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S3-148: Property Services Lincoln, Lincoln Nebraska
711 Plays6 days ago
The guys take their first trip to Nebraska to talk snow as they sit down with Chris Steinheider, the CEO and Director of Winter Ops for Property Services Lincoln.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Popularity
00:00:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's go, Snow Jobs Nation. Welcome to winter. Everybody is getting snow across the country. i mean, most places anyway, but here we are with you doing episode 148 of the Snow Jobs Podcast, main show powered by Top Gun Backblades, the best show in snow.
00:00:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Maybe it's still the only show in snow, or there's maybe one other one, maybe two.
00:00:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:01:00
RICK JAMES
I don't know.
00:01:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
i don't know.
00:01:01
RICK JAMES
It's the most popular, that's for sure.
00:01:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
have you If you look at the the Spotify raps that everybody's sending us today, holy shit, 4,500 minutes listened. Like, are these guys doing anything else out there all year just listening to us?
00:01:14
RICK JAMES
Oh, boy. That's all right. That's good. Okay.
00:01:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
I saw a bell posted. He's 4,200 minutes. Listen, top 5% of all listeners globally. And then somebody immediately topped him daily landscaping.
00:01:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Immediately just said, that we got any, ah anybody can top that and boom, 4,400 minutes. Like, Holy crap.
00:01:36
RICK JAMES
it I honestly haven't even really been on social media today, so I haven't paid attention.
Snowfall Across the States
00:01:40
RICK JAMES
So yeah, I've been busy.
00:01:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, you've been quiet. You've been very quiet. what What are you up to?
00:01:45
RICK JAMES
i don't know. just, it's just running around. Just the days are just flying by and I'm early in, laid out. I don't know what I get done.
00:01:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
welcome to winter baby welcome to winter but anyway well you know who i am you know who he is
00:01:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
steve and jeremy for the 148th monday in a row coming to you live from the snow job studio ah
00:02:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
00:02:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Uh, so you got snow. I got snow. Everybody got snow. Chicago has gotten a ton of snow after a two year drought.
00:02:24
RICK JAMES
ah so
00:02:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for those boys.
00:02:26
RICK JAMES
Michigan's getting hammered.
00:02:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Michigan's gotten snow. I think, uh, maybe just new England.
00:02:29
RICK JAMES
Ohio. Ohio's getting hit. Holy shit, Ohio's getting hit too, it seems like, every night.
00:02:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ohio's getting some Lake effect. It was a lock though. It was bound to have, they were just a year late.
00:02:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was year late.
00:02:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:42
RICK JAMES
Yep, that's for sure.
00:02:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, it was 2025 was the lock.
00:02:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
I know Robert got snow up in Maine the other night.
00:02:48
RICK JAMES
That was good.
00:02:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I mean, it everybody's gotten snow.
00:02:50
RICK JAMES
Yep. yeah Yeah, it's been good. It's been good a lot.
00:02:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's been really good. I mean, Sean, no.
00:02:55
RICK JAMES
Sean has them. Yeah.
00:02:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
But Sean doesn't usually get snow. So, you know, there's not much we can do to help him. But how did you guys manage?
00:03:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys ah you guys have had two, right?
00:03:08
RICK JAMES
We've had two events, nothing nothing huge. The first one they say was like five and a half, and then the last one was like an inch.
00:03:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's kind of huge for you. Five and a half is kind of huge for Fargo.
00:03:16
RICK JAMES
ah yeah Yeah, I mean, it was wasn't.
00:03:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Aren't you guys usually like your average is like one to three? Those kind of events.
00:03:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah, but the five and a half was just heavy wet, and, you know, some of it melted right away. so i mean, it was it was, I don't know. It is what it is. we i mean, it was fun. We got the guys out and we pushed it, like like we said earlier. and Yeah, and it sounds like we just got clipper after clipper coming in, which isn't going mount to shit, but it's just going to be nuisance snow for the next 10 days, what Nick was telling me. so
00:03:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:03:48
RICK JAMES
So nothing major coming, just a lot of lot of nuisance where you got to stay up all night and
Razorback Plow Performance
00:03:53
RICK JAMES
maybe sweep and salt and push a little bit, but nothing too exciting.
00:03:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Is Jackie back yet or he's still on hiatus vacation?
00:03:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:04:00
RICK JAMES
Jackie's back. I sent a text out tonight. for We might have something tonight they're saying. so yeah he said and He said he's good to go. so
00:04:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, now he's going to grace you with his presence.
00:04:12
RICK JAMES
yeah well yeah He says he is. We'll see if they wake up and the call goes on
00:04:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it. That's it. Oh yeah. I mean, you guys have been busy. We, uh, we had our first push and, uh, yeah,
00:04:22
RICK JAMES
you got yeah You got yours. and You had to via that little razor bag out for the first time, didn't you?
00:04:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
we did. Yeah. That was freaking eyeopening eyeopening. That was, we got certified at 2.5 inches.
00:04:31
RICK JAMES
Told you. Yeah.
00:04:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
my guys think that was a little light, but we'll take it. They think we pushed, they think we pushed three before it changed over to rain, but you know how it is. Once it changes to rain, you know, it's anybody's guess what they're going credit you with.
00:04:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
And yeah, we, uh, didn't start off too well, man.
00:04:48
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:04:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
We had everything ready, all the stuff out there and God, it couldn't have been 10, 15 minutes into the first push. one machine catastrophically blows up the, um, the same machine we've been trying to figure out with the water and fuel thing that turned out to be that vented cap that we've been telling them all along.
00:05:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Uh, they When they replaced the filler neck, they did not they had to take off like the air conditioning compressor with the belt on it, and they forgot to remount it.
00:05:20
RICK JAMES
mm hmm.
00:05:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
So when the guys were starting their machines up just to run for, you know, 20 minutes, half hour, that thing was like jumping around back there. And then when they came up the next time, they figured out, oh, our previous guy didn't remount this.
00:05:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So they they remounted it, but apparently that belt was stretched and shot, and it blew up 15 minutes into into hard labor and took out a wiring harness, took out two blades of the fan, just catastrophic damage to the ah to everything in there.
00:05:51
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:05:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
So,
00:05:51
RICK JAMES
You didn't need that machine anyway. Hmm.
00:05:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, no.
00:05:53
RICK JAMES
let's have
00:05:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, in actuality, we didn't because, you know, the guy got out. He parked it. He says, ah I'm going for the loader. And he went to the shop, grabbed the loader and ran that down the road. And they were back up and running 15 minutes.
00:06:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
so the The boys know what to do. They ah they make it happen. Whatever got to be done. But I did get to use that Razorback because that machine went down. i was in that that truck the entire storm.
00:06:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, you know, you hear all these things. weve We've heard how good it is. Steve, Arctic Steve was saying how much he loves it. But, you know, it's Arctic Steve. Who knows? You know, you really got you gotta to run it for yourself.
00:06:29
RICK JAMES
I told you it was good.
00:06:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
You did, but ah how much have you run it?
00:06:31
RICK JAMES
didn't still listen to me either.
00:06:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, right? Like, it's we know it's good because it's enough.
00:06:34
RICK JAMES
I don't, I haven't ran a lot, but I, I, I've ran enough to know what it can do.
00:06:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. But, you know, I've never i've never run it. and You know it's good because it's an Arctic, and they don't put out anything that's not top-notch. You know, it takes them five years to get anything to market because they test it and test it and test it and test it and make sure it's perfect.
00:06:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
But I will tell you this, until even if you know it's good, you've heard from everybody it's good, once you actually run it, you're still like, holy shit.
00:07:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, this thing is an absolute game-changer.
00:07:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Well,
00:07:09
RICK JAMES
what did it do?
00:07:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
It is, uh, huh?
00:07:09
RICK JAMES
did Did it change your pickup into a loader then? Like we always say.
00:07:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
It literally, i I think I told Lucas that mid storm when he called and said, what are you doing? I'm like, Oh, I'm, I'm driving a ah GMC 3500 right now, but it's, it's operating like a three 21 with a 13 LD on it.
00:07:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Only quicker and more comfortable. Yeah.
00:07:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ye
00:07:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, this was heavy, wet shit, and it scraped. i didn't go over I didn't have to go over one pass one time. It was black pavement every pass, every time, 12 foot wide.
00:07:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
the The thing was incredible. it It really was. a I started out being easy on it, and then I was like, you know what? I'm not going to be easy on it. and then i remembered that it was attached to my truck so i'm gonna try and be it easy on my truck but man that thing was beautiful it really was the counterweight kit on there it changes the whole attitude to that truck and um it was just yeah it was incredible it really was they they knocked that out of the park i mean i feel bad for every other plow out there it really uh it changes your truck it really does it's a total force oh yeah i mean
00:08:09
RICK JAMES
good
00:08:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I'm glad you liked it. I knew you would. I knew you would.
00:08:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
just as far as your efficiency and your productivity with a truck, I mean, it's the most productive thing I've ever seen on a truck. So it's, ah yeah, awesome.
00:08:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Awesome.
00:08:30
RICK JAMES
And you...
00:08:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, A plus marks all across the board. And now I'm just going to keep testing on the longevity and, you know, keep, ah keep pushing and keep seeing what we can do with it and, you know, see if we can find a weak spot, but I don't know.
00:08:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
That thing's pretty much a tank. The, the adaptive down pressure,
00:08:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is...
00:08:50
RICK JAMES
That's pretty sweet.
00:08:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's sick, dude. It is so sick that you can enter and exit, like, the threshold of lots that have the lips and stuff, and that plow does not leave anything behind. It goes up and down, contours with that entryway, and you don't leave anything.
00:09:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Whereas, like... You know, nothing against my conventional plows on my trucks, but you know how it is when you go in like an 18-inch lip to get into a parking lot. You're going to dig in, and then you're going to leave the pile as you come up high, and the plow just can't keep up.
00:09:19
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:09:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
This one doesn't do that. Like, this one takes it all right down the pavement and takes it all with it. So I was extremely, extremely impressed.
00:09:26
RICK JAMES
oh yeah.
00:09:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
So kudos to the Arctic boys. Kudos to Blake and and Lucas and and the whole team over there for – I can't wait to see what they come up with next.
00:09:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they got some something going on, that's for sure We all know that. so
00:09:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep they they don't rest much but hey i'm happy for them too i mean they've been getting all this snow out there in chicagoland so they've been getting the they i mean they had two years rest so they should be ready to go yeah i know they've been dead dead dead for two years because they were weren't they driving all over the place just trying to find snow to test it last year well they don't gotta go far now they're in it now
00:09:43
RICK JAMES
Nah.
00:09:46
RICK JAMES
They've been getting a lot of snow, yep. Finally.
00:09:52
RICK JAMES
ah It was over two. i think it's been more than two years they've been low. so Yeah. Yeah.
00:10:03
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm. Yep. Last couple of years for sure. If not three years. No. They're in it. Yep. For sure.
00:10:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
But yeah, the first push went good, though. Like I said, down a machine, that you know that shit happens. And the boys ah picked right up, kept running.
00:10:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:10:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
The ninjas did what they do. And I think they set a new world speed record for cleaning up after that. And it was good. we had ah and we had We've been freezing cold, dude. like We have been like super, super, super cold out there.
00:10:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think we were in single digits the other night, right after the storm.
00:10:37
RICK JAMES
There's
00:10:40
RICK JAMES
there's negative negative 10 here last night.
00:10:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
negative 10 i bet always got to top it yeah yeah everything's plugged in here it's uh it's good but yeah it went well it went well other than the one breakdown um which i probably could have called that happening considering the money that went into that this year to get it up and keep it up and running
00:10:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it's fucking sucked. That's too early for this shit. Too early for this shit.
00:11:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, ah you know, that that shows that, you know, Lucas, when he yells at me, why do you have a four-year-old skid? Like, why haven't you traded that out yet? You know, maybe he maybe there's something to that.
00:11:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
maybe Maybe the man might know what he's talking about.
00:11:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. Ah, yeah, maybe.
00:11:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah ah ah So that's on me.
00:11:24
RICK JAMES
Don't second guess him.
00:11:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, no, no. But, you know, it is what it is. The the boys still made it happen. They just next ah next man up, next machine up, and they got it done. so
Snow Predictions and Merchandise
00:11:36
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:11:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah So you got snow tonight.
00:11:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think we're looking at, this is what, what is it, Thursday?
00:11:42
RICK JAMES
There's a, yep.
00:11:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
So I think we're looking at something maybe tomorrow night into Saturday. And then, again, Ed put something on the radar for Tuesday night into Wednesday.
00:11:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
So got to keep an eye on those. But, yeah, pretty active pattern across the board, I think, everywhere, right?
00:11:56
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:12:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Minnesota got it. Minnesota's got some Illinois, Ohio.
00:12:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah,
00:12:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Michigan. Everybody that normally gets snow is getting snow. So off to a good start.
00:12:12
RICK JAMES
no doubt.
00:12:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
So what are we doing today? Today, it's a big one, all right? We are doing our first show in the Cornhusker State, all right? We are heading to Lincoln, Nebraska. We're going to talk to Chris Steinhardt. He's the CEO and Director of Winter Operations for Property Services Lincoln. All right, Chris is going to tell us all about how the snow game goes in Nebraska because we've never been there before.
00:12:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that's cool.
00:12:36
RICK JAMES
No.
00:12:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
another ah Another pin on the map. Another state checked off.
00:12:40
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:12:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
where Where do we still got to go?
00:12:44
RICK JAMES
I don't know. We should probably look at the map.
00:12:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wyoming, Colorado. I think Wyoming, Colorado.
00:12:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we haven't been to Wyoming. Yeah. color I'm surprised I haven't been to Colorado yet.
00:12:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
we we We got Montana. Check.
00:12:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:12:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
so
00:12:54
RICK JAMES
We can talk to a lot more people in these states too, obviously. So, yeah.
00:12:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. we're yeah but We got to get there first once.
00:13:00
RICK JAMES
Got to get back to Alaska.
00:13:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:13:01
RICK JAMES
haven't been there for a while. So, yeah.
00:13:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye Yeah, we got to do that. so But that's what we got today. So we're looking forward to hearing about Nebraska snow, and ah we'll get into that shortly. But before we do that, as always, we're going to hear from Team Top Gun. Come back do a quick week review.
00:13:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, gang, we're back. So quick week review here. Last week, we did we dropped the Live from the Loaders episode with Glacier, right? So we had Ben, we had Snow Boss, we had Jared, and they were out actually doing it mid-push.
00:14:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
We couldn't line up a a guest last week, so we got desperate and said, hey, you know what?
00:14:08
RICK JAMES
Oh my God. here Here you go with the desperate thing. I'm never going the end of it.
00:14:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's make lemonade.
00:14:13
RICK JAMES
Jesus. Come on.
00:14:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah I'm going to send you these things to edit and produce.
00:14:21
RICK JAMES
Hey, that was my fault.
00:14:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Every time Jeremy would get a phone call from somebody in the crew, it would kick him off.
00:14:23
RICK JAMES
It was my fault.
00:14:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
the It would kick his sound off. So even though he'd still be recording... he'd be talking to us, and it would take it would be like a 20-second delay from when he would come back to when his audio would start recording his voice.
00:14:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
So trying to loop that into the right spots was driving us a little crazy.
00:14:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:14:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
But we got it done, and that was fun.
00:14:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:14:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
A lot of guys loved that. So we'll have to try that again and tell everybody not to call.
00:14:51
RICK JAMES
have to do it We'll have do a hauling night where I don't get the calls on the hauling night.
00:14:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go. Yeah, we could do a hauling night.
00:14:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:14:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Definitely. That'd be good. But, yeah, a lot of guys loved that.
00:14:58
RICK JAMES
That's really ah that's really after dark. Hauling night really after dark.
00:15:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah yeah that'll get a little dicey i'll have to tag that one explicit
00:15:05
RICK JAMES
I like it. I like it that way.
00:15:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah, for sure.
00:15:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh but yeah as we said first first snows of the year for a lot of guys hope ah hope everybody had a uh a good first run out hope nothing broke or as little as possible broke for you hope you guys uh got it done and made some money We talked about that already. ah Keep hitting the Apple podcast and Spotify, the like and subscribes. Definitely on those two. Keep dropping your reviews of the show.
00:15:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
um If you got these raps from Spotify that, you know, tell us how long you've been listening to us all year and where we rank in in your your depth chart there for your listens, send it on over to us. We'll definitely post it for you.
00:15:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else new this week? As we said last week, the new tumblers are in. Jeremy's got them. So order them now to have them for the holidays. They make good stocking stuffers.
00:16:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I've shipped a few out this week, so yeah, it's been good.
00:16:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Yep. Yep. The whole Snow Jobs Nation store is stocked and ready for your Christmas orders. All right. So, ah you know, you can't get them from the North Pole. You can only get them from Jeremy. So order up and have your gifts in time for all your your snow loved ones for Christmas. All right.
00:16:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else? You got anything else, buddy?
00:16:23
RICK JAMES
I don't know. i think that's about it.
00:16:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
I thought we had more to to throw in there this week, but I'll be damned if I can remember them. It's been a couple days here.
00:16:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I don't know. It's been pretty much. Yeah. Tired.
00:16:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Screw it. Keep checking social media.
00:16:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
We'll update you. All right.
00:16:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, then let's hear from our partners, and we'll be right back, and we'll get into this.
00:18:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're
Muscox Team Visit
00:19:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
back. That was one thing I forgot to mention. The, the Muscox boys just showed up in fishkill last night.
00:19:05
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:19:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
They just happened to be in the neighborhood from Minnesota.
00:19:06
RICK JAMES
That's what you said.
00:19:10
RICK JAMES
That's cool. You got to see them.
00:19:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was, yeah, that was really cool. Really unexpected. Actually, I guess they're on a Northeast dealer tour. They're, uh,
00:19:18
RICK JAMES
Did they buy you supper? No.
00:19:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, I bought them supper, actually. I'm like, you come all the way there to check out. to cause That's customer service right there. But they heard Danny Burke was running the new Musk Ox, and they just got there a little late to see it in action. But it was it was good, man. The new one is is phenomenal.
00:19:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I saw it.
00:19:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, he...
00:19:38
RICK JAMES
I saw your video.
00:19:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah he he called like 20 minutes in and it was one of those storms where if you were getting a call it was because something was wrong and i'm like what now i see the name pop up i'm like oh what bad news is this gonna be he's like dude yo call those muskox guys tell them whatever the hell they did with this uh keep doing it because this thing is freaking night and day different than the than the first one like all right great that's high praise
00:19:46
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. I think they got to make a 3.1 or something for a tractor or something. think they that should be their next thing.
00:20:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
they're definitely capable that's for sure but yeah it was nice to see them we uh we we had a nice uh nice dinner nice talk and then they were off to uh wherever they were heading today but that was cool to see those guys in town that was kind of trippy but all right on with the show so uh let's let's welcome in chris and uh yeah chris how you doing buddy welcome to the snow jobs how's nebraska
00:20:13
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:26
RICK JAMES
Cool.
00:20:36
Chris Steinheider
Good, good.
00:20:36
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:20:36
Chris Steinheider
Thanks for having me on, guys. It's cold.
00:20:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
hands call
00:20:41
Chris Steinheider
Colder than it usually is in this time of year, but ah we finally got we got some snow this last weekend. Got two two rounds, three and a half inches and two inches, and got to put everything to the test.
00:20:50
RICK JAMES
nice
00:20:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice good for you guys you guys uh all corn husker fans out there yeah that's exactly what i was just gonna ask you like yeah like i mean tom osborne days they used to dominate top five all the time and now they suck
00:20:52
Chris Steinheider
So it was good.
00:20:57
Chris Steinheider
Oh, yeah. Yeah, born and bred. Some of us are old enough to remember the good times. So we got we gotta to remind that the younger guys how it used to be, you know.
00:21:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah. yeah this
00:21:13
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:21:13
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:14
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. As a kid, I think i went to seven straight years where we didn't lose a game at home.
00:21:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
crazy
00:21:19
Chris Steinheider
So it was weird when it finally happened.
00:21:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:22
Chris Steinheider
But we're used to it now, unfortunately.
00:21:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
we're We're adjusted. but
00:21:27
RICK JAMES
words You're like a Viking fan.
00:21:28
Chris Steinheider
yeah us
00:21:29
RICK JAMES
You just suck all the time, so.
00:21:31
Chris Steinheider
it's yeah
00:21:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh man. That's crazy. Well, Jeremy, why don't you take us away?
00:21:34
RICK JAMES
All right.
00:21:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
I want to hear about these guys.
00:21:37
RICK JAMES
right, Chris,
Property Services Lincoln Overview
00:21:38
RICK JAMES
why don't you tell everybody about property services, what you guys are all about?
00:21:41
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Property services, we we are primarily a ah lawn care and snow removal company. Although I like to to tell folks that we're a ah snow company that does lawn because we have to.
00:21:52
Chris Steinheider
i think my partner, Brian and i we both prefer snow more than lawn and have kind of poured everything into that um the last five or six years.
00:21:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:22:04
Chris Steinheider
So, yeah. yeah, that's, that's kind of us. And we started out, well, Brian bought the company from a guy that he was working for. and it was, it was called property cleanup. He did a lot of lot bordering stuff like that.
00:22:21
Chris Steinheider
And, uh, he wanted to get out or had a health thing. So he talked Brian into buying it and, um Brian and I were friends from high school. So i kind of helped out and, and, uh,
00:22:34
Chris Steinheider
We talk talked about stuff all the time, but i actually was working at a software company at the time. but and So he bought it in 2012 and kind of slowly grew from there and changed the name to Property Services.
00:22:46
Chris Steinheider
a little bit vague, but we've stuck with it. But kind of got to a point.
00:22:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's perfect, though. That's perfect.
00:22:53
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:22:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
You can do anything at any time.
00:22:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:22:55
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:22:55
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:22:56
Chris Steinheider
And sometimes, yeah, we get asked to do stuff that we definitely don't want to do because of that. But I guess I'd rather get ah get a chance than the than no chance at all on some of that stuff.
00:23:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. You never know if the money's right.
00:23:06
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:23:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, we can do that.
00:23:08
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah. Maybe we might get into line striping or something or you stuff like that.
00:23:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:23:14
Chris Steinheider
So, um yeah.
00:23:14
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:23:16
Chris Steinheider
So he kind of grew to the point where he didn't, he he wanted some help growing. And I was kind of the I'd been been at the company I was at for quite a while and thought, you know, this would be a good opportunity to jump into something with him and become his partner and see what we could do So, you lots of grand plans made at the at at the on the bar stools and and whatnot.
00:23:38
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:23:45
Chris Steinheider
And, you know, here we are like seven years or so later and not exactly where we were planning on being, but not super far off.
00:23:45
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:23:52
Chris Steinheider
So it's it's been fun.
00:23:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:23:54
RICK JAMES
Still friends anyway, right?
00:23:55
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, for the most part, yeah.
00:23:56
RICK JAMES
for the most qui
00:23:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Most days.
00:23:58
Chris Steinheider
oh
00:23:59
RICK JAMES
hu
00:23:59
Chris Steinheider
my My wife likes to joke that you know he's like my other my other wife. yeah where When your partner's like that with with somebody, it's all-encompassing and you know we're family.
00:24:11
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:24:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye
00:24:12
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:24:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%. So what what does, since you just said it, property services, it can do anything. What are your specialties? What do you guys do?
00:24:22
Chris Steinheider
Mainly lawn care. We do all probably 99%, 98% commercial. So commercial lawn care, commercial snow removal.
00:24:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:24:31
Chris Steinheider
um We've tried to kind of move away from residential over the last few years, just for a myriad of reasons, but, um, It's, I mean, on the lawn side, we'll do a little bit more of it, but on the snow side, as it's, as you guys know, a challenge and folks, especially
Lincoln's Snow Patterns
00:24:49
Chris Steinheider
around here, don't necessarily want to pay for it.
00:24:52
Chris Steinheider
So it can be tough.
00:24:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
h
00:24:54
Chris Steinheider
So we've tried to gear our business towards the commercial side. We were kind of lucky enough to get in with some property management companies and and grow with them over a number of years. And that's opened up some doors and we just kind of kept going.
00:25:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what it's all about. Cool. So do you do everything with the lawn care? Are you doing fertilizations and stuff, aerations, all that stuff?
00:25:16
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, we do full service lawn care, fertilizer, know, we'll seed and aerate and all that.
00:25:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:25:24
Chris Steinheider
We got a Ventrac couple of years ago that we've utilized a lot on aeration and and stuff like that and gotten a little bit more into rebuilding lawns fixing gravel driveways and stuff like that.
00:25:38
Chris Steinheider
So that's been that's been a fun thing to get into.
00:25:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool So what is Lincoln like as far as snow in the winter What are you guys, what's your average And what kind of events Okay
00:25:47
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. We average, we average about 25 inches a year. ah we tend to say we get about 10 events. So if it's a heavier snow year, we might get eight pushable events and ice events. And on a lighter year, it's more the other way.
00:26:08
Chris Steinheider
So, but but for the most part, we get around 10.
00:26:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay
00:26:13
Chris Steinheider
um it's been a while the last, eight, 10 years or so we had a couple of years up in the fifties and then a couple single digit years. So it's just been a bit of a roller coaster. We're kind of on that, on a line where we'll get a lot of stuff. That's it's 33 or 31 degrees at the start of it. And, you know, it's just a little bit away from, i mean, just the first storm we got last, uh, last Saturday,
00:26:43
Chris Steinheider
ah Everything was kind of projected like it was going to be. freeze line was going be just north of us, and we were to get a little freezing rain and maybe an inch or two. And then that shifted about 20 miles south, and we got three and a half wet inches.
00:26:56
Chris Steinheider
So we get a lot of ah heavy, wet snow, i would say.
00:26:57
RICK JAMES
OK.
00:27:00
Chris Steinheider
ah if we're If we're lucky in January and February, we'll get some of those real fluffy ones. And that's kind of how it went this weekend, too. On Monday, it was – in the twenties or whatever.
00:27:14
Chris Steinheider
And we got two fluffy inches. So we got kind of to late winter storms really, really early in the season.
00:27:16
RICK JAMES
and yeah
00:27:22
Chris Steinheider
It was, yeah.
00:27:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice
00:27:23
Chris Steinheider
it was It was nice. It was a lot of ah pulling the hair out and trying to get everybody out there and, i mean, pulling snowblowers off pallet racks in the middle of the storm because we hadn't gotten them down serviced yet. But that's kind of one of the things we love about snow is just the here's the problem, figure it out.
00:27:43
Chris Steinheider
And how are we going to get there?
00:27:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:27:43
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:27:44
Chris Steinheider
You know, which gets more challenging as you're awake longer. But and it's it's fun.
00:27:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:27:50
RICK JAMES
With your...
00:27:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
when does When does winter normally start for you guys?
00:27:54
Chris Steinheider
It seems like lately it's been mid December. We might get an icing event or something.
00:27:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:28:00
Chris Steinheider
Um, and then maybe a snow we've usually gotten a snow, at least something pushable before Christmas.
00:28:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. So you're not like you're not like North Dakota, like where Jeremy is, where there anything from October on, there there they could have snow.
00:28:07
Chris Steinheider
Um,
00:28:14
Chris Steinheider
I mean, we average I would say we average one snow a November or 0.8 or something, and 0.5 or 0.8 snow in October.
00:28:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:28:26
Chris Steinheider
um we've we've been We've been at Husker games watching them win, actually, getting snowed on in the last you know six, seven years. So it does happen.
00:28:38
Chris Steinheider
but kind of shifts.
00:28:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. yep
00:28:39
RICK JAMES
ye
00:28:42
Chris Steinheider
the Last year we had two events in March, which we hadn't really had in a while, but, um but yeah, we'll get it sometimes.
00:28:51
RICK JAMES
when does So you saying your snow season kind of ends in February for the most part?
00:28:55
Chris Steinheider
um we We can kind of breathe after February. Yeah.
00:29:00
RICK JAMES
Okay. Yep.
00:29:01
Chris Steinheider
Last year, we got, we got some of them. We, we ended up doing a lot of mulch and some of that, that, uh, pre pre season, pre lawn season stuff in in, March.
00:29:11
Chris Steinheider
So as much, as much as we were, we, we liked getting the snows.
00:29:12
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:29:16
Chris Steinheider
It was also like, we were starting to think about putting some stuff away and getting some stuff done alongside. And those transitional times are, are hard, uh, in this neck of the woods because the snow can just kind of come out of nowhere.
00:29:22
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:29:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, hell yeah.
00:29:29
Chris Steinheider
And, The guys are doing leaves a couple weeks ago and planning on on Thanksgiving week doing more leaves, and then we had to just spend all all week getting ready for snow instead.
00:29:42
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:29:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. I'm going date myself because I can remember back when ah when Colorado used to play Nebraska the day after Thanksgiving every year.
00:29:43
RICK JAMES
So your convert. Oh, here we go.
00:29:49
Chris Steinheider
yeah. Yeah, we preferred that to Iowa for sure, but yeah.
00:29:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, so that was but I remember a number of years where it was snowing in those games the day after Thanksgiving watching that.
00:29:54
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:29:58
Chris Steinheider
Mm-hmm. Absolutely.
00:30:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
But i mean but that's a long time ago, right?
00:30:01
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:30:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
They don't even play anymore?
00:30:03
Chris Steinheider
No, we we played them a couple of times here.
00:30:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Or they do? Yeah.
00:30:06
Chris Steinheider
we played him last year and the year before. So they've done a couple ah you know, home and home series since Nebraska left the big 12. But I think most Nebraska fans would love that rivalry back because, know, it was them in Oklahoma you know,
00:30:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:30:20
Chris Steinheider
really got it going back in the day.
00:30:22
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:30:22
Chris Steinheider
and yeah people People would rent cars to drive to Boulder to go to the games because if you went with your Nebraska place, you're getting your tires slashed and you know keyed and stuff.
00:30:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:30:30
RICK JAMES
Oh boy. Yep.
00:30:31
Chris Steinheider
It was it was no joke. and Some of the younger fans that went out there a couple years ago had never experienced that, and and they did. so it's The rivalry is still hot. Yeah.
00:30:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
that was uh that was big back when it was like the big eight and then the big 12 you know that was that was huge yeah
00:30:45
Chris Steinheider
yeah Yeah, they won and they won a national championship what, 1990?
00:30:47
RICK JAMES
know
00:30:51
Chris Steinheider
And then, yeah, the 95 season, I think it was, they were ranked number two or whatever.
00:30:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:57
Chris Steinheider
that It used to be huge games.
00:30:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:30:59
Chris Steinheider
Rashawn Salam and, know, all those guys.
00:31:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh yeah yeah those were big games but yeah i remember i remember the day after thanksgiving they used to always play because that was a game we wanted to watch because it was always a good game you know those two teams but more times than not there were i mean it might not have been a snow storm but there was you know there were flakes flying yeah that's cool very cool what else you got jay
00:31:01
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:31:02
Chris Steinheider
So, yeah.
00:31:11
Chris Steinheider
Mm-hmm.
00:31:18
Chris Steinheider
Oh, yeah. It's usually cold. It's usually cold for sure.
00:31:24
RICK JAMES
Chris Wacker, sort of commercial lots you're doing Chris what kind of commercial lots are you guys mainly doing.
00:31:31
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, we kind of run the run the gambit ah from industrial stuff. We got a lot of stuff by our our shop on the side of town that we're on that we do to ah retail um strip mall type stuff, office buildings ah to the the main mall in town and kind of another sort of mall next to that. So it's kind of all over the place.
00:32:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
00:32:01
RICK JAMES
it's
00:32:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool. What's your favorite types of sites? Like, what do you got? What are your guys really like doing the most?
00:32:06
Chris Steinheider
I mean, they like the big places where they can just push and push and push.
00:32:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:32:11
Chris Steinheider
I think when we finally got, you know, forever, when we started, the biggest place we had was like an acre or so. And it's just trucks with spreaders plows running around town.
00:32:23
Chris Steinheider
And then over the last, well, probably five or six years ago, we got a 10 acre site that at the time just felt huge.
00:32:33
Chris Steinheider
And, know, how are we going to do this place?
00:32:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:32:35
Chris Steinheider
And, we kind of quickly realized that just having equipment on site and having guys on site and the whole storm, like, man, we're moving so much more snow and so much more acreage is getting done in less time that it was eyeopening.
00:32:48
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:32:53
Chris Steinheider
And and we've tried to go after that type of stuff since then and try to consolidate our our routes and and whatnot around that stuff.
High Service Expectations in Nebraska
00:33:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:33:02
RICK JAMES
nice
00:33:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
And whats what's the, like, every time we talk to a new, like a new area, a new state, like, you always got try and put into perspective, like, what is the tolerance acceptance out there for businesses versus, you know, like industrials? Like, what do they tolerate? Like, do they tolerate having, you know, hard pack on the ground during the winter? it just scrape off what falls fresh?
00:33:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Or is it black pavement necessary?
00:33:26
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, that's that's one of the weird things about this area is that it it it's always snowed here. It snows 25 inches a year.
00:33:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yep.
00:33:35
Chris Steinheider
That's not nothing. But it seems like it's a nuisance to most people. Like they... they're still going to go out and drive around and do their thing. And the, the businesses still want to open.
00:33:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:33:47
Chris Steinheider
It doesn't matter how much snow there is.
00:33:47
RICK JAMES
Mm-hm.
00:33:48
Chris Steinheider
And they, they don't want any ice or anything in their lot.
00:33:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
no
00:33:54
Chris Steinheider
Uh, and, and that kind of goes for a ah two inch or a 10 inch snow. Uh, I think we've seen more, you know, just the volatility over the last 10 years, ah less seasons with six or seven, three or four inch snows and more with two eight inch snows and a bunch of icing and stuff like that. And ah it's, we've always kind of been, um we've tried to present it as a higher level of service that we that we provide, that it's going to be
00:34:30
Chris Steinheider
you know bare concrete and that's that's our goal and yeah that's really what you have to do around here otherwise you're going to get comp complaints and people just aren't a lot of people don't have snow boots or if they do they they're sitting in their closet because they're still wearing their flats and high heels and stuff to to go out a snowstorm so um yeah they gotta be sights gotta be good
00:34:34
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:34:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
and okay
00:34:51
RICK JAMES
yeah.
00:34:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:34:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
very cool
00:34:57
RICK JAMES
So what do you have for like triggers around there?
00:35:00
Chris Steinheider
Most of our places anymore are zero tolerance. So it the triggers for us just got so hard because our r inch or two inches or whatever seemed to be different than...
00:35:14
Chris Steinheider
one owner's inch and another owner's inch and whatever. And we just found it so much easier.
00:35:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:35:20
Chris Steinheider
And also with getting guys in and stuff, it's much easier to have a guy look out the window and go, it's snowing. I got to work. Then how much is it snowing?
00:35:27
RICK JAMES
Let's go.
00:35:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:35:27
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:35:29
Chris Steinheider
Do I need to work? ah
00:35:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, exactly.
00:35:30
RICK JAMES
yep
00:35:31
Chris Steinheider
Cause yeah, it is one inch turns into three pretty easy. And then all of a sudden that guy that didn't think he had to work is late.
00:35:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. And that's easier for dealing with customers too, because you can just tell them any accumulation starts on your lot.
00:35:42
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're working. No, then you don't have to get out there with your weather pros measuring stick and make sure you actually have the two inches that you need to work.
00:35:46
Chris Steinheider
yeah yeah
00:35:50
Chris Steinheider
yeah
00:35:51
RICK JAMES
yeah no doubt yes same we are
00:35:54
Chris Steinheider
i'm still waiting for mine too by the way and i' was just yeah
00:35:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
they're not not here yet um i can't wait for the pictures when they get there a lot of measuring going to be going on ah
00:36:01
RICK JAMES
ah
00:36:05
RICK JAMES
oh my god yeah
00:36:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
jay you want to take him into the deness leasing jeremy lindstrom equipment segment
00:36:12
RICK JAMES
You bet. How about
Equipment and Efficiency in Snow Operations
00:36:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
hear what he's running
00:36:13
RICK JAMES
you, Chris? ah i I love to talk about equipment. Why don't you guys want you tell us all the equipment you guys have from loaders to everything.
00:36:20
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. we We started off small. So it was trucks and plows. The first two, two trucks we had were, it was an old nineties Chevy and old nineties Ford.
00:36:33
Chris Steinheider
And I drove the Ford. It had a hole in the floorboard. And I like to joke about, I had, I had up to the minute, ah you know, street condition monitoring in that truck.
00:36:45
Chris Steinheider
um But
00:36:46
RICK JAMES
Huh.
00:36:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's called the Flintstone car.
00:36:48
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, it got a little cold, but it was all right.
00:36:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:36:52
Chris Steinheider
But yeah, we've we've we still run a lot of trucks. We've got like, so well, the ones that aren't broken. We've probably got seven or eight. But as we started to get into bigger stuff, we started to get into skid loaders.
00:37:07
Chris Steinheider
ah We run, think we've got five skids running this year and three wheel loaders. Uh, we, we rent a lot of equipment because as a lawn care company, we just, it doesn't make sense to buy three wheel loaders and a bunch of skids.
00:37:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:37:25
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:37:26
Chris Steinheider
Um, we've kind of found that it's a lot easier to, to rent the skids. So we started investing in wheel loaders, uh, since we can't seem to get those, uh, that we hear all these stories about seasonal leases in snow area and,
00:37:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:37:42
Chris Steinheider
Anybody we ask around here is, I've never heard of it. Here's your four week rate.
00:37:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:37:46
Chris Steinheider
now right
00:37:46
RICK JAMES
ah
00:37:48
Chris Steinheider
<unk> We're going to use it for 20 hours in that four week rate. But what we've got a good partner here that we've we've worked with the last few years that's been really good at at getting us case equipment. And so we run mostly case equipment.
00:38:02
Chris Steinheider
uh, two 20, two 21s.
00:38:02
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:38:04
Chris Steinheider
Um, and then we do have a Bobcat L85, uh, for now.
00:38:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. Yep.
00:38:08
RICK JAMES
OK. Yep.
00:38:09
Chris Steinheider
Uh, but I had to laugh few weeks ago. you you guys talked to somebody with the the a little Bobcat loader and you asked him about the window. If he had any issues with his glass, uh, a couple of years ago, I was running that right before a storm and opened the door and the wind caught it and flipped it around and damn thing just exploded.
00:38:26
Chris Steinheider
And it was, you know, the, the, the high the next day it was like five or something.
00:38:26
RICK JAMES
no
00:38:30
Chris Steinheider
And, We had about... 24 hours until a storm was coming. So it was, it was actually one of the the proudest moments I've had in the company is, you know, we got it in the shop, got to big box store whatever, and got a big sheet of polycarbonate, took the other glass down, trimmed, you know, trimmed it out, made our own window, put it back up and had that thing running.
00:38:55
Chris Steinheider
And we left at that thing on for a year.
00:38:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
nice
00:38:59
Chris Steinheider
i think only
00:39:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
and that's that's not limited to bobcat to the 221s you're running that's all 90 glass and gasket anyway you know to that ah
00:39:03
Chris Steinheider
yeah
00:39:05
RICK JAMES
oh yeah yep yeah
00:39:07
Chris Steinheider
At least theyve got they've got the strap to hold the door, though. The Bobcat doesn't.
00:39:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
yes they do but have you ever noticed when you open that door that that strap will come off 70 of the time it just works its way off and the thing is a wind sail anyway
00:39:12
Chris Steinheider
It'll flip around.
00:39:18
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah.
00:39:21
RICK JAMES
Mm-hm.
00:39:22
Chris Steinheider
i don't know. To me, it's better than the than the Bobcat because at least you got you're holding on to the bar when you hit the switch where the Bobcat's like this little switch out here and it just wants to rip it right out of your hand.
00:39:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
yes hundredent
00:39:32
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:39:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, 100%. You're absolutely right about that, where you actually literally have to physically grab the door bar with your hand to release the door.
00:39:39
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:39:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's it's still in your hand. You're right. That that definitely makes a big difference.
00:39:46
Chris Steinheider
everybody's heard that story around here now too. So they know better than to get out of that machine without holding on with both hands.
00:39:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just happened to a friend of ours.
00:39:53
Chris Steinheider
But
00:39:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're 321. Matt Young, Jeremy said that the thing opened up like a wind sail and shattered the glasses.
00:40:02
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:40:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're just looking at each other like, what the fuck just happened?
00:40:08
Chris Steinheider
there's no worse feeling. And yeah, me being the one that did it, I felt like such an asshole just ah less than 24 hours before an event. And yeah.
00:40:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
happens. that that That happens, man. That's that's crazy.
00:40:21
RICK JAMES
I think the guys in our shop had a bet, the their sidewalk guys they always go through doors, seems like.
00:40:21
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:40:27
RICK JAMES
They had a bet how long is be how long it didn't last.
00:40:27
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:40:31
RICK JAMES
think it was on an hour the first night and they shattered the door.
00:40:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
What?
00:40:35
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:40:35
RICK JAMES
it's a Oh, yeah, the wind catches it. Gone.
00:40:39
Chris Steinheider
we yeah We lost the back window on a Ventrac, one of the last storms last year.
00:40:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
hour.
00:40:39
RICK JAMES
I don't know.
00:40:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oof.
00:40:45
Chris Steinheider
And then it's like, okay, that was expensive. Let's be careful. And the the first storm this year, guy slid into a fire hydrant broke the lower window in the Ventrac door.
00:40:56
Chris Steinheider
So, you know, the I need to get get stock and in glass companies, I guess. But it happens.
00:41:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:41:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:41:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it does happen, man. It's the cost of doing business, unfortunately.
00:41:10
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, but...
00:41:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
So what else are you running there?
00:41:13
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. So we started off just getting boss pushers for most of that stuff. Cause it was affordable. And, but when we, we got the, uh, the Bobcat loader, uh, we got a, an Arctic, uh, 13, LD for it, uh, which worked pretty well.
00:41:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:41:30
Chris Steinheider
Although that, that L85 seemed to be just a little bit underpowered for it when we got a lot of snow. Uh, it worked, but it was slow going.
00:41:36
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm. Ooh.
00:41:40
Chris Steinheider
um we haven't really seen, guess we haven't really seen a big one with the two 21, but I think it's going to be better, especially with some snow tires on there. But,
00:41:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
Razorback Plow in Action
00:41:49
Chris Steinheider
uh, so we've got, now we've got two of the, the 13, LDs and, uh, an eight,
00:41:56
Chris Steinheider
And then I got a Razorback on my truck. So I, yeah, I mean, like all of us, I've been watching those videos for three years now or whatever, since they first started showing them with the retrofit and, We didn't run any wide outs or, or, or EXTs.
00:42:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:42:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye
00:42:16
Chris Steinheider
So we didn't really have any plows we could sacrifice. And then once I saw the full kid, I started bugging my, my Arctic dealer and he went, well, we don't, we can't do the, we can't do the Razorback.
00:42:29
Chris Steinheider
So he gave me the sales guy, Jeff, Jeff Bay's number.
00:42:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, Jeff.
00:42:33
Chris Steinheider
And yeah.
00:42:33
RICK JAMES
Jeff Bezos. Oh yeah.
00:42:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mr. Get it done.
00:42:34
RICK JAMES
Jeff's great.
00:42:34
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:42:36
Chris Steinheider
Oh yeah. He got it done. It took us some time, but we got it done and he hadn't, he hadn't gotten a dealer down here yet. So I went to Sioux Falls to get mine and it was worth the trip. Cause that, mean, the first storm I've, like you were saying in in the, in the run up, man, it's like having a loader on your truck and it's the perfect cleanup tool.
00:42:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
It is. It's, yeah.
00:42:55
Chris Steinheider
So for me, as I'm going around fixing stuff and helping people, a guy miss left a bunch of stuff on some sidewalks and I was able to just pull it all off and just the, that down pressure when you got it full, like we we've, we've run a lot of, uh, we've got three drag pros too.
00:43:14
Chris Steinheider
So we've we've always kind of been, what can we get to be a little bit more efficient with the stuff that we have?
00:43:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:43:15
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:43:21
Chris Steinheider
And, so I think we had the first two drag pros in town and the first one 80 Z and, uh,
00:43:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:43:30
Chris Steinheider
and I don't know how many more there are now, but we've probably got most of the the drag plows in town. I think I've seen one out and about ah before other than other than us. But, of you know, you start to wear the tips on those and you're just you're not getting anything on on them. ah And the first time i was running that that Razorback and watched the just the tip edge of the wing scraping down the pavement was like, Man, i could, where I was at the mall and one of my guys had made a pass single pass with 13 and I came through just full wide out and it was hard to tell which was which.
00:43:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:43:58
RICK JAMES
right. Yep.
00:44:09
Chris Steinheider
So we're already plotting.
00:44:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is probably the most impressive thing, like you said, because any wing plow, it the wings are always the weak link on the scrape, and these wings scrape just as good as the moldboard sections.
00:44:13
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:44:18
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
00:44:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's incredible.
00:44:23
Chris Steinheider
it was really impressive. Yeah. the ah Already plotting to, know, to get them on some of the other trucks for next year. But the other thing too, you know, we didn't, we didn't have time to get everything staked.
00:44:38
Chris Steinheider
So we only had a few properties staked and um three and a half inches was enough that it was hard to see some stuff.
00:44:38
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:44:45
Chris Steinheider
And yeah, If I would have been running my my old V plow, I would have a lot more tentative than I was. i And I hit some stuff hard, but it just kept going.
00:44:55
Chris Steinheider
So my my partner, Brian, he had a, you were talking about the entryway into a parking lot.
00:44:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:44:56
RICK JAMES
ye
00:45:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:45:03
Chris Steinheider
A couple of years ago, he caught the trip edge on his boss DXT caught it just the right way that it folded and then broke the, ah the welds on the trip edge and just trashed his plow.
00:45:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh. Oh.
00:45:17
Chris Steinheider
It was just that lip from the street and just, he just got at the right angle and they, they said, well, we've never seen that.
00:45:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:45:25
Chris Steinheider
It must've been a bad weld. We'll, we'll warranty it. And that was great, but yeah. it took his plow out for the winter basically.
00:45:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
00:45:33
Chris Steinheider
And ah we always have at least one backup. So we had something to run, but I was thinking about that the other night, like that would never happen with this. It's hard to, hard to see what would fail. So I know they've put it through the paces, but I plan on and beating the crap out of it too.
00:45:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, it's, you just look at the frame behind the mold boards.
00:45:50
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:45:53
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:45:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
You see how like beefed that frame is.
00:45:55
Chris Steinheider
Let's see why it's so damn heavy.
00:45:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's like, it doesn't look like it belongs on a, well, it doesn't look like it belongs on a truck plow.
00:45:56
RICK JAMES
you know
00:46:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
It looks like you're, it looks like you're hooking into a skid plate for you know, your sectional.
00:46:01
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:46:06
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:46:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's, it's, it's pretty impressive, but yeah, after you run it, like I, I, I tell everybody that's called me since I posted a couple of videos. I'm like, I could tell you how good it is, but until you actually get behind the wheel and run it, I will be doing it a disservice, dude.
00:46:17
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:46:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
There's no way. all Everybody told me the same thing, and until I ran it, I didn't understand.
00:46:26
RICK JAMES
yep
00:46:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, I just, you know, you can't get the full picture until you run it.
00:46:29
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, absolutely.
00:46:34
Chris Steinheider
Absolutely. Yeah. and I didn't get the weight kit, at least not yet. That, that price tag is a little, a lot, but we, we have a stack of old cutting edges that i just piled in the back of the truck.
00:46:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yep.
00:46:47
Chris Steinheider
And what with my salt, I think I got up about 800 pounds and Tim runs on the front and bags on the back.
00:46:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:46:53
Chris Steinheider
And she rode beautifully in a GMC 2,500.
00:46:55
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:46:57
Chris Steinheider
So
00:46:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that is one thing I am going to do. I'm going to throw Tim Brins up front.
00:47:01
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, my my truck sagged, I mean an inch and a half or so. Like, it didn't go down very far. doesn't Doesn't do a lot for your ride, but it's a heavy-duty truck that doesn't ride well anyway.
00:47:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, there you go.
00:47:14
RICK JAMES
You're right. Yeah.
00:47:16
Chris Steinheider
But, yeah, love that. And that that falls right into our, you know, what what piece of equipment can we be more productive with? with, you know, just one thing added, you know, uh, that was, i think that was the hardest thing.
00:47:31
Chris Steinheider
Jump into loaders was just that overall cost of the loader and the the spreader and with us not being a construction company or, or or something like that.
00:47:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh yeah
00:47:42
Chris Steinheider
Um, It was was just tough to make that jump. But once we got started getting into the properties that that needed that stuff, it it made sense. But my Brian, my my business partner, he's seen videos yours, Jeremy, for years of this guy up in North Dakota with the whole thing full of wheel loaders. We got to get to that point someday. So that's ah that's where we're aiming. Yeah.
00:48:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:48:09
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, it's just this market is is kind of kind of crazy um because it is a lot of guys with pickups and and and spreaders in the bed and plow and running around.
00:48:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah, definitely.
00:48:21
Chris Steinheider
And so a lot of the bigger commercial places... For years, it had kind of been done by construction companies that just had the equipment and had a relationship and whatever.
00:48:29
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:48:32
Chris Steinheider
And with them all, especially, the company that had been doing that, was they'd done it for 30 years. And they're an excavating company. And they got bought out. And the new company said, we're not doing snow anymore.
00:48:46
Chris Steinheider
So all of a sudden, they were kind of looking. And we heard about it and thought, man, that'd be that's 30 acres in one spot. That's insane. wonder if we could do it like no but yeah we'd we'd figure it out you know we'd figure it out and that sure shit they called like a week later and ah i literally said you know everyone's telling you they they don't have the equipment to do it right yeah pretty much so it uh have already had we already had a loader at that point so we committed that and got some other stuff on it and
00:49:01
RICK JAMES
We'll figure it out. Yeah.
00:49:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
you
00:49:20
Chris Steinheider
Luckily we've had, you know, 16 inches or so of snow the first couple of years there. And, um, now we've got more, more iron on it, but, um, just there's, there's kind of a hole, I guess, in our, in our market of, uh, bigger, companies that take snow really seriously.
Market Dynamics and Competition
00:49:40
Chris Steinheider
It's either smaller, going to a, some small lots or,
00:49:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:49:44
Chris Steinheider
um you construction companies, here's a you know, we got a backhoe with a blade on it and and whatnot and 40 people of shovels to your sidewalks.
00:49:55
Chris Steinheider
So it's, at least last five, six years, it's been harder to find sidewalk guys that, I mean, we tried, I tried to not make anybody do anything I wouldn't do.
00:50:02
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:50:07
Chris Steinheider
and i mean, i' getting to the point where I'm not going to be outside that much with a shovel, but we try to not make anybody be outside that much with a shovel. So we've got, you know, sticking to the equipment, we've got six sidewalk machines.
00:50:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:50:21
Chris Steinheider
Now we started off with some John Deere and then, and then Last year got our first event track. We got our second one this year and we got us a snow Raider in there too.
00:50:34
Chris Steinheider
And, um, an older deer. So we've just, we've had so many snows that are long, that get really, really cold that, uh, to maintain the properties the way we need to maintain.
00:50:49
Chris Steinheider
And we've got to be on site continuously. So guys got to be in a cab and,
00:50:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
00:50:52
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:50:55
Chris Steinheider
We kind of found that you can do a lot with one guy in a cab. The the mall for the most part is two guys in machines doing 95% of that place other than steps and stuff they can't get to.
00:51:08
Chris Steinheider
But um it was, I guess it was eyeopening for the customer too.
00:51:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:51:12
Chris Steinheider
The first time they saw you machine with a brush on it, it was like, that's awesome.
00:51:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
I bet.
00:51:17
Chris Steinheider
Please have that here every time.
00:51:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
What is this sorcery? Yeah.
00:51:21
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:51:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got a 45-20?
00:51:22
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:51:22
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. um Yeah. So the sidewalk machines are, i mean, they're expensive, but they're worth it. And the Ventrac especially very expensive, but the, the idea that, or the fact that we can use it all season has been huge because we've, we use that thing for mulch and just everything all year round.
00:51:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:51:46
Chris Steinheider
yeah.
00:51:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
we got a forty five twenty
00:51:48
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. 4520 N and then we got a 4520 N pro that was a demo model.
00:51:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. hmm.
00:51:53
Chris Steinheider
This, this last one, uh, want to get that louder, uh, for, for snow and stuff or for, uh, mulch. But, uh, yeah, we've had a little issues with them here and there, but just,
00:52:06
Chris Steinheider
when it, when it's a bad storm, the deers were great, are great, but in the end, they're a, they're a high end residential machine where the, the vent tracks really meant for, for what we're doing, but yeah.
00:52:15
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:52:22
Chris Steinheider
And
00:52:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:52:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
what What are you guys running truck-wise?
00:52:26
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:52:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
are you guys brand loyal or you got a bunch of different ones?
00:52:30
Chris Steinheider
ah we're fairly brand loyal GM stuff.
00:52:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:52:33
Chris Steinheider
Um, No rhyme or reason, I guess. But the the older trucks we had were all like old state trucks and stuff from auction. And I think we still really like those. They're easy to work on, but most of them now are...
00:52:48
Chris Steinheider
were built during Clinton's first administration, so they don't they can only be fixed so many times.
00:52:53
RICK JAMES
All
00:52:56
Chris Steinheider
You go to flush the transmission and they tell you you probably shouldn't because it might not work anymore after that. now we're We're trying to roll the fleet over.
00:53:02
RICK JAMES
right.
00:53:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:53:05
Chris Steinheider
but yeah that's I'd say one of the bigger challenges is just when there's only so many dollars, uh, what, what should we replace? What should we fix?
00:53:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:53:16
Chris Steinheider
What should we add? Um, cause we know what we would if, if money was no option, we know exactly what we do, but, um, it's yeah, that, that part's tough. Cause sometimes you think you make the right decision and then it's obvious that you didn't a year later.
00:53:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
um percent
00:53:36
RICK JAMES
what do you What are you running for salters and stuff?
00:53:39
Chris Steinheider
um this year,
00:53:39
RICK JAMES
are you brian are you Are you granular, or Brian, or what are you guys
00:53:42
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, we're mostly we're mostly granular. In the beginning, it was all bags. And ah we eventually got, but when we got our first skid loader, we we built a ah salt bunker and started doing um doing bulk salt and just got lucky that one of the guys that worked for us on snow had ah had a truck and he just dragged Kansas for us and bring us back a load at a time at a really good price.
00:54:08
Chris Steinheider
So, that helped. And, uh, we mainly had in bed spreaders, you yard and a half spreaders for three quarter ton, one ton trucks.
00:54:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:54:18
Chris Steinheider
And, uh, that the last couple years, especially with the mall has been the the choke point of getting enough salt down, um, So this year we got a Suzu NRR and five yard Snowex spreader with pre-wet tanks on it.
00:54:36
RICK JAMES
Yep. Nice.
00:54:38
Chris Steinheider
We did pre-wet before and then we kind of hit this stretch where it seemed like every storm was... 31 degrees, 32 degrees, and it was just not worth it for quite a while.
00:54:51
RICK JAMES
All right.
00:54:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
happens.
00:54:52
Chris Steinheider
um Brian's kind of the the mad scientist in the shop sometimes. And but it was before I joined, he was, we were talking about Brian and he started getting into it and kind of made his own Brian maker. And that worked pretty good until he was trying to make some liquid calcium quickly and kind of melted half the stuff and kind of, kind of done with it for a while at that point.
00:55:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
happens
00:55:18
Chris Steinheider
But um just, we're, we're always trying to see what else is out there. And, and just since there's, you know, in this area, for the most part, it was Foss and Western.
00:55:31
Chris Steinheider
So like equipment wise, we don't have all the options.
00:55:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:55:35
Chris Steinheider
We'd we'd see Fisher plows and, like yeah it's douglas that's they're a little different and can't get those around here so um yeah so getting in the brine was kind of uh we dipped our toe in it and then last couple years just ran granular and we'd we'd cut it with uh with dry calcium when they got really cold to to try to kick kickstart a little bit, but we knew this year we needed something bigger. So we got that truck set up with a big spreader and actually have a guy running that just, that's his only job.
00:56:12
Chris Steinheider
And that, that, uh,
00:56:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sweet.
00:56:14
Chris Steinheider
that was worked pretty well considering it was the first time out and it was a guy that didn't have a ton of experience, but, uh, we've got the, the new, auto auto controller in there. ah so I set his pounds per acre and told him to hit everything. And other than little weird things with the spreader here and there, everything worked pretty well. And, and we were in really good shape the next morning.
00:56:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
sweet
00:56:39
Chris Steinheider
So,
00:56:39
RICK JAMES
this
00:56:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Love it. Do you guys use a, ah is that it on equipment or do we cover everything for your equipment or you got more stuff?
00:56:48
Chris Steinheider
um think that's pretty much it. I mean, talked a little bit about the drag pros. I ran one of those for probably six years or something. I had, I ran the, well, we wanted to get like a,
00:57:03
Chris Steinheider
I guess what's now top gun or a snow power, but we just, we could not get them around here.
00:57:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:57:09
Chris Steinheider
And so when, when boss first brought out the drag pro, we were excited and got one of those. And, and I ran that for a few years. And then when I got my truck in 21, put a one on it and really liked that plow.
00:57:26
Chris Steinheider
ah but I've gotten to the point where I'm doing a lot of driving around property, property, checking, helping helping people out. and Those new trucks don't like the tailgates taking off as much and it's a huge pain in the butt.
00:57:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, no, they don't.
00:57:41
Chris Steinheider
And so I thought making the move to just the Razorback and having my bed humping would be a better move for me.
00:57:42
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:57:48
Chris Steinheider
So we're still in the process of getting that on another truck. But for guys that are trying to take a fleet of trucks or a handful of trucks and turn them into machines that can move a ton of snow,
00:58:00
Chris Steinheider
I mean, a back blade is a great stepping stone to, uh, to equipment. You can really move a lot of snow. Uh, so yeah, we'll, we'll still use those this year, but we're kind of transitioning more to more equipment.
00:58:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:58:17
RICK JAMES
Yep. nice
00:58:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you guys use a contracted weather service out there, or where do you get your weather from?
00:58:22
Chris Steinheider
um
Staffing Challenges in Snow Operations
00:58:23
Chris Steinheider
We do. ah we do use a contracted weather service. And then we also just pay for pivotal weather and, and kind of, you amateur weathermen in the last decade or whatever.
00:58:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:58:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:58:36
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. I mean, as if you do it long enough, I guess you'll you'll get the idea of how those models start to agree with each other and, and you know, be able to make calls that way.
00:58:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
00:58:51
Chris Steinheider
We had kind of, think it was about the second year we were doing that. about five years ago we had one that was just was looking like a huge storm and uh most of our models most of the models started agreeing with like 10 to 15 inches or 10 to 17 and like i don't i don't know what to say it looks like we're gonna get crushed and Local weather was like, yeah, we're going to get good amount of snow, but shouldn't be anything crazy.
00:59:18
Chris Steinheider
And we were kind of pulling our hair out like, who's wrong here? And we got 15 inches of snow over 23 hours and it shut down the city.
00:59:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:59:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:59:25
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:59:26
Chris Steinheider
And kind of since then, it was like, I'm a believer.
00:59:27
RICK JAMES
Holy cow.
00:59:30
Chris Steinheider
um We're paying attention to that stuff. And yeah, that was a wild storm. But
00:59:38
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:59:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool, cool. So who do you, is is Pivotal the one you have or or you have another one?
00:59:45
Chris Steinheider
um Yeah, we use Pivotal and then we we use the Weather Pros too.
00:59:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. How have they been?
00:59:49
Chris Steinheider
So they've been pretty good.
00:59:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah. yeah
00:59:51
Chris Steinheider
They've been pretty good.
00:59:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:59:52
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
00:59:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
You can say they stink if they If they need it. Sure.
00:59:57
Chris Steinheider
No, they they nailed it this last weekend. um
01:00:00
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:00:01
Chris Steinheider
i think, yeah, they were showing us getting getting pushable snow or or darn close. And yeah. It was, we just get a lot of those ones where we're right on the line.
01:00:13
Chris Steinheider
um Whether it's, whether it's just the freeze line or, know, I was looking at the models earlier. It looks, looks like next couple of weeks, there's some big stuff coming right between, right, right between us, Jeremy, like between Fargo and Lincoln.
01:00:26
RICK JAMES
yep
01:00:27
Chris Steinheider
And, you know, it depends on the weather and weather. whether it's El Nino or El Nata whatever it is, kind of where that jet stream sets up since we're on the, on the Southern edge of snow country.
01:00:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah lanada yeah
01:00:39
RICK JAMES
ye
01:00:42
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. yeah We just, sometimes we just get grazed. So it's hard to be as accurate, I guess, when that happens,
01:00:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah it definite Yeah It doesn't stop us Very cool How many guys do you guys run during a storm?
01:00:51
RICK JAMES
Oh, don't give them an excuse.
01:00:54
Chris Steinheider
we do every, every five, seven years, we just get that season where we get smacked right through the middle of it every time. And those are, those are great.
01:01:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:01:07
Chris Steinheider
usually 20 to 25, I'd say. We've got what, eight, eight or nine full-time guys. And then we bring in,
01:01:20
Chris Steinheider
ah we've got a handful of guys that drive truck for a living or do, do concrete or or asphalt and aren't working in the wintertime.
01:01:32
Chris Steinheider
Sidewalk crews kind of, got bunch of high school kids and college kids and stuff, usually whoever's available.
01:01:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:01:41
Chris Steinheider
But with those, it's kind of only one section of town that we really need a full crew on. For the most part, it's guys and machines with maybe a ah backup guy or two helping out with some shovel work here and there.
01:01:54
Chris Steinheider
um But getting getting people is is always the toughest part of the job for us.
01:02:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
absolutely
01:02:01
RICK JAMES
It's pretty hard to get people down there to do snow.
01:02:03
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, it's just because of because of how inconsistent it is. It's really hard because you'll get guys in in September that are really excited about snow.
01:02:09
RICK JAMES
OK.
01:02:14
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:02:14
Chris Steinheider
And then it doesn't snow in November and we get one in December and they're not available. but they'll be there for the next one and then we get hit in January and they're nowhere to be found. um So I would...
01:02:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Have you guys tried hitting the the university?
01:02:29
Chris Steinheider
No, we haven't. That...
01:02:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what Jeremy does, right, Jay? You hit the college.
01:02:32
RICK JAMES
ye yep yep
01:02:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
He gets operators. He gets the farm kids out of college. He tries to get them back in the equipment.
01:02:39
Chris Steinheider
going on there on frat row with a flag or something or signs and, you know, come on.
01:02:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I used to have a ah buddy, some of my buddies used to go, they were there and they would send that email, like to that the professor would send the email to all the farm or like to that department, I guess, all the kids or whatever.
01:02:44
Chris Steinheider
with
01:02:56
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, that's a good idea
01:02:57
RICK JAMES
Mostly now it's just just social media is what I'm getting. All my, know, it's just friends from friends and guys that pushed here, they bring guys in. So...
01:03:06
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, that's that's kind of where we get most of our guys to. When we do get a good guy, he'll say, hey I got this other guy and start dragging him in. But I'd say every year we pick up one or two good ones that stick around.
01:03:21
Chris Steinheider
And that's kind of been the last five, six years we've built off that. And you lose one every so often. But um i think having bigger sites where guys can work the same site and the same piece of equipment and they get used to it, they're more used they're more likely to come back at that point too.
01:03:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:03:39
Chris Steinheider
They know what's going on.
01:03:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
They know what they're doing.
01:03:40
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, they know what they're doing. They can be more efficient and – Yeah. They keep coming back. I i had one, an older guy that he's, he's awesome and a skid loader. And first, first storm other day, his skid was running and I, couple hours, I'm like, where, where is he?
01:03:59
Chris Steinheider
And um the only thing kept him out was he had a heart attack. So he's like, I can't plow this storm, but I'll, I'll be there for the next one.
01:04:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
All
01:04:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
right, you're excused from this one.
01:04:07
Chris Steinheider
It's like, you yeah, it's like, yeah, it's fine.
01:04:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:04:10
Chris Steinheider
I don't,
01:04:10
RICK JAMES
i so I still want to see a doctor's note.
01:04:12
Chris Steinheider
yeah
01:04:12
RICK JAMES
I want to see that. to see the EKG on that one.
01:04:15
Chris Steinheider
ah I don't need anybody dropping dead.
01:04:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:04:17
Chris Steinheider
I got enough problems during a storm. But but the funniest thing, well, that we had our next storm two days later.
01:04:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
attack? Okay, we'll give that one to you.
01:04:26
Chris Steinheider
So I was like, do I call him and tell him to get his ass out of here? and he said, next storm. But no, ah most of those guys that that are running with us every year are awesome. And it's just just finding them. Finding them is the hardest part. But once we do, it's good.
01:04:42
Chris Steinheider
it's good
01:04:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:04:44
RICK JAMES
It's good.
01:04:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
but else you got for him, Jay?
01:04:45
RICK JAMES
How's your competition there?
01:04:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
01:04:46
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:04:48
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Um, I guess there's, there's a couple of companies that, uh, there's one that probably the biggest lawn company in town that has really gone all in on residential snow, like, uh, tractors with the blowers on the back and and all that.
01:05:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
01:05:06
Chris Steinheider
And, uh,
01:05:06
RICK JAMES
it
01:05:07
Chris Steinheider
You know, whenever we get somebody that's residential calling, a lot of times I'll say, know, give them a call.
01:05:13
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:05:14
Chris Steinheider
But there's only so much work you can do. And I think it was last year i had somebody call and I did that and she's like, well, they told me to call you.
01:05:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:05:21
Chris Steinheider
So they were they were full up too. But there's definitely plenty of work for everybody around here. I think with the the volatility we've seen over the last 10 years, whenever we go from bit big year to small year to to normal year again, i always get a ton of calls because after that small year, there's always a bunch of guys that just got out, you know?
01:05:48
Chris Steinheider
And so there's, there's just always, always stuff to pick up. And that's also why we started going after the, the bigger properties is I think there's less competition with those properties, less, less guys that have experience with them and have done a bunch of them.
01:05:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:06:06
Chris Steinheider
and know how to do them well, I guess.
01:06:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
like ye
01:06:09
Chris Steinheider
Our challenge is not overextending ourself and making sure that we can provide the the service we want to provide to everybody and not leave somebody hanging because we took on too much.
01:06:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're not alone. I think that's industry-wide. That's the challenge, to not overextend so your your level of service doesn't suffer.
01:06:24
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
01:06:24
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:06:28
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, I...
01:06:29
RICK JAMES
I bet you have a a lot of national companies on there, I assume.
01:06:33
Chris Steinheider
Actually, I don't. i
01:06:35
RICK JAMES
Really?
01:06:36
Chris Steinheider
I have, yeah, it's it's a point of pride.
01:06:36
RICK JAMES
Good for you.
01:06:40
Chris Steinheider
um i
01:06:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:06:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
They know now they're coming now.
01:06:41
Chris Steinheider
yeah
01:06:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:06:43
Chris Steinheider
i got i got one and it was just, it was a really good deal. It made sense for us and they've been they've been pretty good about paying. But we've had a couple here and there and haven't had great luck. Yeah.
01:06:56
Chris Steinheider
And we've been asked to bid stuff that we've just said no to, but we've been lucky to get in pretty good with a couple of local management companies. They're all local people and have trusted us with their, their properties. And we've grown with them as they've grown and acquired more properties. And then that has kind of made us a little more visible and, uh,
01:07:19
Chris Steinheider
allowed us to bid on some of the other stuff that, you know, like the mall is owned by a big national company out of Chicago or whatever, but it's not a national contracting us to do it.
01:07:32
Chris Steinheider
It's we're working through the local folks.
01:07:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
01:07:34
Chris Steinheider
So it, you know, everything works well. So I think especially around here, um there's a lot of good local businesses that, that can keep us busy.
01:07:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's the dream.
01:07:50
RICK JAMES
guys running any software?
01:07:52
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. For the main management of the business, we use service autopilot and have for like three or four years.
01:07:58
RICK JAMES
Okay.
01:08:01
Chris Steinheider
um Haven't ever really gotten into the snow side with that. So this year we started using site photos for snow. ah We used them through one of those nationals and really liked the system and it was fairly easy. Yeah.
01:08:21
Chris Steinheider
There's been a few here and there that, I mean, there was one year where we had a couple national accounts and it's like we had three different apps we had to use and it was just a nightmare.
01:08:31
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:08:32
Chris Steinheider
And so that's part of the reason why I stay away from those. But but the yeah, site photos has been been pretty good.
01:08:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Don't blame you there.
01:08:42
Chris Steinheider
We're still trying to get everybody to use it properly and whatnot. Before that, it was a lot of, like, and we still use some, some WhatsApp groups and folks with pictures in there and share what they're doing. And it gives us the visibility and we get the pictures and their timestamped and it, it works ish. Uh, but obviously it's not ideal. The toughest thing is just plugging someone, you know, when, when Joe calls Bob to come help and he's never worked with us before, it's like, okay, we need to do these places.
01:09:16
Chris Steinheider
Uh, we we can try to get them into site photos and sometimes it'll work and sometimes it won't. Sometimes it's just, I'm going to text you the pictures. So we just kind of have to run with it because i mean, I, my hair's on fire for 24 hours during an event and it's just, you know, get it done and we'll sort it out afterwards.
01:09:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
it Welcome the snow want to You want to hit some commercials there Jay and then we'll come back 5 5 Alright we'll be right back We're going to couple commercials
01:09:40
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Yeah.
01:09:47
RICK JAMES
Sounds good.
01:10:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. So, Jay, you want to hit up with the five and five?
01:11:00
RICK JAMES
You bet. right, Chris, where would we like to see your company going on within the next five years?
01:11:06
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. I mean, ah in the, in the last five years, we've probably double we've at least doubled in size. So I would like to do that again in the next five years. It'd be a ah big jump, but I think we're as a company kind of getting threshold where if we can break through and and be successful, we can, we can grow a lot quicker.
01:11:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. ah what Now, you said you doubled in the last five years.
01:11:32
RICK JAMES
Nice.
01:11:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
What would you say was your most important decision to get you to the point you're at now in the last five years?
01:11:43
Chris Steinheider
I mean, probably just the way we do contracts and our push to do seasonal contracts. We'd always been...
01:11:56
Chris Steinheider
ah levels. So, you know, two to four, four to six that, that way and incremental.
01:12:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure. Incremental. Yep.
01:12:02
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:12:03
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
Shift to Seasonal Contracts
01:12:04
Chris Steinheider
And we, we went to, so to Syma like five years ago in grand Rapids. And that was one of things we, we got out of that was we, we need to push towards seasonal stuff and around here, it felt tricky, but especially with the the customers that we're going after saying, um you know, that this is more of a snow insurance and and allows us to buy and maintain the equipment that we need to maintain your property correctly and, and yada, yada.
01:12:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:12:35
Chris Steinheider
And, um and and a lot of these places have had instances where we have a five inch season the next year their contractor says I'm out of, i'm not doing snow anymore. So they they get it and they see why, why we need to do that.
01:12:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
01:12:48
Chris Steinheider
And if we hadn't have done that, I'm not sure we'd be here because we we did, we had a five inch season that really was tough on us. So, but having that type of contract in place with some folks kept us going.
01:13:03
Chris Steinheider
yeah,
01:13:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
01:13:03
RICK JAMES
That's
01:13:04
Chris Steinheider
So yeah, now we've kind of gone full in and we're, there's really only a couple of places that we don't do seasonal stuff on and it makes it all a lot easier and makes the, allows us to plan the growth a lot easier.
01:13:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you have any floors and ceilings in those seasonals are you just just straight seasonal?
01:13:20
RICK JAMES
great
01:13:24
Chris Steinheider
It depends on the customer. We do have some ceilings. So 20% over, over seasonal, we'll get a, another bump to cover your fuel and labor and whatnot.
01:13:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:13:37
Chris Steinheider
But for the most part, it's just a, just a flat, flat fee.
01:13:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
um percent
01:13:42
Chris Steinheider
And if we can, if we can do lawn and snow with folks, both we'll just go over 12 months. And so that, that helps us revenue wise in the summertime. And yeah, And then we've got a handful that are just during the winter season. So if we if we have a big so big season, we'll we'll do pretty good on on the the contract or the stuff that's that's per push. and And that'll help pick up the slack a little bit on the other stuff. And if we don't, we'll keep the doors open with the seasonal stuff.
01:14:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you know what your ratio is Seasonal to per push
01:14:13
RICK JAMES
and you know
01:14:16
Chris Steinheider
Um, per push, we've only got four properties, but one is the the mall, which is a pretty big one. So I'd say it's probably, ah three to one, seasonal at this point.
01:14:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool So you got You're doing per push and Was it good check sorry
01:14:32
RICK JAMES
And there was it was a hard selling seasonals? Sorry.
01:14:36
Chris Steinheider
um once ah Once I got kind of the the pitch down, I guess, no.
01:14:41
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:14:42
Chris Steinheider
It's been actually surprisingly easy. And we've we've recently won a ah bid ah because of it, where they...
01:14:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
100%.
01:14:46
RICK JAMES
Good. Mm-hmm.
01:14:52
Chris Steinheider
said the the lawn stuff's all similar, but on the snow, you guys were a lot different. And i can i can it's it's a big number, but I can budget it.
01:14:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye
01:15:01
Chris Steinheider
I know what's what I'm paying and there's no, you know, 50 inches isn't going to crush my facility's budget. So um yeah, it's extremely valuable.
01:15:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
hundred percent
01:15:14
Chris Steinheider
Um, just, I just got just making sure we're billing it or doing it correctly. and And then the right ballpark is, is tough too, but I think we're there.
01:15:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that mall, the mall you were speaking of that you're doing per push, that's how big? How many acres of pavement?
01:15:28
Chris Steinheider
Uh, it's 27. Um, had, there's another section of the mall that's actually owned by a different company that we also do for push.
01:15:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
01:15:38
Chris Steinheider
That's 10. And then across the street is another separate property. That's a strip mall with a grocery store and a movie theater and all that. That's another 10. So we've got like what 47 right there.
01:15:52
Chris Steinheider
and So like half of our equipment and personnel are right there in that, that area.
01:15:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
01:15:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
So is it, it's a straight per push contract, no mobilization or equipment stipend stuff or reserve and equipment for the site.
01:16:03
Chris Steinheider
We do have an equipment retainer.
01:16:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, cool.
01:16:05
Chris Steinheider
ah Yeah, that was, that was the first, you know, kind of, we're going to have to run equipment.
01:16:06
RICK JAMES
Nice.
01:16:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sweet.
01:16:06
RICK JAMES
Good for you.
01:16:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Smart.
01:16:11
Chris Steinheider
ah We can't just do it.
01:16:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Somebody's got to pay for them.
01:16:14
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
01:16:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Can't do that on spec.
01:16:16
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. And luckily i don't think we've, and we've based, we've built it to the way that if we hit a certain amount, we pay them back or we, we stopped billing them. um And so I don't think they've really had to pay the equipment retainer once yet, luckily, but we've, we've built it a bunch of times and whatnot.
01:16:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
I love it.
01:16:37
Chris Steinheider
So if we would have had a really bad season, it would have saved us for sure.
01:16:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's a home run. Home run. What else you got for him, Jay?
01:16:48
RICK JAMES
any good plowing stories?
01:16:51
Chris Steinheider
Yeah, I mean, that was something that I had to like write down and like which one, you know, because there's. I was tempted to give you guys the, give you guys the pick of like the, the guy backing into somebody that got caught on, on video or the, the guy with the Molotov cocktail or the one, or the one legged guy that fell down.
01:16:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
So many to choose from.
01:17:09
RICK JAMES
know.
01:17:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's, that well, Molotov cocktail and the one-legged guy that's one and two right there.
01:17:11
Chris Steinheider
um that It's yeah.
01:17:12
RICK JAMES
I think we need to hear them all. Yeah. It was, you know,
01:17:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a coin flip.
01:17:17
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. The Molotov cocktail, that was the, the 10 acre property when the maybe the first season we got it when it was our biggest
Unusual Snow Shift Encounters
01:17:25
Chris Steinheider
property. And, Um, one of one of the, one things we started doing is, is, uh, running radios and, and all the trucks, just communication was trash. And, uh, guy came over the radio. i was like, and it's like three in the morning. And it's like, I think there's a guy by the strip mall with a Molotov cocktail.
01:17:43
Chris Steinheider
And I said, what what? Can you repeat that? He's like, yeah, I think there's a guy with a Molotov cocktail. I'm okay. so I come around the theater over by the strip mall and it sure as shit, there's a guy walking down with like a 40 or something. And you can see him trying to strike the lighter. And it's like three in the morning. It's windy and cold and um' I've been up for 24 hours and like this, and he sees me and and just takes off running.
01:18:07
Chris Steinheider
And ah I kind of followed him to the edge of the property and he went on to ah the next property and we still had work to do. And I was like, all right, let's, let's get back to work. The guy with the Molotov cocktail is gone.
01:18:19
Chris Steinheider
And when I told the property manager about that, he said, know, did you call the police? Well, no, you know, we were trying to get done and, and Well, we had a fire in the in the breezeway about a year ago, and that might have been that same guy.
01:18:34
Chris Steinheider
It's like, okay, I'm sorry.
01:18:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, no shit.
01:18:34
RICK JAMES
Oh wow.
01:18:36
Chris Steinheider
ah If I see him again, um oh I'll call the cops on him. but that And then, yeah, a few years later, across the street on another property.
01:18:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh,
01:18:47
Chris Steinheider
It was the first time we ever did it. And I come around a corner, and I just hear someone yelling for help. And just, it's really cold. and probably two inches of snow on the ground. It's around the holidays. So there's not a ton of people out and I just hear help, help. and This guy had fallen down on a sidewalk, literally our first time doing the property, but it was, it was a place that was closed. And so we didn't expect anybody to be on it, but he had walked to the the grocery store and then was walking home.
01:19:18
Chris Steinheider
And he's wearing shorts and he's got one.
01:19:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, as does. Jesus.
01:19:22
Chris Steinheider
yeah And, and flip flops. And, one of his legs is not a leg.
01:19:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
01:19:25
RICK JAMES
Oh boy.
01:19:27
Chris Steinheider
It's like, uh, it's a wooden leg or whatever you had.
01:19:32
RICK JAMES
pirate.
01:19:32
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. um And so he's just howling for help. And I roll up like, what what can I do to help you? is like, help me up. Can you help me to my apartment over there?
01:19:43
Chris Steinheider
And one of my my guy rolls up in the sidewalk machine, just like, what is happening? And, know, this our first time doing the property. And I'm thinking we're going to get, you this guy's down and we're going to get sued or something.
01:19:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank you.
01:19:57
Chris Steinheider
so i was just, you know, get in the truck. Let's go get in the truck. Hopped him in the truck, drove him across the street. and And the guy could barely walk. I don't know why he went to the grocery store in the snow, but we we literally...
01:20:09
Chris Steinheider
hold him up to his, to the door and we shoveled the sidewalk all the way up to the door. So it wouldn't fall down again. uh, just to get ah problem away, you know, uh,
01:20:21
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:20:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
had to get his bread and got Had to get his bread and milk, right, Jay?
01:20:26
RICK JAMES
yeah Oh yeah. yeah
01:20:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotta go.
01:20:27
Chris Steinheider
well, I,
01:20:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's snowing. Gotta get the bread and the milk.
01:20:30
Chris Steinheider
the the trick, the trick was that one, the the guy back in, back into somebody getting caught on video is actually maybe the funniest one. Cause he's one of our best friends and he, he's hit a bunch of stuff.
01:20:41
Chris Steinheider
Uh, his theme song with us is break stuff by lip biscuit. So, you know, give me something to break, but, uh,
01:20:48
RICK JAMES
Oh.
01:20:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's just one of those days.
01:20:50
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. So it it there was a busy storm and I got a a voicemail or or an email and I just get a million messages. But I i saw, does somebody that works for your company hate me?
01:21:05
Chris Steinheider
And I'm like, what is this? And i it's like, the one of your guys just backed into my truck while I was sitting in it running. does he know me? Does he have something against me? Like this guy.
01:21:16
Chris Steinheider
And I didn't know that this had happened yet. And and i start calling around and yeah, he had backed into a truck with the drag, with a drag pro attached. So he just turned the wheel the wrong way backing up and went right into this guy's truck.
01:21:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh.
01:21:30
Chris Steinheider
But then a few hours later, we got a, we got an email with, with the security cam footage of it happening. And, It was like just right there and in front of you. And yeah, he got, he got, the he got made fun of a little bit on that one.
01:21:45
Chris Steinheider
Like the the guy was in the truck, just watching you back ride in a brand new Chevy 1500, you know, he's just out there warming it up.
01:21:50
RICK JAMES
hit him oh jeez that would suck oh yeah
01:21:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's, that's really great. That's awesome.
01:21:56
Chris Steinheider
But yeah, you see some crazy stuff out there.
01:21:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, absolutely. You do. Absolutely. You do. What else you got for him? Jay, anything?
01:22:06
RICK JAMES
I don't think so sounds like Chris has got a great business there in Nebraska like I said never really thought of Nebraska the snow i mean I know they got snow there but you know It's kind of cool to hear they get that much, 25 inches.
01:22:16
Chris Steinheider
yeah
01:22:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:22:18
RICK JAMES
that's That's more than I thought for sure.
01:22:20
Chris Steinheider
Yeah.
01:22:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Glad we were able to get there.
01:22:20
Chris Steinheider
We, move we love it.
01:22:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Finally.
01:22:23
Chris Steinheider
We love it. We're going to, it's been a few years since we went to Simo. We're going have to get back there and um check out
Technological Advances in Snow Management
01:22:30
Chris Steinheider
some new stuff. Cause yeah, we're just kind of, we're, we're me coming from a a software company and kind of tech stuff.
01:22:36
Chris Steinheider
Like we're always just, what's the new stuff?
01:22:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
I
01:22:40
Chris Steinheider
What's the, where can we get ahead? And yeah.
01:22:43
RICK JAMES
You get some view robotic cameras and some Yeti software and all those good.
01:22:46
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. I, I think,
01:22:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
was just going to save you by the camera.
01:22:50
Chris Steinheider
and I had a kid out of, well, and we've, we're trying to implement frost cameras this year. they've had some issues getting us their hardware, but, uh, I had a guy, I had a kid call me last year wanting to pick my brain about, uh,
01:23:06
Chris Steinheider
an automatic snow machine. and He had, he's like built this robot with a brush on the front and he'd been doing it since high school and now he's graduating college. And he had just seen one of our pictures of sidewalk machines with brushes and wanted to talk about brushes. And so being able to see some of that cutting edge stuff and that what the future is going to look like, because, know,
01:23:26
Chris Steinheider
with the labor issues and stuff. And a lot of people, lot of people have the, the automatic vacuum in your house. You know, when are we going to have automatic sidewalk machines and stuff like that?
01:23:39
Chris Steinheider
That stuff's going to happen eventually.
01:23:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's coming.
01:23:40
Chris Steinheider
But, but yeah, it's, it's cool to see.
01:23:42
RICK JAMES
You know,
01:23:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
01:23:45
RICK JAMES
so is all your one last question.
01:23:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:23:48
RICK JAMES
It sounds like you get a pretty dense route too. Is it pretty dense? I mean, just stuff you've said.
01:23:53
Chris Steinheider
For the most part, we've got the center of town. We've got a lot of stuff right through there because that 50 acres is like eight blocks from another eight properties that are probably 15 acres.
01:24:05
Chris Steinheider
And then on the north side of town where our shop's at is most of the rest of our stuff. So that's been a...
01:24:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
cool yep
01:24:12
Chris Steinheider
Something in last two or three years I've tried to do is weed out the the ones that are on an island and only take on stuff that fits our equipment profile and and our and the geographic area that we're working in because it's really the only way we can add stuff.
01:24:18
RICK JAMES
All
01:24:27
RICK JAMES
right.
01:24:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
amen love it love it you got anything for us chris before we let you go
01:24:36
Chris Steinheider
Um, yeah, I don't know. don't think so.
01:24:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, cool.
01:24:41
Chris Steinheider
Like the show. Thanks for having me on. and I'm looking forward to storm chasing, looking forward to storm chasing this year, man.
01:24:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, no problem, man.
01:24:45
RICK JAMES
Yeah, thanks for coming on.
01:24:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thanks for coming on. Yeah, it's coming.
01:24:48
Chris Steinheider
I've, I've put some guys onto that. actually had customer the other day that we were talking. He he had a ah friend of his that did snow. and he's like, I just like hearing the stories.
01:24:59
Chris Steinheider
And I know it's, it's a It's crazy out there and most people don't understand it. And I told them about storm chase. I'm like, go on to YouTube and watch this and and you'll and you can see see what we're doing, see what what what guys are doing in the middle of
Promoting Storm Chasing Events
01:25:12
Chris Steinheider
the night.
01:25:12
Chris Steinheider
And it's educational for folks that aren't in an industry.
01:25:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:25:15
Chris Steinheider
So it's it's really cool to see.
01:25:16
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:25:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it looks like we might be traveling next week, right?
01:25:18
RICK JAMES
Thanks. Appreciate that.
01:25:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think the Wisconsin snow.
01:25:21
RICK JAMES
Could be up. and Could be up to Bruce Companies.
01:25:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think I saw something on the ticker, the storm chasing ticker.
01:25:26
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:25:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, it's pretty cool. It's but it's definitely ah definitely getting legs. We appreciate it. If you can't, I'll tell you, if you can get to if you can get to Minnesota in August, get to the Storm Day, the Storm event, that that's a good event to go to.
01:25:39
RICK JAMES
Storm days. Yep.
01:25:40
Chris Steinheider
Okay.
01:25:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
and ah is that Is that crazy far from Nebraska?
01:25:43
Chris Steinheider
I like it.
01:25:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, um my map is all over the place.
01:25:47
Chris Steinheider
um Depends on where it's at Minnesota. I think we're like seven hours from, is that north?
01:25:50
RICK JAMES
by man Mankato.
01:25:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mankato.
01:25:52
RICK JAMES
Mankato. It's about hour out of cities. Yeah.
01:25:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Southern. I think it's southern Minnesota, right?
01:25:57
Chris Steinheider
So south of the cities. So six six hours, I think, or so.
01:25:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
01:25:59
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
01:26:02
Chris Steinheider
So not terrible.
01:26:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's ah That's a good two days. That's definitely a good two days.
01:26:06
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. I just got to find some good golf courses in the area and i can make it a, make it a trip.
01:26:07
RICK JAMES
Oh,
01:26:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a good time.
01:26:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
They got golf courses. They definitely got golf courses.
01:26:13
Chris Steinheider
Oh yeah.
01:26:13
RICK JAMES
ah yeah. They got golf courses. Yeah.
01:26:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, we're we're glad to have you.
01:26:16
Chris Steinheider
Cool.
01:26:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:26:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Glad we could finally make it work with the scheduling and and get you on and then put a pin in Nebraska now. We've talked to somebody from Nebraska.
01:26:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:26:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
01:26:28
RICK JAMES
Good stuff.
01:26:28
Chris Steinheider
Awesome.
01:26:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
But yeah, thanks for coming on, Chris.
01:26:29
Chris Steinheider
I appreciate
01:26:29
RICK JAMES
Appreciate it, Chris.
01:26:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
But yeah, if you don't got anything else for us, we'll wrap it there.
01:26:32
Chris Steinheider
Yeah. Anytime.
01:26:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
And best of luck to you guys in the future. awesome so all right guys that's gonna do it we're gonna wrap episode 148 of the snow jobs podcast main show as we said we want to thank chris for the time today and uh best of luck for to property services lincoln in the future uh that's it guys all right everybody be safe have a great week if you're getting in snow be be really careful out there get it done make some money all right punch that ticket and uh keep pushing
01:26:37
Chris Steinheider
Thank you.
01:27:10
Chris Steinheider
you