City of Pittsburgh hoping to fix its salt spreaders before next big snowstorm

City of Pittsburgh salt trucks are lined up outside the Department of Public Works building in the Strip District waiting to be fixed.

Target 11 broke the story in 2019 about a new electronic control system that regulates salt and tracks trucks causing big problems.

The company that installed the 1.4 million dollar system returned to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

“There are about 20 vehicles. We wanted to take advantage of some good weather, the lack of snow which is a blessing and work these little glitches out,” said Public Works Director Mike Gable.

Target 11 first reported problems with salting intersections last year. When the trucks stopped, so would the spreaders and they wouldn't get going again until a certain speed.

Gable says they fixed that in the larger trucks, but they're having similar issues with spreaders on pickup trucks.

“We are fixing that problem with the pickup trucks and we expect the fleet to be operating in a matter of time,” Gable said.

The system also monitors how much salt is put down and how fast the trucks are going. It also tracks routes and documents that on the snow plow tracker system for the public to see, but Gable said some of that information isn't getting through to the tracker. They're addressing that as well.

“What’s showing up on snow plow tracker is not exactly what we want to see. We want the public to see that but the streets are getting taken care of. There’s been no issues with that, Gable said.

Pittsburgh officials investigating reported problems with automated salt spreaders Pittsburgh officials investigating reported problems with automated salt spreaders

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