Gritters?

The study of British and Irish roads - their construction, numbering, history, mapping, past and future official roads proposals and general roads musings.

There is a separate forum for Street Furniture (traffic lights, street lights, road signs etc).

Registered users get access to other forums including discussions about other forms of transport, driving, fantasy roads and wishlists, and roads quizzes.

Moderator: Site Management Team

C83
Member
Posts: 544
Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2005 15:56

Re: Gritters?

Post by C83 »

baroudeur wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 15:18
stevepuma wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 14:22 Hi All, had a quick trawl and couldn't / didn't find this question anywhere else, so here goes...

If you're following a gritter on the motorways how long before it empties (assuming it's nearly full)?

This is because I caught up with a gritter coming over Shap on the M6 in my new (well it is to me!) car.
It was in lane two doing about 60, and I was faced with the usual dilema of do I wait and trundle along behind it forever, or do I thrash past in lane three, risking the paintwork on my (new to me) bonnet?

That prompted the thought process abave, so does anyone know the average distance a full load will cover on a motorway? Or even if there is an average distance?

Advice gratefully received!

Either way it didn't matter, 'cos I chickened out of both options and went for a brew at Tebay... :-D
It depends on the load weight, the spreading rate and the spread width which will vary according to conditions.

Gritters are limited legally to 56mph and will spread at a lower speed probably around 40/45 on a motorway.

Overtaking a motorway gritter could involve a lot more expensive bodywork repair than just a few chips to the paintwork!
I wouldn't tend to overtake a plough or gritter on the motorway, about 500m back is the optimum position in my view, but I've driven past ones going the other way on plenty of S2 roads without needing the paint redone. The amount of salt on the roads in winter is more of a long term corrosion problem.
baroudeur
Member
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2017 15:34

Re: Gritters?

Post by baroudeur »

C83 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 18:58
baroudeur wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 15:18
stevepuma wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 14:22 Hi All, had a quick trawl and couldn't / didn't find this question anywhere else, so here goes...

If you're following a gritter on the motorways how long before it empties (assuming it's nearly full)?

This is because I caught up with a gritter coming over Shap on the M6 in my new (well it is to me!) car.
It was in lane two doing about 60, and I was faced with the usual dilema of do I wait and trundle along behind it forever, or do I thrash past in lane three, risking the paintwork on my (new to me) bonnet?

That prompted the thought process abave, so does anyone know the average distance a full load will cover on a motorway? Or even if there is an average distance?

Advice gratefully received!

Either way it didn't matter, 'cos I chickened out of both options and went for a brew at Tebay... :-D
It depends on the load weight, the spreading rate and the spread width which will vary according to conditions.

Gritters are limited legally to 56mph and will spread at a lower speed probably around 40/45 on a motorway.

Overtaking a motorway gritter could involve a lot more expensive bodywork repair than just a few chips to the paintwork!
I wouldn't tend to overtake a plough or gritter on the motorway, about 500m back is the optimum position in my view, but I've driven past ones going the other way on plenty of S2 roads without needing the paint redone. The amount of salt on the roads in winter is more of a long term corrosion problem.

Going back to my post 6 months ago....................

My point was that when passing a gritter you will have no idea of the road conditions ahead. Hitting a pile of slush or standing water at 60+ could be a recipe for trouble
Post Reply