Why not simply plow the road surface and spread sand/salt with the same truck?

Unfortunately, trucks require a full load of sand/salt for ballast in order to have adequate traction for pushing snow.  Ideally, the Town could send out a snowplow followed immediately by a truck spreading sand/salt; however, this would require considerably more equipment and manpower.  Given the relatively few instances where accumulation occurs prior to response, this would not be cost effective.