Contest opens to name North Northamptonshire's gritting lorries

A competition is open to name each of the ten gritting lorries servicing North Northamptonshire's roads has been launched.

Creative residents have been challenged to christen each of the NNC fleet, with winning entries printed onto the front of every truck.

But entrants with a creative - and clean - name for a gritter have just two weeks to get their ideas in before the contest shuts closes on January 25.

An NNC spokesman said: “With North Northamptonshire Council on standby to deal with wintry weather over the coming months – the authority is giving people the chance to name 10 gritting lorries that will be keeping our roads safe, with winning entries printed on to the front of every truck."

The competition runs until Wednesday, January 25 and is open to schools, classes or individuals. The winning entries will have the name painted onto the gritter.

In North Northamptonshire a total of 821 miles of road receives precautionary gritting – almost the same distance as between London and Dundee and back. This service is carried out by highways service provider Kier Highways

The Council has reserves of 2,500 tonnes of salt, with 643 grit bins across the region filled for use on public roads and footpaths.

The gritters are powered by sustainably sourced Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), which reduces the carbon produced from combustion engines by up to 90 per cent compared to diesel. The move demonstrates Kier and NNC’s shared commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Enhanced weather forecasting and temperature readings are taken via weather stations and sensors set out along North Northamptonshire’s roads, with updates sent every 15 minutes.

Through route-based forecasting, routes will be treated if the temperatures are forecasted to drop below 0.5C.

The gritters are also fitted with advanced GPS technology which requires only one person to operate the vehicle in clear conditions, by accumulating route data and reporting back to the office to ensure that works are safely delivered.

Entries should be [email protected] or tweet @NNCHighways and include:

- A suggested name of the gritter

- Applicant’s name

- Applicant’s contact details

- And be clean, original and creative