Three months earlier than in 2008, the Ohio DOT has begun to procure salt for next winter, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The state, which requests bids from companies to supply salt in each county for ODOT use, got burned last year because it did not open bids until August and found offers for only 45 of the 88 counties. A second round left 25 counties, most in southern Ohio, without salt contracts. This year the department hopes to seek bids by the beginning of May.
ODOT spokesman Scott Varner said a report by the department's Bid Analysis and Review Team
suggested that transportation officials seek bids earlier. ODOT uses 500,000 to 700,000 tons a winter and
is able to store about 500,000 tons.Salt company officials said that they can provide only as much salt as can be mined and that most of their
product last year was committed to states that requested bids earlier. Minnesota and Wisconsin, for
example, sought bids in March. Pennsylvania went after bids in early June and Michigan in May. Those
states paid $47 to $60 a ton for salt.ODOT's costs in Cuyahoga County ranged from $41.57 a ton to $136.43 a ton in Hamilton County.
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