# per inch or per push billing



## BIGRED1 (Sep 23, 2005)

I have all my equipment on with a minicipality so I am not familiar with the different billing and estimating techniques. My stuff is all by the hour and I like it that way. But this winter I picked up a church parking lot, kind of as a favor. I don't want to kill them but I don't want to get screwed either. Also, I already do the Lodge next door pretty much for free (member of the lodge) so I will be there anyway. There are alot of factors to consider here but I guess what I am trying to say is that I want to be very fair (cheap). 

Anyway, for future reference and for this job, could someone explain the differences in the per push method and the by the inch method, and any other method I missed...

Thanks alot
Dennis


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## Mick (May 19, 2001)

This is an excerpt from something I wrote up before that I think is pertinent for you:


There are three main strategies to pricing - Per Push, Per Inch and Seasonal. All those are based on the “fourth” stategy - Per Hour.

Per Push - I will charge you $xx each time I clear the snow from a given area.

Per Inch - I will charge you based on the total number of inches that gets cleared from a particular area.

Per Season - I will charge you $xx for pushing any amount of snow that falls during a particular time period (ie: Nov 1st to Apr 1st).

Hourly - I will charge you $xx per hour for the period of time I spend plowing snow from a particular area.


The most common strategy is a combination of Per Push and Per Inch. In this you will have a “trigger” or depth at which you begin plowing. Say your customer wants a 3” trigger. He is saying he can drive on anything under 3”. So, you wake up and find 3.5” in your driveway. Do you plow? What if the customer disputes that there was over 3”? Now with this strategy, you will most likely structure price increments - ie” with a 3” trigger, you would charge, say 

$30 - for 3” to 6” 
$45 - over 6” to 9”
$60 - over 9” to 12”

To cover your behind and to account for those perhaps rare instances of more than 12” snowfall, you could do something like “over 12” - $60, plus $1 an inch over 12”.

Per inch - This is generally only used for accounts requiring a very high degree is service, such as where absolutely no accumulation is tolerated and involve anti-icing by using chemicals to melt falling snow. An airport might be an example. Here, you would rely on a third-party weather service to determine snowfall.

Seasonal - Here you indicate a price (say $1,000) to provide service for the season. With this, you will want to have a contract that is very specific and to what services, when they will commence and what will entail added charges. Example - you determine the average snowfall for your area to be 50” per season and with a 3” trigger, you expect to have seven “events” per year. What happens if it snows 80” one season and requires ten pushes? What if you get seven 2” snowfalls back-to-back? For a Seasonal account, the best strategy is have a three- (or more) year contract. This way, you take advantage of the “law of averages”.


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## BIGRED1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Thank you very much, this info will be very helpful with this account. i'll let you know how it goes, thanks again.

Dennis


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## DJC (Jun 29, 2003)

In this area we have to do it by the push......... If you go by the inch people will do nothing but argue how much snow there is. We don't have time for that.:waving:


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## QuadRacer041 (Sep 1, 2003)

I do my price quotes like Mick. 
2-6".....$40
7-11"....$60
12" and over....$80
actual price depends on size and time required.


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## go plow (Dec 14, 2004)

in my area, people like it simple, per push!!! the way i do it is from the trigger to 6" is $40 from 6" to 12" is $80 

from 2.5 to 6" = $40
from 6" to 12" =$80
from 12" to 18" =$120
people have never complained ! i always tell them that if we get 8 inches and not 6" i still consider it as 2.5 to 6" , i try to keep it fair...


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