[firedog]

Need help bidding per inch or per plowing. Last year I was always too high. How do you figure out per plowing? Do you estimate or guess(I hope not.)? I lot of my accounts were hourly. I did some per plowing, and everytime we had to replow due to more snow I charged the same amount. The customers were not happy. I was thinking about per inch 2-3,3-6,6+. Good, bad? Or would you consider this per plowing? I know that seasonal is the way to go and I do have 2 like of these.
Would using my hourly rate X approx number of hours needes work? But happens when you have to go back 2 or 3 times?

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Rob S.

 

[GeoffD]

I try to do everything on seasonal contracts. I have a few statements in my seasonal contacts to help me from being burned on big storms.

When i used to do stuff on a per push basis it was as followed.

Full charge for the first plow, plowed up to 4-5"

Each return, ie every 4-5" of accumulation the customer is charged half the cost.

Geoff

 

[plowking35]

go to my web site to see a sample contract, it has some info about wording per push or per inch. www.thehousedoktor.com
we charge 0-3,3-6 and 6+, and then add a statement that we charge for the amount of snow present at each push, not storm totals.
What i use for a baseline is figure how long that it will take to plow the lot,X your hourly rate and then double it. That way you have a fudge factor and will still make some good money. We use $75.00 per hour as a base line, and then double that figure
Dino

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Professional Ice and Snow Management
Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org

 

[Deere John]

I went back to the post I made when we were all talking about pricing the job with all the trailer doors (Help on a very large bid). I second the comments about seasonal rates. Per push rates - you either starve or just keep up with your expenses.

I wrote:
Now that we are talking hourly rates, I thought I would add my comments. The job seems intimidating at first. The trailers parked helter/skelter complicates matters more. When I look at a job, I base the price on receiving $110-125.00 /hour for my truck and time. You may say B.S., and other readers may too, but if you figure the captial cost of the rig that must be recovered over a short plowing season, the rate is not high, it is required. Part B of my pricing equation is to figure my time and then add 15% for Profit and Risk. I am rarely turned down, and most people notice you were there, not how long I was there.

Dino's method above is similar, and gets us to the same place pretty much. The other thing I factor in my pea brain is the (unproductive) drive time between jobs - I want them no further apart that about 2 minutes on average.

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John

 

[plowking35]

You know, another thing that ihave seen done and we added it, is that when doing per push pricing, if we have a month when we recieve no sustantial snow fall, we will bill for 2/
0-3" plowings to cover over head costs, and ensure the level of service that you expect from us.
Dino

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Professional Ice and Snow Management
Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org