Still a bit warm to be asking this but has anyone tried life on the gritting contracts? Whats it like? How much time do you spend on call? Thanks for any info.
i used to do every week for start of Nov to the end of March , nights and weekends ,some did every other week
money was good , you just had to be ready to go at any time ,sometimes at a minutes notice
had about 18 years doing it , only gave it up as i now do standby with a JCB for burst watermains etc all year round
Always wondered if they just use temp drivers or they are employed by the authority’s full time but just do gritting as winter draws in…
yorkshire terrier:
Always wondered if they just use temp drivers or they are employed by the authority’s full time but just do gritting as winter draws in…
the yard i used to run out of ,they had their own drivers ,but always had to have enough men in to cover normal day works
so they also had temp,s in so to ensure they were not short ,i worked for a subbie who also supplied his own gritters and did normal council work too during the day
Always wondered about who drives them.
To me, logically it would be the roadworks boys who lay cones as invariably when its gritting weather many roadworks are suspended. I dont know why a council hasnt considered demountable bodies for gritters either. That way the truck could have a different body on for summer jobs and the change quickly for the gritter. Less behicles to maintain and a reduced cost.
Pretty sure our council uses the guys that usually run the road sweepers.
m1cks:
I dont know why a council hasnt considered demountable bodies for gritters either. That way the truck could have a different body on for summer jobs and the change quickly for the gritter. Less behicles to maintain and a reduced cost.
Plenty of councils and contractors do use demountable gritters, but there are advantages to both types, dedicated gritters will have a greater capacity since they don’t have the weight of the tipper body, also they can be run on red diesel as they are classed as plant.
Glen A9:
m1cks:
don’t have the weight of the tipper body, also they can be run on red diesel as they are classed as plant.
classed as dedicated gritter 
demounts are ok but can become a pain taking them on and off every morning / night
someone left a fair bit of grit in a demount one night ,and when they came to drop it off ,it shot out straight into my gritter 
