Parts When winter storms dump snow and ice on the highway, truckers welcome the sight of snowplows and salt-spreaders, also known as gritters, clearing a path. But while the inclement weather tag team performs an invaluable service for highway users, it also often exacts a subtle but nasty toll in the process. When the gritters are spreading salt or other chemicals, they are also spreading the cancer of corrosion. Salt is the most common substance used by state and municipal road crews to clear the thoroughfares of ice and snow. 32 F. Melting starts immediately when salt makes contact with the frozen precipitation.
Heat is created in the melting process the latent reaction of fusion.
This produces water that dissolves more salt and, in turn, produces further melting. The rate of turning snow or ice into water depends on the surrounding air and ground temperatures. Other factors include the size of the salt particles and the amount of mixing caused by traffic. The price of safe winter passage carries with it the potential for untold damage to the underbellies and other metal parts of big rigs. For truck owners, some relief has arrived in the form of better protection for truck metal and less harmful alternatives in the deicers.