Snow Plowing

[jeepit]

Anyone out there do any snow plowing? What do you charge? What are the pitfalls if any? I am only going to do 1 parking lot, but just curious.

 

[jeepit]

Any takers on this?

 

[MFalkinham]

I never did it commercially, but I did plow several parking lots for family, friends, beer, etc. The biggest thing would be insurance, both on your truck and to cover you in case you damage someone's personal property while plowing.



Here is a site with lots of good info on commercial plowing... .



http://www.snowplowing-contractors.com/



And here is the site that I bought my plow supplies from; they were very good on both price and service. I ended up selling the plow truck and just using my snowblower instead.



http://www.angelos-supplies.com/



- Mike

 

[MKinner]

well being from northern wisconsin, i know a lot of people that have small plowing side jobs. most of the people that plow a significant number of driveways and parking lots charge by the minute. the guy i used to work for had a good size stopwatch mounted in his truck so he could see exactly how many minutes it took to do a driveway. back in '97 they charged a buck a minute. i think the price has at least doubled by now.

 

[midlife crisis]

I plowed for many years. 6 trucks-4 employees,1 loader and 2 spreaders. Things are different in the "Sue Me State" of NJ. After a knock-down drag out brawl in a driveway during the 96 blizzard- it was commercial only. Residential sucks. People dont want to pay. Commercial is where the money is. You must have insurance, as we have found if someone is to get hurt before the lot is plowed-its an act of God. If they get hurt after you plowed- you are responsible. (Thank the lawyers). Doctors offices, gas stations, grocery stores all have to be open for business. When you go out, you stay out until everything is clear after the snow stops. Always set up written contracts before the season starts. State your charges per accumalation as noted in the local paper, this way no one can feal cheated. Offer salt/sand service if you can. (pretty good money) Always make the customer sign off declining salt/sand service. If someone does sue, you can (sorta) fall back on this. Every truck had the same plow, and spare parts-and the tools to change them. All the equipment was completely gone over in the summer months. Downtime when it was snowing was simply not an option. We had special fans (non flex/clutch) so we could run hiway speeds without overheat, trans coolers, modified auto's, & backup ign boxes in the Fords. Bed boxes were equipped with lights under the lids, all tools incl 1/2" drive were onboard. Trucks were sprung to hold alignment with or without the plows. Everything on the truck was geared toward holding up. The rules were simple-when you take a break-the truck gets a break. Check all fasteners (even the tack welded ones) and fluids at every pit stop. I was charging between 300-400 per hour, per truck. We took plowing seriously and our prices showed. Personally, I would never plow with a new(er) truck, or any make 1/2 ton for heavy stuff. Driveways ok, but not commercially. Have everything in place 1 month before the winter begins, but leave yourself some openings. You will find the amatuers bow out for one reason or another after the first storm- than you step in and take the business. Good Luck-

 

[bmoeller]

This was about 10 yrs ago, but one I guy I know that used to plow snow, charged $25/hr and a $50 minimum fee for the job. Almost all residential, one commercial (hotel parking lot). Used an old Blazer and 7 1/2' Meyer plow.



Charged extra for clearing the sidewalks, either by hand if it was quick or a snow blower, and salt/sand.

 

[Rosco]

I plowed for a couple of seasons with both residential and commercial lots. Pricing for service varys from region to region. Insurance is a must and there is alot of prep work involved. By prep work I mean all the pre-snow work like mapping out the hazards at your accounts, knowing how your route will be followed, making sure your truck is ready, and so on. For a detailed plowing forums check out www.plowsite.com.



Heres my one of my previous plow trucks. It's an '03 2500 QC Cummins.