mix, so I got the last scoop of salt for that morning run. Not a problem we'll send a truck up first thing, oh wait a minute, it's Martin Luther King day! And the port workers are all union, so we guess that they won't be working on any federal holiday, and they find out they can't get more. Turns out the driver that saturday was "lazy" and only took 2 runs to the port instead of the usual 3 they would get in before a storm. Luckily another customer found a source and they were able to get 2 tandems that afternoon at least, but the customer that found them got one of those, so that didn't leave much more to sell LOL. All I know is I got there shortly after it was dropped in the bin so I was set for that night's & the next morning's runs at least.

[Lawngodfather]

Well we blew through almost 250 tons in a few days for the 2 events we had, and I had to sell some to a friend.

Got the trucks on the way in to replentish the supply as I type.

[Ohiosnow]

Went thru all that I had :( went on Tuesday to get 20 skids but none at my normal supplier :mad: Called all over the County & found 10 skids, the ice storm eat all of it up in 1 day :eek: Called-in a order for a semi-load but no one can deliver till next week (they don't have any) & not a guaranteed delievery for next week either :headwall :headwall Found 4 skids at the Brick & Block supplier but had to pay $45.00 more a skid :rolleyes: If we get any more snow I'll just have to plow plowing!

PS: just found out a different supplier as I was typing has 1 semi load being delievered at 5:00 am Friday, so I guess I"ll be setting in-line tonight :rolleyes: This is bull****

[cmerland]

Hey BRL thats how its gonna be????:fuming :fuming :fuming

Fine then, dont bother calling me back tonight as I found a location with many pallets of bagged salt available in both 50s and 80lbers. A little more expensive then my regular supplier but they are sold out and not certain when they will have more in stock.

Now granted we arent supposed to get snow till next week and MAYBE your suppliers will catch up, but now that I see how it is I'll just keep this little tip to myself.:wah :wah :wah

Okay you can call if you want, but now your gonna have to give me the reach around before I divulge the details.

:D :D :D

Later

[phillyplowking1]

We blew through about 150 tons this week. Salt is getting real hard to come by in philly. All the municipalitys are confiscating the bulk salt. I have to wait untill Monday for a new shipment>thank god i still have somesome left .

[jakegypsum]

One day down now. 9 to go. Lol.
People are using whatever they can get their hands on down here.
We are now selling skids of sand to everybody. All grades. Blasting sand, masons sand, etc.

Jake.

[NNJSnow]

I might know of a local garden center that has a few pallets for sale, 50lb. bags of Calcium. If anyone is interested, its located in North Jersey, drop me a pm.

Jeff

[BRL]

"One day down now. 9 to go. Lol."

Man I can just feel your torture. Hopefully it arrives before the next event down there.

:p cmerland!

So a couple of hours after I made that post I had a chance to check out the newspaper, and of course had to check out the articles on the snow storm we had. And there were a few paragraphs dedicated to the salt shortage we are about to, or are having around here. I had seen Philly area newscasts & they had talked about the shortage down there, but mainly blamed it on the ice in the Delaware River holding up the barges. So if you can get some trucks up to the Newark ports, there may not actually be any salt there either. Sorry! I'll have to visit my bulk supplier tomorrow and see how they are doing in light of this new development. I haven't been there for a couple of days I think because I have had enough to get through the past day or so.

The stuff about the shortage is about half way down:
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1075359365210960.xml?starledger?nnj

[landman]

BRL: Give me a call I have Material comming on Monday or Tuesday I have another 6 pallets of potassium comming and 4 pallets of bagged salt. I can add to the order if you want and get up to 6 more pallets on the trailer, or if you need it right away I can put you in contact with the salesman and you can go to thier place and pick it up. Also do you still rent a loader for the season? if so let me know I can deliver you bulk.

[bam]

we ordered 7 triaxles long before our last storm and an additional 4 triaxles when the storm was more definate. It took over a week for our vendor to deliver. Usually we have the deliveries within 24 hrs. During our conversations they stated that the ports were limiting sales due to pressure from state dot's. our bagged tractor trailer load also took about a week to get delivered. we have another one slated for next week. we were able to aquire some bulk from a 500ton stockpile in PA, but we payed a premium. we could also acquire some from baltimore, where that company is no longer accepting new customers for the rest of the season. Our vendor also said his bagged products of salt calcium and magnesium are starting to deplenish. Its a rough season with these constant low temps.

[Joe]

We have about 40 pallets left. Mainly 50's of Road Crew and Zero-melt. We also have some 80's of Calcium Flakes. We also have bulk salt. We are in Central IN and have semi's and dumps to deliver.

Joe
317)946-1079

[CPSS]

Well. had to go and open my big mouth. Have been paying $48 per ton, bulk salt at the port. Today it was $86 per ton! And they said they might not have anymore after next week! I can't believe that the salt mines have shut down, ( thats what they told us )

[Big Nate's Plowing]

well I spoke too soon, I am OUT, just enough left to do sidewalks at my two big commercials tonite and thats it, thinking about getting some sand to throw in with it

[Lawngodfather]

Friggin DOT's

Force Majure

[Crazygator]

After many many phone calls and emails I have found a wonderful source for bagged salt, and they only sell it bagged, not bulk.

United Salt near Houston Texas. Call Brent White at 502-423-7698

They will only sell a truck load, but you can get either 50lb or 80lb bags.

Here we do not get much winter weather, but when it comes its crazy. So I have been trying to find someone with bagged salt locally. No one carrys it unless you go to Lowes or Home Depot. So I started contacting everyone I could find and this guy was the only one that called me back. His prices are awesome too, especially for being bagged. They will quote delivered or FOB Texas.

So if your looking call Brent. He will work it all out for you like he has with me.

[Ohiosnow]

We had ice here again :( but no snow so we had to lay down the salt & now it's all gone again omg With no salt to found :mad: again

This really bites :soapbox they tell us maybe next week but NO guaranteed delievery even for a semi load :headwall they shorted us this week so here we go again :fuming pickup deliveries were limited to 1 skid & they would not take more then 1 biz check per day for 1 skid :fuming I had sent 5 guys to pickup 10 skids so I had to go down there with cash $$$$$$$$$ so they could each get 1 skid :soapbox OK I'm done :( just had to vent

[BRL]

We do what we gotta do! Good job at least getting some of what you need. You are lucky, as there are no pallets to be had here, let alone a 1 pallet limit. Cmerland has been able to scare up a few pallets down by him since he last posted.

The day after I last posted in this thread I saw lots of tandems in the area loaded with salt, so it seemed to me that suppliers were still able to get that, as I've never seen so many different ones moving salt around in this area. A few people I've talked to are having a hard time getting bulk from their sources. My bulk supplier has said he's still not having too much of a problem getting that, but it will be a couple of weeks before he gets any bagged material. My usual bagged supplier was told end of Feb before they could get any trailers, and at that point of the season here, salt usage is real iffy. So they didn't even bother to order more, so that source is out for the season. I was at the Home Cheapo last night grabbing a few bags of "Arctic Thaw" 40 pounders LOL. They hadn't gotten any straight salt yet, but had 5 different types of the good stuff at least, and many pallets of those at that one. Just wanted a few more for ballast in case we had to push the 2-4" that was predicted that created only a dusting :rolleyes:

[Big Nate's Plowing]

turns out that andersons has me on their blacklist because I have taken over 10 skids this year I have a whopping 3 bags left and thats for my house guess I am going to take the trailer down to Kuhlman and pickup a ton of bulk to get me through wed when they say another truckload is coming in

[CPSS]

Does anyone know if the "salt mines" actually shut down? Seems to me a little funny that they stop mining salt when there is a couple of months of winter left.:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Fordhipo]

I know the Detroit mine was going Thursday as I drove pass, their piles were low but they were pumping it out.

[Ohiosnow]

Just found out no salt delivery for me next week :headwall :headwall This is going to be a pain :scramble

[JustUsDe]

I am down to 3 ton, Here is a pick of my white gold I scored the other day. One pallat of this stuff use to cost me 250.00 I paid 306 for this pallat. But atleast I found a place that has it.

Ray

[Assured Services]

Try: Washington Elevator
7030 West Rd.
Washington, MI 48094
586- 781- 4822

They bag there own, and have 50 pounders and 80 pounders. A pallet of 80's goes for 180 and some change... They deliver too, but don't know there mileage limits..

[jakegypsum]

I'm supposed to see my load sometime toward the end of this week. I'm not going to hold my breath. :rolleyes:

It looks as if I will have plenty to use for my home made ice cream maker this summer. :( :p

Jake.

[Mark Oomkes]

Is anybody else getting the feeling that there seems to be some sort of conspiracy (or stupidity) by the salt companies. This is the 3rd or 4th year in a row that there have been salt shortages. Why can't they figure out that there is a greater need for salt year after year?

We are sitting fine with sidewalk salt but I have to get our next 100 tons of bulk from Cleveland for just about double the price. We went on 'waiting' lists with our supplier and the trucking company they use. I think I am fortunate that I was able to get this much, I might be able to get more, and am willing to pay this price. But we haven't even hit our season avg for snowfall yet. In some places it's been a hard winter in the NE, but correct me if I'm wrong, it hasn't been as bad as last year, has it? It started early out east, but then died off, it hasn't been out of the ordinary down south with huge ice storms, has it?

IMO, something isn't making sense here.

[BRL]

In my area we are well above average for snow & ice this season & are equal to or heavier than last year's over average season. (I'm pretty sure better year than last year, just haven't had a chance to check the numbers). The NE "Corridor" is the most congested area of the country which = the most roads, most parking lots & that = a whole lot of pavement to cover. So when the NE has a big season, I'm sure whatever average supply the salt companies think they need on hand goes out the window.

Well according to some recent newspaper articles, International Salt is the biggest company supplying most of NJ's gov entities & I would assume most of the private sector. And they are a major player for a lot more of the NE. The spokesman for them said the weather affected barges actually getting to the ports. And there is a world wide shortage of barges available to transport the salt. So he said they have salt ready & available at their mines in Chile, but don't have enough barges available to move it to here. So the barges available at Newark Port on the Atlantic coast have been too few for the demand. NJ is a peninsula and on our west side the Trenton port had barges getting stuck in the ice & not able to get there in the not usually frozen quite so solid Delaware River. So there are 2 metorpolitan area sources with nothing available. Someone posted that the NY mines aren't mining for some unknown reason, so there is another potential source that is gone. I think it all snowballs from there. They probably start diverting barges from one destination or another to cover another etc., etc.

I talked to my bulk supplier & he said he is now not able to get any from the Newark Port, where he usually goes. There is a barge that recently arrived but the gov entities have declared "eminent domain" so the private sector is stuck waiting for the next barge or 2 (or at least the private sector that doesn't have the right connections ;) ). He said someone there told him NYC was taking 10,000 tons from that barge alone. And those next barges are still pretty far out at sea from what he heard. So he has around 30 tons left & I'm going to go load up tomorrow in case anything happens next week. Luckily we got a break in the weather over the past week & a half.

[digger242j]

the gov entities have declared "eminent domain" so the private sector is stuck waiting

We buy bagged, but in talking with our supplier the other day he explained the bulk situation this way--The bulk suppliers contract with the state DOT, city, township, etc. for a certain price per ton. *If* they are unable to provide sufficient salt at the contracted price, those governmental type customers are free to purchase salt wherever they can find it, at whatever price, but then, they backcharge the contracted supplier for the difference in price. That's why they won't sell salt to you even if they have it--if they run out and can't supply the DOT it'll actually cost them money out of pocket.

At least that's what I was told...

[jakegypsum]

Still out of salt here. May not even be worth it by the time it is available.
My distributors do have it by the skid but by the time I get it and turn it over with a markup it's down right ugly pricing.
Guess it's boils down to how bad demand becomes.
Nothing worse than sitting on high priced stock waiting for next winter.
It was 52 degrees here yesterday. :confused: .

Jake.

[BRL]

digger242j,
Now that you mention it, I remember reading that somewhere before in the past too (did you post that at PS LOL?). Makes sense.


Forgot to post this pic the other day. This was with one of the Star Ledger articles I referenced to in my earlier post. I realized that the 1\3 to 1\2 ton of salt I had leftover in the bed of my truck & the 10 or 15 bags left over from our last event left little ole me having more salt than that township. And I'm pretty sure that township has a lot more pavement to cover than my dozen or so acres lol.

[Ohiosnow]

Just found out no salt delivery for me next week :headwall This is going to be a pain :nope

Well here it is Thursday afternoon & there is no salt :( to be delivered this week & none to pick-up either :mad:

Next year I'll buy for the whole season in Sept. instead of just 1/2 ;) live & learn :nodd

[landman]

I cna't wait for the suppliers to have salt and they are looking to sell it to us in the end of march, and we all tell them to keep it till next year! I know I am waiting for 4 loads right now and the way it looks right now were not gonna be needing it anytime soon.

[BRL]

Originally posted by landman
BRL: Give me a call ... if so let me know I can deliver you bulk.

Soooo.... I guess that offer is off the table then eh? :grinz
Oh well, on to plan G or H.

[jt5019]

Im not too worried here, looks like we may have a good two weeks without needing to sand or salt.Home depot has plenty of pallets of bagged salt left if i was really in need.

[obryanmaint]

akron areas..bulk salt available

doug obryan
330-686-2850

[Mark Oomkes]

This is at the beginning of the season when supply was plentiful.

[Mark Oomkes]

With the tracked Bobcat, we can get a lot more salt in here than we used to. It's almost full again, but I'm not sure what's going tohappen when we're out.

[PineIsland]

Hmmmm...

Looks like some runoff issues in that natural area there Mark...

Better not let anyone from the local DNR see those pics !

[Lawngodfather]

Originally posted by Mark Oomkes
With the tracked Bobcat, we can get a lot more salt in here Looks like I need to get a tracked skid steer.

[Mark Oomkes]

No runoff issues at all, Tom. That was before it was all cleaned up. We were still pushing it all in. We also have salt tolerant plants all around the bin to absorb anything that we miss.

Besides, the only person I know from the DNR just counts fish. :grinz :grinz

[Tahoe1889]

Mark How many Blocks you have there for your bin? is it Just Dirt underneath? Total cost?

[Lawngodfather]

Here is one of mine back in Nov right after I built it.

42 blocks but I added more once salt was put in it.

2'x'2'4'


His looks like he has 48 blocks. 2'x2'x8'

[Assured Services]

Price of bulk rock salt jumped here today. Our local supplyer's piles are alot smaller. Plus the price went from $48.00 to $54.00 today.. Not bad, atleast we still can get it! I'm all good though, stock up before the price jumped, money in the bank so to speak..
Now we just need more snow so I don't have to store it all summer,LOL:grinz

Scott