Maintenance director warns of tight salt supply; agency diverts stock and asks vendors to pause deliveries
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Summary
Agency maintenance staff described how Vermont procures and distributes road salt, said the state had diverted about 2,500 tons to help towns and announced a one‑week pause in state deliveries to give vendors breathing room for local demands. The briefing outlined sourcing, bidding by district and brine and pretreatment practices.
State maintenance officials described complex salt supply chains and said the agency took immediate actions this winter after an unusually early and heavy demand for road salt.
"On average, a rough number, Vermont uses a 110,000 tons of salt," Marty Patno, director of maintenance, told the committee as he described sources, vendors and district delivery patterns. Patno said the state solicits competitive bids by district and that six vendors typically supply salt to Vermont from ocean shipments and regional mines.
Patno said the agency temporarily diverted state salt to help towns in need and that the agency has a load‑loan program to assist municipalities facing shortages. "We diverted 2,500 tons, 5,000,000 pounds of our salt, made it available to towns," he said, adding that loaned loads are roughly 30 tons. To relieve immediate pressure on the system, Patno said the agency has asked vendors "not to deliver to us next week" so vendors can fulfill town orders and the state can re‑prioritize stock distribution.
The director also described how the agency uses liquid salt (brine) in its operations: he told the committee the agency had used more than 1,000,000 gallons of liquid salt this season and described typical mixing ratios and the tradeoffs of pretreatment. He cautioned that certain liquid additives are corrosive and are used sparingly for very cold conditions.
Patno encouraged towns to work with district partners and the state's commodities listings when considering whether to opt into state contract pricing; he said some vendors extend state prices to towns but that towns must still enter separate agreements with vendors.
The agency did not announce new procurement contracts during the briefing. It said it would publish a press release and continue coordination with districts and towns about short‑term lending, stock diversion and further operational steps.