Salt shortage impacting suppliers ahead of winter storm

BRISTOL TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- As stores across the region run low on salt, the shortage is now straining suppliers, with demand surging ahead of an approaching winter storm.

Silvi Materials, a local salt distributor in Bristol Township, saw a steady stream of dump trucks coming in and out of its Riverside Industrial Complex location on Thursday. Video showed trucks lined up as early as 7 a.m., creating heavy traffic.

"It was blocked from here all the way past Randall Bridge - which we call Edgeley Bridge - bumper to bumper traffic," said Laura Wolfram, who lives nearby.

Commercial customers rushed to secure salt as forecasts called for another winter system.

Larry Silvi, Silvi Materials' chief sales and marketing officer, said the early-season demand caught many buyers by surprise.

"With this early demand in January, I think people got caught off guard with their inventory, so we're one of the few people that still had salt on the ground," Silvi said.

Trucks arrived from across the tri-state area and from as far away as Virginia and North Carolina. Officials said heavy salt use in December depleted supplies earlier than usual, leaving many suppliers running low.

In response, Silvi Materials increased its stockpile and boosted shipments from overseas.

"We were kind of preparing for this in advance. We made these decisions back after Christmas," Silvi said.

The shortage is also affecting private contractors, like American Property Solutions out of Allentown. The company services stores, malls, doctors' offices and hospitals.

"We put out a mass email to all our clients today to let them know that we have secured enough salt for this event, but after this event, going into February, we're uncertain," said owner Michael Piechota.

Piechota said contractors may be forced to use alternative materials, such as sand or cinders, which are made from coal ash.

"The general public, I feel, should know it's not the private contractor that doesn't wanna do a good job. We just don't have the product available to us," Piechota said.

As traffic continued to mount Thursday, Silvi Materials turned away pickup customers, prioritizing deliveries for state agencies, municipalities, schools and similar contracts.

"The second we realized it was happening, we did everything we could to get rid of trucks and get rid of traffic, even at a cost to our business," said Silvi.

"We turned away all those pickup customers, or a vast majority of them, telling them we just can't load because we had very unusual amount of traffic, unmanageable amounts for our site," he added.

Silvi described the week as highly abnormal and said he hopes other suppliers receive shipments soon to ease the shortage. While there are salt mines in the United States, many shipments supplying the region come from overseas.