Bulk Salt Application Rates (2022 Refresh)

The Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering (Volume 49, Number 1, January 2022) had release updated information on application rates. The article discusses the application rate of winter road maintenance (WRM) materials and how it depends on various factors such as application methodologies, air and pavement temperatures, amount of snow on the ground, and steepness of the roadway…. Read more »

Deicing Roads and Interstates Today

Deicing roads  is a crucial aspect of winter maintenance for municipalities and transportation departments. The use of bulk salt, also known as rock salt, is a common and cost-effective method for deicing roads during winter months (1). The salt helps to melt ice and snow, making travel safer for drivers. In recent years, there has… Read more »

Responsible Industrial Chloride Use

Sodium chloride, commonly known as salt, is one of the most abundant minerals on the planet.  Salt possesses major economic importance because of its usefulness beyond flavoring and preserving food.  In fact, according to the February 2019 U.S. Geological Survey, of the 42 million tons of domestic salt produced in 2018 only 6% of salt… Read more »

Winter ’18-’19, Is This a Salt Shortage?

When the snow and the ice arrives there is one tried and true way to keep travelers safe – salting the roads.  There is no more effective means to melting away icy conditions than salt.  The problem facing those in charge of protecting drivers during this long winter of 2018-19 is a shortage in road… Read more »

Applying MORE Salt Isn’t Always Better

snow on the walkways

When salt comes into contact with water it lowers the water’s freezing point.  Because of this property, salt will always be a crucial component in ice melt application.  In wintry conditions, businesses strive to keep their customers safe outside their storefronts by eliminating ice and the possibility of slips and falls.  To decrease the chances… Read more »

October Events 2018

Upcoming Events for October 2018 GreenTown is happening in Joliet on October 26th: https://www.greentownconference.com/ ISAWWA Water Efficiency Committee is hosting a half day seminar (for Edu credit) on the latest in Water Loss Control – will include an update from IDNR as well as case studies and a panel discussion from location communities and how… Read more »

The Best Study on Ice melt You Will Find

NCHRP NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH  PROGRAM REPORT 577 Guidelines for the Selection of Snow and Ice Control Materials to Mitigate Environmental Impacts This study from 2007 was an outstanding work. It rings true today as the standard for ice management hasn’t changed much in the last few decades, although the new wave of techniques and technology is… Read more »

Stronger Supply Chain – Snow Business Magazine

Our President, Tony Johnson, wrote a great article for the June issue of Snow Business Magazine. The article focuses on building a stronger supply chain for your salt and avoiding salt shortages come severe winter conditions. Tony speaks from his experience of past salt shortages and analyzes the cause of shortages and how to prevent… Read more »

DuPage River Salt Creek Workgroup Newsletter

National APWA Excellence in Snow & Ice Award Winner Village of Buffalo Grove After their annual review, the Village of Buffalo Grove Public Works Department revised their winter maintenance plan for 2014 – 2015 to achieve the highest level of service possible at the lowest possible cost. The new plan was created by a team… Read more »

Winter Maintenance For Small Sites

Winter maintenance operations have many similarities between small and large sites. This video will highlight ways to maximize results while minimizing effort and chloride pollution from salt and ice melters.

Dangerously Salty Fresh Water? It Is Happening.

There is no denying the urban sprawl in America is spreading. Researchers found startling data in freshwater lakes of the Northern United Sates. Too many chlorides in salt can do damage to many areas of life, from killing off plants and trees or stunting reproduction of beneficial animal to environmental catastrophes like Flint, Michigan. Researchers… Read more »

Bulk Salt IS SHIPPING!

For the past 8 weeks, our vessels have been moving in to the coastal stevedore sites along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. Filled to the brim with 50,000+ tons high quality bulk rock salt that has been making it’s way to our customers across the country by vessel, barge, train-car loads, and dump trucks…. Read more »

Learn To Reduce Chloride Emissions – Chloride Conscious

Midwest Salt has sponsored ChlorideConscious.com to help their chloride reduction movement. They aim to reduce chloride emissions from snow and ice management by giving a free collection of data and articles on how to use chlorides more efficiently. We recognize a problem with chlorides damaging waterways and the environmental impacts this causes. There are numerous studies that document… Read more »

Midwest Salt Featured In The INC 500 of 2015

Midwest Salt’s ability is spreading like our bulk salt on a wintry day. Midwest Salt has been featured in the September issue of Inc. magazine’s annual ranking of the top 500 fastest-growing private companies in America. Midwest Salt ranked #298!  Thanks to our hard work, devotion to our customers, dedication to bring on new companies, and… Read more »

Science and the Art of Ice Melt

NILES HYSELL:September 19, 2011 How does one know which ice melt products to use, when to use it, and how much to apply? Morton Salt and Michigan Technological University conducted an experiment to answer these questions. They analyzed and measured the effectiveness of the most commonly used ice melters in both the laboratory and in… Read more »

Be Prepared for the Snow

Stockpiling road salt is the most important advice when dealing with harsh winters.  The Salt Institute encourages keeping one year’s worth of salt on hand before the snow arrives. Having a year’s worth of salt ordered at once can help you secure the best pricing available and protects you from shortages do to logistics problems. When… Read more »

Join Us At The SIMA Show June 24-27

  The 2015 SIMA show is being held at the Schaumburg Convention Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. Please join us on June 24th-27th at the show. You can register to attend here. Please come see us at our booth number 737 in the center rear of the expo floor. We deliver bulk loads from truckloads to full ocean vessels in the… Read more »

Midwest Salt in the News- Crain’s Chicago Business

Recently Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine featured Midwest Salt’s President, Tony Johnson, in an article about the current salt market. You can view the article entitled, “Rough weather, economic recovery mean improved conditions for salt prices.” by Micah Maidenberg HERE. The article discusses the current pricing of bulk road salt, the reasons for the prices, the… Read more »

Cutting Down On Salt Usage

Snowy Road

Chloride emissions are a real threat to our environment. This article By Mike Lynch, discusses the problems and the efforts being used in Upstate New York to combat the rising chloride levels in the local water supply. Salt in fresh water is diluted in the rainy months but not at a rate higher than is… Read more »

Salt: Mid-season Update By snowmagazineonline.com

Snow Magazine recently released a great article about the current state of the national salt supply. The article discusses the salt shortage of 2014 and the purchasing habits and supply available to snow contractors across america. One interesting bit the author, ASCA Executive Director Kevin Gilbride, wrote was: “So with the deplete supply at the… Read more »

“Where Is The Salt?” By Snow Magazine

Snow magazine wrote an extremely interesting article regarding the apparent bulk road salt “shortage”. At this time Midwest Salt has more than enough bulk road salt to deliver throughout an extremely harsh winter. Even though we have access to these huge amounts of salt available the shortage is real and another harsh winter could tax supplies… Read more »

Salt Shortage of 2014 May Continue

Salt Shortage

Be warned. If current trends continue, the professional snow and ice management industry is facing another salt crisis — limited availability and high prices — heading into Winter 2014-15. http://www.snowmagazineonline.com/snow-061314-salt-crisis.aspx Kevin Gilbride is Executive Director of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association and publisher of Snow Magazine. Those who ignore the past are condemned to repeat… Read more »

Midwest Salt agreed to terms with Kissner

Kissner salt supplier

Midwest Salt agreed to terms with Kissner, the leading producer of ice melt products in North America to offer Ice Patrol and to co-pack Midwest Salt’s custom Ice Melt Blend, MVP.

Expectations When Using Liquids As Anti-Icers

Liquid Ice Melt treated surface

Almost all liquids are not specifically designed to melt snow and ice. Liquids are a tool, not a replacement for solid de-icers. Many people in the snow removal industry have high expectations of liquids to melt inches of snow and some companies believe the days of plowing or using rock salt are gone! This is… Read more »