# Snow routes- length of time to complete per truck



## bah1491 (Nov 6, 2009)

What is an "acceptable" amount of time for each truck to service it's first account, to the last account?

We are consistently growing, and are no longer accepting snow clients this year. The problem is, I may be in the position to drop some accounts in order to service other accounts quicker. 

What do you think is an acceptable amount of time for each from the start of it's route to the finish?

Obviously if the snow is done by 9:00pm, you have no time constraints, but if the snow stops at midnight, it's not possible to have all sites clean by 8:00am if your route is a 10 hour route. 

Any thoughts?

We have 5 trucks, 3 with bulk spreaders, 1 sub truck and a sub skid steer.


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## born2farm (Dec 24, 2007)

6 hours per truck is what we do. 4 hours per salt truck and 4 hours per sidewalk crew.


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## SnowFakers (Dec 31, 2012)

I would think if it's taking more than 8 hours for each equipment to get all the properties clear then you need to add another... What happens when 1 truck goes down? Now it's 10 hours a truck, it all depends on your accounts and what they expect but 8 hours after the final flake falls would be the farthest id like to go especially on commercial properties


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## Citytow (Sep 21, 2014)

bah1491;1888901 said:


> What is an "acceptable" amount of time for each truck to service it's first account, to the last account?
> 
> We are consistently growing, and are no longer accepting snow clients this year. The problem is, I may be in the position to drop some accounts in order to service other accounts quicker.
> 
> ...


you'll find out soon enough . whats the hurry ? nuthin worse than a road raged plow driver . every route ,storm ,traffic,equip and driver(yrs of seat time) is different . uncomparable
after a wet 10''er , you'll get an idea....prsport


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## bah1491 (Nov 6, 2009)

Last year we were around 5-7 hours per truck per event. We have added two trucks, but added two 7 acre lots and a 3 acre lot. Therefore, those trucks are maxed. 

Anyone know of any reliable subs in the southeastern ohio area?


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## Jfdvrod (Nov 29, 2014)

I think a good number is to complete your route 6-8 hours after snow stops. We gained a considerable amount of time when we started performing training sessions with each driver and kept those drivers on the same lots for the season. Were able to add several more properties with out adding resources just by becoming more efficient.


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## Citytow (Sep 21, 2014)

Jfdvrod;1888933 said:


> I think a good number is to complete your route 6-8 hours after snow stops. We gained a considerable amount of time when we started performing training sessions with each driver and kept those drivers on the same lots for the season. Were able to add several more properties with out adding resources just by becoming more efficient.


for a 6-8 hr route


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Citytow;1888936 said:


> for a 6-8 hr route


Is your time out over?:laughing:


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## bah1491 (Nov 6, 2009)

We all know that if you give employees 6 hours worth of work it takes them 8, but if you add another two hours it still only takes 8 hours. This year I started doing training sessions with power points and a "parking lot sandbox" also showing SIMA training videos. (As I can afford to buy the damn things)


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## Defcon 5 (Mar 20, 2014)

grandview;1888938 said:


> Is your time out over?:laughing:


:laughing::laughing:........That's Funny.....Don't poke the Bear


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## beanz27 (Dec 22, 2012)

Shoot for 5-6 hours, that way when the big storm hits it's still under 10 hours.


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## wewille (Jan 20, 2009)

I have three trucks, 1 skid, 1 ag tractor, 1 sidewalk machine, and 1 sub. The tractor and two trucks run abvout 6 hours every storm, and one truck and the skid run at least ten hours every time. The sidewalk machine will run about 8 hours. We are fortunate to have a very tight route so we will plow the lots and do main walkways before businesses open and so people can get out of their drives. Then the skid runs around doing cleanup at apartments and a truck will re-clear aprons and help out with sidewalks. My advice is you should be pretty well done on an average storm in roughly 6 hours. Cleanups and sidewalks can extend a few more hours in my opinion.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

We shoot for 6 hours max on a 2-4 inch storm for everything except cleanups.


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## Brant'sLawnCare (Jun 29, 2007)

John_DeereGreen;1897376 said:


> We shoot for 6 hours max on a 2-4 inch storm for everything except cleanups.


I feel the same exact way. This is what I shoot for as well.


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## Antlerart06 (Feb 28, 2011)

WoW I must be loaded My route takes 10-12 hrs per 6 rigs under 4'' of snow 
Salt run is 3 hrs with 2 rigs during Ice Storm


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

Our routes aren't that big, 3 trucks at about 4-5 hours but half our lots are basically zero tolerance so many times we're going back to keep it plowed/salted. Our weather is so F'ed up here I kind of need to plan capacity on a worse case scenario but it sounds like you need another truck. IMO, 8-10 hours to complete a route is too much for one truck.


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## bah1491 (Nov 6, 2009)

Well, we cleaned house on some of our accounts that did not want salt all the time, subbed out 5 sites to another contractor, and hired another sub with a loader and bought a 14' pusher for it. Problem solved. 

If only it was as easy as it sounded ^ there.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

bah1491;1935030 said:


> Well, we cleaned house on some of our accounts that did not want salt all the time, subbed out 5 sites to another contractor, and hired another sub with a loader and bought a 14' pusher for it. Problem solved.
> 
> If only it was as easy as it sounded ^ there.


Sweet! Glad it worked out.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Antlerart06;1934996 said:


> WoW I must be loaded My route takes 10-12 hrs per 6 rigs under 4'' of snow
> Salt run is 3 hrs with 2 rigs during Ice Storm


You're way over booked, at least for here.

If you tried that here, the first 6-9 inch storm we got you'd be done. There's no way you'd be able to keep up.

We get a few phone calls toward the end of the 6 hours on storms like yesterday, where it started snowing about 5 AM, and quit about 10 AM. I can't imagine letting an account sit untouched for up to 12 hours after the snow is done.

Our salt routes just salting are an hour, at the most.


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## bah1491 (Nov 6, 2009)

Our route lengths are still in the 8 -9 hour range. If I could find another sub with a truck I would. 

The problem for me is the fact that we get an average of 30" per year here. (Not far from you in Wooster, I went to ATI by the way) I have close to $60,000 in snow removal equipment and if my routes were only 6 hours for a plow, I would never get a good return on investment. So I think the name of the game is have more subs for plowing, and a salt route can take or should take atleast 4 hours. Yes, we occasionally have someone call because it snowed at 4 am and we don't get their until 9:30. But, I can't justify not generating some good revenue on just a salting event. 

I defineitly agree that plowing routes should be less than 8 hours. So for me, more subs, shorter plow length but better revenue on the salting end of things with a reasonable length of time for service.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Ebling back blade. Buy 2, have 2 VERY good operators run those trucks.

You'll thank me after the first storm. And wonder why you didn't do it years ago.


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## jerpa (Feb 4, 2014)

John_DeereGreen;1935234 said:


> Ebling back blade. Buy 2, have 2 VERY good operators run those trucks.
> 
> You'll thank me after the first storm. And wonder why you didn't do it years ago.


Another Mr. Oomkes? I kid. Any chance you'd be interested in showing off your new toy sometime? I will buy one sight unseen if necessary but would also prefer to get a look at one. You have the twin-lift correct?

I actually do want to get an ebling just for this reason. I should be able to lengthen my route a bit. Currently a salt only is about 3 hours total. Plow/Shovel/Salt is about 5-6. I'd like to get the salt route up to 4-4.5 hours and keep the plowing about the same.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

jerpa;1935290 said:


> Another Mr. Oomkes? I kid. Any chance you'd be interested in showing off your new toy sometime? I will buy one sight unseen if necessary but would also prefer to get a look at one. You have the twin-lift correct?
> 
> I actually do want to get an ebling just for this reason. I should be able to lengthen my route a bit. Currently a salt only is about 3 hours total. Plow/Shovel/Salt is about 5-6. I'd like to get the salt route up to 4-4.5 hours and keep the plowing about the same.


Mine is the single lift. I wanted twin lift, but I can't justify an extra grand plus having it built in the summer instead of now. The way we salt, it would have just avoided taking the blade off in between storms. We clear everything, then salt after the route is done. Next year my truck, in theory at least, won't have a spreader in it except for ice events. My **** Dogg will be a backup/ice event spreader and we'll have 2 new VBX's that take one day less than forever to spread with.

I'd love to post pictures/video. But it won't be anything action wise. I don't even think about taking pictures or videos until after I'm done with my route. I've only had it since the beginning of January, and had a problem with it raising correctly last Monday. It is one of the hardest things I've done snow wise to go back to just a front blade. So far, Ebling's service has been top notch. Wade overnighted me a new hydraulic power unit and lift cylinder to get it taken care of.

You'll wonder why you waited so long after the first storm you plow with it. It's incredible. 5.8 acres in 1.6 hours yesterday. And that's with cars in the way.


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## MahonLawnCare (Nov 18, 2007)

I watched videos on these and I still can't understand how these things work lol


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## R&R Yard Design (Dec 6, 2004)

I've got the twin lift 16 foot on my truck. My route is 6 hrs or so. 1st stop is 58 drives done in 1.5 to 1.75 hours. 2nd stop is 11 drives with 4 single garage doors on the sides of each drive 
Last stop is 27 of the same types of drives. 

The first rear plow was a Daniels and it made it go quicker. Bought the ebling last year and made a difference in time and how quick and clean the drives are done. 

I did help a buddy that plows a movie theater with 3 acres of open lots all pulled to one end and did it in under an hour with his loader it 3 hours


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## Antlerart06 (Feb 28, 2011)

John_DeereGreen;1935195 said:


> You're way over booked, at least for here.
> 
> If you tried that here, the first 6-9 inch storm we got you'd be done. There's no way you'd be able to keep up.
> 
> ...


No In my route I may visit some 2-3 times in a 4'' storm just only 28 lots 3 of them are 5 acre lots then 7 driveways 3 Condo Complex's 
So I cant really say how long my route is for the first visit on the lots

I plow during the storm I never wait till the end. So really don't know how long my route would take.
For Salting a hour of salting isn't worth getting out to do it in a Ice Storm.

Never had a problem getting things done. Really doesn't take much more time to do a 6-9'' storm now get them 12''+ blizzards with winds that wont calm down. There is times we will run 20-30 hrs depending how long the storm is.

I cant imagine waiting till the snow to stop to start 
I start when first 1/2- 1'' snow is on the ground


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

MahonLawnCare;1935396 said:


> I watched videos on these and I still can't understand how these things work lol


Come about a half hour to your west, and you can see it with your own eyes and run it for yourself.



R&R Yard Design;1935637 said:


> I've got the twin lift 16 foot on my truck. My route is 6 hrs or so. 1st stop is 58 drives done in 1.5 to 1.75 hours. 2nd stop is 11 drives with 4 single garage doors on the sides of each drive
> Last stop is 27 of the same types of drives.
> 
> The first rear plow was a Daniels and it made it go quicker. Bought the ebling last year and made a difference in time and how quick and clean the drives are done.
> ...


It's incredible what they can do. Nothing short of amazing every time I use it.

Hoping to have enough to set up another truck for this coming season. I'll probably do a twin lift for that order and put that one on my truck.

Antlerart: on a 2 inch storm how long does it take you? You shouldn't be plowing much if anything twice on a 2 inch that's done by just say 3 AM.


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## Antlerart06 (Feb 28, 2011)

John_DeereGreen;1936286 said:


> Come about a half hour to your west, and you can see it with your own eyes and run it for yourself.
> 
> It's incredible what they can do. Nothing short of amazing every time I use it.
> 
> ...


Havent seen a 2'' storm over at 3am This year
In a 2'' storm I might plow few twice Depending on the Temps and the rate of snow fall
Have one Seasonal is HD store and it has 1'' trigger I will scrape every inch off I even will scrape 1/2'' off just to save on salt.

After hour snow fall I'll let it build up

Rest pavement jobs has no triggers 
I have 12 that are 24/7 store/factories/fastfood/1 Casey's

Plus 2'' snow fall I would only run 4 trucks and skid wont bother getting the tractor out unless it one them rush hour snow falls

My Route time includes everything Clean ups at Condos 
Salt is in that time when we are plowing.
Plus My route time went up a little. I drop a sidewalk crew each rig does there own walks. I hardly have any complaints last year or this year 
It work well last year. Less stress on me .
Each truck carries a Snow Blower and shovel Icemelt.
Tractor /Skid has a shovel.
Each Complex I store a ATV ,so one of the guys will jump on it, clean there walks. That's when I get to play in the skid,if I'm free to help

So my 10-12 hr route is more then just plowing 
If I would guess I say I'm 8-9 hrs cut out the walks and the complexs cleanup.


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Damn. I wish we could get away with route lengths like that.


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