So how do you guys figure how many acounts you can handle with the equipment you have? Like 10 acounts to 1 truck and so on and so on? Thanks guys
It is too hard to say, it all depends on the size of the accounts and the level of service needed at each account, and how much work there is to do at each customer. We have 5 plow trucks, 3 with v-box sanders, and one loader with pro-tech pusher and we only have 15 customers total,and we are very busy during any size storm,so it depends on what the accounts are and how much work there is at each one. Just My two cents.
Allseasons, that formula doesn't usually work out because of the size of the lots being plowed. They can, and usually do vary, A LOT. Another thing to keep in mind is what type of service do they expect? Some lots require constant attention, some you can wait for hours before servicing them. The thing that I do is look at the lots on an individual basis and judge what equipment is needed and what service do they need (sidewalks, driveways, removal or sanding) and go from there. Good luck.
Some other things you can also take into account, such as how many total vehicles can be put to use during a storm. How many plows.. do the plows have salt/sand capabilities.. do you carry a snowblower for sidewalks etc. Another consideration is for smaller service accounts could you dedicate a two wheel drive truck to be a salt/sander truck (this would be weight carrying specific) or maybe use the plowless truck(s) as a courier for salt supply if you use bagged material. Could the free truck pull a trailer with blower, tractor with small plow, push spreaders etc. for your sidewalk crew. This frees up the plowing rigs for the heavy work while an account is being finished. Proper utilization of all your resources can increase the scope of your abilities. Boy..that got too long..Sorry Bruce
What we do is: We base our needs on trucks per square feet. We also do consider traffic, needs, and sidewalks... Every plower has a shoveler... on our crew we have 22 trucks, two salters, and one loader... The loader haas his own truck and trailer to transport... this also has four very large blowers on it. But we also do almost all of the cities commercial business
All Seasons, Just go out and buy a bunch of trucks,then find the accounts. Kidding only kidding I would like for the King to answer this one,cause I don't have a formula.I mean we could go back and forth all day on this subject. Come to Denver and this kind of chatting goes on and on and on etc...
If we need a piece of equipment we make our people cost justify it..... How much to buy, how much to lease, expected return on investment, depreciable life, will it reduce labor cost, increase maintenance cost.... big deal to buy something around here. We just bought a copier. Cost justified it by reduced labor cost, reduced paper cost, reduced per copy cost, reduced outsourced copy costs, etc. Might seem like a lot to do for a copier, but this copier cost us just a shade under $20,000. (it also has a scanner, will be hooked to our computer network and will eliminate two laser printers/toner use in our office) This copier will pay for itself in 16 months, so it was worth the expenditure.
