# Snow removal contracts



## Grass Monkey

Just go into plowing this year. Does anyone know where I can get a free contract?


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## MSsnowplowing

Here you go, Lawyer approved for CT but I suggest you have a lawyer look over and make sure it covers your state laws as my state laws might be different.


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## Grass Monkey

Thank you for you assistance,


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## MSsnowplowing

No problem, one last thing, make your you have at least a 1 million gl policy and get a min. 300,000 on your truck for commercial.


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## Swenie31

hello, my name is Lonnie I'm new to the snow removal business and need some pointers or a good contract templet something simple that covers what's important also I need a good website that will help me determine the average snow fall of 2" or more in American fork Utah I have 7 contracts I need to submit but I'm stuck on what to charge can any one help


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## ktfbgb

Swenie31 said:


> hello, my name is Lonnie I'm new to the snow removal business and need some pointers or a good contract templet something simple that covers what's important also I need a good website that will help me determine the average snow fall of 2" or more in American fork Utah I have 7 contracts I need to submit but I'm stuck on what to charge can any one help


MS has his contract posted above. He is very generous in sharing it. You can download that. Then tweak it to fit your needs, and then have your lawyer look it over to make sure it complies with Utah state law. Submitting the lawyer this contract and having him tweak it will save you money compared to having them draw one up from scratch.

The National weather service(NOAA), tracks and records official snow fall amounts, and averages. You can get your information from them. As for the amount of storms of 2" or more per year you can only really get that from your own personal weather records that you keep each year and then pull an average from that. If you don't have weather notes then you will just have to try and get close from the NWS info. And then start recording your own snow info immediately.

I'm am assuming this is your first year. Did these properties solicit for the quotes? I ask because if you are just submitting them to try and get business your a couple months late and 99% of businesses will have contracts in place for the season. If they did solicit for the service be very careful. Most likely this late in the season the reason they are trying to find a snow contractor is because they were dumped by the previous contractor for non payment or something like that. Good luck.


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## ktfbgb

Lonnie also don't forget you need General Liability insurance and commercial auto insurance.


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## JCONTRACTING

MSsnowplowing said:


> Here you go, Lawyer approved for CT but I suggest you have a lawyer look over and make sure it covers your state laws as my state laws might be different.


I must say that was very nice of you to share!!


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## Swenie31

I'm new to this snow plowing business and my landlord is offering me there snow removal on several different property's ranging from 1 unit to 30 units she is asking me to give her a proposal and I'm not sure what to charge can any one help me figure cost for blowing walks and plowing most jobs I'm guessing will only take 15min to 45 to plow and 30min to 90 min to blow . thanks for all your great info you have helped a bunch


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## JCONTRACTING

Swenie31 said:


> I'm new to this snow plowing business and my landlord is offering me there snow removal on several different property's ranging from 1 unit to 30 units she is asking me to give her a proposal and I'm not sure what to charge can any one help me figure cost for blowing walks and plowing most jobs I'm guessing will only take 15min to 45 to plow and 30min to 90 min to blow . thanks for all your great info you have helped a bunch


Where are you located? The rates vary from location...


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## ktfbgb

First you have to figure out your costs. What does your truck and plow cost you. Either in payment for them or if you own them in depreciation. How much does it cost you to operate, fuel, maintenance, commercial auto policy. Then overhead like advertising, general liability insurance, etc. once you figure that you can figure out the hourly cost to operate. I'm assuming you are a one man operation so then you add your pay and then profit to It. That number is what you use to figure how much to charge.

Looks like this. Cost per hour to operate + your hourly pay = X 

X plus 18% = hourly rate. Obviously you may have a different profit margin to mark up. I typically use 18% as it's pretty typical around here. That's your hourly rate. Once you have your hourly rate you then need to do market research for your particular area and see if you are comparable. If not then you have to adjust something to become more efficient to lower the operating cost etc. most of the time you come out over what is accepted for your area, if you happen to come in under then bump it up to meet the market price. More profit is always better, but as you will find out, a lot of times there isn't much profit to be had in snow. Most of us use it as supplemental winter income and too keep our summer employees busy over the winter.


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## JCONTRACTING

ktfbgb said:


> First you have to figure out your costs. What does your truck and plow cost you. Either in payment for them or if you own them in depreciation. How much does it cost you to operate, fuel, maintenance, commercial auto policy. Then overhead like advertising, general liability insurance, etc. once you figure that you can figure out the hourly cost to operate. I'm assuming you are a one man operation so then you add your pay and then profit to It. That number is what you use to figure how much to charge.
> 
> Looks like this. Cost per hour to operate + your hourly pay = X
> 
> X plus 18% = hourly rate. Obviously you may have a different profit margin to mark up. I typically use 18% as it's pretty typical around here. That's your hourly rate. Once you have your hourly rate you then need to do market research for your particular area and see if you are comparable. If not then you have to adjust something to become more efficient to lower the operating cost etc. most of the time you come out over what is accepted for your area, if you happen to come in under then bump it up to meet the market price. More profit is always better, but as you will find out, a lot of times there isn't much profit to be had in snow. Most of us use it as supplemental winter income and too keep our summer employees busy over the winter.


This will work for you if you know your costs. Nice post ktfbgb!


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## ktfbgb

JCONTRACTING said:


> This will work for you if you know your costs. Nice post ktfbgb!


Yep. But going into business you have to know your costs. If you don't have real data yet then you need to estimate costs. And not just throwing numbers out on the table but realistic estimates of cost based on quotes for insurance, real life payment experience on the equipment, things like that. You can get close if your just starting out and adjust as you record real data. But if these things are not figured out in as much detail as possible prior to starting, he won't last more than a season. He could very well end up paying out of his own pocket to plow other people's property if he doesn't have a basic grasp of what it's going to cost him to provide the service.


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## Mark Oomkes

Wow lots of senior LS members posting over here. Guess I'm no longer alone......just in my head.


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## MSsnowplowing

Hit the nail on the head
You can lose your shirt if you don't know your numbers, unless your just plowing for beer money.



ktfbgb said:


> First you have to figure out your costs. What does your truck and plow cost you. Either in payment for them or if you own them in depreciation. How much does it cost you to operate, fuel, maintenance, commercial auto policy. Then overhead like advertising, general liability insurance, etc. once you figure that you can figure out the hourly cost to operate. I'm assuming you are a one man operation so then you add your pay and then profit to It. That number is what you use to figure how much to charge.
> 
> Looks like this. Cost per hour to operate + your hourly pay = X
> 
> X plus 18% = hourly rate. Obviously you may have a different profit margin to mark up. I typically use 18% as it's pretty typical around here. That's your hourly rate. Once you have your hourly rate you then need to do market research for your particular area and see if you are comparable. If not then you have to adjust something to become more efficient to lower the operating cost etc. most of the time you come out over what is accepted for your area, if you happen to come in under then bump it up to meet the market price. More profit is always better, but as you will find out, a lot of times there isn't much profit to be had in snow. Most of us use it as supplemental winter income and too keep our summer employees busy over the winter.


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## SnoFarmer

Even if plowing for beer money, you still don't want to loose your shirt
As a lot of busniss's still have the old adage.
No shoes
No shirt
No service.


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## Mark Oomkes

Lmao


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