Round the clock shift as Wolverhampton gritters keep main roads clear
They are the small army of people who work around the clock to keep the roads as clear as possible of snow and ice.
Normally, people like George Dudley would be doing highway repairs and maintenance but he and his colleagues are currently out in a fleet of 10 lorries operating around the clock on the streets of Wolverhampton.
Since the snow began to fall on Friday, more than 995 tons of salt has been spread over 289 miles of road.
Father of one George, from Coseley, works an eight-hour shift and last week was on call through the night whenever the lorries needed to go out.
Yesterday his route was around Tettenhall and he was driving a seven-and-a- half ton lorry filled with a further six tons of grit, although they can take more.
"We've recently had some new lorries and they let us alter the spread", he said. "It means that when we go up a road where all the cars are parked on the left we can actually aim the salt underneath them."
The council covers around 64 per cent of roads with salt but the lorries are too heavy to go around smaller estates.
In those cases people can phone up and ask for their road to be treated and a team will go and spread salt with shovels.
But they will have to prioritise in order of need.
Yesterday they went to the aid of the Co-Op funeral parlour in St Mark's Road because it was having trouble getting the hearses out. Other priorities will be areas where elderly and disabled people are having difficulty getting about.
"Whether it's snowing or not, people have still got to get from A to B, to get to work and earn a living", said 32-year-old George.
Last week the council had a stockpile of 4,700 tons, mainly at its highway maintenance depot in Qualcast Road off Horseley Fields.
Over the weekend, as temperatures plummeted and the snow fell, 995 tons were spread and the council is currently getting six deliveries a day of 180 tons each to replenish supplies.
The lorries can be adjusted to spread anything between 10 grammes per square metre and 40g/sq m.
But even though the majority of the roads are gritted, there will always be those who feel it is not enough.
Ian Law, the council's service manager for responsive highway maintenance, said: "We have six two-man teams to respond to requests.
"The problem is we can't take a 17-ton truck up every road in Wolverhampton but we're doing our best.
"We've got people working 12-hour shifts and its' pretty much non-stop.
"We were spreading salt four days before the snow fell to make sure there was a build-up and we think it's worked really well."
When the snow has melted and the cold snap has ended the grit lorry drivers will go back to their normal jobs.
And George said he knows what his first task is likely to be: "It'll be all the pot holes caused by the freezing conditions. That happens every time."
