# what do you charge per driveway?



## trqjnky

just wondering what everyone is charging?

i am at 25 per drive with a 2 car garage in cookie cutter housing complexes.


----------



## RepoMan207

There's a loaded question. I charge $80 for a small drive....per trip. And I charge double on nights, & weekends.....and whenever I just don't feel like being there. For another $50 I will even move the snow away from the garage doors.  payup


----------



## Bajak

I get mine done for $8.00 and some lowballer came to town offering to do it for $6.00. :laughing: I don't do driveways in the town I live in.

Yep Loaded Question alright.

On edit: I kept the guy doing it for $8.00 because I've been happy with him for the last 9 years.


----------



## Dondo

Most of my customers are small lots but to plow a 2 car wide X 2 car deep driveway I get:
$75.00 for 2"-6" of snow (1 visit)
$100.00 for 7"-11" of snow (2 visit)
$150.00 for 12"+ of snow (3+ visits) 

Shoveling, salting, and driveway apron cleanups are extra! 

I've been told by my customer that my prices are middle of the road for my area but my customer service is great that why they go with me. 

(I won't drop the plow for less than $50 no matter how small the driveway)


----------



## RepoMan207

Do you smell that....it smells an awful like BS to me.....!


----------



## Dondo

90% of my customers are in gated communities and won't think twice about $150.00 to clear the drive. As long as they can get thier Lex, BMW, or Caddy's out of the garage so they can go to the mall shopping. I'm not even the most expensive guy in the area. But... with that being said you have to #1 SPEAK ENGLISH, #2 do a great job, #3show up when they want, #4 deal with 1099 tax forms since most of the husbands are lawyers and bankers and #5 you can't drive some rust bucket and drip oil all over the drives. 

That is how and why I can charge what I charge. No BS hear!!


----------



## Matson Snow

Dondo;900793 said:


> Most of my customers are small lots but to plow a 2 car wide X 2 car deep driveway I get:
> $75.00 for 2"-6" of snow (1 visit)
> $100.00 for 7"-11" of snow (2 visit)
> $150.00 for 12"+ of snow (3+ visits)
> 
> Shoveling, salting, and driveway apron cleanups are extra!
> 
> I've been told by my customer that my prices are middle of the road for my area but my customer service is great that why they go with me.
> 
> (I won't drop the plow for less than $50 no matter how small the driveway)


What???....Okee-Doekee...I charge 7 beers and a # 3 meal at Mcdonalds for a small drive.


----------



## Dondo

Your guys must be plowing in the wrong part of the country! We might not get the amount of storms in NJ that you guys do but I'd rather get 10 storms a year $75.00 per storm (we rarely get over 6") than say 50 storms at $30.00. When someone pays $15K a year in taxes shelling out $750.00 each winter to have the drive plowed is nothing. 

I personally wouldn't pay that for my driveway to be cleared but I'm not rich!! I have lost a couple accounts to guys coming into the gated community low balling and charging $35.00 but he is also the guy trying to do 70+ accounts, fails miserably, and then the customer expects to be charge $35.00 from me. That's why I don't go in cheaper. 

I didn't decide on the pricing I just took over the route 2 years ago from the guy I used to plow for when he retired and moved to FL. That's what he was charging so I just left well enough alone.


----------



## RepoMan207

I don't know, all the right answers, but I still smell BS.


----------



## Matson Snow

RepoMan207;900884 said:


> I don't know, all the right answers, but I still smell BS.


I agree...I guess im gonna have to charge 8 Beers and Super size the #3 meal....


----------



## Dondo

That's the smell of $$ not BS. =)


----------



## RepoMan207

Matson Snow;900891 said:


> I agree...I guess im gonna have to charge 8 Beers and Super size the #3 meal....


hey, not jack the thread here, but on your XLS, do you have scratches from the wings were they go in & out. I've used mine for two storms and the damn decals are gone, and there is scratch marks both front & back from the wings. WTF is that all about.


----------



## Matson Snow

RepoMan207;900906 said:


> hey, not jack the thread here, but on your XLS, do you have scratches from the wings were they go in & out. I've used mine for two storms and the damn decals are gone, and there is scratch marks both front & back from the wings. WTF is that all about.


No...Not yet....I have been reading about your issues.I hope you have them resolved.If you can, post some pics in the fisher section. I wanna see whats going on...On the thread hijack..Dont worry this is a dead end..


----------



## RepoMan207

I'll get some in the daylight tomorrow. That's disturbing....I bet they were supposed to grease it or something. How old is yours?


----------



## nhpatriot

Dondo:

I appreciate that prices are different where you are, as I used to have my business on Cape Cod, and I am now in rural NH where we get half as much for the same job. And I still make money. Getting half as much as I used to get on the Cape still leaves me as one of the most expensive contractors around where I presently am.

But that doesn't make someone a low baller. It means that I need to work efficiently, and that you are riding the gravy train. When I hear things like "I don't drop plow for less than fifty bucks" it sounds cocky and arrogant. If I can make money dropping my plow, I drop it. Does that 5 minutes of plowing for $40 offend your sense of pride? Being that pro rated it still shakes out to over $400 an hour?

And 70 accounts at $35 is $2450. It's more than a lot of guys around me make, and our overhead is pretty similar to that of a guy in your area. I know cost of living is a bit higher, but most of us would still send a truck out for that money.


----------



## cpsnowremoval

RepoMan207;900589 said:


> There's a loaded question. I charge $80 for a small drive....per trip. And I charge double on nights, & weekends.....and whenever I just don't feel like being there. For another $50 I will even move the snow away from the garage doors.  payup


u mean like a real drivewayin the county or just a house in the city for $80?


----------



## Matson Snow

RepoMan207;900930 said:


> I'll get some in the daylight tomorrow. That's disturbing....I bet they were supposed to grease it or something. How old is yours?


Brand New...Are there scratches in the paint??...Anyway, try to post some pics...


----------



## RepoMan207

cpsnowremoval;900955 said:


> u mean like a real drivewayin the county or just a house in the city for $80?


I was just being facetious. Too many newbies drooping a fishing line, I had to bite back. 



Matson Snow;900956 said:


> Brand New...Are there scratches in the paint??...Anyway, try to post some pics...


Oh yeah, straight through to the metal. I'll post them on my thread tomorrow.


----------



## Matson Snow

RepoMan207;900930 said:


> I'll get some in the daylight tomorrow. That's disturbing....I bet they were supposed to grease it or something. How old is yours?


Now you got me all worked up...:laughing::laughing:...Do the wings move freely in and out..


----------



## RepoMan207

Matson Snow;900966 said:


> Now you got me all worked up...:laughing::laughing:...Do the wings move freely in and out..


Oh yeah, perfectly.


----------



## Outd00r Maint..

40$ for a single driveway and 60$ to take out the snow blower


----------



## trqjnky

i guess i should put a little more detail into my question. im not asking how to charge, i know what my prices can be in this area for me to be competitive. im just wondering what people are paying to clear a driveway in different parts of the country. i live in a smaller town so people arent going to pay what they would in chicago.


----------



## tuney443

trqjnky;901270 said:


> i guess i should put a little more detail into my question. im not asking how to charge, i know what my prices can be in this area for me to be competitive. im just wondering what people are paying to clear a driveway in different parts of the country. i live in a smaller town so people arent going to pay what they would in chicago.


You are absolutely right--it's better defined as ''however much the market will bear.'' In my market, for whatever it's worth,the few residential driveways I do,the minimum charge is $40 for plowing.


----------



## 2brothersyc

i think a pretty safe bet is charge what you would do for maintenance and that should get u in the ballpark


----------



## MattR

Dondo;900793 said:


> Most of my customers are small lots but to plow a 2 car wide X 2 car deep driveway I get:
> $75.00 for 2"-6" of snow (1 visit)
> $100.00 for 7"-11" of snow (2 visit)
> $150.00 for 12"+ of snow (3+ visits)
> 
> Shoveling, salting, and driveway apron cleanups are extra!
> 
> I've been told by my customer that my prices are middle of the road for my area but my customer service is great that why they go with me.
> 
> (I won't drop the plow for less than $50 no matter how small the driveway)


I understand that each region has a different market threshold. I just seen this and was thinking that if I charged that much by me, my truck and plow would never break down because it would not get any use. Glad to see you can get that kind of cash though.

I seen that you charge for doing the driveway aprons as a seperate service... hmmm somebody in this area must be doing the same stuff. Either that or never coming back to clean up after the road plow comes through because I make a nice extra bit of cash off of the driveway aprons alone after a storm is done and road plows have all gone through.

Matt


----------



## Deco

do you have any overhead , say like fuel , insurance , for your snowblower ?

im assuming your using a blower considering the number posted . your original post does not decipher equipment used .

elaborate fellow snow brother


----------



## BMWSTUD25

I believe him....its NJ it only snows like twice every five years!


----------



## Deco

easy, cheswick


----------



## Dondo

nhpatriot;900935 said:


> Dondo:
> 
> I appreciate that prices are different where you are, as I used to have my business on Cape Cod, and I am now in rural NH where we get half as much for the same job. And I still make money. Getting half as much as I used to get on the Cape still leaves me as one of the most expensive contractors around where I presently am.
> 
> But that doesn't make someone a low baller. It means that I need to work efficiently, and that you are riding the gravy train. When I hear things like "I don't drop plow for less than fifty bucks" it sounds cocky and arrogant. If I can make money dropping my plow, I drop it. Does that 5 minutes of plowing for $40 offend your sense of pride? Being that pro rated it still shakes out to over $400 an hour?
> 
> And 70 accounts at $35 is $2450. It's more than a lot of guys around me make, and our overhead is pretty similar to that of a guy in your area. I know cost of living is a bit higher, but most of us would still send a truck out for that money.


There are exceptions to every rule... I woudl definitly plow a driveway out for $40. I didn't mean to come across as cocky and arrogant. That is just my basic rule of thumb. If I have been out all night and the trucks limping back to the shop than no I will pass up the $40 but if i am making good time that storm, everything is running right than of course I'll take it. I was just trying to get a point out to the original poster that he does not need to pick up every additional job he comes across. He can work smarter with out having to work harder than he already will be.

I have no shame in riding the gravy train.... Are you telling me if you were in NJ and I offered you a ticket you wouldn't hop on the gravy train too. I charge the same price my customers have been paying my old boss for 6+ years. Why would I go back and offer to do it 1/2 price. I only have 2 customer who have received a reduction. Customer #1 Lost a son in Iraq and I feel that is the least i could do for what he has given for us. Customer #2 Retired last year so they now pay 25% less. Other than that my prices are what they are for Norther NJ and I'll try and ride this train to the end.


----------



## Deco

must be a _*small*_ driveway .


----------



## TLB

Very *small*


----------



## nhpatriot

Dondo;906165 said:


> There are exceptions to every rule... I woudl definitly plow a driveway out for $40. I didn't mean to come across as cocky and arrogant. That is just my basic rule of thumb. If I have been out all night and the trucks limping back to the shop than no I will pass up the $40 but if i am making good time that storm, everything is running right than of course I'll take it. I was just trying to get a point out to the original poster that he does not need to pick up every additional job he comes across. He can work smarter with out having to work harder than he already will be.
> 
> I have no shame in riding the gravy train.... Are you telling me if you were in NJ and I offered you a ticket you wouldn't hop on the gravy train too. I charge the same price my customers have been paying my old boss for 6+ years. Why would I go back and offer to do it 1/2 price. I only have 2 customer who have received a reduction. Customer #1 Lost a son in Iraq and I feel that is the least i could do for what he has given for us. Customer #2 Retired last year so they now pay 25% less. Other than that my prices are what they are for Norther NJ and I'll try and ride this train to the end.


Okay, I think we agree more than I thought we did.

I am positively for making as great a profit as the market can allow me to, I just try to keep things in perspective. And like I said, I rode the gravy train on the Cape, and would happily do so here if there was one. I just love rural living, and so for me, the trade off is worth it. I have almost 30 acres of land here, compared to my 1/2 acre on the Cape, plus a huge yard and shop.

So I don't think that your prices are remotely unreasonable. For where you are. I just think that we have to be hugely adaptable, and that it gets easy to get accustomed to an easy thing.

I wish you all the best in your price gouging payup


----------



## ontario026

I've got I think 2 driveways at $20 each, somewhat special situations, other than them $25 is my min driveway charge, ranging up to I think $45 for a few of the larger driveways....


----------



## Michigansnowkin

$25.00 is a good number.


----------



## steve001hsd

I charge a minimum of $25.00. I go for $1.00 per foot up to 12 inches, 12-24" is $2.00 per foot, 24-36" is $3.00 per foot. Anything over 12" is a front loader job in general and cost more to haul and maintain. This is for residential drives, the several commercial lots I do have flat rates set by written contract before the plow season starts.
In general there are guys here charging from 15 for the fly by nights, to 85 a drive for large landscaping companies. Seems every fool with a jeep, quad, or a truck payment, went and got a plow this season so prices are all messed up. Thanks democrats for all the CHANGE.


----------



## lude1990

This is how I do it for the cracker jack box type neighborhoods

$15 for a single drive 
$20 for single drive and sidewalks
$25 for double drive 
$30 for double drive sidewalks
and so on and so on

corner lots extra and some prices includes salt if the sidewalks aren't long. otherwise it is $10 bucks a bag for salt.

price goes up from there all up to 6" inches. 6" and over or huge drifts it is about double or adjust accordingly. I might got to 2 inch incriminates if I get a lot more houses but right now its only a large handful of houses I do.


----------



## cleansweep007

trqjnky 
I want you to come and clean out my driveway for $25.00 per push ! 
I won't even get out of bed for that.


----------



## Exact Services

lude1990;976028 said:


> This is how I do it for the cracker jack box type neighborhoods
> 
> $15 for a single drive
> $20 for single drive and sidewalks
> $25 for double drive
> $30 for double drive sidewalks
> and so on and so on
> 
> corner lots extra and some prices includes salt if the sidewalks aren't long. otherwise it is $10 bucks a bag for salt.
> 
> price goes up from there all up to 6" inches. 6" and over or huge drifts it is about double or adjust accordingly. I might got to 2 inch incriminates if I get a lot more houses but right now its only a large handful of houses I do.


At least for my area this is the most realistic post thus far. 

Many people cringe in my area when they have to pay $35 to have their 1/3 acre property mowed an trimmed....so based on a mow blow & trim for $30 - $35....why would this same person pay $50 to $75+ to have their driveway plowed, walks blown, porch shoveled etc. for just snow?

Quite a few post on lawnsite "won't drop my gate for less than $45"....great if you can get it but it will never fly here.

All the best to those who are able to bring in these higher rates. Snow fall this winter has been pitifully low...probably the lowest amount of accumulation I have ever seen here since 1978. Plowing contractors and especially subcontractors are feeling major pain this winter unless they where on seasonal flat rate.

I'm glad most of my customers are on seasonal flat rate but I getting concerned that they will feel ripped off if we don't have much more snow.

All I can say is market density is vital and key in the residetial market at the rates most of us get. You need to have these account all in the same area....frankly not worth doing unless this is the situation. Better off deliving pizzas for a little spare change....


----------



## lude1990

yea the most i have ever charged is $75 for a 5 foot drift in the drive and i used the truck to back drag it cause of the walls that line the drive way. He freaked out needless to say that it was that much


----------



## superrman77

cleansweep007;976772 said:


> trqjnky
> I want you to come and clean out my driveway for $25.00 per push !
> I won't even get out of bed for that.


Maybe his cost are a lot lower then yours.


----------



## ajslands

Dondo=gouger dondo clients with lots under 60' paying 75$ for a 2" storm = idiots IMO


----------



## Neige

Bajak;900597 said:


> I get mine done for $8.00 and some lowballer came to town offering to do it for $6.00. :laughing: I don't do driveways in the town I live in.
> Yep Loaded Question alright.
> 
> On edit: I kept the guy doing it for $8.00 because I've been happy with him for the last 9 years.


Your alright Bajak, I like someone, who sees he is getting a great deal with good service, and keeps his service provider even though he can get it cheaper.:salute:


Dondo;900827 said:


> 90% of my customers are in gated communities and won't think twice about $150.00 to clear the drive. As long as they can get thier Lex, BMW, or Caddy's out of the garage so they can go to the mall shopping. I'm not even the most expensive guy in the area. But... with that being said you have to #1 SPEAK ENGLISH, #2 do a great job, #3show up when they want, #4 deal with 1099 tax forms since most of the husbands are lawyers and bankers and #5 you can't drive some rust bucket and drip oil all over the drives.
> 
> That is how and why I can charge what I charge. No BS hear!!


It has been my experiance, the more expensive the car, the less they want to part with their money. 


Dondo;900881 said:


> Your guys must be plowing in the wrong part of the country! We might not get the amount of storms in NJ that you guys do but I'd rather get 10 storms a year $75.00 per storm (we rarely get over 6") than say 50 storms at $30.00. When someone pays $15K a year in taxes shelling out $750.00 each winter to have the drive plowed is nothing. I bet if we all moved to Jersy, those prices would drop. :laughing:
> 
> I personally wouldn't pay that for my driveway to be cleared but I'm not rich!! I have lost a couple accounts to guys coming into the gated community low balling and charging $35.00 but he is also the guy trying to do 70+ accounts, fails miserably, and then the customer expects to be charge $35.00 from me. That's why I don't go in cheaper.
> How many accounts do you have?
> I didn't decide on the pricing I just took over the route 2 years ago from the guy I used to plow for when he retired and moved to FL. That's what he was charging so I just left well enough alone.


I really think its great if you can get those prices. I would rather get 50 storms at $30.00, than 10 at $75.00.


----------



## hedhunter9

We do a subdivison that we get $20 per drive.
Now before y'all start bellyaching that is too cheap, Here is the details.

The drives are 2 car width wide.
The drives are about 2 car lengths long.

3 back drags to the street, then push up on the corner of the property,
I can do 18 houses in a hour for most storms.
That comes out to $360 an hour.

That aint too bad in my book.....


We also do the streets. takes 2 trucks half an hour.

This subdivision is about 3-4 minutes from the Mediacal center we do, so drive time
is next to nothing.

There are 5 large accounts all within a 2 mile range. 4-5 trucks and 1 pusher


----------



## c&msnowplowing

*get paid per trip!*

Wow....by reading some posts I am under paid! I plow mostly residential driveways with a few commercial lots. I have a minimum charge of $20 for a small driveway and pro rate it from there depending on the size of the driveway. And when I plow I make sure all is clean with no run off left behind and the garage doors are clear of snow.I am not a fan of doing seasonal rates. Tried that once and the individual wanted me there if there was 1/2 an inch of snow.....what a pain in the butt! You have to go by the going rate in your area. Ask around to see what people are paying now and go from there. Just dont cut yourself short. Repairing a 4 wheel drive isn't cheap! You also have to consider your time and wear and tear on your equipment. $10 per driveway won't keep you in business long.


----------



## thewizard

im going to have to agree with dondo on his prices for the area he is plowing at. here in nj, as someone already mentioned, it snows like once every 5 years lol. with that being said when it does snow it cripples people. they dont know what to do with it and they especially dont know how to drive in it. when they talk about a 6 inch storm coming towards us on the news, people go out and raid the supermarkets like they are going to be snowed in for a week. hahahahaha im in the central southern half of the state, there is only a handful of places where i could get those kinds of prices. up north where he is, its nothing but big money people that mostly work in nyc. i know guys from down my way that go up there when it snows just to make the big dollars, i know home improvement contractors that do the same thing with their work just because of the money in that area. to get an idea of the kinds of money up that way, my buddys mom died and he sold her 2 bed room rancher style home with no basment on a 1/3rd acre lot for 350k.


----------



## bigfisherman

*Pricing*

If you have a client that wants you to plow an empty house and there is 12" of snow over a 2 day period do you plow both days and charge for both days or just once?


----------



## theplowmeister

I charge for 12" of snow, and do a sloppy job for the first day to keep the volume down. then I do a good job to finish.


----------



## theplowmeister

I charge $25 to $65 depends...


----------



## tuney443

bigfisherman;1020078 said:


> If you have a client that wants you to plow an empty house and there is 12" of snow over a 2 day period do you plow both days and charge for both days or just once?


I'll answer your question with a question. If you had a 9 to 5 job,5 days a week,would you want to get paid everyday you worked or just some of those days?


----------



## thewizard

if the house was empty, and it was snowing, i would imagine no one would be coming to view it if it were for sale and if the owenrs were on vacation they wouldnt be home. i'd just wait till it stopped snowin and bust it out all at once.


----------



## Bajak

I charge it honestly. If asked to do it every 3" and I did it every 3" then it could be 4 times. If I only did it twice, then I charge for 2. If I took the snow bank down to make my life easier for when the snow stopped and only plowed once, then I would likely only charge for 1 time. Mind you, I would have already taken that into account for such situations as far my pricing and billing.


----------



## andcon83

bigfisherman;1020078 said:


> If you have a client that wants you to plow an empty house and there is 12" of snow over a 2 day period do you plow both days and charge for both days or just once?


Your truck won't plow 12" at once?? 18"+ I may go around my route twice, for a higher amount of course.


----------



## JTVLandscaping

12", no sweat, back when we used to get powder...now its all slop, my lowest driveway is $30.00, used to have some for $20, back when I first started and thought $20 was awesome for 5-10 minutes of work, but I had no insurance or truck payment back then...I was more like a "fly by night" but I did show up all the time. I go anywhere from $30 to $50 depending on when they hired me. Come November, my route is set, I'll add to it but at a higher price. I got 1 driveway that takes me 5 minutes and the people winter in FL so I plow it and at the end of the season I'll give them a bill for something even. I keep it fair since there's no time constraint, if its a day later, its a day later


----------



## Letusspray

*Do you know what FORUM you're on????*



RepoMan207;900965 said:


> I was just being facetious. Too many newbies drooping a fishing line, I had to bite back.
> 
> Get a clue!! You are on the *"New To The Industry"* forum, if you don't like the guys asking questions to learn from you then stay off this section and stay in your own clique. *$.02*


----------



## PlowQueen

*Driveway charging*

I have been charging between $80 for just single driveway with 7-10 inches of snow all the way up to $225 for 18" of snow that we got like 3 weeks ago in Philly Area. And not one of my customers batted an eye about the price, maybe its because a WOMAN is out there plowing, shoveling, and salting........:laughing:


----------



## darryl g

You can get paid to plow driveways? All this time I been doing it for fun!!!!

But really, base price for driveway is $40 and that's for 2 to 4 inches. 4 to 6 inches is 1.5 times the base rate, 6 to 8 is 2 times and 8+ is 2.5 to 3.5 times. I reserve the right to use a different multiplier or charge hourly though. I only charged 2.5 times for the 20 inches we got in December because it was an easy push. If I'd know it would be the only decent storm of the winter for me I would have charged more, lol.


----------

