# meijer parking lot bid



## MRUSSELL

i have been asked to submit a bit for a local meijer i do all commercial lots but have never done a lot like this i am not the proper way to bid it. any help would be greatly appreciated


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## Snowpower

What do they want done?

You find that out and give them a price for what they want. Put it on nice stationary, with a cover letter and a copy of your insurance certificates both GL and Vehicle.

Give it to the person who asked you for the bid.


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## MRUSSELL

snow removal is what they want with salt priced out for the season and per time. didn't think i had to specify that my bad. my question is what is the best way to come up with a resaonable price for a season i have the number of avg. snows for the last 4 years but i have bid on large lots before and was way high i want to be competive do you price it by the hour per truck? if so whats a close price to charge per truck per hour i have a buddy that subs for a target and he makes 50 an hour per truck so i know that the contractor is making more than that like i said i want to be competive but not stupid high, thanks


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## Snowpower

Sounds like you're in over your head. No offense. A lot of jobs would put me in over my head too. So I walk away from them.

Meijers are extrordinarily cheap as is my experience. At least as far as Lawn Maintenance goes so theres that.

Only you can determine what your market will bear and how much You have to charge to make the desired profit. 

Most of the Meijers around here require at least a loader with a 15 foot pusher box, and a couple trucks. Are you ready to start renting loaders and leaving them on site for four months as well? 

Maybe yours is smaller and can be done with pickups. I dont know. 

Are you being asked to bid this for Meijers themselves? Or a contractor.


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## MRUSSELL

for starters i am not in over my hear i can get a loader if needed i do have 2 skidloaders and 4 trucks the only thing i was wondering was the best way to submit the bid and how people whom already do snow removal at big stores figure out how to bid them, honestly i do not think you are the one who should be responding to this question


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## T-MAN

MRUSSELL;565381 said:


> for starters i am not in over my hear i can get a loader if needed i do have 2 skidloaders and 4 trucks the only thing i was wondering was the best way to submit the bid and how people whom already do snow removal at big stores figure out how to bid them, honestly i do not think you are the one who should be responding to this question


Sounds like you need to figure out YOUR hourly rate first Bud.

Do you have an RFP ? That should have some specs to go of off. Its pretty tuff to help a guy out when the guy has no clue what to spec to write a contract. There's a whole heck of alot stuff that effects a seasonal contracts pricing, and that would be determined by the specs set forth by the Management company or Meijer.


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## Snowpower

MRUSSELL;565381 said:


> for starters i am not in over my hear i can get a loader if needed i do have 2 skidloaders and 4 trucks the only thing i was wondering was the best way to submit the bid and how people whom already do snow removal at big stores figure out how to bid them, honestly i do not think you are the one who should be responding to this question


No offense. Good luck to you.


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## QuadPlower

You had better check your email. If you weren't notified that Meijers is conducting an on-line auction for snow removal, then you are wasteing your time.

they hire an independent auction place to run a REVERSE auction for their lawn maintenance & snow removal. Basicly you place a bid of whatever you want. Say $800 per push. Then everyone that was invited to bid can go LOWER until there is no one that wants to go lower. You will not believe how cheap it can go. 

So before you give the manager at the counter your figures, you had better see if he has the authority to hire you.

And I think your are in over your head also, but Good Luck.


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## MRUSSELL

thats what i have a email for snow contractors and they want a bid just not sure how to bid it


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## coral

you and most likely 100 other companies got that email, it really takes a lot to even mess with those other companies, they usually have other business ventures to help them operate, i.e. they are excavators who are not useing their equipment in the winter, and they can operate it cheaper than we can.


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## turbo5560

just out of curiousity how do you get to be on that list?


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## PremierLand

Have fun, your wasting time, unless you are a millionaire already and are plowing snow as a hobby.

Say you submit a bid for $1000. Like the other guy said, its reverse auction, I can guarantee you that the lowest bid will be below your costs of running the business, which makes it a waste of time. The whole thing is a complete joke, and they will tell you the bid session will be for 15min, but it could take 8 hours depending on how many people are bidding and how cheap they go.

Good luck.


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## coral

i agree it is a joke, seems to me that they tend to choose who they want to plow any way, they never seem to go with the low guy in our area(mid mich) so i think its all a scam. seems great to plow such a BIG lot.. ha ha , but not so great in reality, seems several contractors i have talked with who did plow did not get paid in full either, not trying to get you mad, just trying to help save some headaches.

good luck.


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## QuadPlower

I watched the lawn mowing bid take place. Put in a couple of bids. It got so low, that I shut it off and went back to work laughing. I couldn't believe what it went for. Then I see it getting done and there are two trucks with trailers and mowers. 4 or 5 guys mowing and running around with leaf blowers. I'm not sure how long they were there, but if it were my guys and my rates for the time I did see them there, I would be loosing money.

I'm going to watch the auction. I will probably put in a bid or two. But pretty sure I won't be plowing it this winter.

To get on the list for next time, go to the Meijer site and there are links to become a contractor. Fill out your info and when they have a bid up, they will contact you.


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## stroker79

The company I sub has been plowing Meijer for a few years not. there are at least 2 that I know of for sure that we do in our area. We make pretty decent money with them but if I remember right, they are SLOW payers. Im not sure if we took them again this year because of that. And yes, they require at least one loader on site and it takes an additional 3-6 pickups depending on the rate the snow is falling, the time of day, and the expected accumulation. They are picky as well and want it looking good at all times. Good Luck, I hope that helps!


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## Luther

MRUSSELL;565381 said:


> for starters i am not in over my hear i can get a loader if needed i do have 2 skidloaders and 4 trucks the only thing i was wondering was the best way to submit the bid and how people whom already do snow removal at big stores figure out how to bid them, honestly i do not think you are the one who should be responding to this question


Be thankful they are responding to you. They know what they are talking about and are giving you very good advice.


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## bigmudder77

ya i mean i bet you CAN do it with just your 4 trucks but we have walmarts around me which is same thing pretty much and i seen 8 trucks plowing there parking lot for at least 2 hours maybe more (or it felt like that shopping with the wife lol) im sure they all went through at least a tank of gas or pretty close to it 

so lets just say each truck went throught $100 in gas at 8 trucks that $800 JUST in gas (and if you think about it thats only 28 gallons of gas at $3.50 i bet this winter it will be over $4 at least around me ohio by akron)

now thats not even paying your people or if some thing breaks 

id say around $2000-3000 per push but i wouldnt try to do that unless you know FOR SURE you can handle it and have people you can count on ALL hours of the night cause for you to do it by your self when its snowing GOOD luck you will be there all night and day plowing is there is a big snow front coming in. and that will be the only thing you do so all your other places will be mad and find some one else 

all i have to say is good luck and i wish you the best but dont get in over your head alot of people go under that way or lose jobs cause of it


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## coral

just wondered if you bid a couple weeks ago or not.


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## QuadPlower

I put in my initial bid, but was not around during the bid times. It was confusing. I assume you have to be #1 on all of the items in order to get the bid. I was ranked 5 & 6, but like I said, I didn't bid. Still waiting on the email to see who got it and for how much.


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## MRUSSELL

i was fourth when it ended i called the company and they said if they went with my bid the store would be closed in 3 years the company that got it or is going to get it was more than half of my bid what a crock of crap people must love to plow 4 free thats all i can say. mabe they get all their stuff for free


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## stroker79

We plow a few Meijers in our area, im not sure if we got them or not but have been doing them for awhile now and I dont see why we would bother if we were losing money at it. Must just be an area thing?


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## snow junkie

I was #1! ... must have been the first to bid cuz' next day some of my bids were up to 14th... don't feel bad... with the "salt crisis" that is occuring should be interesting to see if we get any calls midseason.
MRUSSELL... you know the saying opinions are like a$$h*les right?... a colonoscopy doctor would make a killing around here. You'll learn the same way we all do...the hard way...even with the advise of others.


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