Ok heres the deal. <p>2" of snow is forcast<br>Here is your options. <br>1-Take 30 min go and spread a ton of ice melter for lets say 80% of your 1-5" price.<br>Thats 205$. Your product will cost 45-55$ and 1/2 of your time and truck time. So you clear 125-145$. You do this on all your lots and are back in bed in 2-3 hrs. Sleep all night and go check the accounts in the am. Go have breakfast and enjoy your day all rested and relaxxed. Maybe even go help out a buddy or those straggler phone calls that always seem to come in and you dont have the time to get to. Customer loves you because the lot is black and wet, and no chance of slip and fall elves apprearing. No piles of snow to worry about moving if the big one comes.<br>2- Wait till it stops snowing. Call all the guys in( if you have more than one truck)plow like crazy, get no sleep and are a crab the next day. <p>Yes with the second one you will gross more money, but with truck and equipment time, man hours and the same amount of material to spread the profit will be the same. <br>Only heres the thing the customer doesnt need to know that you only applied deicer. As long as you do the work to the specs outlined you should bill accordingly. Especially if it is a contract price and not a per storm contract.<br>Also why are you charging per ton, change that to a per application and you can charge the 80-100% of what you plow for.<br>Why charge per ton, that is the same as charging per hour. You cant lose, but you dont make as much. Take the same lot, if you did it by the hour, say even 100 per hour for a pick up or one ton with plow and spreader that would only gross you 125 for plowing. But you charge oper plow, and make 2x that rate. If you figure your salting at the 80-100% of what you plow for formula you will be much more profitable.<br>Now if you melt it all, and still charge for the plow and salting, think of the profit then. Now the haze is clearing and the light shines forth on the wisdom of being a SIMA member. <br>All this that I speak of I learned at the annual symposium.<br>Dino <p>----------<br> Professional Ice and Snow Management <br>Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org<br>