State To Address Road Salt Shortage By Hitting Road

HARRISBURG (KDKA/AP) - The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is sending commercial haulers to Delaware to pick up 20,000 tons of recently purchased road salt - a commodity in high demand after a series of winter storms.

Gov. Tom Corbett said Tuesday he made the decision to dispatch dozens of trucks to Wilmington over the next week with travel safety on his mind.

The trucks will bring the road salt to staging areas in Philadelphia, Allentown and Harrisburg - regions that are considered to have the most urgent need for fresh supplies.

PennDOT has used nearly 1 million tons of salt this season, going through it about 32 percent faster than during a typical recent winter.

Earlier this month Corbett signed an emergency proclamation that lets road-salt delivery drivers work longer shifts than normal.

The shortage is being felt in western Pennsylvania as well.

Last week, the City of Pittsburgh was forced to mix salt with crushed limestone and sand because of the shortage.

Prior to the storm, the city's vendor, American Rock Salt, delivered 500 tons of salt. That was mixed with 500 tons of sand and limestone for a total of 1,000 tons, which was just enough to handle one inch of snow on all the city's streets.

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