# Contract wording for parked cars....?



## Turf Care (Dec 7, 2006)

I've searched and found few examples. Just wondering what wording you guys put in your contracts for excluding snow in and around parked cars/trucks? I run into this a lot and want to fix the problem....we shouldn't have to go back for areas out of our control....and I don't expect my drivers to wait 30mins while 1 guy runs back and forth to move 20 cars.
Any thoughts?


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## NBI Lawn (Oct 15, 2007)

Turf Care;1235135 said:


> I've searched and found few examples. Just wondering what wording you guys put in your contracts for excluding snow in and around parked cars/trucks? I run into this a lot and want to fix the problem....we shouldn't have to go back for areas out of our control....and I don't expect my drivers to wait 30mins while 1 guy runs back and forth to move 20 cars.
> Any thoughts?


Is it possible to just word it somehow that there is an "idle" fee while cars are moved? If something prevents you or your employee from proceeding with plowing there is an $X/hr charge while they (the customer) remedy the situation. As long as you get paid to sit there who cares...rest the eyes for a minute. Not your fault they aren't ready for you.


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## bristolturf (Dec 20, 2008)

what kind of places does this occur at? Are you guys maybe plowing at them to early? We dont have anything in our contract about parked cars being there. We simply plow as close as we can and then underneath doesnt get cleared. Depending on the location we might, include a time in the price to go back later. Like at these apartments we do, we have an additional 2 hours figured into each storm to go back midmorning after each strom to clear parking stalls after people have left for work. 

Our contract states this for that above,

Contractor will return between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm the same day of the initial plowing (Monday if weekend storm) to clear any additional parking stalls that have opened up from the time of the initial plowing. Contractor will drive through each lot to clear stalls 1 time only. If customer requests that the contractor returns at a later date to open more parking areas, contractor reserves the right to charge them the hourly rates listed above

Whats nice too about how we run things is, we have 2 salt trucks, so a lot could be plowed for like an hour before they get to salting it so that car might have moved or something and then the salter can just clean it up with there blade too.

But in the end, I think its just 1 one of those things you have to deal with and send a guy back later at the end of the route to check on it or something


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## Dr Who (Dec 16, 2010)

You can do what someone that I do not want to mention (and no it was not me) did.
They pushed all the snow right up to and around a car(s) in the lot...

Yeah, if he was my employee I would fire him after he moved all that snow with a shovel!


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## Turf Care (Dec 7, 2006)

We have 2 chains of 24hr restaurants. We start on the trigger depth or when they request our services. The other big problem is a uniform company, with constantly moving trucks. Usually we end up plowing them at night which is always pre-arranged. When we originally bid these lots, we bid them with 1 trip, 1 push=the price. We didn't figure in additional man hrs, travel time, fuel, partial push, etc. 

I was just looking to make an addendum to our contract setting fees for callbacks etc. Just trying to cover my legal side and attempt to stay profitable.


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## contractor078 (Dec 23, 2009)

what i have written into my contract (i do a few HOA's) is that i will on;y plow to with in 3 feet of any parked car. So that there is no one that can come back to me and say that i have or scratched there car with snow that has rolled off the plow. We seem to get a lot of that heavy wet snow here and when it mixes with the sand and crap on the road will scratch a paint job in a hurry. I state in the contract if i am still on site i will make a final lap around all of the streets and clean anything up if the cars are moved before i leave. I have told the property manager that if they want me to come back that it will be an extra charge.


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## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Well if your seasonal you come back and clean up the spots .If it's a lite snow plow them when they are closed.


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## KMBertog (Sep 9, 2010)

charge extra "per parking space" to clear after the storm is over if they ask to do it. if the car(s) are still in the spots they were in, too bad for them. tell em to grab a shovel.... if they want you to do it, it will cost them.


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## 2low (Oct 1, 2008)

if the cars are not moved by the time i come back to clean up then they must make arrangements with me to come back at a time to clean those spots for a added cost, time is money


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## bigthom (Oct 14, 2010)

Like 2low's idea. But very true if it is a seasonal contract u should be there again to clean up. I have a apartment complex that pays me hourly rate to plow and sent a memo to the residents that if they see me there plowing to wait till I am done with their section then move to an open spot and I come back through to open the spots so basicly I plow everything then work my way back to where I started. Works pretty well.


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## bristolturf (Dec 20, 2008)

agreed, i think your course of action should be dictated by your pricing method. With a seasonal, you can hide that cost pretty easily. Depending on travel time and time you believe you'll spend on site. Around here if I put in an extra 30 minutes each storm, it wouldnt even be an extra $400 for the year. If its hourly, I would tell them you will return 1 time within x amount of time after the storm and it will be billed for work and travel time to the site. If its a per push account then that just sucks. Really no way to offset that cost unless you tell them again, you will return 1 time with in x amount of time and charge them hourly with a minimum of $x or something. 

But I wouldnt be returning multiple times unless i was compensated for it.


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## MileHigh (Nov 6, 2007)

I go over this before the contract is signed.

If they wanna pay for it..I'll have a shovel crew go in and around cars...I always have my shovelors help the plow guy out tremendously. I work the piss out of my shovelors..they also trim out all corners so the plow guy does not have to backdrag.

but again..only if they wanna pay for it. I'll do it on hourly jobs all the time and just bill out accordingly, but for per push and per event, it has to be set up prior.

Good luck with trying to get them to move cars when your there.


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