Smart GPS gritters to keep Britain's busiest roads moving during snow and ice The tracking devices will allow operators in a central command centre to dispatch the vehicles to roads worst affected by snow and ice to ensure traffic does not grind to a halt in freezing weather. To improve efficiency, the trucks, which can carry up to eight tons of rock salt, are also equipped with sensors to let controllers see how much grit they are spreading. The technology will mean managers can trace each vehicle and monitor which are spreading and which are simply travelling, to ensure that no roads are left untreated or accidentally gritted more than once. The gritters are being piloted on some of London's busiest roads and their introduction follows criticism that local authorities were poorly prepared for heavy snow and ice during the last two winters. Westminster City Council has become the first authority to trial the vehicles, buying eight new gritters, which will be used to spread the 1,600 tons of salt stockpiled in three silos across the capital. Tom Willoughby, the council's street cleansing manager, said the GPS technology would also help the local authority challenge legal claims from people who might try to sue the council over accidents on icy roads and pavements. He said: "By being able to see where the gritters are and whether they are spreading or travelling allows us to be more efficient. But the main advantage of these units is that if people complain after the event that they have broken a bone after falling over, while that is unfortunate, we can then go back to the GPS records and see what the gritters were doing at that time. It will allow us to fight those kind of cases.