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S3-155: MEGAStorm Fern Prep Talk with NY Contractors....
0 Playsin 10 hours
The guys sit down with some of Steve's fellow local snow professionals to talk about how they are prepping for the upcoming MegaStorm Fern that is impacting almost half of the country with ice and snow. For the Hudson Valley region of New York, where all of these contractors are, forecasters have predicted anywhere from 15"-24" of snow.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Snow Jobs Podcast
00:00:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Here we go, Snow Jobs Nation, for the 155th Monday in a row. We are coming at you with the Snow Jobs Podcast main show powered by Top Gun Backblades. As always, I'm Steve.
00:00:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know who's with me.
00:00:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Rick James is coming eastward.
Weather Events and Predictions
00:01:03
RICK JAMES
Yes, sir.
00:01:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's up, Jeremy?
00:01:04
RICK JAMES
Hey, Steve-O. Been a busy week.
00:01:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:01:07
RICK JAMES
A lot of big, heavy snow here, lake effect, you know, just getting that quarter inch.
00:01:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Prairie effect. You got the prairie effect snow this week?
00:01:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. Getting that quarter inch at a time, just blowing them.
00:01:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
who
00:01:17
RICK JAMES
Yep, busy.
00:01:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Quarter inch blowing around for four days, keeping you pushing.
00:01:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we we've been out like every freaking day for that. ridiculous.
00:01:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dude, I would do hourly too if I could get a quarter inch to keep me plowing for frigging five days. That's great. And you'll haul it too. That's the best part.
00:01:33
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah, I'm right.
00:01:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's insane. It's so great. Good for you.
00:01:36
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:01:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah But you're ah you're chasing some real snow this weekend, huh?
00:01:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah, hopefully we get to see some real snow. Myself and I got a few of the Glacier boys coming out east this week to top dog to see what snow looks like, I guess.
00:01:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, so you guys are all hearing this Monday as this mega storm will be wrapping up in shit in the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the South. I mean, it's everywhere. It's a massive, massive storm system. It's like 15 to 16 states are going to see snow, ice, or both out of this thing.
00:02:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
This thing's massive.
00:02:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
I was looking at it today and it looks really, really big. And as always, we seem, my little corner of the world seems to be in the bullseye or sphincter of the storm.
00:02:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah That's going to see the most, ah the most snow out of it. And, to to talk about that tonight we got a bunch of local guys to me that have come on with us and we're going to talk about the uh the upcoming mega storm if the weather guys are correct which uh you know last weekend if you're pay if you were paying attention to my sleepless uh rant after two days of ah plowing phantom snow that showed up four times more than they predicted you know you know that their forecast last weekend were
00:02:33
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:02:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, they were way out. They were way off. So, I mean, they're predicting for us right now anywhere from 8 to 16 to 20, somewhere in that range.
00:03:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I mean, if you go on that scale of how underselling they've been on the totals, we're looking at about 64 inches out of this thing.
00:03:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah, pretty good.
00:03:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you do the math, you know, weatherman math, how they how accurate they've been or not accurate that they've been lately.
00:03:23
RICK JAMES
Have they named this one yet? What's the big name on this storm? Do you know?
00:03:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
No name. i don't know. I haven't heard a name yet.
00:03:29
RICK JAMES
What? i thought they named every stupid winter storm off.
00:03:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
uh yeah if they have i have not caught wind of that yet but uh it is coming it all the models are now seeing it the the euro ai which has probably been the most accurate model since the first of the year is uh is definitely seeing it that coincidentally was not good with snow in the beginning of the year the euro ai but it has learned and you know as we like to joke skynet has become self-aware and now euro ai last weekend nailed that snow and they It nailed both days, and they didn't believe it, I guess, to listen to it. So now they're listening to it.
00:04:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it seems to know it.
00:04:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Gotta have AI. they Nick said that before, AI has been pretty good, so.
00:04:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:04:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it's learning. It definitely, that's what it does, man. Learns every storm. So maybe it's had enough snow this year that it's been a busy winter. It's had plenty of chances to look at it. So now maybe it's caught up and it's it's the most accurate one out there possibly.
00:04:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
But we will see. we Time will tell. I mean, we'll you'll have to wait a week to hear, but and time will tell how it did. But, ah yeah, all the models look pretty pretty much in agreement that we're going to get kicked in the balls with the a good amount of snow here. And the only thing we got going for us, it's going to be super, super cold, and it should be super light and super dry and easy to push around. So hopefully less breakdowns and breakages and, you know.
00:04:57
RICK JAMES
Super, super cold. That's what teens.
00:04:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, teens, teens. Yeah, we're not going prairie cold here.
00:05:01
RICK JAMES
oh oh Oh, yeah.
00:05:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're going northeast
Local Snow Professionals' Insights
00:05:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
cold. That's that's cold for us, all right?
00:05:04
RICK JAMES
or good um I'm good. i'm I'll be good out there. and fred We're supposed to have a high of like 16 below here on Friday. So I'll be out east.
00:05:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, you can whip out the snow jobs boy shorts and then, you know, T-shirt and be in the loader and you'll be fine.
00:05:14
RICK JAMES
Fuck that.
00:05:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I will. I will.
00:05:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah uh so like we said guys tonight we are today we're gonna talk about megastorm 2026 because i don't know that it has a name yet uh and how companies are prepping for it specifically in my area because we are in the bullseye for the most snow out of the whole thing uh as usual so ah to help us do that i got some of my fellow local snow pros they're gonna come on with us and they're gonna talk about what they do You know, they're going to talk about the storm, if they do anything special to prep for it, you know, that kind of thing.
00:05:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
So to ah to help us do that tonight, right, we got Matt Booz of Quiet Acres Landscaping. They're out of East Fishkill. And Mike Fitzgerald of First Due Property Maintenance. They're out of Kingston. They're joining us for the first time. And we also are going to welcome back to the show Rick Faulkner of Tri-County Services. They're out in Mayapac down a little south of us.
00:06:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
And Super Luke Juljunus of LJ Lawn and Property Maintenance. They're in Cold Spring, which is a little less south of us than than Rick is, but maybe the the town most directly south of us.
00:06:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
So ah we're all going to see some big snow out of this, and I'm excited to have all my local guys here. to uh to talk about this this with us but you know what we got to do guys before we do that we're going to hear from team top gun we're going to come back do a very quick week in review and then we'll ah get into it with the guys
00:07:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right, guys, we're back. So what did we do last week, Jeremy? We bashed the weather guys. That was about it, right?
00:07:19
RICK JAMES
Yep. Best weather guys.
00:07:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was like a 50-minute rant on ah how did you miss this? Like, i you don't.
00:07:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah. and I didn't hear any feedback.
00:07:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
no Well, yeah, it was well it was crickets from the weather world, but they're still not taking jokes well.
00:07:30
RICK JAMES
whatever
00:07:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Well, they're busy. they're They're busy predicting this one, I'm guessing. So.
00:07:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, they're the other' not. They're still a little on edge. I'm like, you know.
00:07:43
RICK JAMES
I texted Nick today trying to get some forecasts for Aldis, and it took him a long time to get back to me. He's really mad at me.
00:07:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, I'm sure they're busy. I'm sure they're very, very busy.
00:07:51
RICK JAMES
I thought he was mad at me for teasing him. All right.
00:07:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, I've talked to him since then.
00:07:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:07:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
He took it pretty well. He he took it pretty well.
00:07:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:07:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
He knew he had it coming. they they They knew they had it coming. But, ah you know, you don't you don't do that where, you know, oh, oops, sorry we missed that dusting. It's not oops, sorry we missed that five inches.
00:08:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, come on, you know, do better. But they they they took it in stride, um and hopefully they'll do better with this one. I think this one's a little easier to call.
00:08:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know when you have a you know a 700 mile long swath uh 400 miles deep you know i think it's a little easier to to call it yeah you're probably gonna get snow out of this but that's what we did last week not much else we just uh got on sleep deprived and let it fly which probably wasn't the best idea but we did it so
00:08:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah, definitely.
00:08:43
RICK JAMES
It worked.
00:08:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
It worked.
00:08:44
RICK JAMES
It worked.
00:08:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got it done. Kept the streak intact. But that's about it. What else? Do you have anything else for the week in review that we got to talk about?
00:08:52
RICK JAMES
Nope.
00:08:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right so guys keep hitting as always keep hitting the like and subscribe on apple podcast and spotify drop reviews of the show on both of those let us know how we're doing and what we can do better to help you uh you know help you get the information you need all right uh new tumblers are in as we've been saying get them while they're hot i saw new uh your girls on my plow list shirts coming off the presses nice
00:09:16
RICK JAMES
Yep, restocking those. yep Hopefully those new sweatshirts will
Snow Projects and Operations
00:09:21
RICK JAMES
be done shortly. so um yeah, like that.
00:09:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's a good one. that the the girl Your girl's on my plow list. That's ah that's a favorite. ah But yeah, like we were saying, the Snow Jobs Nation store is stocked and ready.
00:09:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah, that was.
00:09:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy is ready to fulfill all orders. He will be out of the office for a couple days while he battles snow in the in the Great East. Not Northeast, right?
00:09:44
RICK JAMES
Yes, sir.
00:09:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's more mid-Atlantic, the ah Washington, D.C.,
00:09:48
RICK JAMES
don't know. It's east of me.
00:09:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
what are they supposed to get are they are they getting big snow are they getting more ice 20 if it's a if they're saying 20 we're in the heaviest spot for snow so then we're looking at more than that i don't think they're getting 20 yeah i think they're in
00:09:53
RICK JAMES
um Snow, I got a forecast from Todd today. It said 20. That's what do he sent me.
00:10:06
RICK JAMES
Nick said, Nick's at 8 to 12. But I think Todd sent me today. It was like, yeah, it said like 20. I was like, hmm.
00:10:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's Todd math. That's not no, no way they're getting 20 down there. And I think the further it trends North, I think the less snow they're going to see, and maybe even a little bit of ice or sleet.
00:10:27
RICK JAMES
Nick said if they get the coal, they can get more snow. so
00:10:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
well yeah the cold is there it depends how how long the cold stays in place further south the cold is locked for us we're our cold ain't going anywhere i can't read that no i can't read that what does that say precipitation total 2025 centimeters that's centimeters uh
00:10:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you can't read that. See the big two 20 to 20. Yeah.
00:10:48
RICK JAMES
It's not centimeters. But we are doing centimeters today up north.
00:10:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:10:53
RICK JAMES
We're on a storm chasing film on a clint tower today.
00:10:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah jeremy kirk i'm not happy that we're not there sorry we got our own snow to deal with but uh yeah that's about it bud anything else
00:10:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we're filming Top Gun this weekend too. So it's green light.
00:11:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
we're filming what top gun i was gonna say top gun well they already made that that's the 65 year old fighter pilot that's somehow still active in the navy yeah that's that's legit but yeah top dog getting filmed green light
00:11:10
RICK JAMES
Green light storm chasing Top Dog. Yeah.
00:11:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. yeah Green light.
00:11:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Alright, so look at that. What did we get? Three episodes filmed in a week?
00:11:31
RICK JAMES
um possibly another one in St. Louis too, ASI, this weekend.
00:11:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are they getting something?
00:11:37
RICK JAMES
They were supposed to get like 12. Yeah.
00:11:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really? i did not look that
00:11:41
RICK JAMES
If you'd come to these meetings, if you'd show up to these meetings, you'd know this, but.
00:11:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm busy. Busy.
00:11:46
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah, you're the busiest guy in the world.
00:11:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm one of them.
00:11:50
RICK JAMES
but
00:11:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
i'm yeah no every every meeting time it's like i it's right in the middle of something else that i it's not a like the meetings are like i know they'll get the shit will get handled even if i don't get there but like the stuff i'm in the middle of i if it doesn't get handled it's not gonna get done if i don't do it so can't make can't make them if i can't make them but uh but that's all i got you got anything else before we uh
00:12:17
RICK JAMES
We're good.
00:12:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, boys, then let's hear from our partners, and then we'll come back and we'll get into it with the boys.
00:14:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right gang we are
Storm Preparations and Experiences
00:14:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
back jeremy i forgot to tell you we're actually hauling tonight filed right i questioned it myself but then i saw the photos of the piles the guys sent and i'm like yeah all right i guess i gotta get permission to haul and the uh the customers are like absolutely get it out of there do what you need to do so
00:14:42
RICK JAMES
I know you just said that Holly. I was like, and I questioned you on a hauling really?
00:14:59
RICK JAMES
Trucks. He hauling with trucks.
00:15:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
uh we are well yes and no some sites yes but mostly we're doing pushbacks and blowbacks we got room but we just don't have any more room to stack right there so we'll move it around a little bit and blow it into different spots if we have to and bucket it into different spots but balon was both both both muskox's are in full effect uh for this upcoming storm we're gonna have them both running so
00:15:08
RICK JAMES
Gotcha.
00:15:18
RICK JAMES
Here's the old muskox.
00:15:26
RICK JAMES
Nice. Can the wolf run him? That wolf loader gonna be running?
00:15:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
wolf is running the wolf is uh is doing buckets of uh of haul out tonight actually so hopefully uh hopefully that thing continues to perform and uh we're we're we're liking it so far the guys were it took a little getting used to at first for guys that are used to modern loaders and then uh within like two hours they were like nope yeah we can roll with this this is uh this is all right so
00:15:36
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:15:41
RICK JAMES
Good.
00:15:53
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:15:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Been good. they lost a They lost lights for a couple minutes the other night, like a a couple seconds at a time, but it it ended up being a loose ground wire, so we just tightened that up, and supposedly it's good to go.
00:16:03
RICK JAMES
Ground somewhere.
00:16:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
But other than that, it's got plenty of power. It's got plenty of speed. It's... You know, the LEDs are actually super bright. They might be brighter than the 321s LEDs.
00:16:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
um
00:16:18
RICK JAMES
Yep. Yeah, they got a good light package.
00:16:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
And the heater, they do the heat. You could be naked in that cab with that heater on full blow a full bore.
00:16:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's great. And you got to get you also used to Celsius because it's in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. So when you're cranking it up and you're like, damn, this thing won't go above 35. Well, it's like that's like 120 Celsius or Fahrenheit. So it's like, holy crap, you're burning yourself out of there.
00:16:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
But it's good.
00:16:44
RICK JAMES
That's going to get you.
00:16:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
So ah we're going to welcome in all the boys here. So everybody, ah welcome to the show. Unmute and come on in. Say hello.
00:16:54
Luke
What up?
00:16:55
Matt
Hello?
00:16:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
How's everybody doing?
00:16:56
RICK JAMES
You guys.
00:16:56
mfitz1stdue_
going on.
00:16:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
How we doing boys? Are we getting ready?
00:17:01
Luke
I'm sweating.
00:17:03
mfitz1stdue_
We're surviving. We're surviving.
00:17:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah First question. We'll go around the room. How did everybody do with the two storms last weekend? We'll start Mike. how How'd you make out up there in Kingston? That's about 40 minutes north of us.
00:17:16
mfitz1stdue_
The dusting? Not too bad. After, uh, After we, I think we received about 10 inches total after the two days, the dusting didn't go too bad, but we got it done.
00:17:26
Luke
Thank you.
00:17:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
the dusting what was your initial forecast for dusting
00:17:32
mfitz1stdue_
Dusting to an inch. I'll give them a little credit. It was a 50% chance of dusting to an inch and one to three. And we ended up with, like I said, 10 to 12. So yeah they were close. They were close.
00:17:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
did that now that was saturday right did they even put sunday on your radar right away
00:17:47
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:17:51
mfitz1stdue_
Sunday was not on the radar. However, after the first storm on Sunday, i figured I would just get ready for the second one as well.
00:17:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:17:57
mfitz1stdue_
So...
00:17:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, because ah even though it was one storm, we had that, like, we had an hour and a half, two hours of snow in the morning, and everybody that didn't pay attention went out and cleared and, like, was, like, all put to bed and ready to go, and then the main part came through at, like, 3 o'clock, and, dude, I can't believe how many total failures there were in our area. Like, guys just didn't know that there was a second part of the storm.
00:18:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was
00:18:22
mfitz1stdue_
and I'll be honest with you. The best part was we were out to lunch. The guys had cleaned everything up for the most part. And they're like, all right, you know, we good? Like, I'm like, yeah, we're good for a few hours, man.
00:18:32
mfitz1stdue_
We got a, there's a second half coming.
00:18:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:18:35
mfitz1stdue_
What do you mean? I'm like, I'll call you back in a few hours. We got a whole nother storm coming.
00:18:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yeah, it was interesting. and And when did you find out there was going to be any snow Sunday up there? Because we didn't know until we were done cleaning up Saturday night at 7 o'clock. We got an, oh, by the way, get ready to do it all again tomorrow. Same thing tomorrow.
00:18:54
mfitz1stdue_
That's about the same for us as well. Yeah, I would say it's about the same. of
00:18:59
Rick
Mm-hmm.
00:18:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh shit and uh so luke how did you make out how did you guys make out in cold spring with uh saturday and sunday
00:19:06
Luke
Well, if it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have done, we probably like would have been in the same situation that you were just talking about. I don't even check the weather anymore. either just text you or wait for you to text me. um But yeah, I was the one telling people like, why everybody's like, wow, this is a bust.
00:19:20
Matt
So
00:19:20
Luke
And I was like, no, just wait till about three o'clock. It'll be, ah it's going to dump on us from 10 to three.
00:19:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:19:24
Luke
And it did. And then again, you texted me, ah it was probably like maybe eight o'clock that night. And you were like, dude, they just moved us to three to four inches tomorrow.
00:19:35
Luke
and I was like, are you kidding me?
00:19:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, DEFCON 5.
00:19:35
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:19:37
Luke
Yeah. but We made out all right. My salter went down, which we'll get into. Still trying to figure that out. But besides that, we got everything done. Just didn't sleep very much. But ah we got a few days off now to get ready.
00:19:50
Luke
So we'll be ah we'll be ready for this next one.
00:19:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:19:53
Luke
But yeah, that was an easy one.
00:19:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:19:55
Luke
if if if this ah Unfortunately, this weekend doesn't look like it's going to be like that.
00:19:57
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you. got different thing
00:19:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, I mean, it should be pretty light and fluffy though.
00:20:00
Rick
Thank you.
00:20:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
So maybe it'd be easier to move around, but still that kind of, if we're getting, you know, anywhere from, you know, eight to two feet, you know, cause I think that's about the range right now.
00:20:10
Luke
Yeah.
00:20:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Um,
00:20:12
Luke
See, my thing is the the weather has basically said everything is going to be less than an inch. I think they so originally said that for Saturday, and nothing has been less than an inch. So I'm wondering.
00:20:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%.
00:20:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
They have under every storm.
00:20:23
Luke
Yeah.
00:20:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
They've called snow every time out for our area.
00:20:27
Luke
Yeah, so.
00:20:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
They've been good with that, but they have undersold it by at least 50 to 100% every time.
00:20:34
Luke
Right, and like you said, this one's going to be hard to mess up, but it makes me wonder, like, now are they over-projecting? I don't know.
00:20:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's very possible. I mean, is this this one might be easier for them because they know exactly how cold it's going to be for our area. They know exactly how much moisture is associated with the storm.
00:20:49
Luke
Yeah.
00:20:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they know by the the amount of cold that's there, they know what the ratio is going to be. So they should be able to call.
00:20:56
Luke
Yep.
00:20:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
They know it's going to be between 20 and 25 to one. And they know there's about point eight zero inches worth of moisture, you know, with this storm available to it unless something changes.
00:21:00
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:21:07
Matt
Mm-hmm.
00:21:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know Unless it does a reach around from the Atlantic and pulls in more moisture or whatever the hell they they call it.
00:21:11
Luke
Yeah, don't think so.
00:21:13
RICK JAMES
You sure giving them a lot of credit.
00:21:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
The rusty trombone. i don't know what the hell their term is now for it. But the they, I don't know. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt on it. i you know I feel bad beating them up. They got a tough job. but
00:21:26
RICK JAMES
big boys.
00:21:27
Matt
Thank you.
00:21:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
i i have rest now so it's uh i have had some sleep so now i kind of have to dial back the beatings you know uh rick how'd you guys make out in mayhem pack this weekend
00:21:32
Luke
Yeah.
00:21:39
Rick
Uh, our, all of our plans basically went out the window in about two hours. We pretty much had an idea how we were going to handle it. We're like, they were saying not even an inch on blacktop.
00:21:47
mfitz1stdue_
okay
00:21:49
Rick
I'm like, this is be a salting event.
00:21:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:21:51
Rick
So, uh, we kind of started off, we were just putting salt down and then it kind of picked up like mid morning and we got a shot and we just, was like, there's no way it's keeping up. They said it was going to be light, you know, light the entire day.
00:22:04
Rick
Um, you know,
00:22:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was not light.
00:22:06
Rick
it was not light.
00:22:07
Matt
No.
00:22:07
Luke
Well,
00:22:07
Rick
And we were even, we were calling up with our forecast would'd be like, this isn't light.
00:22:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
No. Yep.
00:22:11
Rick
He's like, Oh no, it looks light. I'm like, no, this is not light. So we kind of ah abandoned the whole, you know, given our salt issues too, we kind of abandoned, you know, the salting and we started kind of calling some guys in and they came in and we were scraping. And then we kind of hit the lull in the middle of the day and it was melting back and it was pretty easy. And then, uh,
00:22:32
Rick
You know, and then it started ramping up again as the sun started going down. And, but it was, you know, it was a long day for everyone because they were in the morning and by the time it, you know, it stopped, i don't know, maybe 930 or so by us.
00:22:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was.
00:22:44
Rick
And then by the time we scraped it off and then the temperatures were going plummet.
00:22:46
Matt
Thank you.
00:22:48
Rick
So we were getting salt on it at night.
00:22:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:22:50
Rick
And then.
00:22:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then, oh, by the way, you're going to do it all again tomorrow.
00:22:52
Luke
Yeah.
00:22:52
Rick
Exactly. We. we We were going to stagger some guys to come in later and go clean up, like, parking spots because was during the day, and everywhere was packed. It was absolutely packed.
00:23:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes. Saturday was ridiculous. Everybody was on the road.
00:23:05
Rick
Yeah. So we set up, like, three or four guys. We're like, listen, come in at, like, 6, 7, whenever, you know, go and scrape everything off and clean up spots. And –
00:23:19
Rick
Then right around 6-7, they called us and were like, listen, it's ah we're going to get slammed again tomorrow now and you're going to plow. So we we just abandoned that and we cleaned up as much as we could. And then we figured just come back in the morning start scraping again.
00:23:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
It really was that late, too. it was like sick between 6 and 8 p.m. You got the ah it was almost like sneaky. Like maybe they won't notice. We're putting out a text telling them they're going to get fucked again tomorrow. We missed it completely. Like it was like, oh, by the way, i don't want to alarm you, but you're going to get another six inches tomorrow morning in about nine hours. Like where did that come from?
00:24:00
Rick
Saturday we got the by the way text too. Like, oh, by the way, you're going to get four or five inches instead of, you know, one.
00:24:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got, yeah, I'm trying to remember when we got that one. it was It was either midnight or early on where we were planning on that half an inch to inch and a half. And then the, oh, by the way, we're going to ramp you up to two to four.
00:24:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then even two to four was was way off. I think we got seven out of a total certified. And it was like, Jesus.
00:24:27
Luke
On Saturday?
00:24:28
Rick
Yeah, I think we probably got six.
00:24:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, Saturday.
00:24:29
Luke
Yeah, I had about six by
00:24:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, we were 6.9, I think they certified it at.
00:24:33
Matt
Yep. Yeah, 6.9, yep.
00:24:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then, yep.
00:24:34
Matt
Yeah.
00:24:36
mfitz1stdue_
I had almost eight.
00:24:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
and
00:24:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, and that was weird because wasn't that one supposed to be heavier south?
00:24:42
Rick
Yeah. Every single storm has taken north.
00:24:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
The south of us was supposed to get more?
00:24:43
Matt
yeah
00:24:46
Rick
Every single
00:24:46
mfitz1stdue_
The further north I went, the more I had to eat. I was like, ah, the sink. Oh, well.
00:24:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, you know, that all has to do with the jet stream, right? Yeah.
00:25:10
Luke
Literally.
00:25:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Matt, how'd you guys do in these fish kill?
00:25:15
Matt
ah Very good. I mean, like you said, they were calling for one to one to three, if that. And then we get ah seven inches on Saturday. And then, ah again, i think you texted me. I was like, oh, look at that. And another ah another one to three on saturday or Sunday.
00:25:37
Matt
So, yeah, yeah.
00:25:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
which which became what five
Forecasting and Planning Strategies
00:25:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah yeah i'll tell you that that 0.5 to 1.5 became a foot really quick that was pretty crazy man it was pretty crazy we did
00:25:43
Matt
Just a busy weekend.
00:25:54
Matt
Caught us all off guard, I guess.
00:25:56
Luke
on. We were bored, though.
00:25:57
mfitz1stdue_
Okay.
00:25:57
Luke
We had a slow January, so I was i was excited.
00:26:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
We did. We had a couple we have we a couple little like nothings in the middle in the beginning beginning of January, and then nothing for...
00:26:05
Luke
Yeah, like the beginning.
00:26:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was probably our longest lull of the winter, right, so far?
00:26:11
Luke
for sure yeah yeah around there and then mother nature was just like okay end of january we're gonna beat you guys up
00:26:13
Matt
Yeah. It was like 13 days, I think it was.
00:26:17
Rick
days.
00:26:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Got it. Cool. So we got...
00:26:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, and again, not to give them too much credit, but I believe they did say that on the winter the winter preview, that the second half of January.
00:26:30
Matt
they do
00:26:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Watch out, you know.
00:26:34
Luke
they did they did they said december end of january and this yeah
00:26:35
Matt
Yeah, Weather Pros said that, yep.
00:26:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
well
00:26:38
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:26:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
well Well, screw that. I'm not giving them any credit after last weekend, so... We'll erase that from existence, erase it from the record. But no, they did they did call that. they They were on it. So, I mean, they missed Sunday, but they were apparently on the, you know, three months out, they can tell us snow's coming. But, you know, three hours out, not so much.
00:27:03
Matt
Mm-hmm.
00:27:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
But you know what? They were all wrong. It wasn't just one company. Like even Hudson Valley weather was off, which doesn't happen. Usually those guys are, usually those guys are dead on.
00:27:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they, the Hudson Valley weather guys, when I started feeling a little bad for beating up the weather dudes, is they never make excuses.
00:27:18
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:27:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they actually said like the, the modeling is absolute shit for this entire weekend.
00:27:23
Luke
they did yeah yeah
00:27:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like they've never seen modeling that bad. Well,
00:27:30
Luke
I don't even think they put it out because of that. Like they waited to the last minute, like me and you talked about the other day because they had nothing to put out.
00:27:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:27:36
Luke
That was like a given, you know?
00:27:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah they uh they did not like it at all so like i tend to give them an all uh a little bit of a reprieve there because they all just had nothing to work with apparently but i don't know but anyway we got a big storm coming this this weekend this one they know about This one they're calling.
00:27:50
Luke
Yeah.
00:27:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, you know, are are we are we at all worried about what's coming? what do ah Anybody got it? I mean, me personally, I'm only worried because they've been underselling everything by ah about 100% to 200% on some storms.
00:28:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, you know, if they're telling us we're getting 12, we could end up with 60.
00:28:11
Matt
okay
00:28:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's, you know, every storm.
00:28:15
Rick
Every storm has overproduced every single one every and everyone is every time it is tracked further north than they said, you know, how many times are we gonna be on the northern fringe and every single day, it's just model after model just gets further north, further north, further north.
00:28:15
Luke
that's scary
00:28:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:28:25
Luke
yep so true yeah
00:28:29
Rick
That's why it's been, you know, that's the trend.
00:28:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
And the yeah, and that was the argument I had with Nick from the weather pros when I said, just tell me like this has happened every time out. You guys have been 100% on the ball for calling snow when we're getting it.
00:28:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
But every storm has overproduced by a lot, not a little, a lot. It's not like you're calling for three and we're getting three and a half. You're calling for three. We're getting seven, eight, which I don't really care.
00:28:53
mfitz1stdue_
uh
00:28:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Once they tell me I'm out, I'm out till it's over. I don't care how much comes, but it affects our planning.
00:29:01
Luke
Yeah.
00:29:01
Matt
Agreed.
00:29:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I said, how long does this have to go on?
00:29:02
Matt
agreed
00:29:04
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:29:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
You've had 12 to 15 events now. How long does this trend have to come on? how ah How much of a sample size do you need before you start saying, all right, now I think it's going to do three. I'm going to tell them it's going to be six because every storm is overperformed.
00:29:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
And he didn't really have an answer for that. Like, he's like, yeah, you know, you're not wrong, but I, you know, I don't know. We're just kind of interpreting what they're saying. I'm like yeah, but it's, it's been wrong. Like, you know, you've been the, every storm is overproduced. Like Rick said by a lot.
00:29:33
Luke
Yeah. I mean, what if – like they put us on right on that edge. I mean, like at least for Cold Spring Fishkill, they put in us right on that edge, like Rick said, and and it's been not even close.
00:29:45
Luke
It went further north, and we've gotten slammed. So that –
00:29:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, Mike's 40 minutes north, and he's not even on the northern edge of it. It's going north of him.
00:29:51
Luke
yeah. I mean, that's scary, but also the other the other
00:29:53
Rick
Also,
00:29:55
mfitz1stdue_
Still not looking forward to it.
00:29:57
Luke
it can go It could go the other way, and it could be less than what they're predicting. and i mean some I've spent a lot of extra money to be prepared for this storm and extra guys and all that, and we could get frigging you know we get two inches again. so Who knows?
00:30:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think they're pretty confident that minimum everybody in the path of this is getting at least six plus out of it.
00:30:15
Luke
That's what it looks like.
00:30:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
If they're, if you're getting snow. So I think we're, I think we're, we're, we're getting a big one. i just don't know how big it's going to be. And, uh, You know, when we when we have big storms like this on our radar, we're not they're not foreign to us, right?
00:30:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're always good for, you know, these massive nor'easters that come barreling up the coast and stuff and drop, you know, a foot or two feet on us.
00:30:35
mfitz1stdue_
Okay.
00:30:36
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:30:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
So these are not foreign to us. Do you guys... Does anybody do anything special when you get like one of these storms that's 12 plus coming at you? You guys do anything special in advance to prepare for it? So start with Rick, you know, down in Mayapack. You're a large company. You guys do anything different than you normally do for storms that are this big?
00:30:55
Rick
Not really. We pretty much do our our normal checks that we do before every event. You know, we go out, check all the machines, run everything, run them around. Don't just start them. Go exercise.
00:31:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:31:05
Rick
Let them run for 20 minutes. Check, you know, fuel water separators, check tire pressures, you know, check the fluids. Just, I mean, we do that every single storm. And, uh,
00:31:16
Rick
You know, we're fortunate enough that we've got enough quick equipment on all our sites that, you know, if we get two inches or we get 20 inches, it doesn't, it really makes a difference.
00:31:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Doesn't matter.
00:31:26
Rick
doesn't matter. it's plug and play. We're just there longer. That's all it is. Um,
00:31:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Amen.
00:31:31
Rick
And again, back to the forecast with this storm, you know, if we get a foot, what does it matter if we get a foot or we get 15 inches? doesn't matter.
00:31:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
It doesn't.
00:31:39
Rick
It just makes for a longer day. With this storm, honestly, what we're prepping more for is the temperatures because they're saying, you know, the high is going to be about 10 degrees on Saturday.
00:31:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:31:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:31:50
Rick
For us, that's you know we don't normally get those temperatures.
00:31:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:31:53
Rick
So you know we're trying to see what machines we can plug in making sure all of our fuel has got plenty of anti-gel. We're like you know quadrupling how much anti-gel, they say. um you know We're doing stuff like that, making sure we we've got our jump packs are charged and in trucks.
00:32:12
Rick
And we've got you know we've got some little like the Walt battery powered ah like heat guns.
00:32:15
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:32:19
Rick
You know, you get to your machine and the door locks frozen. you know, so we're doing stuff like that because, again, like these temperatures, this is cold for us.
00:32:22
Luke
That's fine.
00:32:28
Rick
So, you know, things start breaking. And and then the other thing we're we're doing prep-wise, you know, really is not machines, is the manpower. You know, this is – they're kind of up in the air. They're talking about maybe Saturday night, starting Saturday night, all day Sunday, maybe into Monday morning.
00:32:45
Rick
So we're trying to figure out, you know, who's available when. Do we got to stagger some guys, let some guys, you know, kind of do like a morning and afternoon shift and then –
00:32:53
mfitz1stdue_
it
00:32:54
Rick
get another guy, you know, some other people to do more late night and then a big crew Monday morning do our final cleanups and, you know, salting and all that stuff. So for us, like I said, that's, that's the big thing is like the logistics of it and how much we get really, it doesn't, it, it honestly really doesn't matter where we're set for whatever we get.
00:33:17
Rick
It's just, uh, makes the day longer.
00:33:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. hundred percent. I agree with that.
00:33:22
Rick
And you know the you know the other thing with this too, with those temperatures, we know we're figuring on you know how we're going to manage the storm.
00:33:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's,
00:33:23
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:33:28
Rick
Are we going to be scraping every inch? Probably not because we don't want to deal with hard pack and even with the arctics and everything, just fine, really fine snow. And 10 degrees, it's probably not to scrape super clean, even with steel blades. So it may be something where we're going to, you know, let it accumulate to three inches before we scrape it off. Where normally where, you know, we're zero tolerance. You know, we just, when we stop, we we don't stop until it stops.
00:33:53
Rick
We may let this a little bit more, let it build up, maybe try scraping it a few less times to try to help with some of the hard pack issues.
00:33:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:34:00
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:34:02
Rick
And for all the people that are running a rubber edge pusher still, they're going to be in for some hurt.
00:34:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, absolutely. they're They're not going to have a good weekend.
00:34:11
Rick
No, they're not.
00:34:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:13
Rick
We're going to see it.
00:34:13
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:34:13
Rick
Trust me. On Monday, Tuesday, you know, probably Wednesday, we're going to be driving around seeing who's got, you know, who's got good pushers and who doesn't.
00:34:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, because there's no, I don't think there's any reprieve immediately from the cold even after the storm's over.
00:34:26
Luke
No, there's not.
00:34:26
Rick
Oh, all week, 20 degrees all week is the highest, you know, 2021.
00:34:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:31
Rick
And the lows are single digits. The the next 10 days, it doesn't get above free. It doesn't even get above freezing.
00:34:36
Luke
Besides tomorrow, oh yeah.
00:34:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's crazy.
00:34:38
Rick
Yeah. Tomorrow is the only day.
00:34:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Enjoy it.
00:34:41
Rick
So don't,
00:34:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
40 degrees going to feel like a beach day.
00:34:41
Rick
Tomorrow, yeah, that's right.
00:34:43
Luke
Yeah, wash the trucks tomorrow just for a little to get dirty.
00:34:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:34:47
mfitz1stdue_
You put my bikini on.
00:34:48
Rick
You have to rinse everything off.
00:34:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah What about you, Matt? you You doing anything special to prep for this thing?
00:34:57
Matt
ah Just a couple extra guys. A of the bigger snowblowers going out.
00:35:02
Luke
you
00:35:04
Matt
That's about it. Like ah Rick said, it's ah just another snowstorm for us.
00:35:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Cool. all right luke you uh you do a lot of residential anything special you got to do when you got something this uh this big coming because i know you you're out for a long time doing a lot of driveways and you also have some commercials so anything special you're doing
00:35:29
Luke
Yeah, we just – I reached out to a bunch of people today. got, like, maybe two to three extra guys right now. um I have a lot of backup help if I need it. ah Just making sure everything's running good. Just doing maintenance, fixing stuff up. um And then – Equipment, we just ah got a skid steer for a commercial lot that'll be here tomorrow.
00:35:50
Luke
So we have that going for us. That's good because I usually plow that with the truck.
00:35:54
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:35:55
Luke
So that'll be nice to have that. i don't have to. That parking lot beats up my truck, especially if we get that much snowman. So skid steer will be set there. Sidewalk machines. We got the mini skid Bobcat and the multi-force ready to go for the residentials. um And then just possibly have to consider some sort of shift change for those ah that sidewalk crew because it's going to be tough on them we get over a foot of snow.
00:36:19
Luke
you know be out there They're usually out there about nine hours it takes them to do all the residential sidewalks and everything. But ah with I'd probably double that for over a foot of snow.
00:36:25
mfitz1stdue_
Thank
00:36:28
mfitz1stdue_
you.
00:36:28
Luke
so
00:36:29
Luke
Trying to look into, um we're going to go through tomorrow, me and a couple of guys, we're going to kind of go through all the properties and make sure that's it, which we usually don't have to do.
00:36:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Yep.
00:36:37
Luke
Usually don't go through the properties beforehand because they've done them before, but just want to make sure that they're dialed in and they know exactly what to do and not to do too much. some but Like some of the guys will we' shovel too much of the water.
00:36:50
Luke
They'll go around back and do the back deck like, no, no, we don't do that. We're doing the the front door and you know a lot of you guys probably don't have to deal
Client Management and Financial Considerations
00:36:57
Luke
with that. You're doing big commercial lots. um We are doing a lot of small residential sidewalks and driveways.
00:37:03
mfitz1stdue_
Okay.
00:37:04
Luke
so um But this has been a good winter for us because because we're charging per push. So we're making making making good money.
00:37:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
absolutely make that money bud make that money mike what about you guys up in kingston you guys doing anything special when you get something this big coming in
00:37:14
Luke
yeah
00:37:19
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah, we got a few things we went over. um This is going to be, obviously, for this area, one of our biggest ones in a while, especially for myself. um I went from doing, like Luke, a lot of residential the last couple years to I pretty much only do large to medium sized commercial now.
00:37:37
mfitz1stdue_
So, um I kind of, i I took a step ahead and I sent out emails to pretty much all of my customers, um starting with my residential, just letting know like, hey, listen, we do have a lot of commercial.
00:37:45
Matt
Okay.
00:37:50
mfitz1stdue_
They're going open that day. They're going be priorities for us. um you know, residentials, we will make sure that if you have an emergency or it's an absolute necessity that you need to be cleared, we will get you cleared. However, um we have priorities we're going to take care of first, mainly, like I said, commercial, um they'll be coming ahead of anybody else. And we're going to work our way down.
00:38:11
mfitz1stdue_
With that, like Rick was saying, just prepping all of our skid steers, the loader, all of our trucks, making sure everything's good to go.
00:38:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank
00:38:21
mfitz1stdue_
um You know, like you, you got the wolf that you're trying out out there. We have our wolf that we bought earlier in the season. Um, making sure that's good to go.
00:38:31
mfitz1stdue_
um Same thing, you know, my OCD kicks in most of the time. I like to even my ones that have ah different push limits. For the most part, I end up making it almost every site is zero tolerance. But honestly, this storm isn't going to allow for that. So really setting precedents on what's going to be a priority and what is going to go specific to what the contract says. Because with this big of a storm, we're just not going to be able to keep up no matter how many guys we put on, how many machines, how many trucks.
00:39:02
mfitz1stdue_
um Other than that, you know my father, he's he's a heavy equipment slash mainly fire trucks, but he takes care of all my stuff. He's going through everything, making sure it's good to go. Whether it's small equipment, large equipment, doesn't matter what it is, we're getting everything ready to go and just ah just prep, making sure everybody's ready. Like you, we have a lot of guys from the A job that work for me.
00:39:29
mfitz1stdue_
And, ah you know, seeing who's who's willing to take off, who's not, and where I'm going from there.
00:39:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:39:36
mfitz1stdue_
so
00:39:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep yeah that is always the uh the fun part is uh finding out what operators are getting offered over time which you know you can't pass that up so uh you know you see who's uh who's gonna turn it down and and help you out and who's gonna say ah sorry dude you know i know you got two feet coming but uh i got the big clock so uh
00:39:57
mfitz1stdue_
Depending on who it is, I'll pay that overtime rate. We just got to make sure where they're at on their career, you know?
00:40:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Absolutely. But yeah, if they're in their last, uh, last one or three, depending on what tier they are, they need the overtime. So, uh,
00:40:09
mfitz1stdue_
They can go hang out in the ambulance. I'll take the the junior guys.
00:40:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
uh geez yeah that's i mean that's that's pretty much i think you guys hit everything we do the one thing we definitely have been doing all day is we've been on the phone with our customers you know telling them what's coming telling them what's what to expect uh giving them all the information we currently have uh the nice thing about this year is we've had a good winter so far i mean for us uh i think we're 36 37 inches so far
00:40:23
Luke
Yeah.
00:40:27
mfitz1stdue_
Amen.
00:40:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
um But every time we've put the weather reports out to our customers and told them there's going to be snow, there's been snow. So they have no reason not to believe what we're telling them. And like like Mike just said, we have certain sites that are sensitive, you know, that need to be zero tolerance and their emergency services and stuff like that.
00:41:00
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:41:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, um you know, they obviously get first first dibs. Luckily, it's going to fall most of it on a Sunday, so commercials will be closed. Doctors' offices will be closed. Medical buildings closed.
00:41:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
um ah Churches are open, but you know even even the churches have said they're going to, or congregations have said they're going to probably go closed and do a remote services.
00:41:26
Luke
Yeah, they do that now.
00:41:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
do remote services or remote meetings, whatever they have going on. So, you know, we just basically tell people, if you're going to try and open on Sunday, don't expect, you know, the normal, we're going to be there every two inches, because if we're getting two inches an hour, that's not really possible.
00:41:35
Matt
Thank
00:41:38
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:41:43
Luke
Yeah.
00:41:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know um and like i said our priority is always going to be the emergency services and the the tier one you know that necessary has to be cleared all the time and that's police fire emergency service buildings uh our complexes we've been talking to the the board members and the management company all day telling them, you know, hey, listen, let's get people the weather early, put out the robocalls, put out the emails, tell them what's coming so they can get out in the next couple days, get their bread, get their milk, get their eggs, all the things that they're going to want to run out for on Sunday, um and tell them to stay home.
00:42:18
Luke
okay
00:42:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just tell them don't even bother going out. And we've explained to the – we're moving an extra machine up to the one complex with an extra muskox, so that way ah you're not going to be able – if you get that big a storm –
00:42:24
Luke
Yep.
00:42:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
It doesn't matter if people are going out it or not.
00:42:35
mfitz1stdue_
Oh,
00:42:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
You really got to make a run on the driveways. Um, Oh, definitely more than once, possibly three times, uh, depending what's coming. So in order to cut down that time and be able to have everybody moving on to other things, we'll run two machines with two muskoxes and get done.
00:42:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, uh, you know, half the time that it would normally take. Um, we brought out a couple of bigger, bigger boxes, uh, it's going to be light and fluffy brought out the thirteens. Um,
00:43:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
And yeah, I mean, that's pretty much that's pretty much all we can do. The equipment's ready to go. i mean, the equipment's, it's been running every couple days.
00:43:08
mfitz1stdue_
I
00:43:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
So like it's it's tip top.
00:43:13
Luke
Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Make sure it's all topped off.
00:43:15
Matt
Mm-hmm.
00:43:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
The oil levels are good. Everything's getting greased. um I'm not washing anything because at this point, I'm almost superstition. Like if i if I put water on this shit, half of it's not going to work again in this cold. So I'm not doing that.
00:43:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
But other than that, I think you know we're pretty much ready. ah The only problem we're having right now is we have two SSVs that have seized seize drive pulleys, so we can't run the snowblowers.
00:43:44
Luke
I
00:43:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
And we can't get the parts.
00:43:45
Matt
Hmm.
00:43:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
We've been trying to get the parts, and we can't get them. So we can get
00:43:49
Luke
like the snowblowers would be good for this storm too.
00:43:51
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:43:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
They would probably be very handy to have, but, you know, we can get the belts, but the the the the front, the the stuff that we need to be able to fix the machines apparently is not available. So ah we have two of them that are down. We can put plows on them, which is still, you know, it's good. Those things will push all day, especially in fluff like that. It doesn't matter. You put a two feet of fluff in front of that, it'll still push it. But I'd like to have the blower so we can locate the snow where we want it to go.
00:44:18
Luke
Mm-hmm.
00:44:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
um
00:44:20
Rick
you need my mammoth, I'll send it up to you, Steve.
00:44:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, that's... What's that?
00:44:23
Rick
If you need my mammoth, I'll send it up to you. Still going strong.
00:44:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
You just, why put a bullet in that thing?
00:44:28
Rick
It's solid as good as it is.
00:44:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, i don't need any more junk.
00:44:31
Rick
I guess I got the only good one.
00:44:32
Matt
Mm-hmm.
00:44:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
You do, bud. Actually, no, we know of one other one.
00:44:37
Rick
I've not had one issue with that.
00:44:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Doesn't Arctic have a couple, Jeremy?
00:44:39
RICK JAMES
Thanks all.
00:44:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's good.
00:44:41
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:44:42
Rick
That thing.
00:44:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you, man. Then cherish that thing because you're one of the few.
00:44:46
Rick
I know holding on to it. It starts every time. Not one issue in three years with that thing.
00:44:50
Luke
Thank you.
00:44:51
Rick
And it, I don't know, we we kind of, that's the one piece we neglect a little bit because I'm getting to the point where like, oh, we'll probably just run it the ground and throw it out because the support is probably going be terrible. They'll probably stop making them.
00:45:01
Rick
So we haven't really kept up on it as probably as best as we should. No issues. it' It's been
00:45:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's good. That's awesome to hear. I'm glad there's a couple of them out there that aren't having major issues. um There's a couple guys in our area that have those. A couple companies you see rolling around with them on the trailers, and there's they're still rolling around on the trailers, so I don't think they're doing it for show. So there must be at least a handful of those things that are operating out there.
00:45:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that's good. I mean, hey, listen, I i can't really, the SSVs, I'm having a ah problem, and we take care of those things.
00:45:28
Rick
Okay.
00:45:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
We maintain the shit out of them, and still the internals, those pulleys are seasoned. at Two different machines, the same issue. Yeah. And we're we're having a little problem with them.
00:45:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
But luckily, we have the V-Blades. We have the extensions. so those things And those things push all day.
00:45:48
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:45:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
So i'm not not having a snowblower on them is an inconvenience. It's not really a, you know, a holy shit, we're screwed. So it's more of just something to whine about. But... the But yeah, other than that, all the ah the the sidewalk guys, I did speak to them today. They already have a plan in place to rotate crews because of the cold. And and I'm not going to send them out. it's I already told them, I'm like, the only things we got to hit are the zeros, you know, the the tier ones that we we're going to have to hit them every three, four inches, make sure they're good.
00:46:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that means we'll be running, you know, racetracks on them. But i I already told them, you know, you got nothing but you got a sea of snowblowers. Use them all. Split them up between the two trucks.
00:46:33
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:46:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
And you got, you know, whatever they need, eight single stage blowers, two two two stage blowers. You know, I even told them you can bring out the backpacks, man, because I think the backpacks will probably handle a good chunk of this stuff in certain spots.
00:46:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
So they're on it.
00:46:49
Luke
Steve, do you well will you wait to send those guys out until it's all fallen? or for Like for the ones that aren't zero tolerance? Until it's all done, until the snow's over.
00:46:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Until it's all what? Until it's over? No, no, they're going to, the there, we're going to have to keep up with it, you know, but I'm going to have the one crew that's just dedicated to the zeros and that's their job.
00:47:00
Luke
na you got keep going.
00:47:09
Luke
Yeah.
00:47:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Keep those, keep those down, you know, just keep cutting it down, cutting it down, uh, bulking it out. And then the other guys, they can make their way around with the snowblowers and take care of, you know, even if it's six inches at a time, you know, take care of it.
00:47:22
mfitz1stdue_
I
00:47:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then we'll come back four or five hours later and we'll knock it down again until it's over.
00:47:28
Luke
Yeah.
00:47:29
Luke
i mean this but
00:47:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then that way, that way we don't have two feet to clean up on ah on the one it's over.
00:47:32
Luke
um Yeah. I mean, this would be a really scary storm. Like if you like you said, if it was if it was warmer out and there was going to be moisture in the snow. But it's that the one thing we got going for us is that it's going to be real cold and dry.
00:47:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:47:44
Luke
yeah, bro.
00:47:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
and that's what we're all counting on, so you know that'll be the first thing that changes.
00:47:48
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:47:48
Luke
yeah bro
00:47:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
This thing will jump up 15 degrees.
00:47:50
Rick
that cold, that cold,
00:47:52
mfitz1stdue_
I think that's the one priority I took on this storm, being that it's, I mean, and in Ulster County, it's it's the biggest storm since, from what I'm hearing, since 1993, 1996, if it drops what they're saying. You know...
00:48:04
mfitz1stdue_
um if it drops what they're saying ah you know
00:48:07
Luke
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:09
mfitz1stdue_
I took a priority to say, listen, like, do not expect us to be able to keep up with us as we've, you know, I take pride in making sure we give you top quality service as much as I want to give you top quality service.
00:48:20
Matt
Thank you.
00:48:22
mfitz1stdue_
This is a storm, no matter how big, how small, how amazing you can do your services. We're just not going to be able to keep up by the sounds of it. And we're going to do our best, but you got I've made it clear to these people, we will do our best.
00:48:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%.
00:48:36
mfitz1stdue_
but we can only do our best and we can't do any better than that. And we will do everything we can to make sure you're cleared and ready to go. But don't expect anything, you know, super above that because that's, that's literally what we got to give.
00:48:45
Luke
Yeah.
00:48:52
mfitz1stdue_
And we can only give that.
00:48:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
hundred percent
00:48:53
Luke
Yeah, I think that's a great point, Mike. And I think just because of you saying that, I'll probably reach out to my customers tomorrow and and tell them something similar. And just to be honest with them, and I think a safe bet would be like, hey, by Tuesday morning, we will have you 100% perfect.
00:49:08
Luke
But as of Monday, we'll get your driveways open.
00:49:08
mfitz1stdue_
yeah
00:49:11
Luke
We'll get your parking lots open. We'll get your sidewalks cleared. And we're probably going to be working this storm till Wednesday, realistically, to get things perfect. I think that's a fair assumption.
00:49:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
don't even know the timeline yet. Like, they don't even know when it's going to stop.
00:49:21
Luke
I know. I know.
00:49:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
So we got to zero in on that first, like, after Thursday.
00:49:23
Matt
No.
00:49:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then we can start planning, you know, final plans of the pack and what we think is going to happen.
00:49:25
Luke
Yeah.
00:49:29
Luke
Right. I mean.
00:49:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, you know, I'm excited for this, honestly, for a couple reasons. Because, A, we're having a winter. We've almost had our complete yearly average before the end of January.
00:49:41
Luke
Yep. Yep.
00:49:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
So February and March is all bonus snow. Whatever we get in there is pushing towards that ceiling. And what's been great about this winter is this is a winter that reminds customers that it still snows here, that we still have bad winters, and this all all these lowball contractors and these flyby guys are failing everywhere, and they're not showing up.
00:49:56
Matt
Yeah.
00:50:01
Luke
Yep. Yep.
00:50:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
and they're We've gotten more calls in the last two weeks. for sites that want to change contractors because they're just not showing up.
00:50:13
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:50:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're not keeping up with it. That it's a great thing for guys that are doing it the right way in the area and are conscientious about snow because it's a, it's upping what these people are expecting to pay in snow because they've gone cheap and it hasn't worked out.
00:50:30
Luke
It's great point.
00:50:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
So now it's it's reminding them, hey, listen, everything we had a call today from a complex that wants to change midstone mid mid-season.
00:50:31
Luke
Yeah.
00:50:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I asked what they were paying. I don't even need to look at your complex. How many units? And they told me the number of units.
00:50:45
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:50:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
I said, what are you paying? They told me how much they're paying. I'm like, that is your problem. First and foremost, you can have anything. We say it all the time. You can have anything you want in snow. but everything's got a price tag and that price tag is about twoth thirdds too west two less, two thirds, two little.
00:51:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what you're getting, what you're paying for there.
00:51:05
Matt
yeah
00:51:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
You got to be prepared to pay a lot more if you want a lot better service because they're doing, they're doing what that amount is buying you.
00:51:15
Luke
Yeah.
00:51:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
So I think it's great. Honestly, I think it's great for some guys in our area.
00:51:17
Rick
All set.
00:51:18
Luke
Some respect back in the snow game after this winter for us. Yeah.
00:51:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
i I'm still dealing with people that think we had no winter last year. We had 41 inches last year.
00:51:28
Luke
Yeah.
00:51:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
And you still have people say, oh, that was a mild winter.
00:51:29
Matt
yeah yeah
00:51:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really? Where were you?
00:51:33
mfitz1stdue_
ah sorry
00:51:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know,
00:51:34
mfitz1stdue_
ah you know A few things, ah likewise, where I think it's good we're having a winner. We are definitely having a winner in my area, at least for the last six years, ah is is not like this area, um at least recently. um Two questions um for everybody. What do you think you're going to do after this year with the way this winter's gone, what are you going to say to your customers moving forward? Like, listen, look, what look what just happened.
00:52:01
mfitz1stdue_
This is a, this is what winners used to be like, you know?
00:52:04
Luke
Yeah.
00:52:04
mfitz1stdue_
So like, what are you going are you going to try and relay something to your customers moving forward? Like maybe prices aren't where you want them to be. Maybe they're better than you expect them to be, but they're still upset.
00:52:15
mfitz1stdue_
You know, like, what are you going to relate to your customers? And also, Jeremy, uh, being a little quiet this episode,
00:52:22
Matt
Thank you.
00:52:23
mfitz1stdue_
What's going on out in your area? Are you having a normal winter? Is things a little different for you? Because this is definitely 100% different for my area of New York, at least, this year.
00:52:33
RICK JAMES
um Our winter has been, it's kind of standard. we' It looks like we're getting a lot of snow because we go off for every little bit, but we've only had like 17 inches so far. Yeah.
00:52:44
mfitz1stdue_
Wow.
00:52:44
RICK JAMES
ah so
00:52:44
Luke
Wow.
00:52:45
Rick
Thank
00:52:46
RICK JAMES
It's just like we had a like last weekend, we had an inch of snow. We had 80 mile an hour wind all weekend long. we got guys that were out for 30 some hours for that little bit of snow, you know, this is.
00:53:00
Luke
Wow.
00:53:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
But that's awesome because it's all billable.
00:53:02
Matt
Thank you.
00:53:02
Luke
Yeah, it's all build lists.
00:53:03
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah.
00:53:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:53:03
Luke
You might have 17 minutes.
00:53:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
but
00:53:04
RICK JAMES
Not every account. Not every account. We got.
00:53:07
mfitz1stdue_
so
00:53:07
Luke
Yeah.
00:53:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, but I mean, enough that you're you're still making a good amount of money.
00:53:12
Luke
Yeah.
00:53:13
RICK JAMES
Well, yeah, you built you build it in the seasonal obviously and stuff like that. But no, it's just – I don't know. Everybody thinks we have a big winner because they see all the stuff I post. But it and we're – I mean, we're we're at – I just looked at before earlier today. We're at like 17 inches we're at right now.
00:53:28
Luke
Wow.
00:53:28
RICK JAMES
like i think we've been out 12 times.
00:53:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
And you're five average.
00:53:32
RICK JAMES
What's that?
00:53:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're 55 inch average usually.
00:53:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah, 55-inch average.
00:53:36
mfitz1stdue_
ah
00:53:36
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:53:36
Luke
Way behind them.
00:53:37
mfitz1stdue_
would you Would you say that you're behind right now or you don't get it until later in the season?
00:53:37
Luke
Yeah.
00:53:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ah We're behind. We'll once in while, we'll get heavy March or in April. we get snow in April. We'll get some heavy ones once in a while.
00:53:47
Luke
Wow.
00:53:48
RICK JAMES
But yeah, I would say we're behind. Yeah.
00:53:51
Luke
See, but I'd rather have 17 inches total and 17 different events, say they were all one-inch storms, ah versus having like a, like, we're going to get here. Yeah.
00:54:01
mfitz1stdue_
getting hammered, Mick.
00:54:02
Luke
yeah i'd rather get it i'd I'd rather get it throughout the winter than all at once.
00:54:04
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:54:06
Luke
But I can't complain this with it because like you said, this is something that we haven't had in a long time and it feels good.
00:54:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nah.
00:54:10
mfitz1stdue_
yeah.
00:54:11
Luke
I think the ah like you to answer your question, Mike, um I think for next year, definitely we're prepared for winter this year, but we're not over-prepared and it's very good to be over-prepared for winter So we'll definitely buy more equipment and be totally ready for for next year. And also our pricing is going to go up. And most importantly, our salt pricing, because as we were talking about earlier, salt prices are only getting more expensive. It's getting harder to get salt. We're running out of salt all the time, which used to never happen. So salt prices are going to definitely go way up next year. So we've got account for that. And just let customers know in June when we make our list, July, June, whenever that happens. You know, we're going to we're going to make our prices a lot more expensive for next year.
00:54:54
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah, insurance still has first place, but salsa Salt is right there in second.
00:54:59
Luke
Yeah, bro, it's expensive out there.
00:55:01
Rick
Thank you.
00:55:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Unfortunately, we're all in New York. Insurance is always going to be first place and going up astronomically every year.
00:55:05
Luke
Yeah, man.
00:55:05
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah.
00:55:06
Matt
Mm-hmm.
00:55:06
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah.
00:55:08
Luke
Yep.
00:55:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hey, you know what?
00:55:09
Luke
Insane.
00:55:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's not a bad move if people if you give people prices and then you know they're like, oh my God, that's crazy high. Just show them your insurance bill.
00:55:19
Luke
It's actually a great idea.
00:55:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:55:20
Luke
it Like for real.
00:55:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Show me your dude. We, ah we show them everything. We show them all our costs to do that property. When we're doing the bid, we show them and we show our profit margin. We show how many hours we're estimating for the equipment, for the manpower, how many yards of salt for an average winner for an above average winner.
00:55:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
For a below average winner. So it all averages out. We show them as much as we can to be as transparent as possible. And then they understand at least a little bit of what they're paying for and why that money.
00:55:48
Luke
Yeah.
00:55:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like if one guy rolls in there, we just wanted to compare all the bids and and and and compare them properly. And if one guy rolls in there with a truck and a freaking snowblower in the bed,
00:55:56
mfitz1stdue_
you.
00:56:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
and you're bidding against that with a site that you are you're you're tasking two compact loaders and and a skid on with eight shovelers you know for seven hours, you're going to have vastly different pricing.
00:56:07
Luke
Yeah.
00:56:15
Luke
Yeah, for sure.
00:56:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
But I think it's great because a lot of the marginal guys or guys that maybe are just trying to make a quick buck and lowballing the shit out all these contracts, they're failing everywhere.
00:56:17
Luke
That's. Yeah.
00:56:27
Luke
Yeah.
00:56:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
I've seen more lots this week that look like total shit after this weekend that I can't believe. I can't believe. Actually, I can't believe that they're getting away with it, honestly.
00:56:38
Luke
Yeah.
00:56:38
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:56:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
And no wonder people are looking to make changes.
00:56:39
Matt
I agree.
00:56:41
Luke
I have a question for you, like bigger commercial guys. what Because of this winter, would you guys possibly for next winter start, I don't know what you're like, if you're getting paid monthly, no matter what, no matter how much snow falls, or if you're doing per push on your commercial, but it seems like the per push guys are are making the money this year versus your, I've been out to my commercial, say I'm getting paid there monthly. If I was, if I were to, if I priced that per push, I'd make it a lot more money than I am.
00:57:08
Luke
Um, versus like the seasonal price. I don't know how you guys handle that.
00:57:11
mfitz1stdue_
Bye.
00:57:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
You want to take that one rick
00:57:15
Rick
Sure. We're, I mean, we're probably 95% contract. Um, we really don't do a lot of per push, um, just the amount of money that we have invested in machines and everything we do, we got to get paid.
00:57:27
Luke
You got to get paid. Yeah.
00:57:29
Rick
And so, like I said, we really don't do per push.
00:57:30
Luke
Yeah.
00:57:33
Rick
We got a couple of little smaller accounts. We'll do those per push. But, um you know, like I said, everything is contracts. And, um you know, this is just all our contracts.
00:57:43
Rick
They're they're usually a three-year minimum. And, you know, we get, you know, a good year, we get a bad year, we get a middle year.
00:57:49
Luke
It evens out.
00:57:50
Rick
he wrote It evens out. this is this is you know this is a This is a costly year.
00:57:51
Luke
Yeah.
00:57:56
Rick
But you know there are other years you know we you make up and and it averages out. I think we're you know we're not even we're we're borderline not even halfway through the winter, and I think we had our 17th trailer load of salt delivered today.
00:58:00
Luke
Yeah.
00:58:08
Luke
Yeah.
00:58:09
Rick
um
00:58:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:58:10
Rick
You know, it's it's not going to be a good winter number wise for us. But, you know, we get, you know, hopefully a storm like this, we're going to get some snow moving that'll offset some of that cost.
00:58:19
RICK JAMES
Yep. yep
00:58:19
Rick
But it is it it is what it is.
00:58:20
Luke
Yeah.
00:58:22
Rick
You got to plan for it. And we've been doing it just a long time. And, you know, there's some some years you make out some years you don't.
00:58:29
Luke
Yeah. So you think in the end, it's gonna you're going to break even no matter what, basically. you're gonna It's going to even out.
00:58:34
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:58:35
Rick
I would hope with the snow moving and and everything like that.
00:58:37
Luke
Yeah.
00:58:38
Rick
And we get all like other ancillary calls when, you know, what happens when you get a foot of snow, you're, we're going to get roof issues. We're going to get gutters backing up. We're going to have to go clear. We may have to go shovel roofs and open up roof drains and, you know, whatever stuff or, You know, I may get phone calls because, you know, another contractor dropped the ball and we may finish Monday morning and at 10 o'clock and have to put machines on loaders and drive 45 minutes and go clear a site.
00:58:52
Matt
Bye.
00:59:04
Rick
Like we've done that multiple times. um But it just, it's it's part of the game. It is what it is. And, you know, you plan as best as you can. And like I said, some, some years you do well, some years, you you know, you some years you may, you know, break even, you know, I, I,
00:59:14
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
00:59:17
Luke
Yeah. This
00:59:22
Rick
I usually, i'd say we probably don't lose, but we'll probably break even this year.
00:59:26
Luke
year, yeah.
00:59:27
Rick
you know
00:59:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
rick do you have in in your contracts do you have a ceiling on either the inches or number of events well no
00:59:32
Luke
Yeah, that's not that would be smart, Ryan.
00:59:32
Rick
I don't. I don't have a ceiling. um And it's where it's worked okay. The only thing I think I may change is that we keep having these issues with Saul and with supply.
00:59:44
Luke
Yeah.
00:59:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
huh put a variable in
00:59:46
Rick
Yes.
00:59:46
Luke
Yeah, have to.
00:59:46
Rick
something I got to find some way to, to either word it or protect ourselves because if I can't buy salt, I mean, I just, there's nothing, you know, there's nothing I can do.
00:59:57
Luke
what's the downside to What's the downside to putting on ah ah like a a cap on the amount of snowfall, like Steve just said, the inches?
00:59:57
Rick
Well,
00:59:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:59:57
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:00:04
Luke
like
01:00:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Because when you when you put a cap on it and you you're presenting against other bids, then you're you're showing them yet another charge that they're automatically assuming is going to happen.
01:00:09
Luke
Who don't have it?
01:00:15
Luke
Right.
01:00:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it makes you look even more expensive where what we try and do is we try and show them this is our average winner. Here's our 20 year climatology.
01:00:24
Rick
Thank you.
01:00:24
Luke
Mm-hmm.
01:00:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
We've only gone over this cap on events and inches like, say, four times in 20 years. But when that does happen, it's been way over.
01:00:34
Luke
right Yeah.
01:00:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So we try and have a reasonable price attached to if we go over, if we engage that ceiling, and we explain to them that, listen, we're just keeping it fair because we also give them a floor.
01:00:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
So if we do less than 20 inches in a season, they're getting 15%, 20% of their money that they can roll into next year's contract if they want.
01:00:48
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:00:49
Luke
Fair.
01:00:55
Rick
See, that's why why sometimes I don't put a cap in because I don't necessarily want to put a low because there times I need those good winners to make up for the bad ones.
01:00:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
So,
01:00:55
Luke
Yeah.
01:00:59
Luke
Right.
01:01:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah, sure.
01:01:00
Luke
Yeah.
01:01:03
Rick
And, you know,
01:01:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
And that's it's all about your company structure and what you're comfortable doing and not doing.
01:01:07
Rick
And what it you know what it costs us to be ready to do to plow 18 inches of snow at a moment's notice.
01:01:07
Luke
Yeah.
01:01:13
Luke
Mm-hmm.
01:01:15
Rick
we're Again, we're I've said this to Steve. We are on call from November 1st till April 15th, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
01:01:21
Luke
Yeah.
01:01:23
Rick
That machinery has to be ready to go.
01:01:24
Luke
Yep.
01:01:26
Rick
Crew's got to be ready. Everything's got to be 100% ready There's associated with that. there's a cost associated with that
01:01:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:01:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
01:01:32
Rick
And, you know, that has to be, you know, because we have a light winter doesn't mean that I don't have to pay insurance.
01:01:32
Luke
Of course.
01:01:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
okay
01:01:36
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:01:38
Rick
I don't have to keep a staff of 20 guys ready to go at you know, New Year's morning at four o'clock in the morning.
01:01:42
Luke
Yeah.
01:01:45
Rick
You know, they all those expenses happen, whether or not it snows or not. So, you know, some.
01:01:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure. 100%. Yep.
01:01:52
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:01:52
Rick
It's got to, you got to work it in somewhere. And, and again, you know, I'm very lucky.
01:01:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:01:57
Rick
I have great clients. I've served most of them for 20 some odd years and they understand, and they, they want me to plow their snow. So they're not looking to, they're not looking to give me a hard time on, you know, ceilings and this, that's, I say, you know, this is what I need and this is the service they know they're going to get.
01:02:17
Luke
Right.
01:02:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
01:02:17
Rick
And, you know, again, they know some years I make out better than others, but, Some years like this year, they're not calling me and saying, hey, we want to give you a little bit extra money this year cause you're having a tough year.
01:02:29
Rick
you know So it's got to work both ways.
01:02:29
Luke
Right.
01:02:30
Rick
And if it isn't, then they're not the customer for me.
01:02:33
Luke
Yeah, like you said, they need like when when you're a respectable company, that your customers need you and they make that very clear.
01:02:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah.
01:02:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah.
01:02:39
Luke
And it sounds like that's exactly what you have going for you. So it doesn't sound like that's ah that's a big problem.
01:02:45
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:02:45
Luke
But that's why I asked the question because just wondering what the mindset was behind that. Yeah.
01:02:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
When you're contemplating it, if you're contemplating doing it and you don't have to do it, it's just something that I figured out, like, how do I keep this very fair for myself and very fair for my customer? Like, how do I keep a mutually beneficial business relationship? Because if one of us at the end of any season comes out feeling fucked,
01:03:06
Luke
Yeah.
01:03:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it's going to deteriorate that relationship.
01:03:07
Luke
100%.
01:03:09
Luke
hundred percent
01:03:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
um So the floor, the the the trick with the floor, the key with the floor is look at your 20 year kind climatology. Now, our floor is 20 inches. If you look at the last 20 years in Fishkill Hudson Valley, we have not been below 20 inches except for one, one winter.
01:03:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
So we we don't usually hit that floor. But what I figured out was I looked at all my costs and stuff. If we are doing less than 20 inches with the average number of events that it takes us to hit 20 inches, I am budgeting my normal contract on, say, 21 responses, which was our 10-year average for responses.
01:03:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
If 21 responses is going to cost me A, B, and C, fuel, labor, um fuel, labor, your equipment percentage, and your um your salt. If I'm using, you know, literally that we're we're using only 20% of what we budgeted for that on their contract, my profit margin, even letting them get 15% back at the end of that contract, the profit margin I've made on that contract is actually higher than an average winner than if we have an average winner.
01:04:09
mfitz1stdue_
Thank
01:04:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that's how i I put it in there to keep it fair. I can give them that money back and I'm still making the same amount of profit basically off of it. So yeah. but again it's not you don't have to do it it's just in a winter like this it's really nice to have a ceiling and especially if you're going to hit it and at this point 50 inches is not out of the realm of possibility we may hit it after this weekend where they've activated their caps we are 30 after let we were at 23.4 for december and we just got 11 last weekend so what's that 34 ish somewhere around there
01:04:33
Luke
What
01:04:41
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah.
01:04:41
Luke
are we at now?
01:04:51
Luke
Yeah.
01:04:53
mfitz1stdue_
I was over 35 for this area last I checked. Um...
01:04:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, so we're we're all probably in the mid-30s right now. um
01:05:00
Luke
So 50 is likely.
01:05:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
But 50 is likely.
01:05:01
Luke
50 is very likely.
01:05:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
And let me tell you, my commercial my contract customers are not the ones that are worried about activating a ceiling. The customers that are freaking dying right now are the ones I could not talk into going with a contract that should.
01:05:15
Luke
Oh, yeah.
01:05:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
And ah they're the per-push ones are getting clobbered.
01:05:16
mfitz1stdue_
So,
01:05:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
There are some per-push accounts that are already exceeding what their seasonal would have been.
01:05:20
Matt
Oh, yeah.
01:05:25
Luke
Oh, for sure. Yeah.
01:05:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that's that's my that's my only fear, and i don't really I'm not really afraid of it, but i'm I'm putting myself in their shoes. Like if I turn down a seasonal contract of, say, that was going to cost me $30,000, and I'm now sitting here on, what is it, January 21st, and I'm already at 28 before this monster storm comes?
01:05:48
Luke
Yeah.
01:05:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, I'm, um you know, shit, if 30 grand was too much for me to spend on a contract, I'm looking at close to 50 by the end of the winter if the winter continues like this.
01:05:59
Luke
Such a great, that that farm that I do, those farm roads there, they're on a per push basis.
01:06:03
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:06:03
Luke
And I just could sense a little bit of weird tension with that back-to-back storm that we went there. there was There's no the seasonal contract price on that. And next year, I'm 100% going to offer that to them because they're really good to me year round for four seasons a year.
01:06:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:06:18
Luke
And I don't want to lose them for anything. And we're doing back-to-back snow removal per push there for a very expensive price. And I just want to kind of throw that out there in the spring and be like, hey next year, let's get you on a seasonal plan because right and this year you're getting screwed up the ass screwed, you know, and I don't want to do that to my customer, especially a customer that's great to me.
01:06:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
01:06:36
mfitz1stdue_
Thank
01:06:38
Luke
So definitely one.
01:06:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it look, it never hurts to ask them either. Like, hey, how how are you with this?
01:06:42
Luke
Mm
01:06:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
We know this is a ridiculously busy winter as far as events ah that we've had, whether it's salting, plowing or both.
01:06:48
Luke
hmm.
01:06:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ask them like, hey, are you guys OK with this? If this keeps trending like it's been or maybe put them on a payment plan.
01:06:56
Luke
Yeah.
01:06:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
that okay listen if the the rest of the winter is going to cost say 15 000 maybe is it is it beneficial to you guys to pay me three grand a month over the next you know whatever five months to to get that rather than have ah a bill at the end of january for 12 grand and uh you know oh no shit wow
01:06:59
Luke
Yeah.
01:07:10
Luke
Yeah.
01:07:13
Luke
doing I don't even do that. They're billed as soon as I complete the service. They got seventy s seven days to pay. Yeah, that' sort of that's it that's a residential thing.
01:07:25
Luke
I'm going to start doing that for lawns too, man, because the any other business you go and you go buy something, you pay for it.
01:07:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice
01:07:30
Luke
You got a heating guy come to your house to fix your HVAC. You're going to pay for it when he leaves the house. So why is it why is our industry different?
01:07:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
I love it, dude.
01:07:37
Luke
It's not, you know.
01:07:38
Matt
Lensk, snow guys are always the last to get paid.
01:07:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
i love it.
01:07:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you.
01:07:39
Rick
I want those terms.
01:07:40
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah, yeah.
01:07:44
Luke
Yeah. Yeah.
01:07:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Luke, run a class on that. let's Let's start a trend doing that.
01:07:46
mfitz1stdue_
yeah like
01:07:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Payment in seven days. I'm in
01:07:50
Luke
ah that's Some people are doing pawn receipt, man.
01:07:50
mfitz1stdue_
So...
01:07:52
Luke
Seven days is long.
01:07:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow. That's awesome.
01:07:54
mfitz1stdue_
So hitting on Luke and Rick, you know, I like what Rick said.
01:07:54
Luke
Yeah.
01:07:54
Rick
I'm just kidding.
01:07:56
mfitz1stdue_
Like they're not, they're definitely not trying to give us money back.
01:07:59
mfitz1stdue_
um What I do take pride in is I love so far this year, I've had, ah I think three at least reach out and be like, man, we're really loving what you're giving us this season. We're seeing a lot of other people that aren't getting the same quality. We'd love to sign with you again for another two, three years. and I'm like, let's go. We'll do it. And in the aspect of you, Luke, like i was I follow you a little bit from what I do know. I know you do a lot of residential. i was doing a lot of residential a few years ago.
01:07:59
Luke
Yeah.
01:08:26
mfitz1stdue_
Uh, I actually stopped and I got more into the commercial and, uh, the commercial, I picked up like so seven to 10 smaller commercial places this year.
01:08:37
Luke
well
01:08:37
mfitz1stdue_
And I went into them and I was like, let's do a contract. Let's do seasonal. Like give me month to month. And they're like, Nope. And like, all right, well, this is my price for per push.
01:08:46
Luke
Yeah.
01:08:46
mfitz1stdue_
And I'll tell you what, I've made out so far pretty good this season with that per push on those smaller commercial. And i I've made like, I'll say at least five times what I made on my residential doing these per push for these.
01:08:59
Luke
Powerpush permissions.
01:09:00
mfitz1stdue_
prop I would say I was doing, let's just say I was doing 50 residential. And I'm doing, just say I picked up the 10 small commercial this year and I have three times push.
01:09:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank
01:09:11
mfitz1stdue_
the amount of what I did on the residential. just And I try to be fair. And I'll be honest, if they went with my seasonal price for those small residential, I would have lost so much money this year because not knowing what they what I would have had to put into those, I did the best research I could.
01:09:21
Luke
Yeah.
01:09:26
mfitz1stdue_
And I give them a price and I look at the seasonal price I gave them per month versus what I'm getting per push. And I gave them a super, super fair per push price, which is they've all come back to me and they're, wow, that that's that's pretty cheap.
01:09:35
Luke
Yeah.
01:09:39
mfitz1stdue_
You sure that's good? I'll tell you what, This year i'm making out better than people that are on seasonals with them.
01:09:43
Luke
don't know. Yeah, I mean, that's my ideal goal would be to kind of the bigger commercials a little hard for me. But ah smaller commercial places like i actually talking about insurance, um I do my insurance company's parking lot, and it's just small parking lot, small walkway, they're per push.
01:10:03
Luke
I basically I get my money back for my insurance from them for the per push.
01:10:05
mfitz1stdue_
you.
01:10:06
Luke
But if I could get into smaller commercial lots like that, maybe it's 20 parking spaces, parking lot 10 on each side. Super easy. takes me five, 10 minutes. If I could get more into the smaller commercial on a per push, that would be ideal or even switch them over to a seasonal price.
01:10:17
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:10:21
Luke
so I got that guaranteed money in the winter for the slower winters. um But genuinely, because I'm mostly per push, this is the first winter where I've actually felt um safe and not had to worry about money coming in and paying my bills for all the equipment and the loans or whatever. um So it's been a very like stress-free winter in that aspect, which is nice.
01:10:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, that's because we did a whole season's worth ah of events and pushes in December alone.
01:10:47
Luke
And im yeah i'm getting paid every I'm getting paid every week versus ah like in years past where I'm not getting paid at all because it ain't snowing.
01:10:47
mfitz1stdue_
December was wild. December was wild.
01:10:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Matt, how are your customers doing this year?
01:11:00
Matt
ah They're pretty good. I got mostly 50-50 on seasonal and per push stuff. So... ah You know, the seasonals, they're getting ah they're getting that ceiling, and her push stuff is great, so...
01:11:19
Matt
It's nice to you know have 50-50 where money's still coming in and you know the contracted stuff is it's so all right.
01:11:26
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:11:28
Matt
I don't think I'm going to lose my shirt on it because this is my first year with mostly 50-50. Last year was probably twenty so you know eighty or so So it's definitely different.
01:11:42
Matt
I like the, you know, every month it's a set price. that They come, you know, the check comes in the ah mail in the beginning of the month. But seasonal, ah you know, it's hurting a little bit.
01:11:54
Matt
But, you know, definitely floors and ceilings for next year.
01:11:54
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:11:59
Matt
Definitely, you know, with the salt shortage, definitely. ah going to put the app clause in the contracts. um But the per push stuff is great. i you know We have a couple of smaller places that we do per push, and it's not bad.
01:12:16
Matt
Busy winter like like we grew up, us younger guys.
01:12:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
The only...
01:12:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:12:20
Matt
you know
01:12:20
Luke
Yeah.
01:12:21
Matt
you know Back in the 90s when I grew up, you know I remember definitely winters like this when we had snow all year, ah you know all winter long, and it's missed those days.
01:12:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:12:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:12:32
mfitz1stdue_
Steve, when did you grow up?
01:12:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, a long time ago. Not the Not the
01:12:37
Matt
Not in the 90s, I can tell you that.
01:12:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
not the ninety s that the ninety s
01:12:41
Luke
Matt, that seems like a great place to be in the 50-50 range that's because you got the guaranteed money every month for peace of mind, and then you got that per push making bank on that.
01:12:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
the
01:12:45
Matt
Yeah.
01:12:49
Luke
That seems like a really good place to be. That's a goal definitely for me to to get to that range would be awesome.
01:12:55
Matt
Yeah, no, it's good. It's...
01:12:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, you get to the percentage.
01:12:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's a different percentage for everybody, but get try and get to the percentage where your bills are covered and you're making, say, 20% profit, 30% profit on the seasonals, and then everything else is gravy.
01:13:04
Luke
Yeah. That's good goal. 100%.
01:13:10
Luke
hundred percent
01:13:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
All the push is gravy.
01:13:11
mfitz1stdue_
yep yep
01:13:11
Matt
I'd probably like to be like 65% seasonal, but we'll see what what happens. I mean, we still do a little bit of driveway work. I mean, not as much as we used to, but the driveways are hard though. You know, if it doesn't snow, you don't get the money. So it's hard to pay for loans and equipment. and but you know,
01:13:35
Luke
Yeah.
01:13:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:13:35
Luke
My driveways are hard on the truck too, as you know, Steve. Yeah.
01:13:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
01:13:40
Luke
That's another word I'm worried about for this weekend is ah that that because the snow's light, I'm not too worried. It's supposed to be light. I'm not too worried about it, but getting up some of those steep driveways, I do definitely possibly have to hit them twice, but that's in my, in my contracts for them.
01:13:54
Luke
i have every six inches. um I can come and charge two pushes so I can make a shit ton of money to storm.
01:13:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:14:01
Luke
If I have enough time to do that.
01:14:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go. The only i time is the biggest thing.
01:14:04
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah, time's the biggest thing.
01:14:04
Luke
Yeah. Yeah.
01:14:05
Matt
Yes.
01:14:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
The only good thing about this salt shortage being, you know, so widely published, excuse me, I'm choking here. ah So widely publicized is ah it's going to make it very easy for you to insert a variable, a salt variable next year in the contracts because everybody knows it exists.
01:14:20
Matt
Yeah.
01:14:23
Luke
Everybody knows. Yep.
01:14:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
right, you know what?
01:14:26
RICK JAMES
you
01:14:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's hit some commercials real quick and we'll we'll come back and we'll keep going with the boys.
01:14:28
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:15:35
mfitz1stdue_
Okay.
Operational Strategies for Snow Removal
01:15:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. Jeremy's hand. Oh, look at that. That's a lot of blue. Is that now, Rick?
01:15:44
Rick
Yeah, it's now. I don't know how much of it reaching ground.
01:15:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hopefully none of it's hitting the ground. But shit, like I said, we got enough residue left.
01:15:52
Luke
so
01:15:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
It'll it'll probably cover us for a little bit anyway. um Jeremy, when are you heading to Dulles tomorrow?
01:16:01
RICK JAMES
I leave tomorrow night.
01:16:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Got a couple days to get prepped on site there for the big game.
01:16:04
RICK JAMES
Thursday night.
01:16:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah, and I got to get some clearances and stuff. so
01:16:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah you did Did he tell you what you're running yet? Are going to jump right in one of the multis?
01:16:16
RICK JAMES
I run everything.
01:16:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm the fucking best. There
01:16:22
RICK JAMES
like I'll sit in a loader and just feed a snowmelter on that. i don't care. Fuck it.
01:16:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
there you go. Oh, that's true. They are melting on site there. They don't mess around with piling it up. They just put it right in the melter. Yeah, oh, yeah, the air airports are a different ballgame.
01:16:35
Luke
Really? That's so cool.
01:16:36
mfitz1stdue_
That's wild. Not a big
01:16:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's incredible Yeah, he's going down to dullest international airport there in washington to work for top dog there snow mercenaries
01:16:40
Matt
All right.
01:16:40
Luke
Wait, Jeremy, you're working at an airport?
01:16:44
RICK JAMES
Dallas.
01:16:46
Luke
Wow. That's awesome.
01:16:48
mfitz1stdue_
no big deal.
01:16:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:16:51
Luke
Yeah, their their ah their equipment layout pretty sick at airports.
01:16:53
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:16:56
RICK JAMES
That's Todd Callas, the snow snipers.
01:16:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, snow snipers
01:17:00
RICK JAMES
We got 1111 of us coming.
01:17:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's ah that's the way to do it.
01:17:04
RICK JAMES
So.
01:17:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man. Well, it's going to be interesting. It'll be an interesting weekend. We'll see. ah We'll have to have you guys back and talk about how right or wrong the the weather dudes were and how everybody made it through the storm, because this will be interesting.
01:17:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
The only other thing I actually just got reminded to mention, I got a text from my guys saying is the canteen open this storm. ah that is one thing we do do for the boys. Uh, we have a, uh, a couple of tubs of, uh, just snacks and drinks and stuff and, uh, energy bars, stuff like that, that we put in one of the trucks.
01:17:29
mfitz1stdue_
um
01:17:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, you know, the guy we drive around as a, like whoever the floater is has them in the truck and, We'll have them. The sidewalk guys have a tub. So most of the time we forget and we just keep going or or they literally forget that it's there and they'll drive down to the street to the whatever's open, the gas station or whatever.
01:17:45
Luke
Smart.
01:17:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
But it is a ah like beef jerky, chips, stuff like that. all All horrible food that you should really never eat.
01:17:58
mfitz1stdue_
Thank you.
01:18:00
Luke
Yeah.
01:18:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, you know, when you're in this room.
01:18:03
Luke
I highly recommend it Last storm, I made myself a steak the night before. I cut it up, put it in a Tupperware, and instead of eating chips and drinking soda, I had steak and water while I plowed, and I felt so much better than the day before.
01:18:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
You do, right? Like, I exist on Diet Pepsi by the gallon during a storm, and it's probably the worst thing for do.
01:18:15
Luke
oh
01:18:21
Luke
Yeah, well, between the the caffeine, the coffee, the ah Celsius freaking energy drinks, beef jerky, whatever else, that's ah you feel like shit. I think it would actually change the game a lot.
01:18:32
Luke
I'm going to try it to just eat healthy while I plow this weekend, and I guarantee you you'll feel a lot more energized and refreshed than freaking you.
01:18:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
I always love seeing the Luke pictures after like 30 hours of, uh, you know, he takes a picture of himself. He looks like the villain.
01:18:45
Luke
bloodshot eyes
01:18:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
He looks like the villain from who frame Roger rabbit. Like really eyes are bugged out and bloodshot.
01:18:50
Luke
yeah i knew it was bad i got to my last house and my customer was like wow you look tired i was like you have no idea yeah getting pissed at everything and everyone
01:19:00
mfitz1stdue_
Go back inside.
01:19:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh man. That's so funny. Um,
01:19:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, boys, but anything else before we wrap it? Anybody got anything else?
01:19:11
mfitz1stdue_
The only thing I can say is I appreciate the time. i appreciate meeting all you guys. And for this unique opportunity, I'm sure a lot of my people are going to listen. And I can't thank them enough. All you guys on the A-job that helped me out and all you guys that do everything for me day to day.
01:19:27
mfitz1stdue_
You guys are the real heroes. I'm just trying to manage it all. So thank you very much and thank you guys.
01:19:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
No problem. No problem.
01:19:34
Luke
Yeah, Yeah.
01:19:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it's all about the crews, man.
01:19:35
RICK JAMES
Right
01:19:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
You can't do anything without your crews.
01:19:38
Matt
Definitely.
01:19:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
So they are ah they're warriors.
01:19:39
RICK JAMES
on.
01:19:39
Rick
a good one.
01:19:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
They'll get through this no problem, too. My guys are looking forward to We love the big ones. That's like where you separate the men from the boys. I think they love being able to do what you know a lot of other guys around us fail at doing all the time. so I mean, shit, you had guys failing at seven inches late you know over the weekend.
01:19:53
RICK JAMES
My guys have jacked up.
01:19:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
So give them 20 and see how they make out.
01:20:00
Matt
she
01:20:00
Luke
And from the boys, for sure.
01:20:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's it but uh absolutely we'll uh we'll have to do a post post big storm with the same crew and uh and talk about how it went and uh and hopefully like like rick said that's my only fear i'm not i'm not really fearing any breakages i'm fearing about freeze-ups that's uh that's it have plenty of fuel filters on hand and uh plenty of diesel 911 and uh uh yeah that what the hell's the stuff we put in there i can't even remember
01:20:03
Luke
hey We'll see who makes it out when we listen back to this on Monday.
01:20:07
mfitz1stdue_
but
01:20:09
Rick
follow-up what broke
01:20:13
Rick
what broke
01:20:20
Matt
yeah
01:20:31
Matt
Hows.
01:20:31
mfitz1stdue_
The wolf. Let's see how the wolf does.
01:20:32
Matt
Hows.
01:20:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, i'm hoping that I'm hoping I can give a real big glowing review to the Wolf. And, you know, I...
01:20:39
mfitz1stdue_
excited.
01:20:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
we got ah We got another little something where were we're doing right now. We got another another little special edition prototype that's out there, and we'll really put it through its paces in this thing.
01:20:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
We'll see how it does, and we won't be able to use – well, I shouldn't say we won't be able to use the Vernick Salters at the One Complex, but we won't need them as much.
01:20:55
Luke
Thank you.
01:21:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's the only great thing about this storm for the salt shortage. We're not going have to salt until it's over.
01:21:05
Rick
Yeah. Yep.
01:21:05
mfitz1stdue_
Yeah, I'm not sorting something over.
01:21:06
Matt
Yeah, exactly.
01:21:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
no waste and salt trying to keep drive lanes clear or something and when you're dealing with this kind of storm so that's nice but uh yeah we'll see how the wolf does i'm looking forward to it and uh yeah we're fully we got our our one machine that was down we got that made right and we're back full staff plus plus a couple so should be good
01:21:29
RICK JAMES
Nice.
01:21:30
Luke
yeah Most important machine is yourselves, boys. Take care yourselves. Be safe out there.
01:21:33
Matt
Yeah.
01:21:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
absolutely all right ah jeremy jeremy anything else
01:21:38
mfitz1stdue_
Oh,
01:21:38
Rick
Thank you.
01:21:39
RICK JAMES
No, sir, I got to go out and run a crew tonight. We're going to do another cleanup tonight and have one there.
01:21:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, brother. Well, you have a safe flight to D.C. back and have fun with the with Big Dick Todd there. the
01:21:52
RICK JAMES
Little dog.
01:21:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
We'll see.
01:21:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:21:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Little dog. Little dog. little The Chihuahua dog. The Taco Bell dog.
01:21:56
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:21:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
That should be their mascot.
01:21:57
RICK JAMES
ah
01:21:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
He hates that. I love talking him up.
01:22:01
RICK JAMES
Oh, he's going to kill you.
01:22:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
uh but uh guys we really appreciate the time man and thanks for coming uh thanks for coming on thanks for being local and doing it the right way uh appreciate all of you guys it's uh it's great to be friends with you guys and uh we definitely appreciate the time and we'll get you back on after the storm so if and nobody has anything else we'll uh we'll wrap it there
01:22:21
Matt
Yep.
01:22:23
Rick
Thank you.
01:22:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, guys, um that'll do it.
01:22:24
Luke
Thank you guys.
01:22:25
mfitz1stdue_
thank you we're gonna be safe
01:22:25
Rick
Be safe.
01:22:25
Luke
Good luck out there.
01:22:25
Rick
Good luck.
01:22:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Episode 155 of the Snow Jaws Podcast.
01:22:29
RICK JAMES
Good luck, guys. Have a good one.
01:22:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Main show is in the books. Thanks to these guys again for coming on and doing this with us. And then, ah yeah, we'll hopefully all make it through. I'm sure we will, and we'll tell you all about it next week.
01:22:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you're getting snow out of this monster on Sunday, Monday, everybody be careful, be safe, make some money, and keep pushing.