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S2-84: Coastal Companies, Bradford Rhode Island
818 Plays2 months ago
The guys welcome Jack Lutzel and Meghan Geer of Coastal Companies to the show to talk about their snow operation, as well as hear about their innovative new approach to making salt brine
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:39
snowjobspodcast
All right,
Episode Mix-up and Vacation Humor
00:00:40
snowjobspodcast
here we go. Snow Jobs Nation episode 83 of the Snow Jobs podcast powered by Top Gun Backblades is off and running. Starting us off, Rev Theory. You know who I am. You know who he is.
00:01:00
snowjobspodcast
Snowbully, what's up, bud?
00:01:02
RICK JAMES
This is causing trouble.
00:01:04
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, there we go. Love it.
00:01:05
RICK JAMES
Isn't it gonna be 84?
00:01:05
snowjobspodcast
Love it.
00:01:08
RICK JAMES
Episode 84?
00:01:09
snowjobspodcast
I don't think so.
00:01:12
RICK JAMES
Cause we're gonna get Jordans in there, so we're gonna have to...
00:01:13
snowjobspodcast
Oh, yeah, it might be 84.
00:01:15
RICK JAMES
Who
00:01:15
snowjobspodcast
We're all screwed up. We're recording multiple episodes because we're about to go offline for two weeks, 10 days, no recording for vacations.
00:01:19
RICK JAMES
gets
00:01:25
snowjobspodcast
So, well, I get vacation.
00:01:25
RICK JAMES
a vacation? Yeah, you get a vacation, I don't get it.
00:01:28
snowjobspodcast
I get a vacation.
00:01:30
RICK JAMES
What the hell is a vacation?
00:01:30
snowjobspodcast
Hey, listen, man.
00:01:31
RICK JAMES
What's a vacation?
00:01:32
snowjobspodcast
You can't afford to take a vacation. It would get so dusty in North Dakota.
00:01:35
RICK JAMES
It would.
00:01:36
snowjobspodcast
What would they do without you?
00:01:37
RICK JAMES
I don't know.
00:01:39
snowjobspodcast
be a
Debate on Episode Number
00:01:40
snowjobspodcast
giant dust cloud.
00:01:40
RICK JAMES
That'd be crazy. Yeah.
00:01:42
snowjobspodcast
It'd be nuts. Insane.
00:01:44
RICK JAMES
Insane.
00:01:44
snowjobspodcast
But it could be 84. It could be 83. But either way, it's in the eighties.
00:01:49
RICK JAMES
It's an episode.
00:01:49
snowjobspodcast
And it's an episode. Yeah, it's an episode.
00:01:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:01:52
snowjobspodcast
The numbers don't really matter, do they?
00:01:54
RICK JAMES
Well, I didn't think so. You're the one that says them. So.
00:01:57
snowjobspodcast
Well, I could stop saying them. That's a good thing. You know what? No more episode numbers.
00:02:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah. See.
00:02:03
snowjobspodcast
ah You know why they're handy? They're handy ah to
Introduction of Coastal Companies
00:02:07
snowjobspodcast
find them.
00:02:07
RICK JAMES
Oh, look who's calling Steve smite Steve smite economy.
00:02:09
snowjobspodcast
Who's calling Steve Spythe, the spy, the spy band, man from Western products.
00:02:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah the spy Can't talk right now Steve. I'm doing ah Same shit spraying guys juice, you know saving the world
00:02:18
snowjobspodcast
ah You can't come in. Oh man. What are you doing, bud? Anything interesting? No, same shit.
00:02:27
snowjobspodcast
There we go. Atta boy. So this is our last one that we're recording before storm day and We're getting it done before storm day. We're getting it done before I swept my butt off in Disney world for a week and, uh, give me a good time.
00:02:41
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah, Disney.
00:02:43
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:02:43
RICK JAMES
but Hi to Mickey, is Brandon.
00:02:44
snowjobspodcast
98 degrees, a thousand percent humidity with two little kids. What could go wrong? Like that? That sounds great. Yeah.
00:02:50
RICK JAMES
Is Brandon going to be there with you?
00:02:53
snowjobspodcast
I think Brandon lives there. Honestly, I think he's got a spot in the castle. I think, you know, I'm going to go looking for him. He definitely has a Snuggie on.
Coastal's Ambitions in Snow Industry
00:03:00
snowjobspodcast
I'm sure at all times, Mr.
00:03:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:02
snowjobspodcast
LA DC, but, uh,
00:03:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:03:04
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Does that, uh, you know, we gotta, we gotta to do something, man. We need a break. So take the kids to Disney, get out of here for a week and get it done. But anyway, enough of that crap guys today, we're heading up to Rhode Island, which from what I hear, it's a County, I think in Maine.
00:03:21
snowjobspodcast
ah you know ah or an extension of Long Island. I've heard all sorts of different things, but we but we're going up there. We're going to talk to Jack Lutzel and Megan Gear of Coastal Companies.
00:03:32
snowjobspodcast
They're in Bradford, Rhode Island. Coastal is getting bigger. right They're growing rapidly. We met Jack and Megan at the Storks event in April, and now we see them everywhere.
00:03:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they are.
00:03:44
snowjobspodcast
They're literally everywhere we go. They turn up at every event now. They're they're super into this. they are ah you know theyre Yeah, snow junkies.
00:03:52
RICK JAMES
No junkies.
00:03:54
snowjobspodcast
They're plans of world domination. they know They want all six commercial sites in Rhode Island. Right now, they're stuck on five.
00:04:00
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:04:01
snowjobspodcast
We're going to try and help them get six.
00:04:02
RICK JAMES
I think they can do it.
00:04:03
snowjobspodcast
but No, but they're they're great people. They're a lot of fun to be around. We have good conversations with them. And like I said, they've been at all the same events as we've been to the last couple of months. ah So it's cool that it's their turn to be on the show now and tell us what they do. So ah all kidding aside, they do a lot of interesting and really cool properties. So we look forward to hearing all about it, what they can tell us any about anyway, because I'm sure ah there's some things they can't that can't disclose. But we'll see what we can get out of them. But before we do that,
00:04:35
snowjobspodcast
As always, let's hear from team Top Gun. We'll be back
Review of Past and Upcoming Events
00:04:38
snowjobspodcast
to do a little week in review.
00:05:11
snowjobspodcast
All right, guys,
Fundraiser Promotion and Humor
00:05:12
snowjobspodcast
we're back. So last week we had Rick Faulkner of Tri-County Commercial Service. They're in Mayapack, New York. My neighbor, 20 minutes to myself. Rick is a great guy. He does snow the right way. He takes a lot of pride in his snow work and he thinks pretty much the same way that we do. And it's great that we were able to get him on.
00:05:31
snowjobspodcast
He's we definitely talk a lot, you know ah Definitely during the winter, you know How things are going 20 minutes away because it could be a totally different ballgame down there than it is where I am So thanks a lot Rick.
00:05:42
snowjobspodcast
Appreciate you giving us a time bud and we'll see you out there when the white shit starts flying Upcoming events as we've been saying S and&S is field day and Taylor PA Thursday September 19th in the Scranton area ah So make sure you get a hold of their flyer
00:05:56
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:05:58
snowjobspodcast
and scan that QR code to ah attend.
00:06:00
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:06:01
snowjobspodcast
All right. ah Storm boys are going to be there. Me and Jeremy are going to be there. ah Most of what?
00:06:05
RICK JAMES
Hopefully. Yeah, hopefully. All right.
00:06:08
snowjobspodcast
Oh, you're going. You're going.
00:06:09
RICK JAMES
I'll go.
00:06:10
snowjobspodcast
We're going to get you.
00:06:10
RICK JAMES
I'm hopping, hopping on the storm crew.
00:06:11
snowjobspodcast
Drive a jet, hot air balloon, something will get you out there.
00:06:12
RICK JAMES
less i get We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see.
00:06:17
snowjobspodcast
But yeah, the ah inner circle crew is going to be out there. Most of them anyway. I think we did. We guilt Sean into going to didn't he have a cruise or some shit.
00:06:24
RICK JAMES
I think he's, I thought he's going on a trip or something.
00:06:26
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. he's Oh no, I was very quick. He said he was going to miss equip and we're like, no, no, you're not.
00:06:31
RICK JAMES
Oh, he's not missing equipment.
00:06:33
snowjobspodcast
He said he was going to miss equip because of some vacation or cruise or something he had to do.
00:06:35
RICK JAMES
No.
00:06:38
snowjobspodcast
Like that's not happening.
00:06:38
RICK JAMES
I don't think so. I think you're mistaken.
00:06:40
snowjobspodcast
No, you will not. Thou shall not miss equip. right so But come on out to S and&S's event, we will see you guys out there in September 19th.
00:06:45
RICK JAMES
thats
00:06:52
snowjobspodcast
Benefits fundraisers, we said Aaron Schrodt from From the Ground Up Minnesota, he's doing a fundraiser for, like we said last week, the Northfield High School Raiders football program in Minnesota where he's a coach.
00:07:02
RICK JAMES
Yes. yes
00:07:05
snowjobspodcast
All right. So if you want to donate, they're trying to raise money for their upcoming season, support the program.
00:07:10
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:07:11
snowjobspodcast
Uh, they're selling $20 gift cards, which gets benefits from local businesses and saves you money on some national changes as well.
00:07:18
RICK JAMES
Mitchell match.
00:07:19
snowjobspodcast
Uh, I don't think, what's that?
00:07:21
RICK JAMES
Mitchell match every donation.
00:07:26
snowjobspodcast
That's legally binding, Mitchell. but Jeremy said it.
00:07:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah, that's because I have our microphone and you don't.
00:07:33
snowjobspodcast
Uh, There you go. Amen. I love that sound bite. Wish I had it. I'd hit it right now.
00:07:39
RICK JAMES
ah
00:07:41
snowjobspodcast
um But yeah, for $20, get the ah benefit card there and ah help a local football program out. Or you could just simply make a donation if you're so inclined. All right. So go to raise-365.com.
00:07:53
snowjobspodcast
Type in Northfield football for the kids and the we'll get it done for them. Any donation is appreciated. What do you got, Jay?
00:08:01
RICK JAMES
I can put my Venmo on there too if anybody wants to.
00:08:03
snowjobspodcast
Oh, I thought you had something else. All right.
00:08:04
RICK JAMES
If people want to donate to me, here's my Venmo.
00:08:07
snowjobspodcast
Do we wanna donate? Do we wanna donate to Northfield?
00:08:08
RICK JAMES
no to No, to Jeremy, to Jeremy.
00:08:10
snowjobspodcast
Oh, I'm sorry, yes, make a donation to Jeremy Lindstrom.
00:08:14
RICK JAMES
Yes.
00:08:14
snowjobspodcast
Oh, man. You are too much, bro.
00:08:17
RICK JAMES
I'm a charity and we do.
00:08:17
snowjobspodcast
Do we wanna donate to Aaron's thing? We love Aaron, right?
00:08:21
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:21
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:08:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah. We really like Aaron.
00:08:25
snowjobspodcast
and Just to clarify, we Aaron, we do.
00:08:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:28
snowjobspodcast
Oh, Jeremy, you are too much, bud.
00:08:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. He's my boy. Here's my boy.
00:08:32
snowjobspodcast
Amen. Aaron's aaron's good people. You got anything else, bud?
00:08:36
RICK JAMES
Nope. I'll get in trouble.
00:08:40
snowjobspodcast
and let's get it rolling. Then we're going to hear from our awesome
Insights from Coastal Companies
00:08:43
snowjobspodcast
partners, right? We we appreciate all of them and we're going to be right back. Get this going with Jack and Megan.
00:10:18
snowjobspodcast
All right, gang, we're back. So let's get into this. Let's get it going.
Rebranding and Transition to Commercial
00:10:22
snowjobspodcast
Let's welcome Jack and Megan of Coastal to the show. Guys, how are we? Welcome to the snow jobs. Finally.
00:10:29
Jack _ Meghan
Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you.
00:10:30
snowjobspodcast
No problem. No problem. What's new?
00:10:33
Jack _ Meghan
This is another day over here in beautiful Rhode Island.
00:10:37
snowjobspodcast
The town of Rhode Island.
00:10:37
Jack _ Meghan
We had snow today.
00:10:40
RICK JAMES
That's the whole town.
00:10:43
snowjobspodcast
Oh, that's great.
00:10:45
RICK JAMES
How many towns are in Roll Island?
00:10:47
Jack _ Meghan
You know, it snowed here today. We had hail. We did have hail.
00:10:51
RICK JAMES
Nice, did you push it?
00:10:52
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:10:52
Jack _ Meghan
yeah yeah Yeah. So we had a good thunderstorm roll in some hail. My buddy sent me a picture. It looked like it, like there was snow on the ground. So that looks, we haven't had snow in about two years.
00:10:59
RICK JAMES
You had that much ale, huh?
00:10:59
snowjobspodcast
Wow.
00:11:01
RICK JAMES
Like...
00:11:02
Jack _ Meghan
So it was exciting.
00:11:04
snowjobspodcast
what y You didn't have any snow last year?
00:11:04
RICK JAMES
Well, that is exciting.
00:11:07
Jack _ Meghan
No, we did.
00:11:07
snowjobspodcast
You didn't.
00:11:08
Jack _ Meghan
We had 12 inches last year. I don't even think that much. Yeah.
00:11:12
snowjobspodcast
Wow.
00:11:12
Jack _ Meghan
I, the weather was 12, but I don't think it was quite 12. I think you're trying to get a few more ratings out of us.
00:11:16
snowjobspodcast
All right, what what's your average? What are you guys normally average? we'll skip we'll get a We'll skip ahead, get this question in right now.
00:11:23
Jack _ Meghan
So depending on where we are in the state, but we're 30 to 40 is what our average supposed to be.
00:11:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:11:23
snowjobspodcast
Lead right into it.
00:11:27
snowjobspodcast
Okay. And you got 12?
00:11:30
Jack _ Meghan
And we got 12.
00:11:31
snowjobspodcast
Wow.
00:11:32
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:11:32
snowjobspodcast
What did you get the year before?
00:11:33
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:11:35
Jack _ Meghan
16. Yeah, 16.
00:11:37
snowjobspodcast
Ooh, I don't think you're 30 to 40 anymore.
00:11:39
RICK JAMES
Wait, what?
00:11:40
Jack _ Meghan
And the year before that we had 28, but it was only 28 because we had one storm that dropped 22 inches.
00:11:47
RICK JAMES
Oh, wow.
00:11:47
Jack _ Meghan
and You see, you probably had that storm, right? That drop.
00:11:50
snowjobspodcast
Yes, we did.
00:11:50
Jack _ Meghan
see
00:11:51
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:11:52
RICK JAMES
But how how are you getting a range of 30 to 40? Isn't your state like 12 feet wide? is
00:11:57
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:11:58
RICK JAMES
like
00:11:59
Jack _ Meghan
All right. So we're on the coast. You're at 3 miles from the land. You're at 40.
00:12:05
snowjobspodcast
12 feet wide.
00:12:05
RICK JAMES
i don't and don' I don't know shit about these costs.
00:12:08
snowjobspodcast
ah ah oh I love you Jeremy.
00:12:09
RICK JAMES
I'm in the middle of nowhere. Everybody should know that by now.
00:12:11
Jack _ Meghan
All truth and aside, though, you could be in Westerly, which is where our office is, Bradford, Westerly.
00:12:12
RICK JAMES
so
00:12:13
snowjobspodcast
That is great. ah
00:12:19
Jack _ Meghan
And we'll get about, you know, we'll have rain. It'll be straight down pouring. And you go about 10, 15 minutes north, probably, and you'll be getting snow.
00:12:26
snowjobspodcast
No shit.
00:12:26
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:12:27
Jack _ Meghan
And yeah just because of the ocean, and the warm up of the ocean stuff will give us rain. so And we get ocean effects snow now, which is a new thing.
00:12:34
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:12:35
snowjobspodcast
I heard that. Another new term last year, right?
00:12:37
RICK JAMES
New term.
00:12:38
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:12:38
RICK JAMES
Oh, weird.
00:12:38
Jack _ Meghan
Actually, yeah well, listen.
00:12:38
RICK JAMES
Who came up with that?
00:12:41
snowjobspodcast
Who the who was it? I heard it from the first time from Nick and i I'm like, I called him. on I'm like, you're fully shit, dude. I've never heard ocean effect ever.
00:12:49
RICK JAMES
I love it.
00:12:51
Jack _ Meghan
you know They call ocean enhanced.
00:12:51
snowjobspodcast
Now it's a thing.
00:12:54
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:12:54
snowjobspodcast
ah Okay. right
00:12:55
Jack _ Meghan
yeah but i
00:12:56
RICK JAMES
just Just like how many years ago they started naming winter flurries. You know, every every winter, storms got a name, not like a hurricane or something.
00:13:02
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:13:04
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:13:05
RICK JAMES
I don't know.
00:13:06
snowjobspodcast
Oh man. So guys, tell us, you know, I'll take it away on on this one. Just tell us a little bit about Coastal.
Current Services and Expansion
00:13:12
snowjobspodcast
You know, what what are you guys all about? When did you get started?
00:13:15
Jack _ Meghan
um So I Graduated high school in 2014. Well, let me back up. It's the same cliche story You probably heard a hundred times on this podcast But I started in high school um you know mowing lawn, shoveling walkways, all that good stuff.
00:13:30
Jack _ Meghan
I lived in a beach community growing up, so we had a lot of summer rental houses, and so a lot of neighbors needed the lawn mow and stuff like that.
00:13:35
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:13:37
Jack _ Meghan
So I used to drive my tractor out of my mom's house and just you know basically you know ping pong from house to house. do We ended up with a whole road at one point doing houses.
00:13:47
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:13:49
Jack _ Meghan
you know we had ah At one point, we were up to like a hundred resident almost 100 residential houses, ah and they were like poached-stamps houses, and we could bang them out in 10, 15 minutes.
00:13:53
RICK JAMES
Holy.
00:13:56
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
00:13:58
Jack _ Meghan
we have you know I would start out with the mower, and I'd go to the first house, and the guy would follow behind me with a line trimmer, and then the guy behind him with a blower, and we'd just go one after another. um You know, it was a good couple of years. So in 14, when I graduated, my family made me go to college for one semester, or try college.
00:14:14
Jack _ Meghan
So I went for one semester to our local community college, went for fire science. um After that one semester, I said, yeah, I think I've had enough.
00:14:19
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:14:23
Jack _ Meghan
I'm going to go cut some grass. And I ran from up with ah from there. Back then we were doing, you know, we had like a lot of beach houses, a lot of, like there's watch hills nearby, I don't think I've ever heard of watch hill, high-end houses, residential, all that stuff. We were getting into some of that, hardscapes, patios, walkways, all that good stuff. And then I just, it wasn't where I wanted to go. You know, I looked around, there was a lot of landscapers in our area that did the same thing, and they were very small. You know, they had, they only worked in our town, they only had so many guys, and so on. I knew if I wanted to grow it, I'd have to do something more. So in 2018,
00:14:57
Jack _ Meghan
eighteen Sure. I think it's 2018 is when I decided, you know, it's time to, so back then we were called clean cut landscaping and an I rebranded the company, the coastal um companies with the names, you know, coastal facilities, coastal landscaping, coastal snow and ice management.
00:15:05
snowjobspodcast
and Okay.
00:15:15
Jack _ Meghan
And we kind of ran with that. And we swapped from residential to commercial industrial. And that's where we've been going ever since.
00:15:21
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:15:22
RICK JAMES
Awesome.
00:15:22
Jack _ Meghan
So we do you know three or four houses, residential, that are basically family members, and that's it. Everything else is commercial industrial clients.
00:15:27
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:15:29
Jack _ Meghan
um and then So that was 2019. And then in 2021, probably, we started to really ramp up our facility side um you know and added that along with commercial land and commercial snow.
00:15:41
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:15:43
Jack _ Meghan
And then we've been going ever since.
00:15:43
RICK JAMES
Well, um,
00:15:44
snowjobspodcast
Very cool. Very cool. Gotcha.
00:15:48
RICK JAMES
So how many, how many, so you're still mowing stuff, you're doing lawn maintenance and everything. um
00:15:53
Jack _ Meghan
yeah so so For our clients, we still offer um you know complete commercial maintenance, you know lawn mowing, trimming, clean-ups, mulch, irrigation for um all that kind of stuff.
00:16:05
Jack _ Meghan
ah We don't really do any design.
00:16:05
RICK JAMES
Hard scopes.
00:16:06
Jack _ Meghan
We don't do any and design we don't do any install work. i mean we'll We'll plant some plants and stuff like that, but we're not doing you know pet pavers
00:16:13
snowjobspodcast
Gotcha.
00:16:13
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:14
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, we don't do any of that. um And then obviously commercial snow management and then our facility side. So our facility facility side, we'll do asphalt concrete repairs.
00:16:24
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:16:25
Jack _ Meghan
um So cutouts of parking lots, cutouts of sidewalks. um We do signage. We do handyman services. We do paint, commercial painting, sweeping.
00:16:32
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:16:35
Jack _ Meghan
Changing light bulbs. change Changing light bulbs.
00:16:37
snowjobspodcast
Do you really, you actually change light bulbs?
00:16:38
RICK JAMES
Wow. Look at you.
00:16:40
Jack _ Meghan
um
00:16:40
snowjobspodcast
Wow. Full service.
00:16:40
RICK JAMES
Everything.
00:16:41
Jack _ Meghan
yeah Ceiling tiles, light bulbs, we do it all.
00:16:45
snowjobspodcast
You do ceiling tiles too?
00:16:46
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:16:46
Jack _ Meghan
A lot of ceiling tiles.
00:16:48
snowjobspodcast
Wow, that's above and beyond. Nice.
00:16:50
Jack _ Meghan
It's just like, you know, it's easy. The ladder and some ceiling tiles.
00:16:53
snowjobspodcast
What do you charge?
00:16:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:16:54
snowjobspodcast
What do you charge for a ceiling tile? Like 600 bucks? like What is it?
00:16:59
Jack _ Meghan
and ski
00:17:00
RICK JAMES
something.
00:17:00
snowjobspodcast
$650, perfect.
00:17:00
Jack _ Meghan
um Most it is all T&M.
00:17:00
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:17:01
snowjobspodcast
I love it. I love it. I'm getting into ceiling tiles tomorrow. That's awesome.
00:17:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:17:06
snowjobspodcast
Oh, cool.
00:17:07
RICK JAMES
TM. Nice.
00:17:07
snowjobspodcast
All right.
00:17:07
Jack _ Meghan
You know, we trip charges to get out there and then T&M to do it. So we do a lot of small projects for our like, you know, for those kinds of clients. So I recommend when I tell them, I said, listen, the best way to do this is to get a list of stuff that you need done and then we'll go out and we'll do it.
00:17:23
Jack _ Meghan
And we spend the day, you know, and then we charge, then we'll give them a day rate, let's just say, you know.
00:17:23
snowjobspodcast
and gotcha Gotcha.
00:17:25
RICK JAMES
Yup.
00:17:26
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:17:27
Jack _ Meghan
So one of our jobs, they call us up. They need, they have one of those smoking, what do you call it? Smoking hot? But what do you mean you put this receptacle?
00:17:35
snowjobspodcast
Oh, yeah,
Challenges in Snow Operations
00:17:36
snowjobspodcast
yeah, I got you the smoke, this the butt receptacles.
00:17:36
RICK JAMES
oh yeah yeah ye
00:17:37
Jack _ Meghan
and they got a couple, yeah, receptacles. So they bought two receptacles and they bought two bike racks.
00:17:39
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:17:42
snowjobspodcast
OK.
00:17:43
Jack _ Meghan
They're like, hey, can you guys come install this on our property? Sure. Well, it goes all up here. We'll go and set the receptacle out where it needs to be and we'll anchor the bike rack into the ground and we'll call it a day.
00:17:55
Jack _ Meghan
you know i and i So I told them, listen, it's only like a half day of worth of work.
00:17:56
snowjobspodcast
Geez.
00:17:58
Jack _ Meghan
Do you have anything else you want us to do to make the most of it? Oh yeah, can you pass you know some concrete that we had a couple of chips in?
00:18:03
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:18:03
Jack _ Meghan
Sure, why not? And then we get a day right out of it.
00:18:05
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:18:05
Jack _ Meghan
so For our newest account, we just picked up, they have a conveyor system. It's about four miles of conveyor belt, and they just grease it.
00:18:13
snowjobspodcast
Oh, that all? Just four miles of it? Wow.
00:18:15
Jack _ Meghan
That's it. It holds the conference of the state. Yeah.
00:18:19
snowjobspodcast
Oh my god.
00:18:19
RICK JAMES
Well.
00:18:21
Jack _ Meghan
and
00:18:21
snowjobspodcast
It's like a pipeline. It goes to two other states.
00:18:24
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:18:26
snowjobspodcast
four miles of conveyor.
00:18:28
Jack _ Meghan
ye So one day a week, we just have to send the guy over there to grease all the bearings on the conveyor.
00:18:29
snowjobspodcast
That's, wow, that's impressive.
00:18:35
snowjobspodcast
No shit.
00:18:37
Jack _ Meghan
yep
00:18:37
snowjobspodcast
That's cool.
00:18:38
Jack _ Meghan
ye so i um So like that particular client is a, it's a day rate.
00:18:39
RICK JAMES
well
00:18:39
snowjobspodcast
So are you on, are you on seasonal with these places too, or?
00:18:47
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:18:48
Jack _ Meghan
I think to start, we only, we signed a one month to start. And then if they are happy with our services and stuff like that, then we're going to do a one year contract with them.
00:18:57
snowjobspodcast
Gotcha. Okay, so then you would handle everything.
00:18:57
Jack _ Meghan
ah be
00:19:00
RICK JAMES
How long does that take to grease all those bearings
00:19:00
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:19:02
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:19:03
Jack _ Meghan
So they did it in house before and they told us that you won't be able to do the whole thing in a day. So they said basically, you know, show up at 7 a.m. Grease as much as you can.
00:19:13
Jack _ Meghan
And then when you come back next week, start where you left off and continue on. So yeah they said oh all they have in the budget is for, you know, one day a week.
00:19:18
snowjobspodcast
Hmm.
00:19:18
RICK JAMES
oh
00:19:23
Jack _ Meghan
So i'm like all right. I said, you know, if you ever want to add, you know, let us know. We can either bring a second guy in and they can work together or
00:19:29
snowjobspodcast
If you ever want to maintain your whole machine, let me know.
00:19:30
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
00:19:32
snowjobspodcast
yeah
00:19:33
Jack _ Meghan
had
00:19:33
RICK JAMES
One day a week or a degree, but it's going to take two days to replace the bearings that go out that don't get greased.
00:19:38
snowjobspodcast
That's some serious ah Gov bullshit right there. Like, Oh my God, like yeah we're gonna, we only have enough money in the budget to service two thirds of the machine though.
00:19:43
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:19:49
Jack _ Meghan
we know Whatever, I'll grease it, whatever they want.
00:19:49
snowjobspodcast
That's awesome.
00:19:49
RICK JAMES
but oh hell yeah.
00:19:52
snowjobspodcast
That's it now for you.
00:19:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah, exactly.
00:19:53
snowjobspodcast
That's great.
00:19:54
Jack _ Meghan
Whatever you want to do.
00:19:54
snowjobspodcast
But like, that's awesome. You guys are great. That's awesome. That's pretty cool. Oh, Jeremy, what else you got? You got anything else for him here?
00:20:03
RICK JAMES
Yeah, that's uh, what do you do for snow then? Obviously you're all commercial. I mean, what are you, what are you doing for site wise for, for snow?
00:20:07
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:20:10
Jack _ Meghan
So we still, so when we rebranded from Klinka to Coastal, we we thought that the condos and apartments were going to be kind of our niche. And we after we had a couple of deeper storms, they decided, yeah, this isn't really where we want to go.
00:20:17
RICK JAMES
it
00:20:22
Jack _ Meghan
um So we still do have a fair amount of condos and a fair amount of apartments because we're starting to phase them in. um So we do do a decent amount of those. um We have some small box that we do, some office, um you know, different,
00:20:39
Jack _ Meghan
industrials and different things, the manufacturing and stuff like that.
00:20:41
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:20:41
Jack _ Meghan
We do a couple of churches, what else? at Schools, education centers, some college stuff and and different things like that.
00:20:48
snowjobspodcast
OK, cool.
00:20:49
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:20:51
Jack _ Meghan
So ah we're trying to change our gears. We're trying to figure out you know where we want to be and the kind of client that we want to service. you know we we want We do a lot of route work currently. um We do have some gains, but we we do a lot of route work.
00:21:00
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:21:02
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah.
00:21:02
Jack _ Meghan
So we're trying to kind of move away from that and do more dedicated sites. We find that route work is tough to please everybody because someone's going to be first and somebody will be last.
00:21:11
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:21:12
Jack _ Meghan
And along with that site, people seem to be calm.
00:21:12
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:21:15
Jack _ Meghan
But when you say, listen, they're at another site, they'll be there in 20 minutes. They'll be there in 30 minutes. They don't want to hear that.
00:21:20
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, no, they don't.
00:21:21
Jack _ Meghan
And you can tell them, well, listen, someone's gotta to be first and somebody has to be last. They understand that it's August and it's 80 degrees out, but you know when it's snowing, it's six o'clock in the morning.
00:21:25
RICK JAMES
Right. Yeah.
00:21:29
snowjobspodcast
or you just tell them, listen, anything can, you can have anything you want and snow for for a price.
00:21:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:35
snowjobspodcast
If you could pay for it, you know, no problem.
00:21:35
RICK JAMES
For a price machine. Also, I mean, you can't ask.
00:21:38
snowjobspodcast
I'll keep six machines here. yeah hold
00:21:43
RICK JAMES
Yeah. We do. All we do is real works. I don't, I don't even understand that the other, I mean, it's just people around here wouldn't pay for that.
00:21:50
Jack _ Meghan
know Well, I mean, and mr i I'm not necessarily talking small size per se.
00:21:51
snowjobspodcast
No, to dedicate machines. No.
00:21:52
RICK JAMES
No.
00:21:55
snowjobspodcast
That's kind of, yeah, that's, I don't know. It's funny how it's certain regions too. Like are are there places up there, Jack, where they they have machines dedicated to small sites?
00:22:08
Jack _ Meghan
um I mean, we you know we want to get when we put the machine, we want more of a larger site where that machine gets into the whole storm.
00:22:12
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
00:22:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:22:14
Jack _ Meghan
The small sites, I mean, it's not that they want it dedicated. They just want it done. They want to be first. That's what they want.
00:22:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah, exactly.
00:22:19
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, well.
00:22:19
Jack _ Meghan
you know
00:22:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:22:20
Jack _ Meghan
They don't want to pay for dedication. They don't want to. They don't want any of that. They just want to be the first one on their list.
00:22:24
RICK JAMES
First.
00:22:25
snowjobspodcast
You should do like a lottery system, every storm, like have a lottery system, put everybody in ah in a thing and pull the balls.
00:22:25
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:22:31
RICK JAMES
Facebook live, we're going to do this.
00:22:31
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:22:33
snowjobspodcast
that's That's it. You can charge for it. Five bucks a ticket if you want to go first.
00:22:37
Jack _ Meghan
We've started with the condos. We said, listen, we're going to start on the left side at one storm and then start on the right side, the second storm.
00:22:44
snowjobspodcast
That's what we do.
00:22:45
Jack _ Meghan
That worked for a while, um but you know the problem is, is you know in New England, it's a lot of small walkways, a lot of stairs, because hills, and all that kind of stuff. and You can't run machines on these sidewalks, and it's a killer for us.
00:22:54
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:22:57
Jack _ Meghan
We have a lot of like single lane driveways, drive roads at the end, so it's like, even if the even if the walkway is big enough to put a machine on, like a sidewalk machine, you can't get to it because the car is in the way.
00:23:00
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:23:06
snowjobspodcast
Mm-hmm.
00:23:07
Jack _ Meghan
you know And so you have to end, it's a lot of labor, um and it's just,
00:23:11
snowjobspodcast
What are your sidewalks average, like 36 inches at most?
00:23:14
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, a lot of 36.
00:23:15
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Yeah, the older infrastructure. Yeah, the Northeast is fun like that.
00:23:17
Jack _ Meghan
There are a lot of crappy sidewalks where it's all like wavy, you know what I mean?
00:23:20
RICK JAMES
ah
00:23:22
Jack _ Meghan
It's not...
00:23:22
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, oh, yeah.
00:23:23
RICK JAMES
I don't think there's a 36 on the sidewalk in the state.
00:23:25
Jack _ Meghan
You
00:23:26
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, wow, they just built it, you know.
00:23:26
RICK JAMES
ah is it and Very true.
00:23:29
Jack _ Meghan
save
00:23:30
RICK JAMES
We just we just found out what concrete was.
00:23:34
Jack _ Meghan
money if you take two inches off the width of your sidewalk.
Government Facility Involvement
00:23:38
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, absolutely.
00:23:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:23:39
Jack _ Meghan
You save a lot of money.
00:23:40
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it it's the thirty sixes are definitely interesting. It's fun. It's fun when you try and make a forty five degree turn with one of the sidewalk machines to to handle that.
00:23:50
snowjobspodcast
But I don't care. I just tell them go on the grass and then get yourself turned around on the grass and we'll fix it in the spring. It's not heavy, it tears up.
00:24:00
Jack _ Meghan
Well, we've got one like that, where it's more of a um like apartment-style as condos.
00:24:00
snowjobspodcast
but
00:24:05
Jack _ Meghan
It's more apartment-style. So they have a parking lot. They got a big parking lot and stuff like that. And they got tons and tons of sidewalk. And they're narrow. But we put our Snow Raider on it. We rip it up. It's just they don't have great grass, mostly crabgrass anyways.
00:24:15
Jack _ Meghan
They don't have any sprinklers or anything like that. So it's.
00:24:18
snowjobspodcast
You know what my guys actually did? ah one One of the kids was it's so simple, but such he's a genius. He took a piece of plywood, just brought a piece of like a three foot piece of plywood and he cut the corner on the 45.
00:24:29
Jack _ Meghan
ye
00:24:32
snowjobspodcast
So he cleared straight ahead to the edge and then he backed up and he put the plywood down and boop.
00:24:37
Jack _ Meghan
no
00:24:37
snowjobspodcast
And he just drove right across and cut the corner.
00:24:38
Jack _ Meghan
Who's accurate?
00:24:39
RICK JAMES
He carries a piece of plywood with him.
00:24:41
snowjobspodcast
He carried a little strip, just enough for the tire width. That was it.
00:24:44
RICK JAMES
Huh.
00:24:44
snowjobspodcast
Boom. And just cut the corner on it.
00:24:45
RICK JAMES
What a go getter.
00:24:46
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it's good for him.
00:24:46
RICK JAMES
What a go getter.
00:24:48
snowjobspodcast
It worked. Do it.
00:24:50
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:24:50
snowjobspodcast
i Like I said, ah if it works, do it. And if if it's funny, you don't get in trouble. That's it. Those are the only two rules we have. if As long as we laugh and you're not going to get in trouble for it.
00:25:01
Jack _ Meghan
exactly
00:25:01
snowjobspodcast
Light poles, whatever.
00:25:05
RICK JAMES
Oh man.
00:25:06
snowjobspodcast
oh man so as far as snow we talked about are there any other sites like anything like we can't talk about like anything secret stuff no nothing secret how don't talk about it if you can't i'm not i'm just kidding don't talk about it if you can't if it's gonna get you in trouble
00:25:15
Jack _ Meghan
We do.
00:25:17
RICK JAMES
ah se what's it its What the heck's a secret?
00:25:25
Jack _ Meghan
always We work for a large government, not supplier, manufacturer, or whatever you want to call it. And yeah, it's top secret stuff.
00:25:32
RICK JAMES
CIA. We'll just call it the CIA.
00:25:36
Jack _ Meghan
And so we we actually started there in August with three guys and the ah RFP originally was for carpenters. um And it was just for maintenance of their of their facility. um And now we've got almost 15 guys there a year later.
00:25:49
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:25:49
snowjobspodcast
Wow.
00:25:51
Jack _ Meghan
So they do everything under the sun there. Most recently, we started doing their asphalt cutouts. It's a ah very old facility, but they they continue to build and build and build.
00:26:02
Jack _ Meghan
And they have old asphalt, so we do a lot of cutouts over there, um painting, commercial painting we do now.
00:26:02
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:26:07
Jack _ Meghan
So we have a crew of two painters that work there. All all they do every day, paint the facility. We paint their collards, we paint their doors, their signs, everything under the sun.
00:26:11
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:26:16
Jack _ Meghan
um We got a crew of like six or seven carpenters um that, you you know, do maintenance repairs to the buildings, doors door handles, oh my god, the freaking door handles, yeah. They must have a thousand doorknobs and I think if everyone breaks every day, it's just, it's none.
00:26:34
snowjobspodcast
That's a government building.
00:26:36
RICK JAMES
Jesus.
00:26:36
Jack _ Meghan
ah And they're like 600 bucks a piece, these locks up.
00:26:37
snowjobspodcast
ah Yeah, easily, easily.
00:26:39
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:26:40
Jack _ Meghan
You know, if you buy the patent hardware, it's like $2,500.
00:26:43
RICK JAMES
Oh wow.
00:26:44
Jack _ Meghan
So if you connect the expense and doorknobs, we buy a lot of doorknobs.
00:26:48
snowjobspodcast
Jesus.
00:26:48
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:26:48
Jack _ Meghan
We do that. And then the rest of the guys, we sweep. So we bought two egg home sweepers recently.
00:26:54
RICK JAMES
Oh, I like.
00:26:56
snowjobspodcast
How have they been doing?
Equipment and Efficiency
00:26:58
Jack _ Meghan
They are an awesome little little machine for what they are. We bought them with the sweeper, the V-blades, and the spreader. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And the spreader. um And those things have been awesome.
00:27:10
RICK JAMES
Which size, the bigger one or the...
00:27:10
Jack _ Meghan
aye Everyone loves them. What'd you say? Everyone loves them. Yeah. Yeah. They turn a lot of heads.
00:27:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:27:17
Jack _ Meghan
We bought the small park ranger because of what they're called.
00:27:17
RICK JAMES
What size did he get? The smaller one? Yeah.
00:27:21
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:27:21
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:27:22
snowjobspodcast
Now they have a medium. So now they can do small, medium and large.
00:27:25
Jack _ Meghan
They do.
00:27:25
RICK JAMES
all Oh, Oh.
00:27:26
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:27:27
Jack _ Meghan
We had to go with diesel in the medium's gas job. so No, no. Oh, yeah that yes, you're right. You're right. You're right. They had to be diesel.
00:27:34
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:27:34
Jack _ Meghan
You could only go with the small or the large.
00:27:36
RICK JAMES
um Gotcha.
00:27:36
snowjobspodcast
Mm-hmm.
00:27:38
Jack _ Meghan
And so those little machines, there's a north and a south side. So the one um sweeps the south side all day and one sweeps the north side all day. And they just they just do their thing. They sweep you know eight hours a day.
00:27:48
RICK JAMES
So that is it the enclosed sweepers or does it just, okay.
00:27:51
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:27:52
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:27:52
RICK JAMES
So it doesn't, it's okay. It's like the one Jimmy hit or whatever. Yeah.
00:27:55
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:27:56
Jack _ Meghan
yeah we bought um We bought them from Jim and and Tammy.
00:27:56
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:27:56
snowjobspodcast
That's yep.
00:27:59
Jack _ Meghan
And shout out to those guys. Those guys are great.
00:28:01
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, they're awesome.
00:28:02
Jack _ Meghan
They demo us.
00:28:02
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:28:04
RICK JAMES
Still waiting for mine.
00:28:04
Jack _ Meghan
We've had a few issues.
00:28:07
snowjobspodcast
Jeremy wants his demo egg home.
00:28:09
Jack _ Meghan
that's a long trip from maryland or
00:28:11
RICK JAMES
Oh, I,
00:28:11
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Does Jimmy be trailering it out there himself?
00:28:14
RICK JAMES
ah Jimmy, so Jimmy said he would.
00:28:14
Jack _ Meghan
and
00:28:16
RICK JAMES
That's what you said. But anyway, ah you said that.
00:28:17
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah. All right. Jimmy.
00:28:19
RICK JAMES
You said that last year.
00:28:20
snowjobspodcast
Jimmy, all he did say, he was going to get one out there.
00:28:20
RICK JAMES
you Yeah.
00:28:23
snowjobspodcast
You did say, it Jim, if you're listening, did say, get an egg home out to Fargo.
00:28:23
RICK JAMES
I'll just, yeah. He did say it. Yeah. So today, today, I'll just, I'll just bud in here for a second today.
00:28:32
snowjobspodcast
Go ahead. But.
00:28:33
RICK JAMES
not yeah One of our local where we get our pressure washers a Karcher pressure washer. They apparently they're a dealer for For holders, you know what a holder is.
00:28:43
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:43
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you know what a holder cost just just the machine the the I know I knew they were expensive.
00:28:44
snowjobspodcast
Older. Yeah. Oh, shit. Yeah.
00:28:48
RICK JAMES
I mean I thought they're on a hundred grand 120 just for the machine. It was 170,000 that's no attachments i'm Like I can buy a loader for that So
00:28:54
snowjobspodcast
Oh, every bit of it. Yep. Yes, exactly. You could.
00:29:02
RICK JAMES
The one snowboard that goes on, it was $32,000 for, I'm like, for what? There's nothing there, I guess.
00:29:08
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:29:10
RICK JAMES
But I don't know.
00:29:10
Jack _ Meghan
well you know
00:29:10
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, they must be a big name or something. They must. The holder must have a lot of weight or something. They're ridiculously priced for what they are.
00:29:16
RICK JAMES
There's only like, there's only like 1600 in the US. that Well, they're big overseas.
00:29:19
snowjobspodcast
Oh, at that price, I'm shocked there's that many.
00:29:24
RICK JAMES
They're in, I think they're made in Germany. Okay, there's my rant, or if I've caught a rant.
00:29:26
snowjobspodcast
probably. But yeah, yeah the so there you go. Alright, Jeremy's rant.
00:29:31
Jack _ Meghan
Well,
00:29:32
RICK JAMES
That was ridiculous.
00:29:33
snowjobspodcast
Love it.
00:29:34
RICK JAMES
It was ridiculous.
00:29:34
snowjobspodcast
That is ridiculous.
00:29:34
RICK JAMES
I was like, I knew there i knew it was expensive, but I didn't think it was that expensive.
00:29:35
Jack _ Meghan
you know.
00:29:39
snowjobspodcast
But these days, is that any more ridiculous than anything else? We're we're paying price wise on things.
00:29:45
RICK JAMES
No, no.
00:29:46
snowjobspodcast
You know, those look at the those egg homes ain't they ain't cheap.
00:29:49
RICK JAMES
A lot cheaper than older.
00:29:49
snowjobspodcast
Those things are spendy.
00:29:51
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, they're but a about 100 at least.
00:29:54
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
00:29:55
Jack _ Meghan
They were not.
00:29:55
snowjobspodcast
They're 100 a piece for the sweeper.
00:29:56
Jack _ Meghan
About 100 with a plow spread.
00:29:58
RICK JAMES
What the?
00:29:59
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. The sweeper is expensive, right?
00:30:02
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, well, yeah, the sweeper alone is like 15 or 18 grand just for unit.
00:30:05
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:30:07
snowjobspodcast
What the.
00:30:07
Jack _ Meghan
The plow is another six or seven a piece.
00:30:09
Jack _ Meghan
So I think we paid a little under 100 for each machine, but there's nothing else on the board.
00:30:13
snowjobspodcast
Gotcha.
00:30:14
RICK JAMES
With attachments.
00:30:16
snowjobspodcast
Nothing else can do what you needed to do.
00:30:18
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:30:18
Jack _ Meghan
don't think so.
00:30:18
Jack _ Meghan
We looked. And I'll tell you what, they did a great job designing it. Like they thought of everything.
00:30:24
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:30:24
Jack _ Meghan
You know, nothing in America would you buy that is set up. They even have a mount or a cart to take the spreader off. Like if it was America, they would just say, yeah, pick it with a machine.
00:30:32
snowjobspodcast
I know.
00:30:33
RICK JAMES
Find a palette.
00:30:35
Jack _ Meghan
yeah yeah Exactly. When you have the card that you pull up to it, you you attach it to it and you back it right off and then it's got to stand. I mean, they think of every way they, the way you put on the tube onto the sweeper, like they even thought of that, and you hook it right in and it slips right.
00:30:43
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:30:44
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:52
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, one of the well, most well-designed machines that I've i've seen in a long time
00:30:58
snowjobspodcast
yeah Yeah, that, that spreader stand was a big deal last year at Connecticut was at the Simon show when they got an unbalanced. I'm like, wait a minute. You do what to take this out?
00:31:07
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:31:08
snowjobspodcast
He's like, o you just wheeled this thing over. He goes one lever here, boom, boom, slide out or pull out.
00:31:11
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:31:13
snowjobspodcast
I'm like, holy crap. That's sick.
00:31:15
RICK JAMES
They drive nice too. I drove that one at one around and it was, I liked it. It was a nice little machine.
00:31:20
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:31:20
RICK JAMES
and Yeah.
00:31:21
Jack _ Meghan
it's It's a little,
00:31:21
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. that You drove what? The big one.
00:31:23
RICK JAMES
I drove the big one. Yeah.
00:31:24
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:31:24
Jack _ Meghan
I think, yeah, the small ones a little like, I don't want to say tippy, but it's a little bouncy.
00:31:25
snowjobspodcast
Sean, Sean was wedged in the smaller one.
00:31:27
RICK JAMES
Pussy drove the smaller one.
00:31:28
snowjobspodcast
Couldn't get out of it.
00:31:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:31:33
Jack _ Meghan
I think just because of the, because of the size of it.
00:31:33
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:31:35
Jack _ Meghan
I don't think any fault to them. I think, you know, any, any manufacturer have the same problem just because of the pure size, the bigger, um, you know, ah and mor we pick up 400.
00:31:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:31:40
snowjobspodcast
Yep. But it's doing everything you needed to do. It's working well.
00:31:48
Jack _ Meghan
gallons of debris a day. Yeah. I think if we're averaging right now, one of the gallons of debris a day.
00:31:50
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:31:53
Jack _ Meghan
So they've
00:31:53
snowjobspodcast
and Is this at the secret site?
00:31:56
RICK JAMES
CIA.
00:31:57
snowjobspodcast
What? So they're really dirty there. That's what you're saying. Like they're really, they're a lot of litters.
00:32:01
Jack _ Meghan
never, they've never slept before. So this is their first time.
00:32:06
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:32:06
snowjobspodcast
Oh, so you're picking up years of stuff.
00:32:10
Jack _ Meghan
Exactly.
00:32:10
RICK JAMES
Oh, the bristle, how the bristles holding up, I'm pretty good.
00:32:10
snowjobspodcast
Wow. Yeah, good question.
00:32:14
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, yeah, I mean, we we are so we sweep every day with it. um And so they get like 35 to 40 hours a week of use on them.
00:32:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:32:22
Jack _ Meghan
And we haven't changed the brushes yet, or probably 40% life left. And then Oh, you figured we've been we've had them for two months now.
00:32:27
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:32:27
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:32:31
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah. Yeah, about two months. So I mean, for being used every, I mean, our sweeper truck that we have is probably the same. I mean, that and that doesn't get, I don't, I don't even think that sweeper gets used as much as these echomes hour per hour.
00:32:42
Jack _ Meghan
You know what I mean? The truck drives every night, but the sweeper doesn't run every hour. Right. So I would say hours is no different than a sweeper truck.
00:32:47
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:32:50
RICK JAMES
That's cool.
00:32:50
snowjobspodcast
See, so you haven't used it yet in the snow though, so we can't talk about that. So, uh, definitely keep us posted this winter, how they do in the snow.
00:32:50
Jack _ Meghan
No.
00:32:54
Jack _ Meghan
Nope.
00:32:58
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, so all we do right now are just our sidewalks. I mean, I say just sidewalks, just like miles of sidewalks. So we have ah we have two of those egghomes now, and then we have a UTV that we bought, Bobcat UTV, with a Fisher V Blade on the front, and we bought from d Northeast Dicing Solutions, Passam and the other one, of one of their sidewalk de-icing units, liquid de-icers.
00:33:18
snowjobspodcast
Yep, yep, the Sammons.
00:33:23
snowjobspodcast
Oh cool, the Slayer.
00:33:24
Jack _ Meghan
Yep. are No, no, it's the
00:33:25
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:33:27
RICK JAMES
what that was so Yeah.
00:33:27
snowjobspodcast
No.
00:33:28
Jack _ Meghan
No, I don't remember the name. I don't remember the brand name. Anyways, there's a one for the UTV.
00:33:32
snowjobspodcast
It was, I think it's a, you got a what, a VSI unit?
00:33:35
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, yep.
00:33:36
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it's their Sidewalk Slayer, I think is what what they call it.
00:33:39
Jack _ Meghan
So
Innovative De-icing Plans
00:33:40
Jack _ Meghan
we've never...
00:33:40
RICK JAMES
that the one that was there when you guys were there that was set up or no, that was yours.
00:33:44
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, so that you and wasn't r u tv that was our That was our sprayer that we have bought there.
00:33:46
RICK JAMES
Oh, okay.
00:33:49
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:33:49
snowjobspodcast
Got it. Yeah, that's what it is.
00:33:50
RICK JAMES
Gotcha. Yup.
00:33:51
snowjobspodcast
Okay. Cool.
00:33:51
RICK JAMES
Cool.
00:33:51
snowjobspodcast
That's awesome.
00:33:52
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, the only review I can have on the sprayer is that we water flowers with it.
00:33:56
RICK JAMES
yeah Hey, you're using it.
00:33:57
Jack _ Meghan
oh
00:33:57
snowjobspodcast
Not that say, listen, there you go.
00:33:58
Jack _ Meghan
norton
00:34:01
Jack _ Meghan
So we there's no, um, there's no, we haven't used any salt in it yet.
00:34:01
snowjobspodcast
How do the flowers like saltwater?
00:34:02
RICK JAMES
You're using yeah Oh, God.
00:34:09
Jack _ Meghan
So it's been always strictly fresh water to that.
00:34:11
snowjobspodcast
That's actually a great idea. You're getting it, you know, getting use out of it somehow.
00:34:14
RICK JAMES
Dual use. Yup.
00:34:16
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:34:16
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah. Think of the size of the property. If you had to walk around with water cans all day and he just rides around and he's got the little nozzle and he just, you know, we've got how many 10 flower pots are there?
00:34:20
RICK JAMES
Oh man.
00:34:25
Jack _ Meghan
Oh God, nine now. Yeah, there's nine total. So you got to drive from site to, you know, from building the building and water them all. So yeah.
00:34:31
snowjobspodcast
We're talking big, big planners, right? Not like little pots. Like you said, pots.
00:34:36
Jack _ Meghan
yeah they'rerefore
00:34:37
snowjobspodcast
I'm picturing nine, five gallon pots like all oversight.
00:34:39
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:34:40
RICK JAMES
ah
00:34:40
snowjobspodcast
Like you need a TV for that? So we're talking big planner boxes.
00:34:44
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:34:44
snowjobspodcast
Got it. Got you. Okay, cool. Just try to help. All right. ah So you got a lot of deviation up there the last couple of years with snow.
00:34:52
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:34:53
snowjobspodcast
um Tell us about your snow operation. Like, you know, how do you guys do what you do as far as Um, I don't know.
00:35:03
snowjobspodcast
Like, how do you do your routes? You said you do a lot of route work. How do you divvy it up? How wide is your area that you're covering all these sites in?
00:35:10
Jack _ Meghan
yeah so our
00:35:11
RICK JAMES
Well, it can't be that wide. Sorry.
00:35:13
snowjobspodcast
That's true. True.
00:35:13
Jack _ Meghan
you know
00:35:14
snowjobspodcast
Nice assist.
00:35:14
Jack _ Meghan
but
00:35:15
snowjobspodcast
There you go.
00:35:16
RICK JAMES
I got to take shots. Everybody takes shots at me.
00:35:20
snowjobspodcast
Just to be, just to be clear, we love these guys. So we're going to bust their jobs a lot. So, but continue.
00:35:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ah
00:35:26
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, so so our state's pretty small. We covered the whole state, which you know if it if I was North Dakota, it probably sounded a little more impressive than the little Rhode Island. um But yeah, so we had to state up into quadrants, we call it.
00:35:35
snowjobspodcast
Run with it vendor
00:35:38
Jack _ Meghan
um and And we've got you know different routes in different quadrants. So we've got some truck routes. So we run about, we've got a couple of subs that work for us. And when I say subs, I know service provider, whatever do you want to call them.
00:35:51
Jack _ Meghan
It's just you know a buddy of mine that owns them.
00:35:52
snowjobspodcast
partners.
00:35:53
Jack _ Meghan
and partner
00:35:54
snowjobspodcast
Got it.
00:35:54
Jack _ Meghan
He's got some trucks and he just helps us out in our house.
00:35:58
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:35:59
Jack _ Meghan
We touch pretty much every site that we have, um even though it may be a sub that that's doing the site, we still touch it as much as we can.
00:36:06
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:36:06
snowjobspodcast
Awesome.
00:36:07
Jack _ Meghan
So you know we have different truck routes. What we do is we run several, three or four sidewalk crews. We run in the wintertime. um So we don't have enough trucks for that. So what we do is we rent trucks for storms. So United Rentals and Home Depot is our big go-to. We'll rent a couple of trucks. We'll put a landscape trailer behind it and a snow raider. We'll load the bed up with salt and shovels and snow blowers, all that good stuff. And then they'll have a route they go to. um you know We always call our guys in.
00:36:35
Jack _ Meghan
You know but usually about an hour before the snowfall actually starts so they can get in their truck get to their route area and kind of state and wait for accumulation um You know, we have we run four skid loaders or see me three skid loaders and we run one backhoe and a mini loader where those are all dedicated sites at those run to their
00:36:50
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:36:52
RICK JAMES
Catch you.
00:36:57
Jack _ Meghan
So those guys, you know they direct report to their sites and they maintain the sites that they're on.
00:36:59
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:37:01
Jack _ Meghan
So we don't do any machine routed work.
00:37:03
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:37:03
Jack _ Meghan
The routed work is for sidewalk crews and for our truck.
00:37:05
snowjobspodcast
Got you.
00:37:08
Jack _ Meghan
So yeah, that's pretty much how we do it. um Anything? I don't think so.
00:37:15
RICK JAMES
what are you What are you running on? What are you running for? what are For pushers and stuff on your loaders and or skidsters and stuff.
00:37:20
Jack _ Meghan
So we run all ah rubber edge pushers.
00:37:22
snowjobspodcast
Mmm.
00:37:26
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:37:27
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:37:27
Jack _ Meghan
because of the rain that we get. So a lot of our storms will start up as rain or end as rain and it's a very, very slushy and it act act kind of acts as a squeaky for us.
00:37:32
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:37:33
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
00:37:37
RICK JAMES
Squeezy.
00:37:39
Jack _ Meghan
um The problem we have then when it turns over, if it goes from rain to snow and we get some of those like, we'll end up getting like kind of like a flash for ease in a lot of our storms and we get the hard pack.
00:37:49
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:37:51
Jack _ Meghan
One thing we're going to look to in the future, I think this year is starting, is to kind of put both a rubber edge and a metal edge pusher on those sites, depending on the different storm, you know, for which one they can use. It kind of scrapes from the hard pack versus a slush for the with a rubber edge.
00:38:03
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:38:04
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:38:05
Jack _ Meghan
So we have a big mix of different kinds of snows. We have Jeremy's favorite, the the concrete snow.
00:38:09
snowjobspodcast
Oh, concrete.
00:38:11
RICK JAMES
Come concrete.
00:38:14
Jack _ Meghan
you
00:38:14
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:38:14
Jack _ Meghan
to take
00:38:15
snowjobspodcast
That's it.
00:38:16
RICK JAMES
That's from Rob.
Client Expectations and Contracts
00:38:19
Jack _ Meghan
It was bad. Remember last year, so that storm that we had where it was it snowed like six inches and then poured? Oh yeah. We had a couple of those. Yeah. And it was just like a pond on all the parking lots and it was it's a disaster.
00:38:31
Jack _ Meghan
So we get light fluffy snow to we get you know concrete snow, we'll get three inches and we get the blizzards that drop you know two feet on us. So I think we have to be a little more
00:38:37
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:38:41
Jack _ Meghan
ready for the different kind of storms. I think that's having the different kind of pushes on the site that will allow us to kind of change depending on it.
00:38:45
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Got to be adaptable.
00:38:48
Jack _ Meghan
Just like with a sidewalk machine, whether you're going to do ah you know a brush or a snowblower or a plow blade, you know do the same thing for the machine side.
00:38:55
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
00:38:57
RICK JAMES
Right how many guys you're running on in a event that you guys are running Gotcha
00:38:57
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:39:03
Jack _ Meghan
um We're probably about 30 to 40 in the wintertime, um depending on but type of the size of the storm.
00:39:10
RICK JAMES
a lot of hand work obviously since you're talking about you lot of
00:39:13
Jack _ Meghan
yeah yeah we've got probably probably 20 or so of those guys are just shovelers you know using using shovels and stuff like that um so we'll stage a bunch at the different apartments and condos and stuff like that so like hey you three are going to this one you three go to that um so we kind of s split them up that way does
00:39:21
snowjobspodcast
Hmm.
00:39:32
snowjobspodcast
Do they like shoveling?
00:39:35
Jack _ Meghan
anybody have shovels?
00:39:36
snowjobspodcast
I'm just asking. I mean, that's, uh, you know.
00:39:38
Jack _ Meghan
You know, we've, so we, um, I think actually the last episode we listened to a guy had the same thing. We have, um, a roofing company that we work at.
00:39:48
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
00:39:49
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:39:49
Jack _ Meghan
Um, yeah.
00:39:49
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Jeremy from J and H said that.
00:39:52
Jack _ Meghan
And if we got 10 guys and and they don't want to use snow blowers, they don't want, they just want to shovel.
00:39:57
snowjobspodcast
Really?
00:39:58
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, that's all they want, just shovel. And we give them, we split them up five and five, and five go to one complex and five will go to the other, and they just shovel.
00:39:59
snowjobspodcast
Wow.
00:40:07
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, it's like, it's something you just have to witness it, the way these guys are.
00:40:11
snowjobspodcast
Give them free hats.
00:40:11
Jack _ Meghan
and
00:40:12
snowjobspodcast
Make sure they're fed everything. Keep them happy.
00:40:15
Jack _ Meghan
yeah yeah mu You know, and they just go to town.
00:40:16
RICK JAMES
Keep coming back.
00:40:17
snowjobspodcast
ah That's awesome.
00:40:20
Jack _ Meghan
And, you know, god God bless.
00:40:22
snowjobspodcast
That's awesome.
00:40:22
Jack _ Meghan
I personally, if I never pick up another snow shovel in my life, I won't be upset.
00:40:27
snowjobspodcast
Oh, I hear you.
00:40:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah, there I haven't found one that fits my hands.
00:40:28
snowjobspodcast
I hear you.
00:40:28
Jack _ Meghan
A little bit.
00:40:30
RICK JAMES
so
00:40:30
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:40:34
snowjobspodcast
Jesus, that's bad. Oh my God.
00:40:36
Jack _ Meghan
ah One thing that we are going to implement more this year, we stabbed a little bit last year, um was more into the liquids for our sidewalks.
00:40:42
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:40:44
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:40:44
RICK JAMES
okay
00:40:46
Jack _ Meghan
You know, we have all the snow raiders already and they all have brine tanks on them. So at the very least, we're going to pretreat every storm now with brine. We're going to post-treat as much as we can. Um, I gotta, I gotta say, you know, Pat and his father there at Northeast.
00:40:58
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, those guys have helped us out tremendously. We've had a lot of long talks. They they talk, and they get a similar, um, type of snow is us.
00:41:01
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, they're great people. Mm hmm.
00:41:07
Jack _ Meghan
Not as much books, but close. So they kind of talking us through like, listen, if it's a wet snow, you know, this is how you're going to deal with it. Yeah. You may have to use more gallons and stuff like that. So, um,
00:41:15
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:41:16
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it's nice having that resource that has basically the same conditions you're going to experience that can help you out a lot with that.
00:41:22
RICK JAMES
So you're you're going to be making your own Brian then or you or what do you.
00:41:22
Jack _ Meghan
yeah.
00:41:25
Jack _ Meghan
Yes. Top secret. This is top secret.
00:41:28
RICK JAMES
Oh, OK.
00:41:29
snowjobspodcast
Can't talk about it.
00:41:30
Jack _ Meghan
We had approval last week to make our own brine by pulling water out of the ocean.
00:41:37
snowjobspodcast
Nice.
00:41:38
Jack _ Meghan
well
00:41:38
RICK JAMES
You need approval for that?
00:41:40
Jack _ Meghan
Well, um it was better to try to go for approval than to get, you know, fine.
00:41:40
snowjobspodcast
Apparently in government waters.
00:41:44
RICK JAMES
I honestly don't know. I just i mean i figured waters water is water.
00:41:47
Jack _ Meghan
yeah Around here, we have CRMC and those their WAC jobs. they get They get all crazy about the codes, they're protecting the codes and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:41:56
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah, it's the Northeast.
00:41:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:57
Jack _ Meghan
not always They're always, you know, trying to riot against new buildings going up at the beach and all that kind of stuff. So we got their approval, we got approval through DEM, which is the environmentals in the state.
00:42:05
RICK JAMES
Gotcha.
00:42:09
Jack _ Meghan
And they're like, yeah, they go, there's nothing that says you can't do it. So they give us our, so we're going to actually pull the water out of the bay.
00:42:13
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
00:42:16
Jack _ Meghan
It already has 3% salinity, so it's, you know, 3% less salt.
00:42:19
RICK JAMES
Ah, there you go.
00:42:21
snowjobspodcast
We were kicking that around.
00:42:21
RICK JAMES
So you just, what are you going to back up? Are you going to back up with the truck and just suck it out of there? Or what do you, ah I don't know. What do you, what do they have there?
00:42:26
Jack _ Meghan
um words We haven't fully figured out what we're going to do, but I think we're going to pull, so we'll have a trash pump. We'll pull out of the, kind of similar to drafting, out of the bay and, you know, make our brine and then pump it into our storage tanks.
00:42:33
RICK JAMES
and
00:42:33
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
00:42:41
Jack _ Meghan
And then it'll all be kind of right there on the corner, um you know, right on the the water's edge.
00:42:45
RICK JAMES
Oh, cool.
00:42:46
Jack _ Meghan
And as we got to fill up, you know, because the pavement goes right up to the water. It's got a big seawall, plenty of room, plenty of asphalt.
00:42:50
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:42:52
Jack _ Meghan
We can have our whole batch plant and and all that kind of stuff. so That's our, that's our plan.
00:42:56
snowjobspodcast
Interesting.
00:42:56
RICK JAMES
That's cool.
00:42:58
Jack _ Meghan
I'll let you know in six months, how it goes.
00:43:00
RICK JAMES
You got to have a plan.
00:43:02
Jack _ Meghan
you know
00:43:02
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, that's it.
00:43:03
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:43:03
snowjobspodcast
I'll tell you, I've never heard it before.
00:43:03
Jack _ Meghan
Say you have to have a good water source and what's better than the ocean.
00:43:05
snowjobspodcast
So, I mean, that sounds.
00:43:09
Jack _ Meghan
yeah Right.
00:43:09
snowjobspodcast
Well, there you go.
00:43:09
RICK JAMES
Hey, yeah, you got that. I mean, that's you can make Brian as fast as you want.
00:43:11
snowjobspodcast
that
00:43:13
RICK JAMES
Just depends on the water, you know, I mean, that's.
00:43:16
Jack _ Meghan
Right. So I figured, you know, if you need a two inch line, if I get a two inch trash pump, it really shouldn't be much of a different wall.
00:43:21
RICK JAMES
ah You're gonna hear me fine We'll
00:43:21
snowjobspodcast
No.
00:43:23
Jack _ Meghan
and And, you know, we get these days where, I mean, Steve, I don't, you don't, I don't know if you get similar weather, but we'll get days that's like 60 degrees in the middle middle of winter time.
00:43:31
snowjobspodcast
Oh, yeah. Yeah. in that We'll get into the 50s.
00:43:33
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:43:33
Jack _ Meghan
So, you know, they we'll just, we'll get enough storage space so we can go, you know, do several storms worth of mine.
00:43:38
snowjobspodcast
Yup.
00:43:39
Jack _ Meghan
And I said, you know, when it's a beautiful day out there, a couple of guys go out there and make prime for the day. You know, so that's our, that's our plan.
00:43:44
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:43:46
Jack _ Meghan
I don't know if we're gonna put the brine maker on maybe like some sort of trailer or because we I don't want to leave it all right on the water because like in these nor'easters the water will come up and over the wall sometimes so we got to figure some of that logistics out where we put it on a trailer or we just move it with a forklift I don't know yet but the trash pumps are removable and all that kind we have a little enclosed trailer that we're gonna set up to make brine so we'll have our our pumps our hoses you know everything we need will be in the trailer we'll just pull right out do what we have to do and then tow it back so
00:43:50
RICK JAMES
give
00:44:11
snowjobspodcast
Interesting.
00:44:14
RICK JAMES
She said like a salt bunker they're set up or what are you gonna do or just bring salt in as you need it or
00:44:17
Jack _ Meghan
there is There's a salt bin on site, um but it's like a mile from where we're going to manufacture the brine. So I have to figure that one out, whether we bring our mason dump in and a couple of yards at a time or a couple of times at a time, lower it that way.
00:44:31
RICK JAMES
ah yeah
00:44:32
Jack _ Meghan
I don't know.
00:44:33
snowjobspodcast
Can you get a storage container like a shipping container?
00:44:37
Jack _ Meghan
Maybe, that was another thought. um But we still have to get the delivery truck to get in there. And logistic wise, it might just be easier to just bring it in two or three tons at a time.
00:44:42
snowjobspodcast
Gotcha.
00:44:47
Jack _ Meghan
Or even in a, spring yeah hell, we could do it. I didn't just thought of this. We could put it in a VBox and unload it with VBox.
00:44:51
snowjobspodcast
Hmm.
00:44:52
RICK JAMES
yeah. Yeah.
00:44:53
Jack _ Meghan
So I don't know.
00:44:53
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:44:53
Jack _ Meghan
yeah We gotta to figure that one out.
00:44:55
snowjobspodcast
And you said salt sea water has what, 3% salinity.
00:44:57
Jack _ Meghan
I think 3% is what Jordan said.
00:45:01
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:45:01
Jack _ Meghan
yep So it's 3% less salt we have to eat we have to buy.
00:45:02
RICK JAMES
Hmm.
00:45:03
snowjobspodcast
Interesting.
00:45:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah, definitely.
00:45:06
Jack _ Meghan
so but see very one ah for it So Yeah, so last year we used granular.
00:45:07
RICK JAMES
That's, that's kind of cool though. I mean, free plus this free water.
00:45:11
snowjobspodcast
That's interesting. Yeah.
00:45:14
RICK JAMES
yeah I mean, shit.
00:45:17
snowjobspodcast
So currently though, when you're salting, do you use granular still? Okay.
00:45:24
Jack _ Meghan
We dabbled a little bit in liquids. It was sidewalks only.
00:45:27
snowjobspodcast
yeah
00:45:27
Jack _ Meghan
We only had three storms, or four storms total last year, and we started liquids halfway through the season. So we only had like a storm or two under our belt with it.
00:45:33
snowjobspodcast
Gotcha.
00:45:35
Jack _ Meghan
Not much. um But we used a sidewalk blend hot melt is what we were using last year.
00:45:42
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:45:43
Jack _ Meghan
And then we used treated bulk as well.
00:45:46
snowjobspodcast
Very cool.
00:45:47
RICK JAMES
so So have you getting back to the ah Brian one more time?
00:45:52
snowjobspodcast
Sorry.
00:45:52
RICK JAMES
ah No, you're fine. I'm just as anybody else, you know, done that use ocean water. I mean, ah it seems kind of interesting, I guess, but yeah.
00:45:59
Jack _ Meghan
No.
00:45:59
snowjobspodcast
You talked to Jordan, so as Jordan said, anybody else has asked him about making seawater in the brine.
00:46:05
Jack _ Meghan
No, I think we were the first.
00:46:06
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:46:07
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah. He's never heard of it.
00:46:08
RICK JAMES
Look at you trailblazers.
00:46:10
snowjobspodcast
That's it. Trailblazers. You heard it from here first. Coastal doing it.
00:46:15
Jack _ Meghan
Jordan to come back.
00:46:15
RICK JAMES
what better What better company? Coastal. There you go.
00:46:17
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:46:18
snowjobspodcast
There you go.
00:46:18
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah. Cool. So that's it, baby.
00:46:19
snowjobspodcast
Love it.
00:46:19
Jack _ Meghan
You know what I mean?
00:46:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:46:20
Jack _ Meghan
It's going to be an experiment.
00:46:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:46:22
snowjobspodcast
Love it. That's great.
00:46:24
Jack _ Meghan
I can't promise you it's going to work, but we'll we'll give it help.
00:46:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it's wet.
00:46:28
Jack _ Meghan
That's all.
00:46:28
RICK JAMES
It's water. It'll work.
00:46:29
Jack _ Meghan
ever I mean, you know, I think the biggest problem is going to be this, you know, what we suck in with the water, you know, seaweed, litter.
00:46:36
RICK JAMES
Oh, I just put a screen.
00:46:36
snowjobspodcast
Yep. A dolphin.
00:46:38
RICK JAMES
Just put a scut dolphin. You just get a screen. You just get a screen. I mean,
00:46:43
Jack _ Meghan
Don't worry about the shark, just throw it over.
00:46:45
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:46:45
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:46:45
snowjobspodcast
Well, they wouldn't. I'll tell you, nobody's worried about sharks these days getting sucked up. Everybody's screaming. Get them out of the swimming areas. So you so you you do something to a shark. You'll be all right.
00:46:54
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:55
RICK JAMES
yeah I mean, like around around here, all summer, all these construction companies, they'll just their water trucks would go by a creek where everyone just suck up, you know, fill their trucks.
00:46:55
snowjobspodcast
Dolphin, though. I don't know if you could maybe put.
00:47:04
RICK JAMES
All they do is have a big screen on them, you know, so it's so they don't.
00:47:06
snowjobspodcast
You can't do that here.
00:47:06
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:47:08
RICK JAMES
But.
00:47:09
snowjobspodcast
You can't do that here.
00:47:10
RICK JAMES
Can't do what.
00:47:11
snowjobspodcast
You can't just pull up to a stream and draft out of it like as a contractor.
00:47:15
Jack _ Meghan
Well, can you?
00:47:15
RICK JAMES
Don't you live in America?
00:47:17
snowjobspodcast
Uh, can't do it.
00:47:17
Jack _ Meghan
you see me and sort What can you do in New York?
00:47:18
snowjobspodcast
DC, baby.
00:47:21
snowjobspodcast
Not much, not much.
00:47:22
Jack _ Meghan
it yeah of I got a buddy of mine that that's in New York and oh my God, this stuff he tells me is just ridiculous.
00:47:23
snowjobspodcast
You can pay a lot of taxes.
00:47:23
RICK JAMES
yeah Wow.
00:47:24
snowjobspodcast
ah but Yeah.
00:47:26
RICK JAMES
Why do you live there?
00:47:27
snowjobspodcast
Well, trust me, I don't want to be here, but.
00:47:35
snowjobspodcast
Oh, yeah.
00:47:36
Jack _ Meghan
yeah and make it impossible for you guys to do business.
00:47:37
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Doyle will tell you, Doyle got like the cops called on him or something for drafting with out of a stream with his hydro seater.
00:47:45
RICK JAMES
Oh, hydro city. Yeah. You told me about that. I don't know for that.
00:47:47
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:47:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah. I was a neighbor that called in or some, some guys.
00:47:49
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, they get pissed off. All it takes is a phone call. And that's it.
00:47:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Don't take water.
00:47:55
snowjobspodcast
Karen's. No, don't don't take water out of a stream.
00:47:56
Jack _ Meghan
wow Can you get a meter from the from the fire hydrant and run inside?
00:48:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:48:01
snowjobspodcast
Uh, yeah, you can.
00:48:02
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:48:04
snowjobspodcast
But like it's it's funny here because where you have hydrants, the water district, um you're supposed to register first with them and ask their permission and they will give you water from, you know, from wherever you want.
00:48:16
snowjobspodcast
But um It's a, it's more of a hassle than anything. We don't, in our area, we don't do any jobs that we're having a truck. Like I can literally go a half a mile back to the shop, a mile back to the shop and get, get filled up again.
00:48:29
snowjobspodcast
If we're hydro seeding or something, it's easier to mix the batch there anyway.
00:48:33
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:48:33
snowjobspodcast
Um, it's not, not a big turnaround. You're talking 15 minute turnaround. So not that bad.
00:48:37
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:48:38
snowjobspodcast
We just drop hoses and go back and top off.
00:48:42
RICK JAMES
Contractors in town here, they just go to the city and they don't like put like $200 deposit down for a meter and they bring it back at the end of the season and they just pay the bill.
00:48:48
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:48:53
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, you can do it.
00:48:53
RICK JAMES
So, you know, but yeah.
00:48:54
snowjobspodcast
You can do it. We had a job out in like three towns away that the highway department was going to do that. They just like, yeah, just come up.
00:49:02
RICK JAMES
Or you just, or just take a pipe wrench and open it up and get what you need and go.
00:49:05
snowjobspodcast
You could do that, too. You could definitely do that, too. But, you know, Karen's going to call on you.
00:49:08
Jack _ Meghan
Who would know?
00:49:11
snowjobspodcast
They're stealing water.
00:49:12
Jack _ Meghan
Who would know? ah
00:49:14
snowjobspodcast
It's not that stuff's not free.
00:49:14
RICK JAMES
You gotta, well.
00:49:16
Jack _ Meghan
but if there yeah
00:49:18
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Oh, we get, you know, that's a, that's a problem.
00:49:20
Jack _ Meghan
Oh yeah,
00:49:21
snowjobspodcast
Do you get yelled at when you flush hydrants in in your area? Do you have? yeah Okay.
00:49:26
Jack _ Meghan
so the department I'm on now, um there's no hydrants. We're all, you know, salt and water, but yeah, we have all tankers.
00:49:30
snowjobspodcast
Tankers. Oh God.
00:49:34
Jack _ Meghan
Before that the department was on before that had all hydrants and we would just go and on a Sunday afternoon Something just go play around we you know, we'd go tag a hydrant Let me get yelled at is this brown water and everybody's water like all right.
00:49:42
snowjobspodcast
Yep. Yep.
00:49:45
Jack _ Meghan
Well, I don't know Yeah You want us to train you know, they all everyone, you know, all fire department is great until you get their water browner I don't tell you not my problem
00:49:45
snowjobspodcast
You turn my white sheets. Brown.
00:49:57
snowjobspodcast
Oh dude, here you have to put out, you have to take out an ad in the paper a couple of weeks before you're going to do hydrant testing. They put signs up all over the place that there's going to be hydrant testing in an area. It's so ridiculous.
00:50:10
Jack _ Meghan
So if the fire department just wanted to train. They couldn't just go tag a hydrant and train.
00:50:14
snowjobspodcast
They can, but if it's in certain areas, they're supposed to notify.
00:50:18
Jack _ Meghan
Wow.
00:50:18
snowjobspodcast
If it's not an emergency situation, it was just for training. Yeah, it's all ridiculous bullshit here. But let's not talk about New York. Let's talk about the giant state of Rhode Island. Let's keep going on that. ah Oh, man.
00:50:31
snowjobspodcast
So what are you guys doing? I mean, you touched a little bit about it on certain sites. What are you guys doing predominantly for contract structures? You're doing a lot of T and&M, you said. ah But for snow, are you still doing T and&M or do you have some kind of seasonal contracts or or hourly, whatever?
00:50:45
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, um there's no T&M for snow, unless it's hauling, hauling or stacking, which doesn't snow, so we don't do that anymore. um ah We're about probably 40% seasonal, 60% per push or per storm.
00:50:57
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
00:50:58
Jack _ Meghan
um The seasonal, we used to be higher on the seasonal, but with a lack of snow, it's getting tougher and tougher to sell it.
00:51:04
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:51:05
Jack _ Meghan
but trying to We're trying a new thing now where it's like a readiness fee, so you pay, you know you give you know You may pay, through if your value if your contract was 100 grand, let's just say, ah you give us $30,000 over five months, and then you pay a reduced operating cost.
00:51:13
snowjobspodcast
yeah That's
00:51:18
Jack _ Meghan
So every time it snows, it's X amount of dollars to plug your parking lot.
00:51:19
snowjobspodcast
worth
00:51:22
RICK JAMES
That's part.
00:51:22
Jack _ Meghan
like
00:51:23
snowjobspodcast
the shot.
00:51:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:51:24
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, especially for any of this dedicated, dedicated machine site and stuff. That's where we kind of want to go because we have to recoup our money.
00:51:28
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:51:30
Jack _ Meghan
You know, we have to be able to, you know, especially in a little snow.
00:51:30
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
00:51:32
Jack _ Meghan
I tell you people, I said, you know, you're insurance, you don't pay if you get into an accident. You pay your insurance every year. We're an insurance as well.
00:51:38
RICK JAMES
Correct.
00:51:39
Jack _ Meghan
So, you know, realistically, if you look at a seasonal contract, whether it snows or not, I mean, you still have 50, 60 percent of the costs.
00:51:48
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah.
00:51:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:51:49
Jack _ Meghan
You got to pay that machine. You have overhead. You have to buy salt. You have to train. You just take your parking lot and so on and so on. So why should we pay for that out of pocket? you know and whole but
00:51:59
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:52:00
snowjobspodcast
preaching to the choir, brother, I hear you.
00:52:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:52:02
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, it's just it's it's ridiculous that no other industry in the country would do that.
00:52:07
snowjobspodcast
No.
00:52:07
Jack _ Meghan
And, you know, we shouldn't do it either.
00:52:07
RICK JAMES
No.
00:52:10
Jack _ Meghan
And we work way too hard. I mean, we are out there in the crappiest conditions, you know, all hours of the night, you never know when it's going to happen.
00:52:15
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:52:17
Jack _ Meghan
We should, you know, we shouldn't have to deal with, with some of this stuff. So.
00:52:21
snowjobspodcast
I agree.
00:52:22
RICK JAMES
We just gotta get paid for what we do. you kelly you know We just gotta be gotta be paid.
00:52:29
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
00:52:29
RICK JAMES
I mean, we're we're on call 24 seven.
00:52:31
Jack _ Meghan
Right, and this is how ridiculous our industry is, that we allow us as vendors allow this, that like i've so I've been on a site last year, it was an office park.
00:52:32
snowjobspodcast
for for five months. ah
00:52:42
Jack _ Meghan
It was nine acres of Class A office, had this massive staircase in the front that had to be hand shoveled, 10,000 square feet of walk, you the the whole story. You need a loader and a skid steer on site dedicated and a sidewalk machine, right?
00:52:55
Jack _ Meghan
And they wanted to pay per storm. So last year I did the math at the end of the storm, what it would cost, it would have paid like $30,000.
00:53:01
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, thirty I was going to say $34,000 per event.
00:53:04
Jack _ Meghan
it wouldn't even come right across to the machine, the machines.
00:53:05
RICK JAMES
yeah No.
00:53:07
Jack _ Meghan
I'm like, who the hell does this? Like, no, this is ridiculous.
00:53:10
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:53:11
Jack _ Meghan
And, um you know, I, I know, I know the thought like, oh, one year the vendor wins, one year the client wins, and then one year it's a watch.
00:53:13
snowjobspodcast
Oh, there are guys. There are guys doing it.
00:53:20
Jack _ Meghan
No, that all needs to go away. You get paid for what you do.
00:53:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:53:23
Jack _ Meghan
So you get paid to set the site up and you get paid if it snows, you know, and then it's is the fairest way to do it.
00:53:23
snowjobspodcast
yeah
00:53:29
Jack _ Meghan
The client pays for exactly what they get. And you're getting paid for exactly what you do.
00:53:34
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
00:53:34
RICK JAMES
Right.
00:53:34
snowjobspodcast
I like it.
00:53:35
Jack _ Meghan
That's the way that we're, you know, pitching it. um
Seasonal Market Challenges
00:53:39
Jack _ Meghan
but do you How do you think some of the reviews have been so-so? um Again, everyone's comparing what we've had for previous years. So all I hear is, you know, oh, well, it doesn't snow anymore. So i they stay away from seasonals as much as they can. I mean, it's getting tougher and tougher to sell. So again, they're they're all going towards core current. So hopefully we get a big year that, you know.
00:54:00
RICK JAMES
yeah that's what they need they need you need a big ear to said everything straight again know and just it's just like saying i you haven't head employees get injured so don't pay workman's comp you know so um Yeah, exactly.
00:54:03
Jack _ Meghan
but sir
00:54:03
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:54:05
Jack _ Meghan
It's our best sales tactic. I've heard a couple of people say that before. its is it will A good winter will be your best sales tactic.
00:54:08
snowjobspodcast
True.
00:54:11
Jack _ Meghan
They'll realize, hey, we do need you.
00:54:19
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, yeah.
00:54:19
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
00:54:21
Jack _ Meghan
Knock on wood, we've never had our workers' complaints. I mean, I just on the page this week, this year? No.
00:54:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you still have to pay. it I mean, but that's different that's different.
00:54:28
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
00:54:30
RICK JAMES
That's different. That's that's not the same thing, you know.
00:54:31
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, well, listen, you know, Bob, I guess, yeah.
00:54:32
RICK JAMES
and Yeah, snow is snow is. Yeah, whatever. I don't I can go out for hours about that shit, so.
00:54:38
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, no, he definitely can.
00:54:39
Jack _ Meghan
and
00:54:40
snowjobspodcast
And he's right. You know, it's 100 percent. You need to pay its insurance, basically. And and it's not cheap insurance. And you're actually getting something for your money. If you're getting dedicated equipment on site, you're getting guys on call 24 seven.
00:54:55
snowjobspodcast
That shit should not be free just because the event is not happening.
00:54:58
Jack _ Meghan
How about the fact that before you even start plowing or even start snowing, we have to stake the property, which I understand in the grand scheme of things is not a ton of money, right? But if it's a couple hundred bucks a site, by the time you drive a guy there, you buy the $100 a stake, you put them in the ground, you do your preseason inspection, you're you know several hundred dollars in, and it could be more depending on the site.
00:55:18
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah, we got sites that are $1,500 in stakes.
00:55:19
Jack _ Meghan
Now you um do that times 40, 50 sites, I mean, that adds up.
00:55:19
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:55:22
snowjobspodcast
It's yeah, it's.
00:55:27
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah.
00:55:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
00:55:29
Jack _ Meghan
It's just I don't know I love this industry, but I hate some of the things that come with it, and I just I don't know I don't like it Hopefully we can try to change it.
00:55:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:55:38
Jack _ Meghan
Hopefully as a you know as a group
00:55:39
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah. No, it's already changing. It really is. The more education gets out there to guys, the easier it's going to be to, you know, could tell guys, Hey, listen, um, this is who not to work for.
00:55:50
snowjobspodcast
And this is how much, when you do your own bidding that you should be getting in your area, everybody's got to be in the same damn
Bidding Process and RFP Issues
00:55:57
snowjobspodcast
ballpark. There can't be four guys bidding a hundred thousand and then one jackass bidding 22.
00:56:02
snowjobspodcast
That doesn't work.
00:56:03
Jack _ Meghan
You know, I just had this conversation that our industry is landscaping in snow and contracting for like, not so much commercial industrial contracting, but my co-motor contracting.
00:56:13
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
00:56:13
Jack _ Meghan
It's the only people that you'll get five bids and you'll have like seven different, completely different numbers.
00:56:21
snowjobspodcast
Wildly different.
00:56:22
Jack _ Meghan
and what What did that guy tell us yesterday about the ceiling? The parking lot, driveway ceiling? Oh yeah, that he got one bid for $1,300 and another bid for three grand.
00:56:34
Jack _ Meghan
you know And one for $2,000. He had five bids and they were like between $1,000 and $4,000.
00:56:37
RICK JAMES
Ha
00:56:39
snowjobspodcast
Go with the middle.
00:56:41
RICK JAMES
ha!
00:56:41
snowjobspodcast
No, yeah it's, you know, for wild bids, some of that is on the the site for not having an RFP that's airtight. Like there there are tools and people that can help you develop an RFP that spells out exactly what you're looking for, level of service wise, scope of work wise. That way,
00:57:02
snowjobspodcast
You can get rid of this guy because you now know what you're asking for. You know that it's we want every sidewalk here to be cleared every two inches. We want every roadway to be done continuously from start to finish and after cleanup. We want this amount of salt you know ah or or this kind of salt, whatever it is. If you spell that all out as a customer in an ah RFP, then you will know very quickly when you're getting bids back if they're actually quoting you on what the hell you're, you know, what you've requested, you know, in your request for proposal.
00:57:34
Jack _ Meghan
right
00:57:36
Jack _ Meghan
So in your guys, um you know, in your sales process and stuff like that, I mean, how many, how many bids that you that or request for, for quotes do you have?
00:57:36
snowjobspodcast
So a lot of it's on the ah RFP, you know, presenter basically too.
00:57:48
Jack _ Meghan
Well, there's like no scope of work whatsoever. Like no actual physical sheet of paper for scope of work.
00:57:52
RICK JAMES
It's a fair amount, fair amount.
00:57:52
snowjobspodcast
we've had yeah we've i mean We've had anything from a very well-developed one that I said, now, this is actually something that somebody actually thought about and had help. They they went somewhere and they got help on this.
00:58:01
Jack _ Meghan
Right.
00:58:03
snowjobspodcast
This is an airtight ah RFP.
00:58:05
Jack _ Meghan
Yep.
00:58:05
snowjobspodcast
They know what they're talking about. They know what they're doing. And those are a joy to work with because those are actually easy to bid.
00:58:11
Jack _ Meghan
hundred percent
00:58:11
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
00:58:11
snowjobspodcast
They're very easy to bid.
00:58:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you know what they want.
00:58:12
snowjobspodcast
It's a wing nuts when you get an RFP. We would like you to blow snow at this spot.
00:58:18
snowjobspodcast
Like that is the way open to interpretation. And that's where you get these widely varying fucking prices.
00:58:18
Jack _ Meghan
100%.
00:58:24
Jack _ Meghan
So the sales process, she's, she's working right now on a new snow for this year. And what did the guy that say today just send the bid? Oh yeah. i Just said he won't even meet with me on site to go over the site.
00:58:34
Jack _ Meghan
He's like, I just want to, I just want the bed. Just send it over. but what Yeah.
00:58:37
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, fuck off. Yeah. Stop wasting my time.
00:58:40
Jack _ Meghan
was this go yeah how do you
00:58:42
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, no.
00:58:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah. but Yeah. there isn't Where do I put this now?
00:58:43
snowjobspodcast
Just send over the bid on what? You're not giving me any information. I haven't even fucking seen the site. You won't walk me through it. And if they don't...
00:58:48
Jack _ Meghan
here
00:58:49
RICK JAMES
I mean, what do I, it's a million questions.
00:58:50
Jack _ Meghan
the bed
00:58:51
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
00:58:52
RICK JAMES
I was like.
00:58:53
snowjobspodcast
Million questions you need. Like if, first of all, that's, that's one of the first things like we've talked about it before. If they call for a bid and it first, they have to meet our criteria. If they're not in my little tiny area and they're not a site that I'm attracted to there, you know, they're getting a flat, no, thank you.
00:59:09
snowjobspodcast
Thank you for the interest. We'll give you the list of three other contractors to call. But at that point, if they do meet the criteria, they need to agree to a couple things. You need a priest, you know, pre ah RFP or RFP walkthrough.
00:59:22
snowjobspodcast
So we can have a couple hours to to ask you these questions, like Jeremy said, and then they have to agree to a bid proposal meeting.
00:59:30
Jack _ Meghan
Right.
00:59:30
snowjobspodcast
If they just want us to throw a bid in, I'm not wasting fucking eight to 10 hours of my time that I'm not being paid for, that I can't even present my bid and show them why it is what it is and how it's better than anybody else's.
00:59:42
Jack _ Meghan
right
00:59:43
snowjobspodcast
You know, so those those are the two things you gotta to get. If you don't get those two, don't waste your fucking time. Cause if they're just tire kickers, that's 10 hours of your time. You're not getting paid for, you're not getting that money back and you could have made money on another job while wasting your time doing that.
00:59:57
snowjobspodcast
So, you know, we can say no just as easily as they can.
00:59:59
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
01:00:01
Jack _ Meghan
I would say 60 to 70% of our clients. and i mean this is like i mean Outside of anything corporate owned, because usually corporate is going to have an actual spec, so I'll take corporate out of it.
01:00:11
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:00:14
Jack _ Meghan
We're bidding some manufacturing and stuff like that locally to our to our state, and there's just no scopes. It's like, well, how do you bid this? like what do you want you know
01:00:21
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it's tough.
01:00:22
Jack _ Meghan
We've developed our um internally like our own like minimum scope. like And we've done it for both landscaping and snow that we're working on right now. It's like, listen, if you're if you're going to hire us, this is what we're going to do.
01:00:33
Jack _ Meghan
you know just Just to try to you know keep standards where they need to be. And you can either agree to it or you don't. If you want less service, you know if you won't let us come back every two inches, we're not coming you know we're not your vendor.
01:00:45
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:00:46
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:00:46
Jack _ Meghan
Because then it opens up the door only for us as well.
01:00:47
snowjobspodcast
You know, something good.
01:00:49
Jack _ Meghan
you know
01:00:49
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, 100% it does. Absolutely. And that's the
Insurance Challenges and Reforms
01:00:53
snowjobspodcast
worst possible thing. If you have a you know a litigation for a slip and fall or something, and you don't have an ah RFP that actually spells out what your responsibilities are, then it's open to litigation.
01:01:04
snowjobspodcast
It's open to argument. It's open to interpretation.
01:01:07
Jack _ Meghan
Right.
01:01:07
snowjobspodcast
And you you know you need to have airtight contracts, airtight you know RFPs that spell clearly out what your role is and what you're responsible for as far as level and scope.
01:01:14
Jack _ Meghan
you can You can have an error RFP or a contract.
01:01:16
snowjobspodcast
but You're still fucked. Still fucked.
01:01:20
Jack _ Meghan
Well, they're going to settle anyways.
01:01:22
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, exactly.
01:01:22
Jack _ Meghan
So you're just going to make it easier for them, you know?
01:01:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ye
01:01:23
snowjobspodcast
Doesn't matter.
01:01:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:01:24
Jack _ Meghan
I mean,
01:01:25
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. They're still going to give you a knock.
01:01:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:01:26
snowjobspodcast
Your, your insurance is going to go up 600%. And, but you know what? Shit. It's almost better. I think to have a slip and fall these days on your insurance, because I think your, your increase is less than if you don't have a slip and fall, they jacket 800%.
01:01:40
snowjobspodcast
No, if you haven't had one in 10 years, you're going way up. So it's, it's all shit, man.
01:01:44
Jack _ Meghan
like with your hum party They haven't had a slip and a fall.
01:01:45
snowjobspodcast
It's all bullshit.
01:01:47
Jack _ Meghan
We're going to jack this up just.
01:01:48
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, these guys look like prime candidates for a big increase.
01:01:49
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah.
01:01:51
snowjobspodcast
We haven't increased them in a long time because they haven't had any slip and falls. They're due.
01:01:56
Jack _ Meghan
I saw an Instagram story today of a contractor with no claims.
01:01:56
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:02:00
Jack _ Meghan
His insurance went up 41%. They sent him a letter.
01:02:03
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:02:04
Jack _ Meghan
41%.
01:02:05
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:02:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:02:07
Jack _ Meghan
I would be i would i'd be at my agent's office the next morning.
01:02:10
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:02:11
Jack _ Meghan
I'd be so mad.
01:02:11
snowjobspodcast
You know, they'll tell you, good luck.
01:02:11
Jack _ Meghan
i
01:02:13
snowjobspodcast
Try finding it somewhere else because in your company description, you do snow.
01:02:18
Jack _ Meghan
ye
01:02:19
snowjobspodcast
And there's about four insurance companies that are still insuring snow riders. So they know they can charge whatever the hell they want. Cause we need it. What do we do without it?
01:02:27
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, I know.
01:02:28
snowjobspodcast
Nothing, you know, where they, they got it. It's basically extortion. You know, they know we have to get it and they, they can charge whatever they want for it. And as more insurance companies drop out, it's only making, you know, the greedier little guys.
01:02:43
snowjobspodcast
Oh, we're going to take more from them.
01:02:45
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah. Oh, well, we're going to jack up even more. Every year, 50%, 50%.
01:02:48
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. I'm angry tonight. It's uh, uh, I'm angry.
01:02:51
RICK JAMES
I love it. I'm going to sit back for once.
01:02:54
Jack _ Meghan
We need to sit down with these insurance companies.
01:02:55
RICK JAMES
I'm not the one.
01:02:56
snowjobspodcast
I'm angry.
01:02:56
Jack _ Meghan
We need to sit down with these insurance companies to tell them, listen, this is enough is enough.
01:02:57
snowjobspodcast
Sorry.
01:03:00
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, it gets to the point of, stop. I told, I argued with my insurance company for hours one day. I'm like, stop trying to um to settle. I go, this is ridiculous.
01:03:11
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, even, listen.
01:03:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ah yeah
01:03:12
Jack _ Meghan
we had
01:03:12
snowjobspodcast
I agree with that fight this shit.
01:03:13
Jack _ Meghan
we have We have one slip and fall on our record. And it was days after a storm, this lady fell. If she took a picture of where she fell, there wasn't a single piece of snow in the entire parking lot.
01:03:25
Jack _ Meghan
There was a penny-sized little piece of ice at her door where she supposedly fell. And I'm like, this is ridiculous. i'm like It was under her car. I'm like, how do you how do you service that?
01:03:36
Jack _ Meghan
So they they like he wrote us and said, no fault to us, but we're goingnna we're going to,
01:03:37
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:03:42
RICK JAMES
Ding you.
01:03:44
Jack _ Meghan
Well, we're we're gonna settle because it's cheaper, you know?
01:03:47
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:03:47
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, well, that's that's their whole game.
01:03:49
snowjobspodcast
They're settling because it's cheaper at all times.
01:03:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:03:50
Jack _ Meghan
I think, you know, actually what would stop a lot of this, if you lose the soup, you have you can be you got to pay for it.
01:03:51
RICK JAMES
that
01:03:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
01:03:58
snowjobspodcast
I agree 100 percent.
01:03:58
Jack _ Meghan
if you
01:03:58
RICK JAMES
Yeah. That's that's what it should be.
01:03:59
Jack _ Meghan
folks
01:04:00
snowjobspodcast
There should be repercussions.
01:04:00
Jack _ Meghan
i've
01:04:02
snowjobspodcast
That's what they should be lobbying in Congress that.
01:04:04
Jack _ Meghan
If I had $15,000 in legal to to defend this stupid argument, you lose, you pay the $15,000.
01:04:08
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
01:04:10
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:04:11
RICK JAMES
yeah that's that's an every that's an every lawsuit thing hey any i'd stop all the false claims of everything in life i mean people can accuse anybody of anything and i don't know yeah i am the snowballie
01:04:11
Jack _ Meghan
Watch how fast all this would all be done. no Yeah.
01:04:18
snowjobspodcast
hundred percent
01:04:23
snowjobspodcast
100%. Yeah, but how are the personal injury attorneys going to afford their private jets and shit that they're always posting? You know, they got to get money somewhere. You're youre youre you're asking to run people out of business, Jeremy. That's horrible.
01:04:36
snowjobspodcast
ah Snow bully lawyer bully. Now I hate lawyers.
01:04:42
Jack _ Meghan
Listen, let's start small, let's start with snow, then we can move on to all the other industries in the company.
01:04:44
snowjobspodcast
but
01:04:46
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah, no.
01:04:47
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Well, but no, there, I mean, listen, frivolous lawsuits. There are people that are literally going out just to fall down and they're making a career out of it.
01:04:55
RICK JAMES
Oh,
01:04:56
Jack _ Meghan
I didn't know grocery stores have a lot of it, too. but yeah And inside I never knew that, so I had a conversation with with one of them, and they're like, yeah, yes know people are always slipping and falling.
01:04:59
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
01:05:06
snowjobspodcast
Oh, sure.
01:05:06
Jack _ Meghan
You know, phones phones action and all that kind of stuff.
01:05:06
RICK JAMES
oh it's ridiculous.
01:05:09
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. You take a bottle of Snapple, you just kind of drop it on the, on the floor, let it break and then just find yourself in the aisle.
01:05:14
Jack _ Meghan
and it all
01:05:15
RICK JAMES
i've I've fallen down a parking lot before and I've never once got, ah, where's the snow contract?
01:05:19
snowjobspodcast
Not what.
01:05:20
RICK JAMES
Where's the snow contract?
01:05:21
Jack _ Meghan
so
01:05:21
RICK JAMES
That's fucker.
01:05:22
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:05:22
RICK JAMES
I mean, how about you take responsibility for yourself?
01:05:23
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:05:25
RICK JAMES
but That's the society we live in where nobody can take, so I'm gonna fucking go off right now.
01:05:27
snowjobspodcast
but
01:05:29
Jack _ Meghan
You know, I to get
01:05:29
RICK JAMES
it's People can't take your responsibility for anything.
01:05:30
snowjobspodcast
Amen. Dude, I.
01:05:33
RICK JAMES
It's ridiculous.
01:05:34
Jack _ Meghan
I went to get my truck last year and during a snowstorm, and I s slipped trying to jump in on ice. And I was like, I'm going to sue the contractor. Like, oh, shit, I'm the contractor. So. yes so
01:05:43
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, but I tell you, though, I think it's it is weird because I think it's all how you were how you were brought up in what environment and stuff, because I have so I have fallen tons of times and I've not once got up saying, who can I fucking sue?
01:05:44
Jack _ Meghan
but
01:06:00
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:06:00
RICK JAMES
i I could really go off right now, but if I do, Steve, you you're going to be so upset.
01:06:01
snowjobspodcast
I got a bruise.
01:06:01
Jack _ Meghan
yeah yeah
01:06:04
snowjobspodcast
Keep it tight, Jack. Keep it tight, bro.
01:06:07
RICK JAMES
and
01:06:07
snowjobspodcast
It's it's late. I don't want to have to edit.
01:06:11
RICK JAMES
god
01:06:12
Jack _ Meghan
system
01:06:12
RICK JAMES
Oh, man.
01:06:13
snowjobspodcast
a
01:06:13
Jack _ Meghan
out
01:06:14
RICK JAMES
Oh, man.
01:06:16
snowjobspodcast
it's dude it's just you know yeah it's a pain but yeah something's got to change it's it definitely has to change but well i think we're on the right course we just the first thing is you got to get got to get guys educated on what they should and should not be working for you know what organizations for what kind of money you know listen they're There are nationals out there.
01:06:36
Jack _ Meghan
This is how you get out here.
01:06:38
snowjobspodcast
If they want to pay you 80 to 85% of the value of that contract and it's and it's negotiated at the right price, by all means do it.
01:06:45
Jack _ Meghan
i
01:06:45
snowjobspodcast
If they want to pay you 25% or 30% of the contract value and they've already knocked the top off the contract because they want to get 100 stores, then that shit, and you should not be working for
Industry Standards and Education
01:06:59
snowjobspodcast
that because that's a race to the freaking bottom.
01:07:00
snowjobspodcast
We've said it 100 times. But if we can educate enough guys that we we've talked about it for months now, there is a changing of the guard now where the industry has recently gotten a lot younger and the younger guys are understanding and they're catching on a little quicker.
01:07:12
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:07:16
snowjobspodcast
Like, listen, there's easy money out there, but it's not the money you think it is, you know, know your numbers.
01:07:21
Jack _ Meghan
And we don't I know we break the broker's balls quite a bit. I will say there are some
01:07:26
snowjobspodcast
We're not breaking balls. We're seriously, we don't like them.
01:07:29
RICK JAMES
but Yeah.
01:07:30
snowjobspodcast
but yeah
01:07:32
Jack _ Meghan
good ones out there. We don't work for for any of them or any nationals. um I do have a friend of mine that's ah a decent-sized management company. He's got a large self-performing aspect as well. And he's like you know we get he takes less than 20% of the content.
01:07:45
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, so he's not a clown. He's an actual broker taking a normal brokerage fee.
01:07:49
Jack _ Meghan
The industry needs that. like
01:07:50
snowjobspodcast
Yes.
01:07:51
Jack _ Meghan
You do need them for, I mean, Walmart, Home Depot, they don't have the ability to manage 5,000 subcontractors.
01:07:57
snowjobspodcast
Sure, they do. They've all done it.
01:07:59
RICK JAMES
They used to.
01:07:59
snowjobspodcast
They've all done it until 20 years ago.
01:08:00
RICK JAMES
They used to.
01:08:01
snowjobspodcast
They've all done it.
01:08:01
RICK JAMES
They used to.
01:08:02
snowjobspodcast
But the Nationals made it easy for them. And I'm sorry, the clowns made it easy for them because they sold them on a bill of goods that didn't exist. But, you know, there are brokers are necessary like the postal service, the post office.
01:08:10
Jack _ Meghan
Right. Oh.
01:08:15
snowjobspodcast
how what What were there? the How many post office did Josh say there were? Gomez, he used that example. but If you're taking a normal brokerage fee of like real estate broker takes 10 to 12%, whatever they get.
01:08:28
snowjobspodcast
If you're taking a normal brokerage fee under 15%, that's normal.
01:08:33
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yep.
01:08:33
snowjobspodcast
That's okay. That you need that for a management fee for their work to cover the work and effort they put in on that. It's when they're taking 50 to 60% that, you know, it's just a recipe for freaking disaster on all levels.
01:08:39
Jack _ Meghan
But they're just taking all the money. its what you know and And they have the least amount of, um yeah, they they don't have any liability.
01:08:46
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:08:47
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:08:48
snowjobspodcast
None of like none of the liability.
01:08:52
Jack _ Meghan
They don't have to do any of the work. They don't have any of them no the capex, none of that kind of stuff.
01:08:54
snowjobspodcast
No.
01:08:56
snowjobspodcast
No.
01:08:56
Jack _ Meghan
All they got to do is sit back.
01:08:57
RICK JAMES
Whoa, whoa, they'll call you and tell you, hey, it's snowing.
01:09:00
Jack _ Meghan
Hold on.
01:09:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we've been we've been out for we've been we've been out for six hours.
01:09:01
snowjobspodcast
Oh yeah, they are very sophisticated. right
01:09:04
RICK JAMES
What do you call me for?
01:09:05
snowjobspodcast
There we go.
01:09:06
Jack _ Meghan
They have various apps that you have to follow.
01:09:06
RICK JAMES
No shit. Oh, fuck their apps.
01:09:09
Jack _ Meghan
do go item um those So, you know, let's know.
01:09:12
snowjobspodcast
Well, listen, just you can do everything perfect.
01:09:13
Jack _ Meghan
hi
01:09:16
snowjobspodcast
You can enter all the data in on their app. And bottom line is they still don't have to pay you. The work has already been done.
01:09:23
snowjobspodcast
You did the work.
01:09:23
Jack _ Meghan
and
01:09:23
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:09:24
snowjobspodcast
You did it perfectly. They don't have to pay you.
01:09:26
RICK JAMES
but she didn't take a picture from the right angle so let them and
01:09:27
snowjobspodcast
And that's right. You, they asked for a picture from 35 degree angle, not 32. You're not getting paid. It's ridiculous. Like, I mean, people have said it. These are sophisticated financial institutions.
01:09:39
snowjobspodcast
They know how, how to withhold payment.
01:09:41
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:09:41
snowjobspodcast
They know how to make it work in their favor.
01:09:44
Jack _ Meghan
So, you know, here's another thing too. A lot of these companies, you know, they don't pay their final payments in July, but they've gotten paid for the final payment in, you know, April.
01:09:51
RICK JAMES
but you didn't take a picture from the right angle.
01:09:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they're they're making interest on your money to make them more money.
01:09:52
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:09:54
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:09:55
RICK JAMES
That's what they're doing.
01:09:56
Jack _ Meghan
hundred They're taking that, you know, cause they're doing so many sites. They're taking that $10 million dollars that that they get and you're going to make, you know, a hundred grand in interest on it on top of the 40% they're making on the freaking contract.
01:10:03
snowjobspodcast
Well.
01:10:06
snowjobspodcast
Well, that's where that's where private equity has entered the game.
01:10:07
RICK JAMES
Right. Yeah.
01:10:11
Jack _ Meghan
Yep.
01:10:11
snowjobspodcast
So private equity is all about making that money. So they're smart enough to say, hey, listen, if you structure it in your contracts to withhold that final payment, that we can make interest on that, however little, or put it in some kind of you know investment for two months, you know we are making money.
01:10:26
snowjobspodcast
they Like I said, sophisticated financial institutions, they know exactly what they're doing.
01:10:31
Jack _ Meghan
And they got, you know, I mean, and it's million.
01:10:31
snowjobspodcast
you know We're snow guys. We're idiots. You know, we're snow guys. We plow snow for fun.
01:10:36
Jack _ Meghan
but so Yeah, that's, you know, that's always, that's always what to do.
01:10:43
snowjobspodcast
Jeremy didn't like that. You're checking out what?
01:10:45
RICK JAMES
No, I'm just I I'm really trying not to say a lot of shit
01:10:51
snowjobspodcast
Listen, you know what? Let's all cool it down for a minute. We'll hit, we'll hit some commercials and we'll be right back. We'll keep going with this. All right.
01:10:57
RICK JAMES
They're not long enough.
01:12:02
snowjobspodcast
All right. We're back.
Weather Services and Forecasting
01:12:03
snowjobspodcast
We're back. We're going to dial it back a little bit. Mellow it out.
01:12:07
RICK JAMES
No.
01:12:09
snowjobspodcast
ah Do you guys use a contracted weather service?
01:12:09
RICK JAMES
I don't know why you always want to mellow everything. let's just Let's just roll.
01:12:15
RICK JAMES
Another expense.
01:12:17
Jack _ Meghan
yeah Yeah, we use a weather rock.
01:12:19
snowjobspodcast
Weather rock.
01:12:20
RICK JAMES
Hey, snow jobs.
01:12:20
snowjobspodcast
That's very popular. Very popular. Oh my God.
01:12:25
Jack _ Meghan
We use... Oh God, what is their name? Weather Pros. Weather Pros, there it is.
01:12:30
snowjobspodcast
All right.
01:12:30
RICK JAMES
Uh.
01:12:30
snowjobspodcast
How, how have Rob been doing? How, how have the boys been Robin, Nick?
01:12:35
Jack _ Meghan
It's been pretty good. I like it.
01:12:36
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:12:37
Jack _ Meghan
I've been out for a couple of years. um i Well, that's...
01:12:39
RICK JAMES
Well, you have got snow, so that's
01:12:42
snowjobspodcast
He said they got 12, 16 inches. They had to be right at least once.
01:12:45
RICK JAMES
true.
01:12:47
Jack _ Meghan
I'll tell you, I like his, he's always like, he's fun with it, you know what I mean? He's always, little, different, he plays scenarios.
01:12:52
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
01:12:53
Jack _ Meghan
That's always fun. um You know, for the price, you can't beat it.
01:12:57
snowjobspodcast
No, it's a great value.
01:12:57
Jack _ Meghan
i mean
01:12:57
RICK JAMES
Right. Yep.
01:12:59
Jack _ Meghan
good, really good value service. um And then obviously we watch the local weather and stuff like that. But you know, I want, we have three major weather channels um in our state and each one of them is always wrong.
01:13:10
Jack _ Meghan
So I basically, I take all three and then I divide and eventually I get somewhere about where it's going to be.
01:13:15
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
01:13:16
Jack _ Meghan
So yeah.
01:13:18
snowjobspodcast
It's hard when you're on that mixing line and your your coastal and stuff.
01:13:18
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:13:22
snowjobspodcast
They can tell you what's coming, but it's really hard to nail down where that line is going to set up of, you know, rain, snow, sleet.
01:13:28
Jack _ Meghan
it
01:13:28
snowjobspodcast
It is.
01:13:29
RICK JAMES
Dude, they say the same shit here in North Dakota.
01:13:29
snowjobspodcast
Dude, I've actually watched them.
01:13:33
RICK JAMES
they Oh, I don't know where that line is going to quite be. It's going to be over here.
01:13:36
snowjobspodcast
It's going to it's going to be right over South Dakota.
01:13:39
RICK JAMES
No, it's like they always all the line could move.
01:13:39
snowjobspodcast
<unk>s It's going to.
01:13:40
Jack _ Meghan
good
01:13:43
RICK JAMES
I'm like, no, it's it can't be that fucking hard.
01:13:44
snowjobspodcast
I think they do cover their bets, but at the same time, like no, all of them, everybody, weather in general, all weather guys, I think they cover their bets, but at the same time, I think it's very difficult.
01:13:48
RICK JAMES
I'm not talking about Rob and Nick right now. I'm talking about the local... local Yeah. Yeah.
01:13:57
snowjobspodcast
It's not, it's, it's interpretation at the end of the day.
01:14:00
RICK JAMES
Who are you?
01:14:01
snowjobspodcast
Why? You can't be fair.
01:14:03
RICK JAMES
we we We're... No, we have to take shots of the weather, man. That's what we do here.
01:14:06
snowjobspodcast
Oh, okay. All right. Well, hold on. Commence firing assholes.
01:14:10
RICK JAMES
We're... What?
01:14:12
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:14:13
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah, you got too much New York in you.
01:14:16
snowjobspodcast
No, no, listen, I think we have a lot of new terms over the last, what, two years?
01:14:16
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
01:14:20
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, there's
01:14:22
RICK JAMES
and Sidewinder.
01:14:23
snowjobspodcast
A lot of new, all those terms are protection terms.
01:14:26
Jack _ Meghan
maybe more.
01:14:27
RICK JAMES
I know.
01:14:27
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, ocean, ocean, what is it? Ocean effect, lake, well, lake effect was always there, but ocean effect is new.
01:14:30
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, shit. All right.
01:14:34
snowjobspodcast
Sidewinder, what was the other one? The reach around or the wraparound, what the hell they call it?
01:14:37
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, this is cool.
01:14:39
RICK JAMES
that's ah That's a different one. That's a different one you're talking about.
01:14:41
snowjobspodcast
ah
01:14:42
RICK JAMES
That's a firehouse term.
01:14:45
snowjobspodcast
ah No, they called the wraparound, right?
01:14:49
RICK JAMES
Sure.
01:14:49
Jack _ Meghan
that
01:14:50
RICK JAMES
Just know what you guys call it.
01:14:50
snowjobspodcast
but so What the hell else did they have? They had like five or six new ones.
01:14:55
Jack _ Meghan
bottle
01:14:55
RICK JAMES
Uh, sounds like another firehouse term.
01:14:55
snowjobspodcast
They had frontogenesis. That was a new one, right? Frontogenesis, baby. Oh, man.
01:15:03
Jack _ Meghan
What they do, I get it. It's, you're pretty mother nature, right? You just, you can't do it.
01:15:07
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
01:15:08
Jack _ Meghan
Um, I just hate the ratings. You know, the, the, the local news are always trying to juice it up.
01:15:13
snowjobspodcast
Oh, yeah, you can't do ratings based weather.
01:15:13
RICK JAMES
oh yeah Oh yeah.
01:15:15
snowjobspodcast
No, leave them alone.
01:15:15
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, it's too much. I mean, they, they, one of the pros, they do a good job. Like I said, you can't beat it.
01:15:20
snowjobspodcast
They do.
01:15:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah. they do.
01:15:22
snowjobspodcast
Robin Nick are great.
01:15:23
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah. Wait till Rob or Nick still got, we still have Nick's phone number in our group call. Wait till he gets out at three in the morning this year.
01:15:30
snowjobspodcast
Oh, in the glacier chat.
01:15:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:15:32
snowjobspodcast
Oh,
01:15:32
RICK JAMES
Cause remember last year, yeah we we added him last year when he screwed up.
01:15:33
snowjobspodcast
oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
01:15:36
RICK JAMES
we want to
01:15:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Well, he will be answered a lot.
01:15:43
snowjobspodcast
I tested them, well how many times last year? I tested them, how many?
01:15:46
RICK JAMES
He said he called him like 80, 88 times or something.
01:15:47
snowjobspodcast
53? 57?
01:15:51
snowjobspodcast
ah Yeah, go ahead.
01:15:53
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:15:54
snowjobspodcast
Don't answer the phone when you're supposed to the year before and I will test your shit every freaking day. I did it.
01:16:00
RICK JAMES
No, they're, they're great. Just love to give them a shit.
01:16:01
snowjobspodcast
They are awesome.
01:16:03
RICK JAMES
Have to.
01:16:04
snowjobspodcast
They're great. Well, we we just, we have that relationship with them. We got to break their balls. It's great.
01:16:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah. Now we got shit.
01:16:09
snowjobspodcast
but
01:16:09
RICK JAMES
Now we got to put Shannon burger in the mix too now. So yeah.
01:16:13
snowjobspodcast
Get what we'll see. i'm I'm looking forward to this winter. Get to compare.
01:16:18
Jack _ Meghan
That's true weather, right?
01:16:19
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:16:20
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:16:20
snowjobspodcast
True weather.
01:16:20
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:16:21
Jack _ Meghan
We bought their climatologies and their, um, uh, snow, uh, snowfall reports.
01:16:28
snowjobspodcast
Cool.
01:16:28
Jack _ Meghan
So far that's worked well for us.
01:16:30
snowjobspodcast
Good.
01:16:31
Jack _ Meghan
Um, the, uh, they you know, um so oh and, yeah, they say they help us out a lot.
01:16:32
snowjobspodcast
They got a lot of information to help you prepare bids. It's, uh, yeah, it's good.
01:16:39
Jack _ Meghan
I'm still trying to understand. It's like a 75 page report they give you or something ridiculous. Like it takes me about three days to get through the whole thing, but yeah.
01:16:43
snowjobspodcast
Mm hmm.
01:16:46
snowjobspodcast
It's a lot of information. It's almost like a snow guy kind of compiled the type deal like it's all this information snow guys would want.
01:16:53
Jack _ Meghan
and know almost take
01:16:54
snowjobspodcast
How do how did they know?
01:16:55
RICK JAMES
with
01:16:55
snowjobspodcast
How do they know? It's crazy.
01:16:57
RICK JAMES
Well, cause he got the zip codes everybody.
01:16:59
snowjobspodcast
That's true to get your zip code. ah Oh, shit.
01:17:04
RICK JAMES
the
01:17:05
snowjobspodcast
What else we got to get through here? What other questions haven't we asked?
01:17:09
RICK JAMES
Well, we can talk to him five and five. Are you going to do that yet? Or what are we doing here?
01:17:14
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, we can hit the five and five.
01:17:16
RICK JAMES
All right.
01:17:16
Jack _ Meghan
I know almost.
01:17:16
RICK JAMES
What do you guys want to see your company on five years? What are you looking for? The whole state.
01:17:23
Jack _ Meghan
The whole state, we want all seven properties.
01:17:25
snowjobspodcast
Want that seventh property.
01:17:27
Jack _ Meghan
We pulled a little bit into Massachusetts and commandeered some of the areas. They got like 10 over there, so.
01:17:32
snowjobspodcast
Oh.
01:17:32
RICK JAMES
Nice!
01:17:34
Jack _ Meghan
No, I don't really know. I think the biggest thing ah we want to do is, you know, we kind of know who our client is now. So to continue to to grow that with, you know, replace some of the work that, you know, is not really our niche anymore, move into those new clients.
01:17:47
Jack _ Meghan
um One thing is we want to develop some key roles within our company. So management style roles to kind of take some of that, um take some, you know, some of the weight off of our shoulders because, you know, basically right now it's me and Megan who does everything, you know,
01:18:02
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, Megan told us she does everything.
01:18:04
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:18:04
Jack _ Meghan
yeah oh yeah
01:18:04
snowjobspodcast
she told it like She literally, she does everything that she told us that.
01:18:07
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
01:18:07
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:18:08
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, everything yeah off oh so she tells me every day jackson's something the yes that's one of the big things is to be able to you know to get that so we can be ready for our next level of growth.
01:18:16
snowjobspodcast
ah That's great.
01:18:23
snowjobspodcast
Okay, cool.
01:18:24
Jack _ Meghan
So that's one thing, ah and I really want to grow our facility side.
01:18:28
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
01:18:28
Jack _ Meghan
I think commercial land will always kind of grow, but I kind of, it's very tough to find employees and give employees for that kind of
01:18:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
Employee Training and Retention
01:18:35
Jack _ Meghan
work.
01:18:35
Jack _ Meghan
I mean, that's a very, it's a very, very tough industry of what we do.
01:18:35
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:18:38
Jack _ Meghan
um So I think we want to grow a little, what's the right word, slower with that, but. you know find be
01:18:46
RICK JAMES
Get the right people.
01:18:47
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, not to hire 10 or 15 guys, because we got to hire a couple guys and find the right guys and develop them.
01:18:47
snowjobspodcast
Sure.
01:18:49
snowjobspodcast
At a time. Yep.
01:18:54
Jack _ Meghan
Because I find now it's easier to hire guys with no experience and train them than the guys with experience.
01:18:59
snowjobspodcast
As long as I got the right attitude, you can teach him anything.
01:18:59
Jack _ Meghan
Because the guys with experience are just stuck in their own way.
01:19:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:19:02
Jack _ Meghan
still
01:19:05
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, we have, you know, we have a couple of long-term employees, you know, shout out to those guys that came to us with no experience and they're driving trucks and they've learned, they never drove a truck with a trailer, they never mowed a lawn before and they're running crews for us.
01:19:18
Jack _ Meghan
you know, and servicing our clients.
01:19:18
snowjobspodcast
Cool?
01:19:20
Jack _ Meghan
So, um you know, the guys, I got this one kid right now, he's a young kid and he wants to learn, you know, so we's we're sending him to get his FERT license, we're teaching him a little bit of irrigation, like, you know, swapping your heads and all that kind of stuff.
01:19:33
Jack _ Meghan
So, and he's hungry, he wants to learn it and to, you know, better himself. you know so But really, I think to grow our facility side, it's that steady year-round work. It doesn't matter to the season, and we still need to change light bulbs and ceiling tiles.
01:19:49
snowjobspodcast
There it is.
01:19:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:19:50
snowjobspodcast
The bread and butter, lightning bul like light bulbs and ceiling tiles.
01:19:50
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:19:54
snowjobspodcast
I love it. Hey, if it makes money, do it.
01:19:56
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:19:57
Jack _ Meghan
yeah i you know if you If you told me in high school that we'd have our biggest part of our company would be you know changing light bulbs and ceiling tiles, I wouldn't believe it.
01:20:01
RICK JAMES
Dornouts.
01:20:05
Jack _ Meghan
but
01:20:05
snowjobspodcast
Dude, laugh all the way to the bank, brother. Laugh all the way to the bank.
01:20:09
snowjobspodcast
That's awesome. So what's been the best decision you've made to get you to this point you're at now?
01:20:09
Jack _ Meghan
it's
01:20:10
Jack _ Meghan
It's a good little niche.
01:20:18
Jack _ Meghan
That's a good one. um Best decision is learning to let go a little bit and let people handle different tasks.
01:20:26
snowjobspodcast
yep
01:20:27
Jack _ Meghan
Why are you looking at me like that?
01:20:28
RICK JAMES
ah's like Who's looking at who here?
01:20:29
Jack _ Meghan
but You know, trying to, you know, to just step take a step back.
01:20:30
RICK JAMES
who's
01:20:31
snowjobspodcast
ha
01:20:38
Jack _ Meghan
you know One of the best decisions I ever made was to go to my first trade show um and and take some classes and learn.
01:20:40
snowjobspodcast
Very
01:20:45
Jack _ Meghan
you know so yeah um so i don't know So it doesn't exist anymore, but it was SNOCON back in 2017 or 2018.
01:20:45
RICK JAMES
What trade show is that?
01:20:46
snowjobspodcast
cool.
01:20:58
Jack _ Meghan
It was in Saratoga, New York.
01:21:01
RICK JAMES
never know
01:21:01
snowjobspodcast
Snow con?
01:21:02
Jack _ Meghan
SNOCON, it was small, very, very small. And they were trying to
01:21:06
snowjobspodcast
Like how to screw snow guys? Like that kind of con?
01:21:10
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:21:10
RICK JAMES
that spread that one was still be going on that show and still be going but
01:21:13
snowjobspodcast
I like wasn't put out of my nationals.
01:21:17
Jack _ Meghan
It wasn't a local snow contractor who, you know, wanted to basically start like a silo and do it like that, you know, ah kind of that kind of platform.
01:21:23
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
01:21:27
Jack _ Meghan
um But it never really caught on and he disbanded. He did like three or four years of it. um But I met some crucial people in my life at that event that I still talk to today and it taught me a lot along the way.
01:21:38
Jack _ Meghan
so
01:21:38
snowjobspodcast
That's great. Where was that? They don't do it anymore.
01:21:41
Jack _ Meghan
No, that was the first one I went to was in Saratoga, New York. And then it was in maybe Albany the next year.
01:21:44
snowjobspodcast
Okay.
01:21:48
snowjobspodcast
Interesting. Got to find out more about that.
01:21:49
Jack _ Meghan
ah And I think there was one in Worcester too. But like I said, they they stopped that like three or four years ago.
01:21:56
snowjobspodcast
Probably COVID.
01:21:58
Jack _ Meghan
No, no, it stopped before COVID actually.
01:21:59
snowjobspodcast
No.
01:22:01
Jack _ Meghan
It was like 20, I only went two years and then it stopped.
01:22:01
RICK JAMES
What's COVID?
01:22:04
snowjobspodcast
It was an excuse for charging 600% more for things and claiming shortages are behind it.
01:22:10
Jack _ Meghan
and and
01:22:11
RICK JAMES
Oh, that's what COVID was.
01:22:12
Jack _ Meghan
not
01:22:13
RICK JAMES
Yes.
01:22:14
snowjobspodcast
yeah
01:22:14
RICK JAMES
i was Never heard of it.
01:22:16
snowjobspodcast
ah but ah Do you realize, like not to get off track, but there's still some places that are using that freaking excuse. We still haven't caught up from COVID.
01:22:26
snowjobspodcast
I'm like, then you're freaking out of business. If that's the truth,
01:22:28
Jack _ Meghan
yeah All the time, these manufacturers and all the time.
01:22:30
snowjobspodcast
Oh, ridiculous. Ridiculous. Oh yeah. we We're still a little behind due to COVID. We haven't caught up yet. Like you suck then. This is over.
01:22:41
Jack _ Meghan
Four years.
01:22:41
snowjobspodcast
Oh man. So what are you guys, what, what are the biggest issues facing snow management industry in your area or in general?
01:22:53
Jack _ Meghan
um I don't want to sign a broken record, but probably the lack of snow lately. Lately has been the lack of snow just because it's, you know, to educate people.
01:22:58
snowjobspodcast
Okay. Hmm?
01:23:01
Jack _ Meghan
They don't want to hear it. You know, they all think it's not going to snow anymore.
01:23:02
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
01:23:03
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. You do need the snow to back it up.
01:23:06
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:23:07
snowjobspodcast
Yep.
01:23:07
Jack _ Meghan
You do. um you know we wouldn't hive and We wouldn't have insurance if houses didn't catch fire and cars didn't crash. you know We'd be like, we don't need insurance. We don't need insurance for it.
01:23:16
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:23:18
Jack _ Meghan
So that that's the biggest. And you know the other one is, like everyone else, again is employees. you know and how How do you attract the right employee? How do you how do you attract employees to begin with? you know you know And the other problem not to get
01:23:27
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:23:33
Jack _ Meghan
political, but the other problem is it makes it easier not to work. so
01:23:38
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, it's too easy not to work.
01:23:38
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
01:23:39
Jack _ Meghan
um on
01:23:40
snowjobspodcast
Yep. No, you're right.
01:23:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:23:40
Jack _ Meghan
You know, these guys who work for these construction companies and stuff, they're like, if I come work for you, I'm going to make just as much unemployment or more.
01:23:47
snowjobspodcast
Yes.
01:23:48
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:23:49
Jack _ Meghan
And then I got a time to pay tax, you know, force these guys to work.
01:23:51
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
01:23:52
Jack _ Meghan
You know, you have to work.
01:23:53
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:23:55
Jack _ Meghan
They're going to make it too easy not to work. And that's the biggest, I think that's the biggest problem labor wise. And then with lack of snow, you know, if you get two storms and you clock in 35 hours for the season,
01:24:04
RICK JAMES
Great.
01:24:05
Jack _ Meghan
They're like, I'm just going to sit home instead of making, because if if you're paying a guy 30 bucks an hour and they work 35 hours, so they're grossing a thousand bucks, their take home is $700.
01:24:07
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:24:15
Jack _ Meghan
And that's all they do. They're like, I'll just sit at home. The $700 is not worth it, you know?
01:24:17
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Nope.
01:24:19
RICK JAMES
All right.
01:24:19
Jack _ Meghan
And, you know, that's, but, you know, again, it all goes back to lack of snow.
01:24:20
snowjobspodcast
No, you're not wrong. You're not wrong. That's definitely an issue.
01:24:26
Jack _ Meghan
So, you know, it is, it is.
01:24:26
snowjobspodcast
You need snow. Yeah. It's kind of snow is kind of important for snow professionals. Got to have it.
01:24:31
RICK JAMES
Little bit.
01:24:32
snowjobspodcast
No, it's true. You got to have it.
01:24:33
Jack _ Meghan
happen it' it's in cycles it's gonna come back that's what I tell everybody I said you know you're gonna have your low that's why this average right that's why you have an average you're gonna have high years you have low years and we're just in that low trend it's gonna come back around and we're gonna go back to average snow so hopefully this year it it starts it I don't want above average I don't want do anything too crazy we had
01:24:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:24:39
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:24:45
RICK JAMES
Mm hmm.
01:24:45
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:24:49
snowjobspodcast
They're saying we're going to get drilled. Oh, whole you know, mark it down.
01:24:58
snowjobspodcast
Coldest fall on record. Here it comes. Like all these freaking things. Oh, Jesus. Have you seen it yet?
01:25:04
Jack _ Meghan
yet it
01:25:05
snowjobspodcast
Oh, falls coming.
01:25:05
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:25:07
snowjobspodcast
Falls coming in late August to early September. I've never seen it this cold this early.
01:25:12
RICK JAMES
La Nina Well No last Last week when I took off I took off at like 4 30 in the morning to hit the tribe up north It was 44 degrees here
01:25:13
snowjobspodcast
What?
01:25:14
Jack _ Meghan
My guys came in this morning with sweatshirts on. It was a little chilly. I will say that. I don't remember August being this chilly in the morning wearing a sweatshirt to come into work. So, you know.
01:25:23
snowjobspodcast
You got an ocean breeze.
01:25:25
snowjobspodcast
It's all good.
01:25:25
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
01:25:34
Jack _ Meghan
44.
01:25:34
RICK JAMES
I mean, not not that, not that anybody gives a shit because we're in the middle of nowhere, but it was, it was 40. It was like, well, it's a little brisk this morning. Yeah.
01:25:41
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. I mean, it's been chilly overnight in the morning.
01:25:44
Jack _ Meghan
oh
01:25:44
RICK JAMES
I mean, you guys don't even get that call in the winter, do you?
01:25:47
Jack _ Meghan
Not really.
01:25:48
snowjobspodcast
Not really. No, that's.
01:25:50
Jack _ Meghan
No, when do you?
01:25:51
snowjobspodcast
yeah Listen, say what you will. It snows here at 44 degrees. We've had snow in 44.
01:25:58
Jack _ Meghan
When do you get your first dorm Jeremy usually?
01:26:01
RICK JAMES
Um, we've, we've had stuff early his first week of October.
01:26:05
Jack _ Meghan
Really?
01:26:06
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:26:06
snowjobspodcast
Fingers crossed.
01:26:07
Jack _ Meghan
thats it You got like a...
01:26:08
RICK JAMES
But I mean, I would, I would say our normal average of probably mid, mid to later in November, you know, really for your first big push.
01:26:08
snowjobspodcast
Fingers crossed.
01:26:08
Jack _ Meghan
like Oh, no, no.
01:26:14
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. How about we go second week in November? Can we schedule that please?
01:26:18
Jack _ Meghan
After the first of the year.
01:26:19
snowjobspodcast
I don't know. two win We need, we need like a couple inches in Fargo, like the second week in November.
01:26:20
RICK JAMES
Oh my God.
01:26:24
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, and Fargo, that's fine. I thought you meant here.
01:26:27
RICK JAMES
Oh.
01:26:27
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no.
01:26:28
Jack _ Meghan
Oh, and Fargo,
01:26:28
snowjobspodcast
I don't want anything on the East coast. No.
01:26:31
RICK JAMES
Oh, what are we playing?
01:26:31
snowjobspodcast
but but
01:26:32
RICK JAMES
The no-snow game over there? We're just going to collect the check? Is that where that kind of snow guys we are?
01:26:36
Jack _ Meghan
i and this one
01:26:37
snowjobspodcast
No, no, no, no, no. I know my winter doesn't start now. Everything's pushed back 30 days.
01:26:41
RICK JAMES
I know. I'm just giving you a hard time.
01:26:42
Jack _ Meghan
i
01:26:42
snowjobspodcast
It's great. I,
01:26:44
Jack _ Meghan
let me finish some
01:26:45
snowjobspodcast
I don't think we got snow actually at all till January 8th last year. I mean, I could look it up on the chart, but I'm pretty sure January 8th was our first plowable snow.
01:26:52
Jack _ Meghan
Is that the same for us, right? Or was it winter? Yeah, I don't think we had anything in December. Definitely not. and then
01:27:00
snowjobspodcast
I think we might have salted two or three times in December, but nothing accumulate.
01:27:02
RICK JAMES
ah you get
01:27:04
snowjobspodcast
Yeah.
01:27:04
RICK JAMES
think it shit yeah
01:27:05
snowjobspodcast
January 8th, I believe was the first plowable event. So I mean, everything has shifted like 30 days. Like you look at September now, September still has 90 degree days. Like it's the new August.
01:27:16
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:27:16
snowjobspodcast
Everything's pushed 30 days where we could have actual accumulating snow, which we have last two years in April.
01:27:18
Jack _ Meghan
So does
01:27:24
snowjobspodcast
You know, April's like, what what's that?
01:27:26
Jack _ Meghan
your winter get extended now or is your winter shortened because of that 30 days?
01:27:29
RICK JAMES
you didn't
01:27:29
snowjobspodcast
No, it's pushed. It's pulling. It just it's extending out where we used to be done by mid March.
01:27:32
RICK JAMES
get shit, yeah.
01:27:37
snowjobspodcast
Like Patti's day was like usually the last snow event around that.
01:27:38
RICK JAMES
I wish.
01:27:41
snowjobspodcast
But now we're getting stuff like I think we had April 1st or so maybe 10 days into April a couple of years ago. And this year we had April 2nd. So it's like, you know, we're we're pushing a little bit.
01:27:50
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, we pretty much wrapped up March 15.
01:27:53
RICK JAMES
I wish. but
01:27:54
Jack _ Meghan
You'll get some nor'easters that will come end of March that will, you know, that could drop.
01:27:58
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, you never know what they're going to do.
01:28:00
Jack _ Meghan
It's gone in two days, you know, it's melted it.
01:28:01
snowjobspodcast
Yeah. Oh yeah. It's gone before it falls.
01:28:02
Jack _ Meghan
it Yeah.
01:28:04
snowjobspodcast
I mean, you got a 20 inch storm that compresses down to four inches by the time they measure it.
01:28:09
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah, so we've got, we've got like, oh, yeah, it's, it's pretty much
01:28:09
RICK JAMES
ah
01:28:09
snowjobspodcast
What do you got?
01:28:11
RICK JAMES
No, I would love to be done by March 15th, that'd be beautiful Fuck we I think we've had some in May.
01:28:15
snowjobspodcast
when What's the latest you've ever gotten snow? Jeremy Fargo may.
01:28:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah Usually use usually usually you clean everything up by a early April man, or you'll get a storm at the end they ever only have to do it all again.
01:28:21
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, that's pretty.
01:28:29
RICK JAMES
So Oh God What's
01:28:29
snowjobspodcast
Listen, I can predict the first snow of this year. I can tell you when I can tell you the day Minnesota is going to get first snowfall, first accumulating snow in Minnesota.
01:28:37
RICK JAMES
that
01:28:39
Jack _ Meghan
What's the date?
01:28:40
RICK JAMES
Let's hear it.
01:28:40
snowjobspodcast
I don't know. Let me call storm real quick.
01:28:41
RICK JAMES
Oh my god.
01:28:42
snowjobspodcast
We call find out when the snowmakers turn it on.
01:28:42
Jack _ Meghan
but yeah
01:28:45
RICK JAMES
Oh.
01:28:48
snowjobspodcast
Getting that baby fired up, baby storm academy. It's real this year.
01:28:51
RICK JAMES
Yup.
01:28:53
Jack _ Meghan
That'll be it.
01:28:53
snowjobspodcast
Are we going to get out there and play Jeremy?
01:28:56
RICK JAMES
Next week?
01:28:57
snowjobspodcast
No, like, I mean, ah over the, like, early winter, we're gonna be able to fly out there and play around at Storm Academy in the snow?
01:29:04
RICK JAMES
No.
01:29:05
snowjobspodcast
No? Alright. Jeremy won't leave Fargo. It's too far.
01:29:10
RICK JAMES
and It's like five states away that you guys are driving. it's so It's like four hours from me.
01:29:16
snowjobspodcast
That's not bad. Four hours?
01:29:17
RICK JAMES
No, I was kidding. I'll go there. I'll go there for lunch break.
01:29:20
snowjobspodcast
Oh, my lunch break. Actually, that's true. Four-hour drive for you is just the next town, right?
01:29:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah, maybe. i yeah that's Next house.
01:29:29
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, that's not a big deal. All right, guys, what else you got?
01:29:33
RICK JAMES
That's the next house.
01:29:34
snowjobspodcast
That's the next house.
01:29:37
snowjobspodcast
I love it. Oh, you guys got anything for us? Anything we missed that we got to talk about?
01:29:44
Jack _ Meghan
o um I don't think so. I think that's pretty much it.
01:29:46
snowjobspodcast
All right.
01:29:47
Jack _ Meghan
Did I miss anything? I don't think so. You've been, you know, so loud in this whole conversation.
01:29:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:29:51
Jack _ Meghan
and
01:29:52
snowjobspodcast
Yeah, Megan, you got to stop talking so much.
01:29:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:29:54
snowjobspodcast
It's, uh, come on.
01:29:55
Jack _ Meghan
No. here
01:29:57
snowjobspodcast
No, she's great.
01:29:59
Jack _ Meghan
I just pulled my hair out a lot more, that's for sure.
01:29:59
snowjobspodcast
What would you do without her?
01:30:03
snowjobspodcast
There you go.
01:30:04
Jack _ Meghan
and mark know honest to god you know she The biggest thing that we have is that client communications.
01:30:11
snowjobspodcast
yeah
01:30:11
Jack _ Meghan
Um, the, the, the most important thing in our industry is, is to keep that line of communication, you know, respond back quickly and all that kind of stuff.
01:30:18
snowjobspodcast
Amen.
01:30:19
Jack _ Meghan
And she hits out of the park and I don't know what I do without it because Lord knows I don't answer my phone. So anyone I've emails and you know, 300 unread text messages currently.
01:30:27
snowjobspodcast
Oh, that's great.
01:30:28
RICK JAMES
ah
01:30:33
RICK JAMES
Oh. All right.
01:30:33
Jack _ Meghan
So, in operate and operate on a 45 business day. Yeah.
01:30:35
snowjobspodcast
There you go.
01:30:36
Jack _ Meghan
Yeah.
01:30:37
snowjobspodcast
um Amen.
01:30:37
Jack _ Meghan
You know, and thank God that we have her to do what she does. So.
01:30:42
RICK JAMES
That's great.
01:30:42
snowjobspodcast
All right. Anything else, guys?
01:30:46
Jack _ Meghan
You know, I think that's everything.
01:30:48
snowjobspodcast
Done. Jeremy got anything else?
01:30:50
RICK JAMES
Nope, I'm quiet to tonight.
01:30:51
snowjobspodcast
All right.
01:30:52
Jack _ Meghan
See you next week.
01:30:52
snowjobspodcast
and so We'll see you guys in a couple of days.
01:30:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we'll see.
01:30:55
Jack _ Meghan
but
01:30:56
RICK JAMES
ah Yeah. Not to be what, three, four days or no? I don't even know what day it is. Day is it.
01:31:02
Jack _ Meghan
ah we
01:31:02
snowjobspodcast
Uh, we're it's Thursday now. So we're one week one week Storm day it's happening All right.
01:31:05
RICK JAMES
Oh yeah. Week, week, week, week from the big storm day.
01:31:07
Jack _ Meghan
yeah
01:31:10
Jack _ Meghan
a
01:31:11
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:31:12
snowjobspodcast
Well guys, thanks for the time. We appreciate you guys coming on. It was good to see you.
01:31:16
Jack _ Meghan
Thank you for having us.
01:31:17
snowjobspodcast
We'll see you soon All right
01:31:18
Jack _ Meghan
Absolutely. I appreciate it.
01:31:20
snowjobspodcast
Well, and we're going to wrap it and I don't know what episode it's going to be. So I'm not going to call it a snow jobs podcast is out. So thanks to Jack and Meg for coming on with us, giving us the time, telling us all about Coastal and all seven commercial properties in Rhode Island that they take care of.
01:31:37
RICK JAMES
Have a SBI.
01:31:39
snowjobspodcast
That's just kidding. Uh, no, they're, they're great people. We had a great time talking to them and, uh, you know, look forward to the next time we hang out. So we will see you guys all next week. Everybody have a great week. Please be safe out there and keep pushing.