Council Invites Public to Name Gritters

2nd December 2020

... Comments

City of Wolverhampton Council is inviting residents to come up with names for the city’s brand-new fleet of gritting lorries. Nine new wagons have arrived in time for the winter gritting season and the challenge for the public is to name them. Name ideas should be short and catchy with a Wolverhampton theme or a general winter/gritting theme. To take part, people can send their name ideas to communications@wolverhampton.gov.uk or via Twitter using the hashtag #wolvesgrit The council’s gritting team is on constant standby 24/7 from now until the spring and drivers are ready to go out day or night and treat the roads with rock salt if temperatures are due to drop below freezing. The council has almost 5,000 tonnes of salt is in stock which will be replenished as needed depending on how severe the winter weather is. Last year the crews were called out 43 times, but during the freezing winter of 2017-2018, which saw the infamous ‘Beast from the East’, it was 98 times. The council routinely treats 240 miles every time the gritters go out - which is the equivalent of driving from Wolverhampton to Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Each call out covers 51% of all Wolverhampton’s roads and takes between 3 to 4 hours to complete using around 45 tonnes of salt. Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet member for city environment, said: "We’ve got a brand-new fleet of gritters this year which will help us to keep people safe and the city moving which is our focus every winter. “We want the public to come up with names for them. People see the gritters out and about regularly and this is a nice way to connect our residents to the team who are out there keeping everyone safe. “I want to pass on my thanks to the entire team who make our gritting operation possible. The crews are on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - including over Christmas and New Year. That call out could come at any hour of the day or night and they must be ready to respond immediately. “Two of the new lorries have four-wheel drive, so they will be used on the more hilly routes in places like Woodcross and Tettenhall. They also have a GPS system and auto-salting programme which makes the drivers’ jobs easier and means they can focus solely on the job of driving.”

About the Author