To track salt use per site, log the product and the amount at the site during every de-icing visit, with the date, time and crew, then add it up by site after each storm. A seasonal total for all your sites, or a count of bags missing from the yard, can’t tell you which site used what.
Per-site numbers do three jobs: they show whether your price covers the salt, they defend you if someone slips, and they set next winter’s order.
Quick answer
- Log every application at the site, not at the end of the night.
- Record the product, the amount and its unit, the time, the crew and the areas treated.
- Measure the amount the same way every time: count bags, or know what your spreader puts down at a setting.
- Total it by site after each storm and at the end of the season.
- Compare each site’s total with its area and with what you charge.
What to record at every application
| Field | Example | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Site and areas | Main lot and front walks | Ties the salt to one site and the surfaces you contracted |
| Date and time | [January 14], [5:40 a.m.] | Shows when it went down relative to the storm |
| Product | Rock salt, treated salt, a blend, brine | Different products, different costs |
| Amount and unit | [6] bags, [0.4] tonnes, [200] litres | The number you price and order from |
| Crew | Who applied it | Who to ask later |
| Conditions | Freezing rain, refreeze, pavement temperature if you have it | Explains why that much went down |
The free salt log template has these fields on one printable page.
Getting the amount right
- Bags are the easiest to count: the crew logs how many were opened at the site.
- Bulk from a spreader needs a known rate. Calibrate each spreader at the start of the season so you know what a setting puts down, or note what was loaded before the route and what was left after it.
- Brine is logged in litres or gallons from the tank.
- Walks and lots separately, if walks use a different product or get treated more often.
Turning the log into decisions
- Pricing. Whether the salt is included in your price or billed separately is your choice. Either way, each site’s total shows whether what you charge covers what it uses.
- Spreading. Divide a site’s amount per application by its treated area and compare it with the rate you meant to use. The salt application rates cheat sheet gives starting bands by pavement temperature, and the salt calculator does the arithmetic in square feet or square metres.
- Ordering. Next fall, start from what each site really used. The salt ordering worksheet walks through it.
- Claims. If someone slips, the questions are when the site was salted, with what and how much. A log made at the site answers them. See the slip-and-fall documentation guide.
Who sees the amounts
You don’t have to put salt amounts on every client report. One approach is to send the client the visit, with the time and photos, and keep the amounts in your own records, ready for your insurer or an adjuster. Write into the contract what the client receives and what you keep.
How Icey Software tracks salt per site
We make Icey Software. In Field Mode the crew taps “Log material” at the site and records the product and the amount, in the unit you set for each product: bags, weight (in tonnes, kilograms or pounds) or litres. Each log sits with that visit’s time, GPS, crew and photos. With no signal it is saved on the phone with the time the crew tapped it and syncs later.
The amounts stay in your own records and never appear on the client’s site report. Open any visit to see what went down, or use the claim pack on a site’s Site Reports page to get every visit at that site between two dates, the material included, in one PDF. See salt and de-icing tracking. Free forever up to 10 sites and 5 crew. Every feature.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I keep track of how much salt each property uses?
Log the product and amount at the site during each de-icing visit, with the date, time and crew, then total it by site after each storm. Totals for the whole yard can’t tell you which site used what.
What should a salt log include?
The site and areas treated, the date and time, the product, the amount and its unit, the crew, and the conditions that called for it. The free salt log template has these fields.
How do I measure salt from a spreader?
Calibrate the spreader so you know what a setting puts down, or note what was loaded before the route and what was left after it, and split it across the sites by their treated area. Bags are simpler: count them.
Should salt be a separate line on the invoice?
That is your choice. Some contractors include the salt in each de-icing visit’s price; others bill it separately. Per-site logs let you check that either way covers what each site uses.
Should clients see how much salt I used?
They don’t have to. You can send the visit with the time and photos and keep the amounts in your own records, ready if an insurer or adjuster asks.
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