"If you think the roads you're driving on seem worse than usual this winter, you're probably right. The waves of snowstorms in much of the country have exhausted supplies of rock salt, the main tool that road crews use to melt ice and snow."

"Even areas with vast quantities of salt underground are having a hard time getting it onto their streets this year.

You know you've got a widespread problem when Milwaukee fights road ice with cheese brine, New Jersey breaks out the pickle juice, and New York, a major salt producer, declares a salt shortage."

Frank Morris reports for NPR's All Things Considered February 17, 2014. [2]