It’s mighty cold out there today, so if you need to drive this morning make sure you allow extra time to scrape the frost from the windscreen.

It has to be said, that the Isle of Wight Council have done a superb job of gritting the roads in anticipation of the cold burst of weather.

You might not have heard, but they’ve acquired some super duper new gritting trucks (see picture at bottom), which they tell us are more ‘technologically advanced than the previous gritters’ and available on 24-hour standby ready to grit the major roads of the Island.

GPS technology is being used not only to track where the gritters are but also where they have been and exactly how much salt they’ve used.

There’s no chance of the drivers making a quick detour or speeding across the Island, as the IWC are able to keep a close eye on them remotely and alarms are activated should any of the gritters stray off their designated routes, or are travelling too fast.

Isle of Wight Council Head of Highways and Transport Peter Hayward said “Maintaining safe roads during cold and icy weather is a top priority and I am really pleased that we are able to deploy the latest technology on the Island to help with this.

“The fleet of gritters will be on constant standby to be deployed along the Island’s main roads when freezing conditions are forecast and our remote temperature sensors report falling temperatures. Ringway Group understand the importance of local knowledge and have employed six drivers who are all based on the Isle of Wight and know the routes very well.

“The technology on the new vehicles also helps us monitor the performance of the gritters, the amount of salt they’re putting down, and how the drivers are doing. All of this will help us to quickly spot any problem areas, get them sorted out and keep the Island moving this winter.”

e3000 under CC BY-SA 2.0

Photo of gritters courtesy of Isle of Wight Council – click on image to see larger version

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