New gritter name was executive decision

If you look out the window early one morning this winter, you might just see Usain Salt keeping the roads safe… This brilliantly sporting gritter name suggestion came from six-year-old Dylan Lambourne from High Wycombe, who entered this year’s gritter naming competition at the County Show in August. Buckinghamshire County Council’s Chief Executive Rachael Shimmin was given the honour of choosing the winner of the competition when she visited a Transport for Buckinghamshire (TfB) depot at the end of September.

Rachael pulled the name out of a (hard) hat when she took a tour of the Handy Cross depot in High Wycombe on September 29, and was very impressed with the result: “Usain Salt is a fantastic name for a gritter – while these big yellow salt spreaders might not be known for their speed and agility, they are certainly known for their hardy endurance under tough circumstances! I was honoured to be given the task of choosing the winning name, and well done to Dylan for coming up with it.”

All new TfB gritters are personalised with names and this year there are 12 new additions to the big yellow fleet. If you have a good name suggestion for the other 11 gritters that will be hitting the roads with Usain Salt this year, you can tweet @TfBalerts to enter, or email gritternames@buckscc.gov.uk, before the end of October.