One thing to add for the monthly or yearly contract is a depth total cap. This allows extra charges if the totals hit a certain depth. 10 years ago we got twice our 100 year average and with out this we probably would have gone out of business. We usually write this as both an event cap and total depth for the season. Also, its a good idea to run a variety of kinds of contracts, so you always have positive income. The monthly is nice for stability but we tend to make more per push.
@@AdirondackHomesteadI don’t think you understand. He means after a certain amount of snow fall rates went up for every inch after that. For example it’s $20 to plow your driveway up to 12” after that we charge $1 per inch due to excessive abuse on equipment time spent plowing etc.
To give knowledge like this up is very commendable. You were doing thing a long time so just to helping a possible competitor is unheard of. Your advice might just have saved a person from making a huge financial mistake. I plowed snow a couple years and was paid hourly. Small lots. But like you say being a subcontractor leaves all the responsibility on the contractor. Just send me a check once a month.
Love seeing the bidding and estimating, I have been at it for a few years now landscaping and snow plowing recently got out of snow plowing for now. I’ve scaled my business up a lot in the last year with help from you and other TH-cam channels like yours. Your videos help out so much form someone starting out
Stan you're pretty clever the way you market your videos you give us just enough to keep us hanging around till the next segment and I like that the way you jump around is well planned out and methodical and very purposeful good job
My favorite comment I've heard since I started plowing is... the bigger the plow the faster you get done.... in my opinion "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". Saves from wearing out trucks and equipment
thank you very much Stan, you have helped me a lot, I live in Massachussetts, I listened to your advice and bought a ford 250 2020, excellent, I am learning how to calculate prices. God bless your life and family.
stand up guy for the advice videos, on top of that i have to say i watch a wide array of topics. I would have never thought that landscape contracting etc would consume most of my watch time! Keep up the good work stanley!
Great ideas. I contract snow plowing with a hybrid basic monthly fee that is folded in per push fee when it snows in a month. Because I’m tied up to maintain over a five month period, other contracting opportunities are given up when committing to maintain that property (justifies the monthly fee when it doesn’t snow in a month). That monthly fee is the base which is also used as part of per push fees if it does snow. I’m guaranteed monthly income and covered on the big snowfalls with the per push fee (around here happen in February). Customer still gets the best price when it snows as the monthly fee is rolled into a plowing visit.
Thanks Stan, we are in the same Twin City market. After last year, in our contracts that renewed, if we have over 60", we get additional $$$ in the final months payment for each 3" over that ceiling. This way we could keep our seasonal contracts competitive and still not take a bath at the end of the year. The other thing we are pushing are three year contracts as it seems to even out over time, for both us, and our established customer base. Not to mention bringing longer term stability to our balance sheet to help finance additional equipment. In our market, last year weeded out some of the poor performers and the hobby plowers. The other thing that helped, was to get out there early, before customers forgot how their last years service was and sell our reputation. Our snow removal customer base has doubled over last year. BTW great work on the YT channel! I have had a bit more time to watch than last year😊
A key point I didn't hear, is that anyone working as a sub should only work for well vetted generals and well vetted owners. Don't just work for anyone at any rate just for the sake of getting in. Have well defined contracts and boundaries.
Good luck. I know you didnt ask but any advice.... TAKE IT SLOW! Things look differnt in the snow and it can be costly when you damage stuff. Take your time and you WILL make money!
when you started talking about the diffrent snow plowing lvl got my mind going in the right direction of thinking of an idea putting it down talking to the right ppl to get the idea off the ground and in helping me in where I fail I I want to post it and if i did make it big i can look back to this video thank you stanley
As a resident corporate desk jockey (Software and Server Infrastructure Engineer), I expect I'll probably never be involved in any kind of bid work like what you all do for these jobs, but the business considerations and perspectives are still fascinating to me to learn as much as the landscaping and machine work. Growing my general knowledge base :) I say keep 'em coming, and thanks for sharing!
Love seeing videos like these, first year with starting up my landscaping business and been trying everything out by trial by fire. Thankfully it's been going good. Looked back on some of your older videos too and it has helped me have a idea on what to do.
Yes that was a great way to explain the best way to bid a snow or ice clearing jobs its also so good to see that you don't just take care of yourself by providing this information it sure will help and person that wants to be their own boss god bless brother
Great vid. I would like to add that for our seasonal snow contracts that pay set monthly fee, we put a cap on the total inches In a season. If we surpass inches, then per push fee is added on top of monthly. Double protection. Also need to factor in a certain amount of snow events as larger events with higher inch totals when coming up with your monthly rate. Your vids and podcasts are fantastic. Thank you.
I would get the cellular game cam or Security PTZ with solar charging.. You can mount to the light poles for the season. Your phone app gets notifications. You can also pop on the app just to make sure everything is still on site at a glance. Stealing parts of your equipment won't set off the GPS tracker. Just a thought. Everybody hates thieves.
Thanks for the info. I'd like to learn more on bidding. Nothing is one size fits all. I just can't afford to lose my shirt the first year I branch out. I'm looking into doing snow in my off season. I don't want employees. I just want to have a couple pieces of equipment and keep myself busy. If I'm 100% responsible though. I can't plan a day off. Need to stay home and wait for snow. A lot of variables to consider. Sorry, rambling. Thanks for the content.
we started using 50% flat rate seasonal contract with 50% per push. Im in upstate NY and we get about 130" per season so its critical to get out numbers correct. Great content as always
I was hoping we would get a video tonight! Got a little worried for a bit! We are gonna get pounded with this snow event on Friday! Keep up the great work! Stay safe and warm out there! Have a great night!
When I started plowing commercial sites 20 years ago we only did hourly. You rarely get hurt doing hourly, but never seem to make a killing as if you were doing per inch. Now we only do lump sums, with or without cap, or per inch. We average 35%-45% better margins with this model. Between the two types of contracts I always have cash flow during the winter and margins are way better than landscape construction..
Good video Stan.47 years of moving snow here..Have been using the per inch method for 30 yrs.It also helps for the person doing the billing.If you have 4 different machines at several different sites..We only get about ten events a year..Not much this year.I have 1 condo that is an annual amount with a bonus if it snows over certain amt..keep up the good work
Mix bag we found is best. Mostly monthly with some per push work to help pay labor and fuel. That way when it snows the per push work pays the bills. while the monthly accounts remain untouched.. seems to work out. We never do hourly only because we can usually beat an hourly rate on a per push. Also give us an incentive to hustle alittle more than hourly... get home earlier and make more $$$
hi there interesting back in the early 70s when i did snow plowing i gave a cost based on a 6 inch snow then + - based on amount above or below the 6 . i also did several locations all with different opening times . . my first meyers blade was 250 used . then i got a power angle 500. that came 2 years later . the power angle was something kind of new back around then . snow plows were vert rare back then in the town i grew up in just north of DC good show john
What a weird coincidence, the truck at 10:17 is from where I live in Woodstock NB, and I applied for a job there a few days ago. Odd coincidence. Great edit Stan! Hahah
Great video, would love to see more videos on bidding estimating. In my nick of the woods contractors are ruining the market undercutting everyone else. Working as sub not always works well, from bad experience general contractors deducts hours, and in the end doesn't pay thousands owed.
I was a sub for the first time this year pushing snow and I absolutely loved it. I don’t know that I really want to be the main primary contractor of the snow site. To be able to have the ability to just show up run my truck or run a piece of equipment and then go home at the end of the storm not that bad. As long as I get my billing in at a reasonable time it’s all good.
I never plowed, In Tn. there is not AS much call or more importantly pay for, snow removal. But the advice is just as sound for most other contractor work. Thanks for the tips Stanley. Send our best to the crew and your family, and lets hope you don't need the trackers.
I live in Des Moines Iowa and I did snow removal for Perficut for 12 years before I went off on my own. Down here snow is really a gamble because one winner it could be great the next winter we could hardly get anything at all. I have family in Duluth and my aunt always tells me I need to move up there for the winter because they get so much snow I can make so much money.
Thanks for the informative video!! Deff. Gives us some insight on what to be thinking about and the pros and cons of each method. Bidding and estimating costs, especially time has been most difficult for me... Partly because sense of time and ADHD don't really cooperate very well, until some repetition gets put into the mix... As always, Great videos, and Thank you for the hard work and time set aside for making them!!
Stan this was very informative, and yes I would like to see more videos on this topic, it helps me do a check up on what I'm doing. I have been checking for improvements, to make money plowing snow.
I’d love to see more bidding and estimating. In my neck of the woods it’s all contract work with salt included in the price. I moved north out of Toronto and it snow double the amount of times it did when I was in Toronto now. I’m finding the adjustment tricky. Would love to hear some industry standards.
Google past history of local snow events in your area. Or seasonal average of snow and then average total per event and calculate number of call outs. that info is out there of you start to dig.👊
Another Awesome video Stanley👏you explained it extremely clear manner. I’m looking forward to visit you in Minnesota hopefully in the near future. Keep on making your interesting videos!
Stan I do bidding all above seasonal contracts per inch on some sites price per push and the ones I set price and just send the bill depending on what services I perform during a storm always add in for loader to push back snow piles and prepaid contracts only cover up to seasonal snowfall average after that I have ability to charge per push many ways to skin a cat all depends on what fit’s your business model
Im a general contractors in North Carolina on the coast and i do work for one of the biggest businesses in my area. EVERYTHING is time and material. I love it.
As a person who individually plow snow I love getting details like this from other companies that way I can see if my prices are in line with industry standards and also helps me learn how to do the bidding process and like I say I have the hourly rate or I do a paper push and I give them the starting price and like you say the more snow the more money I don't have any seasonal
The bidding and estimating videos are great @Stan.. Not only for new guys coming into it, but for older guys who might not have ways or know how of getting the “industry standards”.. plus helps keep everyone on sort of the same page so to speak.. Great stuff brother!! Stay blessed!!
We do hourly for our machines and shovelers on some of our lots then a per push for most of our lots. When we do the per push method we will usually have a flat rate for every 1-3 inches that falls then go back around and hit them again in increments of 3 inches if time allows it.
Awesome video Stan!!! We just had an actual blizzard in Rhode Island last Saturday it's been a while since we had a storm like that .got about 25 inches and it was light fluffy stuff but there were drifts over the mirrors on my superduty !!! Its an 04 with 250k but it's an awesome truck for the driveways I plow
couple of other models that aren't as common years ago the company I work for took plowing bids on flat per inch basically anything over a trace lot has to be plowed and pay is determined by total snow fall nice for the contractor with a few big events not so great with a lot of small events after that system was retired they went to what as far as I know is still the current one and that's flat rate contractor bids an amount and that's what they get no caps on time or total snowfall talking to our site's former contractor who decided not to keep the project due to some of the other new clauses it was suggested to them (by corporate) to take the biggest year they had on record and double it for the bid price (company cares more about predictable costs than low costs in this case) It's a contract with a hefty payday but also major requirements that are hard to live up to as evidenced by having the 3rd new contractor in 5 years this year so watch the money but keep an eye on the "oh ands" baked in to the agreement
I do flat rate per push but I don't use a step ladder system based on amount of snow. That system get to hectic for customers to comprehend, I just picked a happy medium # and that there rate weather it's 2 inches or 10 inches. The main difference thou between me and the rest of my competitors is most of them that are single man operations can't compete with my snow Removal operations as I have the equipment to back myself up on the bigger storms, a 12 inch storm I may just about park the pick up truck epically if it's wet snow and u would probably see me plowing with dump truck with a load of snow in back for weight, and for residential properties I most likely will park the compact loader and drive around in skid steer busting properties out, by having the larger equipment at my fingertips allows me to get near the same amount of work done in near the same amount of time as if it would be a 6 inch storm. Most guys look at me and say I'm screwing myself over but in all reality we don't get all 12 inch storms, some are 2 inch some are 6 inch, at the end of the day the numbers all balance out when all is said and done if u know how to price the jobs. Also as to setting up I do same thing as you do with you mall property as I don't bother bringing equipment to jobsite each and every storm, in fall when equipment is at its lowest need I gear up snow equipment and take it to the respective properties and park it onsite from season, this helps in many ways as when I show up to a property whereas I can't use truck for plowing I have skid steers onsite, if I need machines for super long walkways (one property has 2,000 ft of sidewalk) the machines are there whereas I do not have to make extra trips during storm to bring trailers and equipment to jobsites at last minute. Also on my larger jobsites there's a backup machine sitting if needed sometimes it the pick up truck or it may be another plow truck but having back up machines is also a must, in shop a simple last minute machine is always ready to go if absolutely required redundancy backups is also a must if a repair can't be done in 5 minutes.
Sounds like you have it dialed in the best way that works for you. Not many people have all that spare equipment to park as back ups which makes your plan really shine for your situation.
@@Dirtmonkey only problem with excess equipemt is that's more maintenance but at same time a prime example is last storm, was having issue with my old JD 445 (with cab and heat! LOL) sidewalk pusher, machine died wile on warm up. Turns out wile machine was warming up the oil pump gave out and engine died (due to oil pump pressure switch which saved the engine) during process I couldn't get sidewalks cleared with that machine so I had to resort to a back up machine which was one of my other front end loaders. At end of day I brought new machine, pushed old machine onto trailer, brought it to shop and as of today it's finally fully repaired and tomorrow it will be brought out to jobsite and swapped with loader which is sitting in its place. The other main thing with redundancy equipment is a location to service the entire fleet of equipment as having a shop is super critical in winter for minor or severe breakdowns even if you have new equipment as things can happen, in may case I have a full shop with torch, welder, 2 huge tool cabinets, built in air compressor system whereas air compressor isn't a noisy thing in corners of shop - it has its own room for sound control, chain hoist from ceiling, plus others I can't think of, in end having a shop allows me to have minimal down time instead of being at rhe mercy of the service shop and that's where alot of smaller guys have down falls, if machine goes down they have the waiting game, but all this comes with 30 years experience...
Much appreciated Stan We had 55cm in 24hr 2 seasons ago in Oshawa On, Canada 🇨🇦 It took 5 times longer each site to complete the job A factor often overlooked in pricing to secure your stability
Great video! All hourly by equipment and per push amount here south of you in Mankato. You are correct, ice control is definitely better in profit margin than plowing. We have a sub for plowing but we are there controlling and we are sub for same company salting for their lots. So all works good not having to answer to too many people when having subs or being the sub. Thanks for the good content with this video. With history, I am closer to 26 to 28 events but that includes ice control included in events.
Great information. I have been approached by what I call the Nationals wanting me to bid accounts. I have found that they want me to carry all the insurance and shoulder all the risk. Have you encountered this? Also it is so sad to see that you have to go to such great lengths to protect your equipment from theft. I feel so fortunate that I have 150 plow accounts within a 2 mile radius. Everything sits in a heated shop and heads out when it is needed. I dont have to leave anything out. I have about 50 accounts outside of the 2 miles and do all of them with a couple of Pickup plows. Most of my accounts are Small commercial lots and walks , Small condo associations, and residential Drive ways and walks. I'm only an hour SE of you. Not much snow for us, not much in the forecast. Stay safe.
Yeah my biggest mistake was charging the same no matter how much snow and every time there's 6 in or more I kick myself in the ass for it but I'm going to have to make changes next year
Up in montreal Canada we price the contract , usually a cap of 300cms of snow slowly raising all the prices as the price of equipment has gone up so much , on a light snow year like this one it’s gravy but when it’s 300cm year it gets tight average around $750k worth of contracts small single car driveway $280 a season residential using John Deere 6000 series with inverse blowers
@@Dirtmonkey as long as we have somewhere to blow the snow it’s probably less ,we average 150 houses for newbies and 200-250 for experienced guys , for a 4-5 hour route
In Central NY, I've seen residential plow contractors do per push and seasonal contracts. Usually after a mild winter where the contractor comes out ahead, clients usually switch to per push for the following season and often times end up paying more.
The landscaping company I work for is a sub contractor for the town we are in. We plow town roads and help with snow removal off of our downtown area. The town has 4 sub contractors. We have 3 routes. From what my boss tells me sounds like he makes good money
Great video! This helps a lot, I'm also in MN north of the cities a little ways, and I'm still learning everything. I'm trying to get into more the commercial side of things. Any ideals you can send my way would be greatly appreciated!
I just bid hourly invoiced monthly. I calculate all machines by blade foot for plow and blade foot for pusher. Salt is simply the machine used blade feet hourly rate and a rate per hundred pound.
Stan - I love your videos, always super entertaining and informative! I would love info on the trackers you use for equipment. I wouldn’t expect you to show where you’re hiding them, but general info???? I manage a fairly substantial fleet of ag equipment and I would love to get a better system of tracking than word of mouth lol
Yes I like to see more bidding and estimating on snow and how when you do your dirt you like playing and dirt and you like playing in snow so what do we call you a jerk snowball gotcha have a good days and God bless you and your family
I plow a storage unit place near the units then i have my granpa come threw with his pick up i have this atv plow but i think i want to get a pickup truck with a plow. Very nice equipment.
plow the middle of the drives first, be careful that you do not collapse the unit doors. You need to move snow from the building to where you have already plowed.
When I was growing up there was a guy who charged on how many times he dropped the plow. Still don't know how he got work. This was back in the 80s early 90s and he was charging 10 to 20 depending on the size of the driveway. That could add up quick depending on how much he dropped the plow. Of course back then not too many people plowed commercial around where I grew up. Me when I had my plow truck I was charging 10 to 20 a driveway. Only had 4 driveways I plowed all friends. I didn't want to plow for someone I didn't know. Just made enough to put gas in my truck and that was fine with me. Was thinking about snowblowing driveways with my tractor but it's a old Craftsman and don't want the wear and tear on it. If I had a 4wd tractor with a blower for sure I would blow out people.
agreed. Thats why a big part of my operation is run as a sub contractor. No head aches. But an almost equal or greater portion (depending on if it snows or not) makes me money no matter what and at great rates! BUT I have ALL the calls and responsibility. But I can also make $200 an hour for my plow truck. And been doing that for 30 years. Those incredible profit potentials makes plowing exciting and fun. SOMETIMES your praying for a big snow and other times your praying for it to MISS hahahaha. Just depends on how many of which contracts you have in line for that season.
I have always felt that it’s not wise to do seasonal contracts if you have one truck. If your truck goes down and you have to make a bunch of calls and cannot render services, how would you reconcile that? If I was charging per push, I could just not charge them I have been snowplowing for four years. First year paid off the equipment I purchased, second year did pretty well, but had a transmission go out so that was a huge setback, and the last two years we have had barely any snow. Over the four years I think I have a net profit of like $8000. Pretty pathetic. I’ve been plowing about 30 driveways. Minnesota.
I am from Northern Minnesota that Twin Cities area is one strange place; Let me get this correct Interstate Companies is a paper company that hires subcontractors to actually do the work that some how they are awarded with out equipment and crews, is that correct. After all they really do not place asphalt, they do not install water and sewer lines; the sub contractors they hire do that work, with the Interstate State name placed on the equipment like your John Deere wheel loader backhoe you showed, am I correct in my assumption?
ya i didn't do well this year with snow. my price point is correct i think but being my first year i didn't want to take on more than i could chew. now i got my work routine down im doing my route in 4 hours so i really wish i taken on more work.
an idea on trackers i was thinking about a company brings out two gps per equipment which link together on hiden and one obvious when they steel they leave the obvious one behind and as soon as the gps split you get notified u see both locations of the gps this would be good for rentals
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas. Always interesting to hear the thoughts behind the actions. Certainly can see the gambling relationship with bidding jobs like this. Do you ever include provisions for fuel cost changes? With the massive price swings lately a market whim could mean the difference between overbidding a job or working for free or at a loss to do a job. Wishing you and your family the best and a safe season.
One thing to add for the monthly or yearly contract is a depth total cap. This allows extra charges if the totals hit a certain depth. 10 years ago we got twice our 100 year average and with out this we probably would have gone out of business. We usually write this as both an event cap and total depth for the season. Also, its a good idea to run a variety of kinds of contracts, so you always have positive income. The monthly is nice for stability but we tend to make more per push.
@@AdirondackHomesteadI don’t think you understand. He means after a certain amount of snow fall rates went up for every inch after that. For example it’s $20 to plow your driveway up to 12” after that we charge $1 per inch due to excessive abuse on equipment time spent plowing etc.
To give knowledge like this up is very commendable. You were doing thing a long time so just to helping a possible competitor is unheard of. Your advice might just have saved a person from making a huge financial mistake. I plowed snow a couple years and was paid hourly. Small lots. But like you say being a subcontractor leaves all the responsibility on the contractor. Just send me a check once a month.
Pretty much. Just trying to help 👍
Love seeing the bidding and estimating, I have been at it for a few years now landscaping and snow plowing recently got out of snow plowing for now. I’ve scaled my business up a lot in the last year with help from you and other TH-cam channels like yours. Your videos help out so much form someone starting out
So glad to help 👊👊👊 thanks for being here!!
@Dirtmonkey how can I get a one on one with you on snow business
I'm very small lawncare but just want to tell you your info is so helpful to so many of us. Thank you so much.
Stan you're pretty clever the way you market your videos you give us just enough to keep us hanging around till the next segment and I like that the way you jump around is well planned out and methodical and very purposeful good job
I've been plowing for 16 years... you're most definitely right when you say snowplowing is a gamble.
it sure is.
My favorite comment I've heard since I started plowing is... the bigger the plow the faster you get done.... in my opinion "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". Saves from wearing out trucks and equipment
thank you very much Stan, you have helped me a lot, I live in Massachussetts, I listened to your advice and bought a ford 250 2020, excellent, I am learning how to calculate prices. God bless your life and family.
stand up guy for the advice videos, on top of that i have to say i watch a wide array of topics. I would have never thought that landscape contracting etc would consume most of my watch time! Keep up the good work stanley!
Great ideas. I contract snow plowing with a hybrid basic monthly fee that is folded in per push fee when it snows in a month. Because I’m tied up to maintain over a five month period, other contracting opportunities are given up when committing to maintain that property (justifies the monthly fee when it doesn’t snow in a month). That monthly fee is the base which is also used as part of per push fees if it does snow. I’m guaranteed monthly income and covered on the big snowfalls with the per push fee (around here happen in February). Customer still gets the best price when it snows as the monthly fee is rolled into a plowing visit.
Thanks Stan, we are in the same Twin City market. After last year, in our contracts that renewed, if we have over 60", we get additional $$$ in the final months payment for each 3" over that ceiling. This way we could keep our seasonal contracts competitive and still not take a bath at the end of the year. The other thing we are pushing are three year contracts as it seems to even out over time, for both us, and our established customer base. Not to mention bringing longer term stability to our balance sheet to help finance additional equipment. In our market, last year weeded out some of the poor performers and the hobby plowers. The other thing that helped, was to get out there early, before customers forgot how their last years service was and sell our reputation. Our snow removal customer base has doubled over last year. BTW great work on the YT channel! I have had a bit more time to watch than last year😊
A key point I didn't hear, is that anyone working as a sub should only work for well vetted generals and well vetted owners. Don't just work for anyone at any rate just for the sake of getting in. Have well defined contracts and boundaries.
well said.
It's awesome having a local guy who knows his stuff posting videos to help others the videos have and keep being a great help
Thank you for the feedback- Glad they help.
17 years old getting into snowplowing on my own next year, appreciate the video greatly 🙏
Good luck. I know you didnt ask but any advice.... TAKE IT SLOW! Things look differnt in the snow and it can be costly when you damage stuff. Take your time and you WILL make money!
Hope it helps out👊
He also made a video similar like three years ago.
@@jonanderson4474 I'll go look for it, thank you!
make a contract that's easy to read and understand, be easy to get along with but 10% of your customers can be easily replaced. Don't hang on to them.
when you started talking about the diffrent snow plowing lvl got my mind going in the right direction of thinking of an idea putting it down talking to the right ppl to get the idea off the ground and in helping me in where I fail I I want to post it and if i did make it big i can look back to this video thank you stanley
Hope it helps bud!
As a resident corporate desk jockey (Software and Server Infrastructure Engineer), I expect I'll probably never be involved in any kind of bid work like what you all do for these jobs, but the business considerations and perspectives are still fascinating to me to learn as much as the landscaping and machine work. Growing my general knowledge base :) I say keep 'em coming, and thanks for sharing!
Thanks Stanley as always another absolutely great video keep them coming Love seeing them
You betcha! Thanks for the support
Love seeing videos like these, first year with starting up my landscaping business and been trying everything out by trial by fire. Thankfully it's been going good. Looked back on some of your older videos too and it has helped me have a idea on what to do.
Cool Beans Marco. Glad to hear it helps👊
Love that you share your knowledge and experiences, I hope Karma returns it to you! Wonderfully interesting to hear and watch these types of videos!
Yes that was a great way to explain the best way to bid a snow or ice clearing jobs its also so good to see that you don't just take care of yourself by providing this information it sure will help and person that wants to be their own boss god bless brother
Stan you are the hero we need in these times of snowmageddon. Please save us across the lake in Michigan. Hope you are holding up well there.
Im currently in a snow desert.
Great vid. I would like to add that for our seasonal snow contracts that pay set monthly fee, we put a cap on the total inches In a season. If we surpass inches, then per push fee is added on top of monthly. Double protection.
Also need to factor in a certain amount of snow events as larger events with higher inch totals when coming up with your monthly rate.
Your vids and podcasts are fantastic. Thank you.
Good idea, always remember the 3 most important letters in business, C. Y. A.
I would get the cellular game cam or Security PTZ with solar charging.. You can mount to the light poles for the season. Your phone app gets notifications. You can also pop on the app just to make sure everything is still on site at a glance. Stealing parts of your equipment won't set off the GPS tracker. Just a thought. Everybody hates thieves.
GREAT TIP! Thank you!
Thanks for the info. I'd like to learn more on bidding. Nothing is one size fits all. I just can't afford to lose my shirt the first year I branch out. I'm looking into doing snow in my off season. I don't want employees. I just want to have a couple pieces of equipment and keep myself busy. If I'm 100% responsible though. I can't plan a day off. Need to stay home and wait for snow. A lot of variables to consider. Sorry, rambling.
Thanks for the content.
we started using 50% flat rate seasonal contract with 50% per push. Im in upstate NY and we get about 130" per season so its critical to get out numbers correct. Great content as always
I was hoping we would get a video tonight! Got a little worried for a bit! We are gonna get pounded with this snow event on Friday! Keep up the great work! Stay safe and warm out there! Have a great night!
You stay safe and warm. I love those BIG blizzards! THE BEST playgrounds!
When I started plowing commercial sites 20 years ago we only did hourly. You rarely get hurt doing hourly, but never seem to make a killing as if you were doing per inch. Now we only do lump sums, with or without cap, or per inch. We average 35%-45% better margins with this model. Between the two types of contracts I always have cash flow during the winter and margins are way better than landscape construction..
agreed- The lump sum has WAY better margins
Good video Stan.47 years of moving snow here..Have been using the per inch method for 30 yrs.It also helps for the person doing the billing.If you have 4 different machines at several different sites..We only get about ten events a year..Not much this year.I have 1 condo that is an annual amount with a bonus if it snows over certain amt..keep up the good work
What state you located in?
The per inch works great with awesome margins!
Per inch is where it at.
Mix bag we found is best. Mostly monthly with some per push work to help pay labor and fuel. That way when it snows the per push work pays the bills. while the monthly accounts remain untouched.. seems to work out. We never do hourly only because we can usually beat an hourly rate on a per push. Also give us an incentive to hustle alittle more than hourly... get home earlier and make more $$$
agreed on all points.
I love when you do the informative business side videos.
Glad you like them!
Thanks for the video and God Bless you as well.
Back in the day when I worked for people plowing, this would have been huge.
hi there interesting back in the early 70s when i did snow plowing i gave a cost based on a 6 inch snow then + - based on amount above or below the 6 . i also did several locations all with different opening times . . my first meyers blade was 250 used . then i got a power angle 500. that came 2 years later . the power angle was something kind of new back around then . snow plows were vert rare back then in the town i grew up in just north of DC good show john
What a weird coincidence, the truck at 10:17 is from where I live in Woodstock NB, and I applied for a job there a few days ago. Odd coincidence. Great edit Stan! Hahah
Thats pretty cool when it happens
Great video, would love to see more videos on bidding estimating. In my nick of the woods contractors are ruining the market undercutting everyone else. Working as sub not always works well, from bad experience general contractors deducts hours, and in the end doesn't pay thousands owed.
That was extremely helpful. I really enjoy the couple of videos I’ve seen of how you bid certain jobs. Thank you
That was an interesting rundown of how you handle the snowplowing business. Thanks for sharing! It was entertaining and informative.
Glad it was helpful!
Love these vids! More would be awesome! The more detail the better! I appreciate you Stan.
I was a sub for the first time this year pushing snow and I absolutely loved it. I don’t know that I really want to be the main primary contractor of the snow site. To be able to have the ability to just show up run my truck or run a piece of equipment and then go home at the end of the storm not that bad. As long as I get my billing in at a reasonable time it’s all good.
Sounds like you got a pretty good system there 👍 Keep up the good work man & stay safe out there
I never plowed, In Tn. there is not AS much call or more importantly pay for, snow removal. But the advice is just as sound for most other contractor work. Thanks for the tips Stanley. Send our best to the crew and your family, and lets hope you don't need the trackers.
I live in Des Moines Iowa and I did snow removal for Perficut for 12 years before I went off on my own. Down here snow is really a gamble because one winner it could be great the next winter we could hardly get anything at all. I have family in Duluth and my aunt always tells me I need to move up there for the winter because they get so much snow I can make so much money.
Thanks for the informative video!! Deff. Gives us some insight on what to be thinking about and the pros and cons of each method. Bidding and estimating costs, especially time has been most difficult for me... Partly because sense of time and ADHD don't really cooperate very well, until some repetition gets put into the mix... As always, Great videos, and Thank you for the hard work and time set aside for making them!!
Bidding is the hardest thing to learn in my opinion. I’d like more video on it. Stan, you’re the man!
can do!
@@Dirtmonkey my Facebook has been all messed up lately. I just seen you replied. 🤦🏼♂️
Stan this was very informative, and yes I would like to see more videos on this topic, it helps me do a check up on what I'm doing. I have been checking for improvements, to make money plowing snow.
Will do!
I’d love to see more bidding and estimating. In my neck of the woods it’s all contract work with salt included in the price. I moved north out of Toronto and it snow double the amount of times it did when I was in Toronto now. I’m finding the adjustment tricky. Would love to hear some industry standards.
Google past history of local snow events in your area. Or seasonal average of snow and then average total per event and calculate number of call outs. that info is out there of you start to dig.👊
Stan, thank you. AWESOME VIDEO WITH GREAT CONTENT! More please!! Good Luck and Thank you again!🇺🇸
More to come!
Thank you Stan!
Another Awesome video Stanley👏you explained it extremely clear manner.
I’m looking forward to visit you in Minnesota hopefully in the near future.
Keep on making your interesting videos!
Sounds great!
Stan I do bidding all above seasonal contracts per inch on some sites price per push and the ones I set price and just send the bill depending on what services I perform during a storm always add in for loader to push back snow piles and prepaid contracts only cover up to seasonal snowfall average after that I have ability to charge per push many ways to skin a cat all depends on what fit’s your business model
Perfect! I like those built in cushions.
Im a general contractors in North Carolina on the coast and i do work for one of the biggest businesses in my area. EVERYTHING is time and material. I love it.
a big part of mine is well and I also love it.
This is great information! Wish I had a mentor 20 years ago that had taught me stuff like this.
🙏 Glad to know it helps
Thank you. Very informative. I’d love to see more bidding videos.
You got it!
Great video Stan! Thank you for sharing the information and knowledge!
You bet!
I am playing catch up. I am glad you got protection for your equipment. Thanks for the videos. ☺🙏
Welcome back! Thanks for watching
As a person who individually plow snow I love getting details like this from other companies that way I can see if my prices are in line with industry standards and also helps me learn how to do the bidding process and like I say I have the hourly rate or I do a paper push and I give them the starting price and like you say the more snow the more money I don't have any seasonal
I mix and match my contracts. That way if its a snowy season I make money and if it doesn't snow at all- I still make money
The bidding and estimating videos are great @Stan.. Not only for new guys coming into it, but for older guys who might not have ways or know how of getting the “industry standards”.. plus helps keep everyone on sort of the same page so to speak.. Great stuff brother!! Stay blessed!!
We do hourly for our machines and shovelers on some of our lots then a per push for most of our lots. When we do the per push method we will usually have a flat rate for every 1-3 inches that falls then go back around and hit them again in increments of 3 inches if time allows it.
I would love to see more of these videos! It definitely helps out!
You got it!
Awesome video Stan!!! We just had an actual blizzard in Rhode Island last Saturday it's been a while since we had a storm like that .got about 25 inches and it was light fluffy stuff but there were drifts over the mirrors on my superduty !!! Its an 04 with 250k but it's an awesome truck for the driveways I plow
DUDE that is awesome! Those big fluffy ones are the most fun!
couple of other models that aren't as common
years ago the company I work for took plowing bids on flat per inch basically anything over a trace lot has to be plowed and pay is determined by total snow fall nice for the contractor with a few big events not so great with a lot of small events
after that system was retired they went to what as far as I know is still the current one and that's flat rate contractor bids an amount and that's what they get no caps on time or total snowfall talking to our site's former contractor who decided not to keep the project due to some of the other new clauses it was suggested to them (by corporate) to take the biggest year they had on record and double it for the bid price (company cares more about predictable costs than low costs in this case)
It's a contract with a hefty payday but also major requirements that are hard to live up to as evidenced by having the 3rd new contractor in 5 years this year so watch the money but keep an eye on the "oh ands" baked in to the agreement
well said- also sounds like that company modified their contracts after having less than stellar results the old way.
Awesome Video. Very Helpful. Have a good one.
Grape propel with tonights low set for -15F. How about you?
Glad you now have trackers for the attachments, that is a cool deal. Hope it elemenates the thefts you have had in the past.
I hope so to Kevin. Thanks for tuning in.
@@Dirtmonkey I won’t miss any of your videos, they are great
Interesting
Even though I don't have any snow plows or heavy equipment,it's interesting how much money you can make doing this work.
Its my favorite kind of work.
@14:20 LOL thats me Stan, gotta love that snow salary
😃👍
Great video Stan 🇺🇲 great information always enjoy watching you
Appreciate it Thomas!
Living in Central Queensland I don't have a lot of snow jobs but I enjoyed the content.
I do flat rate per push but I don't use a step ladder system based on amount of snow. That system get to hectic for customers to comprehend, I just picked a happy medium # and that there rate weather it's 2 inches or 10 inches. The main difference thou between me and the rest of my competitors is most of them that are single man operations can't compete with my snow Removal operations as I have the equipment to back myself up on the bigger storms, a 12 inch storm I may just about park the pick up truck epically if it's wet snow and u would probably see me plowing with dump truck with a load of snow in back for weight, and for residential properties I most likely will park the compact loader and drive around in skid steer busting properties out, by having the larger equipment at my fingertips allows me to get near the same amount of work done in near the same amount of time as if it would be a 6 inch storm. Most guys look at me and say I'm screwing myself over but in all reality we don't get all 12 inch storms, some are 2 inch some are 6 inch, at the end of the day the numbers all balance out when all is said and done if u know how to price the jobs.
Also as to setting up I do same thing as you do with you mall property as I don't bother bringing equipment to jobsite each and every storm, in fall when equipment is at its lowest need I gear up snow equipment and take it to the respective properties and park it onsite from season, this helps in many ways as when I show up to a property whereas I can't use truck for plowing I have skid steers onsite, if I need machines for super long walkways (one property has 2,000 ft of sidewalk) the machines are there whereas I do not have to make extra trips during storm to bring trailers and equipment to jobsites at last minute. Also on my larger jobsites there's a backup machine sitting if needed sometimes it the pick up truck or it may be another plow truck but having back up machines is also a must, in shop a simple last minute machine is always ready to go if absolutely required redundancy backups is also a must if a repair can't be done in 5 minutes.
Sounds like you have it dialed in the best way that works for you. Not many people have all that spare equipment to park as back ups which makes your plan really shine for your situation.
@@Dirtmonkey only problem with excess equipemt is that's more maintenance but at same time a prime example is last storm, was having issue with my old JD 445 (with cab and heat! LOL) sidewalk pusher, machine died wile on warm up. Turns out wile machine was warming up the oil pump gave out and engine died (due to oil pump pressure switch which saved the engine) during process I couldn't get sidewalks cleared with that machine so I had to resort to a back up machine which was one of my other front end loaders. At end of day I brought new machine, pushed old machine onto trailer, brought it to shop and as of today it's finally fully repaired and tomorrow it will be brought out to jobsite and swapped with loader which is sitting in its place. The other main thing with redundancy equipment is a location to service the entire fleet of equipment as having a shop is super critical in winter for minor or severe breakdowns even if you have new equipment as things can happen, in may case I have a full shop with torch, welder, 2 huge tool cabinets, built in air compressor system whereas air compressor isn't a noisy thing in corners of shop - it has its own room for sound control, chain hoist from ceiling, plus others I can't think of, in end having a shop allows me to have minimal down time instead of being at rhe mercy of the service shop and that's where alot of smaller guys have down falls, if machine goes down they have the waiting game, but all this comes with 30 years experience...
if you think a plowing contract is bad, try getting married, then divorced. just once.
😂👊
Great video, love watching. Great info !
Thank you sir!
Much appreciated Stan
We had 55cm in 24hr 2 seasons ago in Oshawa On, Canada 🇨🇦
It took 5 times longer each site to complete the job
A factor often overlooked in pricing to secure your stability
Great video! All hourly by equipment and per push amount here south of you in Mankato. You are correct, ice control is definitely better in profit margin than plowing. We have a sub for plowing but we are there controlling and we are sub for same company salting for their lots. So all works good not having to answer to too many people when having subs or being the sub. Thanks for the good content with this video. With history, I am closer to 26 to 28 events but that includes ice control included in events.
Thanks for the info!
Excellent video Stanley
Thank you sir!
Great information. I have been approached by what I call the Nationals wanting me to bid accounts. I have found that they want me to carry all the insurance and shoulder all the risk. Have you encountered this? Also it is so sad to see that you have to go to such great lengths to protect your equipment from theft. I feel so fortunate that I have 150 plow accounts within a 2 mile radius. Everything sits in a heated shop and heads out when it is needed. I dont have to leave anything out. I have about 50 accounts outside of the 2 miles and do all of them with a couple of Pickup plows. Most of my accounts are Small commercial lots and walks , Small condo associations, and residential Drive ways and walks. I'm only an hour SE of you. Not much snow for us, not much in the forecast. Stay safe.
Dang- sounds like a really nice setup for sure.
Always enjoy watching your content!!!!
I appreciate that!
Yeah my biggest mistake was charging the same no matter how much snow and every time there's 6 in or more I kick myself in the ass for it but I'm going to have to make changes next year
Good catch now at least. I base my contracts on 1-3". then 3-8". then 8-12" Then Hourly rates above 12" (this is optional depndeing on your area.)
Up in montreal Canada we price the contract , usually a cap of 300cms of snow slowly raising all the prices as the price of equipment has gone up so much , on a light snow year like this one it’s gravy but when it’s 300cm year it gets tight average around $750k worth of contracts small single car driveway $280 a season residential using John Deere 6000 series with inverse blowers
Those things can clear a driveway in like 60 seconds or something.
@@Dirtmonkey as long as we have somewhere to blow the snow it’s probably less ,we average 150 houses for newbies and 200-250 for experienced guys , for a 4-5 hour route
In Central NY, I've seen residential plow contractors do per push and seasonal contracts. Usually after a mild winter where the contractor comes out ahead, clients usually switch to per push for the following season and often times end up paying more.
The landscaping company I work for is a sub contractor for the town we are in. We plow town roads and help with snow removal off of our downtown area. The town has 4 sub contractors. We have 3 routes. From what my boss tells me sounds like he makes good money
he might be
Great video! This helps a lot, I'm also in MN north of the cities a little ways, and I'm still learning everything. I'm trying to get into more the commercial side of things. Any ideals you can send my way would be greatly appreciated!
I just bid hourly invoiced monthly. I calculate all machines by blade foot for plow and blade foot for pusher. Salt is simply the machine used blade feet hourly rate and a rate per hundred pound.
I'd recommend putting up trail cams near your equipment storage from multi angles to help with preventing theft
Stan - I love your videos, always super entertaining and informative! I would love info on the trackers you use for equipment. I wouldn’t expect you to show where you’re hiding them, but general info???? I manage a fairly substantial fleet of ag equipment and I would love to get a better system of tracking than word of mouth lol
Nice one Stan. 👍👍🏴🏴
Thanks Tony!
Yes I like to see more bidding and estimating on snow and how when you do your dirt you like playing and dirt and you like playing in snow so what do we call you a jerk snowball gotcha have a good days and God bless you and your family
God bless you and yours.
I charge a flat rate anything over a 12hr period 12inch or four plows is another charge.
Agreed- great stategy,. I do the same on one of my contracts.
I’ve been dying to understand bidding these jobs thank you!
Glad it helps!
I plow a storage unit place near the units then i have my granpa come threw with his pick up i have this atv plow but i think i want to get a pickup truck with a plow. Very nice equipment.
Keep those goals in mind and you will make it come true.
plow the middle of the drives first, be careful that you do not collapse the unit doors. You need to move snow from the building to where you have already plowed.
@@churlburt8485 Thanks for the tip!
When I was growing up there was a guy who charged on how many times he dropped the plow. Still don't know how he got work. This was back in the 80s early 90s and he was charging 10 to 20 depending on the size of the driveway. That could add up quick depending on how much he dropped the plow. Of course back then not too many people plowed commercial around where I grew up. Me when I had my plow truck I was charging 10 to 20 a driveway. Only had 4 driveways I plowed all friends. I didn't want to plow for someone I didn't know. Just made enough to put gas in my truck and that was fine with me. Was thinking about snowblowing driveways with my tractor but it's a old Craftsman and don't want the wear and tear on it. If I had a 4wd tractor with a blower for sure I would blow out people.
If you can I’d like to see one of those gps trackers. I am looking for one for my trailer hopefully with out a monthly subscription.
I’ll try to get that for ya!
I'm happy with getting less money for not having to deal with headaches coming from other's incompetency.
agreed. Thats why a big part of my operation is run as a sub contractor. No head aches. But an almost equal or greater portion (depending on if it snows or not) makes me money no matter what and at great rates! BUT I have ALL the calls and responsibility. But I can also make $200 an hour for my plow truck. And been doing that for 30 years. Those incredible profit potentials makes plowing exciting and fun. SOMETIMES your praying for a big snow and other times your praying for it to MISS hahahaha. Just depends on how many of which contracts you have in line for that season.
I wish Cat would have a rigid track frame option, the 239's are a nice size machine but that suspension bob you get with them is terrible.
Good morning
DIRT MONEY
FOUND U BYE ACCADENT
HAVE BEEN HOOD EVER SINCE
LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
GOD BLESS BROTHER
Glad your Here Jason! Stay safe and warm bud.👍
Maybe a camera or two on those light poles in the staging area.
Thanks Stan! Love your videos!
Stan you should've released this in the summer so people c[uld learn it before doing their winter contracts.
I thnk we are always learning. 👊
I have always felt that it’s not wise to do seasonal contracts if you have one truck. If your truck goes down and you have to make a bunch of calls and cannot render services, how would you reconcile that? If I was charging per push, I could just not charge them
I have been snowplowing for four years. First year paid off the equipment I purchased, second year did pretty well, but had a transmission go out so that was a huge setback, and the last two years we have had barely any snow. Over the four years I think I have a net profit of like $8000. Pretty pathetic. I’ve been plowing about 30 driveways. Minnesota.
Very helpful! Thanks for sharing!
I am from Northern Minnesota that Twin Cities area is one strange place; Let me get this correct Interstate Companies is a paper company that hires subcontractors to actually do the work that some how they are awarded with out equipment and crews, is that correct. After all they really do not place asphalt, they do not install water and sewer lines; the sub contractors they hire do that work, with the Interstate State name placed on the equipment like your John Deere wheel loader backhoe you showed, am I correct in my assumption?
Love these kinds of videos
Awesome! Thanks!
ya i didn't do well this year with snow. my price point is correct i think but being my first year i didn't want to take on more than i could chew. now i got my work routine down im doing my route in 4 hours so i really wish i taken on more work.
an idea on trackers i was thinking about a company brings out two gps per equipment which link together on hiden and one obvious when they steel they leave the obvious one behind and as soon as the gps split you get notified u see both locations of the gps this would be good for rentals
I prefer to charge seasonally with anything in November or April costing extra where I live
Consider doing a seasonal with a total depth cap. So that way your covered even in December with a major fall
Agreed
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas. Always interesting to hear the thoughts behind the actions. Certainly can see the gambling relationship with bidding jobs like this. Do you ever include provisions for fuel cost changes? With the massive price swings lately a market whim could mean the difference between overbidding a job or working for free or at a loss to do a job. Wishing you and your family the best and a safe season.