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Snow Removal business

436 Views 9 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  Plowing to the 80's, 
Joe Bussiere
Hello! I am getting into the snow removal business and was curious if some of you use an app to help with address organizing and fastest route?
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magnatrac
Welcome to the site.

No I don't use an app because I simply connect the dots.

That said some jobs take priority. Commercial, hoa's , then residential. Time of day and the way the event unfolds can flip how things are serviced.

For my size business I don't see how an app could guide us as to what's best for our customers on each event. It's not like a lawn route, too many variables.
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BossPlow2010
Howdy, welcome to the site, we have an app for clocking in/ out on sites, and services performed. We do not use it for routing, we prioritize based on site the site and how the property manager/ owner wants services rendered.
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M
BossPlow2010 said:
Howdy, welcome to the site, we have an app for clocking in/ out on sites, and services performed. We do not use it for routing, we prioritize based on site the site and how the property manager/ owner wants services rendered.
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What app are you using?
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BossPlow2010
m_ice said:
What app are you using?
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Yeti for clocking in/out
SAp for billing.

cluster foxtrot, I know!
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Mark Oomkes
FWIW, not apps but programs that use Goggle.

I've used 2 now and they absolutely suck for efficient routing.

One had me starting at one house and leaving the on DIRECTLY across the street for last. 3 miles out of the way, one way.

The other I tried twice. Once it had the customers routed starting in the middle of a roughly horseshoe shaped HOA, driving directly past 5 accounts to start at this one and indirectly 4 more. Tried it on another route and it had over 1.5 hours of wasted drive time. Again, driving right past several accounts, stopping on the way back, almost back to my shop and then halfway back to the start point.

I have zero faith in computer's ability to route efficiently. Or AI for that matter.

And for the peanut gallery...I was paying for both of these programs.

Not saying there isn't something out there that works, but check and double check the route using your brain if you do.

I still find Goggle Maps taking me the long way around some times when I know a different way is faster.
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Mr.Markus
I tried an app called route4me last season.
It used the Google maps and google tracking. The it had a route configure option that planned a route for least mileage which as we all know doesn't work well with snow events. My Commercial properties are done first then residential and this screwed it up a little. You can change your next site on the fly and it'll reroute you, had log in/out times areas for notes etc. I tried a basic package that was $10/mth. I have been doing it for 30 years now with daysheets and apparently now my phone tracks my trips Google timeline (probably set up by my wife). So it was tedious the dozen times I used it to change my old habits. If I had employees I would look into it in more detail.
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Kvston
We use Yeti and in our rural area it does work for routing for us but we aren’t in a huge metropolitan area. People we know in metro areas tend to use google for routing.
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jato
If there's less than 50 stops, and you don't want to DIY it with google maps, RouteXL can optimize 15-20 stops at a time for free. Can print out a list of stops too.
I'd just put the route in a google sheet, then click the next one to open gMaps after each is complete.

If you're making more than 50-60 stops, or adding / changing stops a LOT, you can use Follosoft. It's expensive, but it lets you be hands free while driving and has functions for a lot of administrative things.
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P
If you are small enough, you dont need software. I would definitely put all of my stops on google maps and route it that way. You have to see it visually. I know a company that has 5000 snowblower clients and they used google mapsit was insane.

if you actually need software then I am a huge fan of follosoft. Cost is irrelevant, if you need software then this is it. I've tried yeti and it would be ok if you only did huge sites that require photos, otherwise, it's kind of meh.
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