While many drivers in North Texas are beginning to think about wintry road conditions, one Fort Worth family has been gearing up for several months.
The family's business started booming this summer, much sooner than it has ever before.
The Dipprey family provides the de-icing material used by the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as many cities and colleges, on North Texas roads during winter weather.
The chloride mix first is mined in Utah, then trucked to their Fort Worth warehouse. It’s a mix designed to be less corrosive to your car.
“With a whole bunch of minerals in it, it’s actually potassium calcium, magnesium and sodium chloride,” said Landon Dipprey, with EnviroTX.
TxDOT gets its truckloads from the business, as do several nearby states.
“All of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana,” Dipprey said.
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The truckloads this winter have been going all over Texas, to parts you might not even expect. Just this week, Harris County got a shipment, along with areas along the border.
“It's got different particle sizes, so that the smaller pieces are going to sit more on the top and start that melting process, and the bigger ones are going to go all the way to the bottom as they suck the moisture out, create that melting brine,” explained Dipprey. “So that the snow and ice is no longer stuck to the pavement.”
