Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
S3-115: All Points Property Maintenance, Bridgewater New Hampshire
624 Plays7 days ago
The guys welcome Chris Dyer, owner of All Points Property Maintenance to the show to hear about their growing company and snow operation in the lakes region of New Hampshire
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Snowfall Challenges
00:00:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's get it. Snow jobs nation back again, bringing you episode one 15 of the snow jobs podcast main show powered by top gun back blades as always. I'm Steve, you know, who's with me. My main man from Fargo, North Dakota.
00:01:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy Lindstrom in the house. What's up, Jay?
00:01:03
RICK JAMES
Hey, not much. How about you, Steve?
00:01:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, not much, man. Not much. Sunday night, getting it done
00:01:10
RICK JAMES
Well, hey, it's just a might as well just schedule them all for Sunday night. It seems like that's what we do.
00:01:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
We, we, we work great under pressure, man. We work great under pressure.
00:01:19
RICK JAMES
Just like snow. Just like snow removal.
00:01:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Been a, been a busy week. We both had snow in April.
00:01:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Oh, I didn't this week. You did.
00:01:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, last week, right?
00:01:27
RICK JAMES
You did. I didn't.
00:01:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
What was the last weekend you had snow?
00:01:28
RICK JAMES
ah Yeah. Yeah. I lost Wednesday, Thursday. You had it got yesterday.
00:01:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Friday night into Saturday.
00:01:35
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Friday, Saturday. Yeah.
00:01:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah. Weather guys, weather guys, weather guys.
00:01:40
RICK JAMES
No. we Yeah, the weathermen, they got you.
00:01:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ridiculous, man.
00:01:45
RICK JAMES
They got you. did they They predicted it, though, didn't they?
00:01:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Uh, yeah, actually I gotta give true weather. ah gotta give them a props on this one. That little automated thing you get twice a day that had an inch and a half for whatever on it for 10 days.
00:02:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it kept going up and down from, you know, 0.10 to 1.50. And then, uh, you know, yeah, it was yo-yo and back and forth, but yeah, we got two, I think 2.2 officially or 2.3 officially.
00:02:18
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:02:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ridiculous. And it was all gone by 1 p.m.
00:02:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
It stopped at 9 and, yeah, total race to plow
00:02:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah. It was a race
00:02:26
RICK JAMES
a race to push it, right?
Weather Forecasts and Humor in Snow Removal
00:02:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Some guys got more.
00:02:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
up.
00:02:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was all, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, absolutely.
00:02:30
RICK JAMES
Some guys got more.
00:02:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think some places in New Hampshire they said got up to 7.
00:02:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:38
RICK JAMES
Doyle was pushing right now. He was out.
00:02:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, yeah.
00:02:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, he looked like he had little bit more than us. Maybe he probably had in the 4 range, maybe 4 1⁄2, somewhere in there.
00:02:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:02:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
But yeah, i mean, it was, they started upgrading it that, that like that night, Friday night, like seven, eight o'clock, all three weather sources we use.
00:02:49
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:02:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Something must've come in on the model run because they all started upgrading it. Like, Oh yeah, yeah we're going to go. Cause all week long, it was like coding to slushy inch. And then eight o'clock at night, Friday night, it's supposed to start in like three hours, four hours. they're like, ah widespread two to six. I'm like,
00:03:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah But got it done.
00:03:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah, those spring storms.
00:03:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
The boys covered it.
00:03:20
RICK JAMES
Spring storms, they always seem to, I don't want to say sneak up on you, but they always seem to dump more than you think they would. So.
00:03:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I agree. the it the early what ah The early fall or late fall ones and the the late the early spring ones, always they're unpredictable. it's ah It's tough. But, yeah, it was ah it was very heavy, very wet, and I was not around.
00:03:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
was the first snow I've actually said, screw it.
00:03:43
RICK JAMES
but
00:03:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
You boys got it. I have the utmost confidence. And Matt, Dave, and Brandon ran everybody, and everything got done. got a lot of ah yeah Got a lot of compliments on it.
00:03:52
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:03:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it was ah the boys did good, man. boys did really good. So you have a good week.
00:04:00
RICK JAMES
You gotta love that.
00:04:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we were just putting stuff away. Guys were changing stuff over here. So taking Salters out, you know, taking them off the trucks, putting fifth wheel back on getting get ready for a next season of stuff. So yeah, we've been just kind of ah keep them busy, I guess, returning some lease loaders we had. So yeah, it was a busy week.
00:04:23
RICK JAMES
So just running around a lot. So should have everything squared away by end of this week, I would hope so.
00:04:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
cool
00:04:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah we got to go back to the drawing board we got to get everything broken down again i think uh i think they salted yeah they definitely salted with a couple trucks so gonna have to get those cleaned again but uh yeah we'll we'll get it done it's all good we're in no rush i i still think we might have one more
00:04:48
RICK JAMES
Oh boy.
00:04:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cause it looks like temperatures are dropping again next week and there's a lot of moisture. There's a lot of moisture around, but we will see. Time will tell if the, ah if the weathermen, you know, get it right again. No.
00:05:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, sorry, doctor.
00:05:06
RICK JAMES
ah Oh, did you see his post?
00:05:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah The action figure. I saw his action figure.
00:05:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah, obviously we saw it, we posted it, but yeah, that was, that was pretty funny. That that was, he's embracing, he's embracing, he's embracing it now.
00:05:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was great.
00:05:19
RICK JAMES
So
Interview with Chris Dyer: Snow Operations Insights
00:05:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's all in good fun.
00:05:21
RICK JAMES
Mr.
00:05:21
RICK JAMES
Shannon Berger.
00:05:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
as Absolutely.
00:05:22
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
He's got a great sense of humor. It's all in good fun.
00:05:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah. I love it.
00:05:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man.
00:05:27
RICK JAMES
So.
00:05:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
So what are we doing tonight, buddy? We have Chris Dyer of All Points Property Maintenance in Bridgewater, New Hampshire. He's with us. ah They got a pretty cool operation up there. We've seen what they can do. They posted a reel that we collaborated on with them a couple weeks back.
00:05:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, ah you know, they got they got a nice looking fleet. So we're going to talk to Chris tonight and hear all about their snow operations up in Bridgewater, New Hampshire. But as always, before we do that, let's hear from Team Top Gun, and we'll do our weekend and review quick.
00:06:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. We can review couple things. Got to get out there to you. If you did not tune in to the special announcement that we dropped on Thursday morning, Storm Chasing Episode 1 featuring the legend Rick James and Glacier Snow Management. All right, that is dropping.
00:06:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
We are releasing that Friday, this Friday, April 18th, 8 p.m. Eastern. That will be dropped on our Storm Chasing YouTube channel or on Vimeo. All right, so subscribe to both of those.
00:07:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
You'll get notified when it drops, but it is dropping 8 p.m. Eastern and this Friday, April 18th. Can't wait. ah showed ah I had a couple sample audiences watch it, and they were very not snow guys, and they loved it.
00:07:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it should be very exciting for snow guys.
00:07:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah, pretty excited. Yeah, I would i would and would hope so. Shit, I'm really excited. i so I saw part of it, so um the stuff they showed us, and it was really cool.
00:07:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:26
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:07:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
You did good. You did really good on camera.
00:07:30
RICK JAMES
ah yeah, no, that's fine.
00:07:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Natural.
00:07:31
RICK JAMES
was Yeah, I don't know about that.
00:07:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're the next Mike Rowe, dude. You're the next Mike Rowe.
00:07:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Shit. Yeah, it'd be great.
00:07:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Dirty jobs with Jeremy Lindstrom.
00:07:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah, we could do that.
00:07:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:07:41
RICK JAMES
I'd be all in for that.
00:07:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:07:43
RICK JAMES
So, yeah, no, it was cool.
00:07:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, you did great.
00:07:45
RICK JAMES
Talked to the other night. I talked to Maddie and Matt and Maddie and yeah, they were just finishing up, but finishing and the final draft. So we'll see how it's going to be pretty cool.
00:07:56
RICK JAMES
So.
00:07:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think it looked great. I really did. I was very, very happy with it. It was exactly what I had envisioned. um So, yeah, i can't wait for people to see that. And, you know, it's ah it's been a long road. Our partners in this ah partners in crime in this collaboration, Storm Equipment, I know they've put in a ton of work. They're looking forward forward to dropping and letting everybody see what we've been up to.
00:08:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, you know, the guys out there that are do that are doing the work, the boots on the ground, you know, get them involved and let them show what they can do.
00:08:24
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:08:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it's, it's just great for the industry. So we're excited about it. What else we got, bud? We got storks. As we said, storks, April 26th. There are still a couple tickets left. There are very few. So get them. If you're coming, get them. It's April 26th, Saturday.
00:08:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Stork Snow Alliance Day. ah You don't want to miss that. It's a great time. lot of networking, lot of great food, lot of great snow guys. ah Just an overall great day. And you got that bonus party, April 25th, Friday night.
00:08:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
That should be an absolutely great time. It looks like pretty cool venue, Old train station?
00:09:01
RICK JAMES
Denny looks really cool. Yeah, should be a good time.
00:09:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
but old old trade train station
00:09:06
RICK JAMES
thought that's what Gene had posted.
00:09:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it looked like it it was an old train station that was retrofitted to be a brewery.
00:09:10
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:09:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
That looks awesome.
00:09:13
RICK JAMES
Yeah, no, it should be a good time.
00:09:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
So...
00:09:15
RICK JAMES
Obviously, with all the good people there, it'll be fun. so
00:09:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. So get your tickets to Storks if you are joining us, and we will see you there.
Merchandise and Community Events
00:09:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else? Snowjobsnationstore.com. Get all your swag. The backpacks are back in stock. The Oakley backpacks that everybody was asking for and bugging me about, they are back in stock.
00:09:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Also get your sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats. ah Do we have new hats yet? Not yet.
00:09:41
RICK JAMES
ah What has the new ones?
00:09:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, the new ones.
00:09:44
RICK JAMES
one No, they're not in yet.
00:09:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, not yet. All right.
00:09:48
RICK JAMES
no I guess this week they should be so
00:09:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, they freaking better be. Otherwise, I'm going to call them. We need them. We need them this week, the end of this week.
00:09:57
RICK JAMES
here. um they They said they'll build ship them out.
00:10:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh
00:10:02
RICK JAMES
They weren't too concerned. They're just waiting for the patches. so
00:10:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool. All right. Well, while we in what is it? We trust them. We true we definitely trust them. Media Shack, we trust. We'll get it done.
00:10:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we do.
00:10:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
They'll get it done.
00:10:16
RICK JAMES
You don't. you don't try Yeah, they're good.
00:10:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
I do. No, I trust them. they ah They haven't let me down yet. so And you say they're good, so you love them.
00:10:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I do. Spencer and the crew there doesn't do a great job. so
00:10:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep, they do. They got some business. They got a big business there.
00:10:34
RICK JAMES
Big. think I got Lefty hooked up with him too.
00:10:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:10:37
RICK JAMES
so
00:10:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, well, like I told you, make sure you...
00:10:40
RICK JAMES
storms even do it Storm's even doing stuff with him too.
00:10:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, that that's fine. If Lefty gets stuff through them, just make sure they take out a couple hats for us because that's the only way we'll ever get them.
00:10:50
RICK JAMES
Oh, I'm just going to go there. I'm going to go there and order do some stuff for for us and just build it.
00:10:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's what saying.
00:10:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Put it on him. Yeah, absolutely.
00:10:56
RICK JAMES
Yeah, build it to cushion.
00:10:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
I am 100% in on that.
00:10:58
RICK JAMES
So really nice stuff.
00:10:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is a fantastic, fantastic idea.
00:11:02
RICK JAMES
Really nice stuff. Yeah.
00:11:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Oh, Christ. You got anything else for the week in review, bud?
00:11:21
RICK JAMES
ah No, the webinar?
00:11:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Webinar Tuesday night. that's ah We got the invites out for that for the first one. We're just looking for a little feedback from Snow Guys. um So the the first session, we're going to do multiple sessions so we can get as many guys as possible, get a good sample audience, hear what everybody wants, what their needs are.
00:11:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
That way we can get get it done right for them. ah So that's going to be this Tuesday night. If you if you made the cut for the first one, yeah obviously we're limited. We're limited. ah size-wise of how many guys we can get to to actually hear their comments and let them you know let them have their their time to tell us what their needs are.
00:12:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're going to do probably three or four of these things over the next couple weeks just to get as many opinions and and hear from as many guys as possible. That way, you know the more guys we hear from, the better we can do what we got to do.
00:12:12
RICK JAMES
Do snow guys have opinions?
00:12:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah But yeah, snow guys have opinions. ah They're not often heard, but but we're we're making them heard, so it's good.
00:12:18
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:12:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's good. But yeah, well, that's, that should be good. Tuesday night. No, yeah, that's, that's all we got. You got anything else?
00:12:27
RICK JAMES
I got, buddy. That's all I got.
00:12:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
Growth and Services of All Points Property Maintenance
00:12:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Well, let's hear from our partners real quick and then we'll come back and we'll get into it with Chris.
00:13:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're back. All right, guys. So let's just do what we came to do here tonight. all right. Let's welcome Chris Dyer from All Points Property Maintenance in Bridgewater, New Hampshire to the show. Chris, welcome to Snow Jaws, bud. How are you?
00:13:53
Chris
What's going on guys? Good. How are you? Great.
00:13:54
RICK JAMES
Chris, doing good.
00:13:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good. Doing well. How's your winter been?
00:13:59
Chris
Well, better than the last few. We've ah actually had one.
00:14:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's good.
00:14:03
Chris
Yeah.
00:14:04
RICK JAMES
That's good.
00:14:04
Chris
How about you guys?
00:14:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah ah We did great. Jeremy, not so well.
00:14:09
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:14:09
Chris
I've heard that.
00:14:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Oh, he'll tell you.
00:14:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:14:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
He'll
00:14:12
RICK JAMES
I'll tell you, I'll definitely tell you.
00:14:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
tell you. Yeah, we did good. We did good. very we had like We had Jeremy's winner. We had a lot of tiny events, one to two inches, which is not usually what we get.
00:14:25
Chris
Yeah.
00:14:27
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:14:27
Chris
What are you guys normally like?
00:14:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Normally we're big dumps. Normally we're like, you know, a couple little one to twos, but, you know, normally we're good for at least two to three, you know, double digit storms.
00:14:31
Chris
Yeah.
00:14:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
And we didn't get a single double digit storm for the first time in, I think, seven years.
00:14:38
Chris
Yep.
00:14:43
Chris
Wow.
00:14:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
So normally we're good for 10 plus on a couple of occasions and we didn't get any of them. So.
00:14:49
Chris
It makes a big difference.
00:14:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it was good, but we still were well, we were six inches, six or seven inches over average for the year. So we were up. Did good.
00:14:58
Chris
Not bad.
00:14:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
And this weekend helped.
00:14:59
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:15:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Got an extra two in there.
00:15:02
Chris
Yep.
00:15:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that was nice. How much did you guys get out of this?
00:15:03
Chris
Yep. We got, depending on elevation, about four.
00:15:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you have everything already cleaned up and broken down? Put away?
00:15:11
Chris
We did. Cleaned off, greased, put away, stacked. I mean, trucks washed, neutralized, the whole thing. So, yep.
00:15:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mother Nature's a bitch, dude. She sucks.
00:15:23
Chris
Yep.
00:15:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
But...
00:15:23
RICK JAMES
She always wins.
00:15:23
Chris
Unpack them and load them back up.
00:15:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
did you ah when did you tart When did you start taking it seriously like, shit, this is actually going to be snow?
00:15:32
Chris
Well, it was back and forth between rain and snow for a bit.
00:15:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:15:35
Chris
um Honestly, when it started coming, it was, it it looked like it was going to switch over a lot sooner than it did.
00:15:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:15:45
Chris
And then just stop, but it was pretty much all snow. So
00:15:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
How long did it take you guys to remobilize?
00:15:53
Chris
I had a couple of guys come in early. So hour and a half we'd
00:15:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, that's not bad.
00:15:59
Chris
No, no, no.
00:15:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's good.
00:16:00
Chris
I mean, it wasn't the state. The state was definitely a little bit behind.
00:16:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:16:05
Chris
I don't think anybody was expecting it. So leave we loaded it up and headed out and took care of our stuff. So it was it actually ended up working out pretty well.
00:16:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, the state was way behind here, too.
00:16:14
RICK JAMES
good
00:16:15
Chris
Yeah, the roads were mess.
00:16:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
though they were They were not out on the interstates at all until, I think, 5, 530 in the morning, and by then there was already like four inches for a couple hours on the roads.
00:16:25
Chris
Yep.
00:16:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was not good.
00:16:27
Chris
Yep.
00:16:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
hu Well, we're over that at least, but Jeremy, you want to take us away, bub?
00:16:34
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you bet. Hey, Chris, don't you tell everybody about all points, property maintenance, where any guys got started and what you're all about.
00:16:42
Chris
Yeah. Um, so started in 2014, uh, just myself, uh, started off, um, pretty much doing lawns and then that winter got into snow with, uh, uh, extended cab 1500 Chevy.
00:16:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:16:59
Chris
Uh, yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. It was, uh, it did the job that first year. Um, but since then, uh, kinda, uh, grow as, as demanded, I guess, try not to, to grow outside.
00:17:13
Chris
Um, what's, what's demanded for us from us.
00:17:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm hmm.
00:17:18
Chris
Um, yeah, so started 14, got everything rolling, uh, picked up a couple employees a little bit after that. Um, we've got 20, little over, I think it's 21 guys, 22 guys now, including off office staff and stuff.
00:17:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:17:35
RICK JAMES
Well.
00:17:36
Chris
Um, My wife ended up leaving her job three years ago now. So that that was a complete game changer for the office side. And and yeah, just been giving it hell.
00:17:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's very cool. Awesome.
00:17:48
Chris
So we do everything everything from lawn maintenance, excavation, hardscape. We have a construction division. um So we we run the gamut.
00:18:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:18:01
RICK JAMES
well
00:18:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
what Let me ask you a question.
00:18:01
Chris
Yeah.
00:18:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
What plow did you have on that 1500? No, no, no,
00:18:06
Chris
Don't give me too much shit here.
00:18:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
no, no.
00:18:09
Chris
it was a It was an old piece of crap, residential Fisher.
00:18:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. That's okay.
00:18:17
Chris
Yeah.
00:18:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
I was just going to say, like, I've seen guys, like, try and put, like, full-size commercial truck plows on fifteen hundreds It doesn't go well.
00:18:24
RICK JAMES
That doesn't get wrong.
00:18:24
Chris
Nope, not at all.
00:18:25
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:18:26
Chris
Nope.
00:18:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's great.
00:18:29
Chris
Nope.
00:18:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you, man. So how long was it till how long was it from, you know, you with that 1500 to, you know, you add in your second truck?
00:18:37
Chris
ah Well, one one year. One year, i'd yeah, I couldn't do it with that anymore.
00:18:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
One year. Good for you.
00:18:42
Chris
So I went out and bought a dump truck and another extended cab and kept rolling from there. We got, don't know.
00:18:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
So you doubled in one year. Good for you.
00:18:52
Chris
Yep.
00:18:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:18:53
Chris
Yep.
00:18:53
RICK JAMES
What did you do that first year? where you just Were you just doing residentials were you doing some commercials or what were you doing?
00:18:58
Chris
No, i actually i have ah I have a buddy who owns a fairly large outfit. So he hooked me up with a kind of slid me in the door, give me a little helping hand on getting started and kind of took off from there.
00:19:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:19:11
Chris
Got one commercial
00:19:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
Snow Patterns and Operational Challenges
00:19:12
Chris
and then built up off that.
00:19:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great. Good for you.
00:19:15
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:19:16
Chris
Yeah.
00:19:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's really cool. So what areas do you guys cover around bridge Bridgewater? Like how, what's your radius? How far do you go?
00:19:24
Chris
So we're like Bridgewater is right in the center, pretty much of New Hampshire. So we were in the lakes region, um, uh, very seasonal population, um, where, i don't know, 1200 people in the winter and it's over 6,000 in the summer.
00:19:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:19:42
Chris
Um, but we're, we are, we're about 25 minutes from like Meredith Laconia.
00:19:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are you by Winnipesaukee?
00:19:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. Gotcha.
00:19:50
Chris
Yep.
00:19:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you do work there?
00:19:51
Chris
Yeah. We do. So yeah, we we're all around Newfound Lake, Winnipesaukee, Big Squam, Little Squam. i don't know, there's probably 15 surrounding towns that we'll service.
00:20:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a great area to be in when you have seasonal people that are not there every day, but they want work done because most of the time they're willing to pay what what needs to be done, you know, whatever it's going to cost.
00:20:15
Chris
Yep.
00:20:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, yeah, that's nice.
00:20:15
Chris
Yeah, we're very fortunate.
00:20:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
There's a guy up on our lake that has has it like that where he does, he has all sorts of business on the lake and it's just, you know, he does he does a great job, but he can charge basically whatever he needs to charge and that people just pay it. it's It's good when you're in that little niche. Good for you.
00:20:34
Chris
Yeah, they we're we're very fortunate with a really good client base and a lot of them are friends now and build the relationship.
00:20:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good. Yep.
00:20:42
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:20:42
Chris
So it it's, you don't take advantage of them and you build nice trust and it works out really well.
00:20:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope.
00:20:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. That's good. it's always It's always good to be the guy, you know, in those communities. It really is.
00:20:55
Chris
A hundred percent.
00:20:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:20:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
They'll call you for everything, right? Even stuff you don't do.
00:20:57
Chris
You got it.
00:20:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:20:59
Chris
Yep. Oh yeah. We, yep. And we'll find a way.
00:21:02
RICK JAMES
ah
00:21:02
Chris
That's right.
00:21:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man, that's great.
00:21:04
RICK JAMES
So you keep busy with the construction when the snow's not falling in the winter?
00:21:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you.
00:21:08
RICK JAMES
Is that what you kind of do ah when it's not snowing or but
00:21:11
Chris
Yep, yes, we have a full construction side remodels renovations decks pretty much everything to do with that, and then we also do a lot of hard scapes and excavation and then a ton lawns.
00:21:25
Chris
So yeah, we we say there isn't really a slow time anymore, which is.
00:21:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool, man. Good for you.
00:21:30
Chris
and
00:21:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
And that's that's in 10 years?
00:21:33
Chris
Yep.
00:21:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow. Good for you.
00:21:34
Chris
Yep.
00:21:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you guys do like additions and stuff too? Or you just do like, yeah, wow, that's cool.
00:21:37
Chris
Oh yeah.
00:21:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you guys.
00:21:40
Chris
Yep. Thank you.
00:21:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:21:42
RICK JAMES
You said you do a lot of lawns? How's the lawn business there?
00:21:44
Chris
We do.
00:21:48
Chris
It's good. um No, it's it's honestly, it's it's good. it's ah It gets us in and allows us to open up the door to provide services to so to whatever else they need.
00:21:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:22:01
Chris
And that always falls into the construction and the hardscape and the plowing and and everything like that. So it's it's a It's a necessary evil, if you will, but I mean, yeah.
00:22:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
It is. Yeah. The lawns are a gateway drug.
00:22:15
Chris
yeah
00:22:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
They get you into the bigger, heavier stuff.
00:22:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:22:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:22:19
Chris
But yeah, no, it's it's good. we got We got a really, really good couple lawn crews. So it those guys make it really nice.
00:22:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah That's cool.
00:22:27
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:22:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah You got to have the guys, man.
00:22:28
Chris
Yeah.
00:22:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's You got to have the guys that like don't mind doing the lawns and take pride in them, too.
00:22:32
Chris
yeah Oh yeah.
00:22:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome if you can have them because it's tough to find them.
00:22:37
Chris
Yep, for sure. For sure. Yeah, we do a couple hundred a week. So it's, ah
00:22:41
RICK JAMES
Oh, wow.
00:22:42
Chris
it's It's a lot.
00:22:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hell with that. Good for you. I'm glad it ain't me.
00:22:46
Chris
yeah
00:22:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man.
00:22:47
RICK JAMES
So when it comes, though...
00:22:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's your market? What's that? Go ahead, Jay.
00:22:49
RICK JAMES
go ahead.
00:22:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I was just going to what's your market like as far as your annual snow and and what types of storms do you guys get up there?
00:22:51
RICK JAMES
I was just going to...
00:22:56
Chris
Yeah. So, um, annual snow actually. we've got, i know, you guys are always talking about like the snow services guys and the damn weathermen. Right.
00:23:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
00:23:07
Chris
but we We actually, we have a ah local guy, Gene. um He's our our weather guy. So um he actually sent me over some cliff notes on it.
00:23:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:23:17
Chris
What we got up at.
00:23:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank you, Gene.
00:23:19
Chris
That's right. What we got up at Elevation this year. 88 inches up top, but down where we are, we got around 79, 78. seventy nine seventy eight Those storms were all this year, like you were saying.
00:23:31
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:23:33
Chris
I mean, we might have five or six that are six inches and above. So it's a lot of, oh yeah, we, uh, 27 different events this year.
00:23:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, so you pushed a lot.
00:23:45
Chris
um
00:23:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:23:46
Chris
but on the commercials and stuff, you can triple that quadruple that.
00:23:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure. Absolutely.
00:23:51
Chris
So yeah, it's a lot. i mean, the last few years has been rain ice half inch, two inches for the last few. And then this year we actually got a winter and, uh,
00:24:03
Chris
Some of the guys, I think we all, not some of the guys, but we all kind of forgot what it was like to to have a winter again, which was, it was nice.
00:24:10
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:24:10
Chris
Yep.
00:24:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
It happens. It definitely happens. So that's your average, like somewhere between 70 and 80, you think, is your is your annual average?
00:24:14
Chris
Yep.
00:24:14
RICK JAMES
Wow. That
00:24:17
Chris
Yeah, we're right around 85, 90 is the, yep.
00:24:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, okay. All right. So you're even higher than that.
00:24:21
RICK JAMES
would be nice.
00:24:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow, good for you.
00:24:22
Chris
Yep. Yep. And then Northern New Hampshire, like in Pittsburgh and stuff, they're always getting snow. I mean, four or five times a week is couple inches usually.
00:24:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:24:33
Chris
Yep.
00:24:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. That sounds cool.
00:24:34
RICK JAMES
Hm.
00:24:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
For like a month.
00:24:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:24:37
Chris
Yeah.
00:24:38
RICK JAMES
ah You can handle it, Steve.
00:24:39
Chris
Yeah. It's tiring at the end there.
00:24:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:24:41
Chris
We had a couple, couple weeks where we were sleep for a few hours, come back checks another storm that night.
00:24:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:24:50
Chris
But yeah, no.
00:24:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was us in February. In February, it was, you were 24 hours preparing for it, 24 hours dealing with it, then 24 hours retooling and cleaning.
00:24:52
Chris
Yep.
00:25:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then you were right back in the prep for the next one.
00:25:00
Chris
yeah
00:25:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
And yeah it was, I think we were two to three a week, the whole month of February. It was, it was crazy.
00:25:07
Chris
Yeah.
00:25:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Every two to three days we were going out.
00:25:08
Chris
Yeah, it was good. Yeah, it was one of our busiest Februaries I think we've ever had.
00:25:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. Yeah, it was a good, I mean, that i think the Northeast in general, it was a good winner for the Northeast in general.
00:25:15
Chris
Yeah.
00:25:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Most places were above average in both events and snowfall.
00:25:21
Chris
Yeah.
00:25:24
Chris
Yeah, it was nice.
00:25:25
RICK JAMES
That's
00:25:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:25:27
Chris
What about you, Jeremy?
00:25:27
RICK JAMES
good
00:25:27
Chris
How has is that going out there?
Handling Downtime and Equipment Management
00:25:30
RICK JAMES
Not good. I mean, it wasn't a great year again. I mean, I'm not going to complain too much, but I mean i probably will.
00:25:37
Chris
Right.
00:25:37
RICK JAMES
But it wasn't wasn't that last, those last two little events really helped out. But it it was so far. And, you know, we didn't get, think our last snow before this last one was February 8th.
00:25:50
RICK JAMES
So, you know, went quite a while for it. It snowed. So it pretty uneventful. So, I mean, the guys were,
00:25:58
Chris
and
00:25:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
You beat last year's total though, right, Jay?
00:25:59
Chris
but
00:26:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we beat last year probably by about 10 inches or so.
00:26:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:26:05
RICK JAMES
But, yeah, it was ah
00:26:05
Chris
What are you guys doing that downtime?
00:26:09
RICK JAMES
twiddle our thumbs.
00:26:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, they don't handle it well.
00:26:11
RICK JAMES
I don't know. I mean, it's – the guys in the shop and stuff, we try to keep busy on stuff some stuff.
00:26:13
Chris
Get antsy.
00:26:17
RICK JAMES
I mean, you can only wash loaders so many times and sweep the floor. I mean, you just end up fixing stuff that you –
00:26:21
Chris
Taking the paint off.
00:26:25
RICK JAMES
You know, you end up spending lot of money in the shop on stuff that, I mean, it probably needs to get done, but you know, it's not making money. So, but it is what it is.
00:26:33
Chris
Yep.
00:26:34
RICK JAMES
you mean, that's why you gotta to have seasonals so you can get through that stuff.
00:26:34
Chris
sort and
00:26:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:26:37
Chris
Yep.
00:26:38
RICK JAMES
So, mean, it was, we can, yeah we're okay, but it was like, just a downtime on the boredom, I guess is what i'm trying to say.
00:26:39
Chris
Yep. For sure.
00:26:47
RICK JAMES
It's a lot of boredom. So,
00:26:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
And he gets bored easily as it is.
00:26:53
RICK JAMES
yeah, I do.
00:26:54
Chris
I get it.
00:26:56
RICK JAMES
I do. I couldn't even go out east. so Once February hit, nobody out east got it either. I couldn't even go back out there.
00:27:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, Arctic screwed us. Arctic screwed us. Once the Razorbacks went out, ah nobody got snow. It shut us all down. this Mother Nature's afraid of the Arctic Razorback.
00:27:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was it. I think we got that.
00:27:14
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:27:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think that came literally the next day after we cleaned up a storm, and that was it. It shut off like a faucet. We were done as soon as it showed up.
00:27:25
Chris
Couldn't even use it.
00:27:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:27:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, no, unfortunately not. But, yeah, what else you got, Jay?
00:27:31
RICK JAMES
It's always next year, right? Always next year.
00:27:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, always next year. Next year we're going kill it. Absolutely.
00:27:35
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:27:38
Chris
That's always the plan.
00:27:38
RICK JAMES
Yeah. yeah You got to have a plan. Yeah.
00:27:42
Chris
That's right.
00:27:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
What would we do I mean, ah this can't be the banger. You take a take five years, you got two average, two you know one below average, one above average.
00:27:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
just can't be the the banger You know, the banger the last five-year period was 92 inches.
00:27:56
Chris
No, we're overdue.
00:27:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I mean, this 47 can't be, you know, the big one. So I expect probably the same next year. I don't think we'll go down.
00:28:09
Chris
Hopefully not.
00:28:09
RICK JAMES
I assume assume you get the concrete snow out there. Is that what everybody talks about?
00:28:14
Chris
Oh, yeah.
00:28:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah, the concrete.
00:28:16
Chris
Yep. Yeah, it's... a
00:28:18
RICK JAMES
Did he get all any of that this year?
00:28:20
Chris
A couple. Yeah. I mean, ah sometimes by time you get to it, it's set up, man. There's, there's nothing you're doing. I'm studded tire.
00:28:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye
00:28:28
Chris
You can put all the weight, you can, whatever you have, you're, you're not moving it very well. At least it's the trucks don't like it too much.
00:28:38
RICK JAMES
Got you.
00:28:38
Chris
Yeah.
00:28:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
The Sierra cement as ah As he said last week From the sierra the Sierra mountains That's great Sierra cement Northeast concrete Yeah it's tough man that that's then We just had that that That's what this was Did you get the the concrete too yesterday Yeah So
00:28:39
Chris
It
00:28:46
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:28:47
Chris
gets heavy.
00:28:55
Chris
Yep. Yeah. Well, I mean, for a short period it was, and then, I mean, honestly, by, by time we kind of finished everything up, most of it was gone.
00:29:06
Chris
I mean, it was, it was a quick in and out by time.
00:29:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:29:09
Chris
I mean, the state got out there, did their passes on some of the main roads and stuff, and half the stuff was already melted off or on its way out. So it was a race.
00:29:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Once you scraped it once after the sun came up, it was not, you know, it was still snowing like crazy, but it wouldn't accumulate after that.
00:29:25
Chris
Yeah, exactly.
00:29:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:29:26
Chris
The the other grounds can still warm.
00:29:26
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:29:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what the guys were saying. Yeah, the guys were saying, like, once they pushed off the the couple lots that they had to actually scrape, they said it ain't coming back. I mean, it's snowing like crazy, but it ain't coming back. So don't worry about it.
00:29:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
like I'm not worried.
00:29:40
Chris
Yep.
00:29:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm not there. You guys got it.
00:29:43
Chris
That's right.
00:29:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, they were doing it. Oh, boy. So what type of sites do you guys service for snow?
00:29:49
Chris
So we do, ah we do like some post offices, some midsize box stores. um Hopefully next year, I got a couple of bids out for some, some big, big sites.
00:30:03
Chris
We don't have any of those right now. ah But I don't know, 227, I believe residential. And then we got another 25 commercial.
00:30:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:30:17
RICK JAMES
oh
00:30:17
Chris
So we, A little bit of everything. Heavier on the um residential, obviously.
00:30:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
are
00:30:23
Chris
lot of second and third homes.
00:30:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:30:26
Chris
but
00:30:26
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:30:27
Chris
So, yeah.
00:30:28
RICK JAMES
Huh.
00:30:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's that vacation type area. that that that was Are most of those vacation homes, the the summer homes?
00:30:34
Chris
Yeah, probably about half of them.
00:30:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.
00:30:36
Chris
Yep. Yeah.
00:30:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool. Because you got to plow the snow. can't leave Can't leave it on the driveway.
00:30:40
Chris
Yep, got to keep them open.
00:30:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:30:41
RICK JAMES
They come up. Do they come up in the winter up there for skiing or anything?
00:30:45
Chris
Yeah, we're right in the middle of
00:30:45
RICK JAMES
Or I don't even know. it um I'm just.
00:30:47
Chris
but sorry, a ton of ah mountains and stuff. So ski resorts. So a lot of our clients will shoot us a text or call email. Hey, we're coming up. So shoot over and make sure it's all set for them and and and they're good.
00:31:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you do the driveways on like contracts or they, you know, like, ah or do they have to call you to to get you to come out?
00:31:12
Chris
Nope. so so we're ah So our residentials are structured. Uh, per storm, uh, a storm is like up to six inches. That's, that's one.
00:31:22
Chris
And then everything beyond per six is, uh, is another plow.
00:31:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:31:28
Chris
Um, and then of all of our, um, commercials are, uh, seasonal.
00:31:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. Okay.
00:31:35
Chris
We had, uh, one or two or per push.
00:31:39
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:31:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
So are you plowing those those um the vacation home driveways?
00:31:39
Chris
So.
00:31:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are you doing them regardless of whether or not the people are coming up to use the house or not?
00:31:48
Chris
Yep. Yep. We take care of no matter what.
00:31:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. Cool.
00:31:50
Chris
Got to keep them open. If oil deliveries or family comes up, it's always an unknown.
00:31:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:31:56
Chris
So we we treat them like like they're coming up.
00:31:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:31:57
RICK JAMES
no
00:32:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
You shovel the walks too?
00:32:02
Chris
Oh yeah.
00:32:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Full service. Love it.
00:32:04
Chris
Yep.
00:32:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's, yep, same.
00:32:05
Chris
Yep. Ton of shoveling, man. A ton.
00:32:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's that's the game, though, man.
00:32:09
RICK JAMES
wow
00:32:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's a great little niche in those communities, those type communities. It's awesome. And like I said it last week, if you can get in there, even if you're not the guy at first, you you get in there, you show your face, you show you're reliable, and you do what you say you're going to do.
00:32:17
Chris
yeah
00:32:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Eventually, the guy, in you know he leaves or he retires, and then it's all all the next guy up. So it's good. And once you get the market cornered up there, every The people that move in, they're not from the area, so they usually ask somebody, hey, we need this done.
00:32:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Who do we call? Well, we call all points. That's who we use. That's who everybody uses, and they just automatically call you then.
00:32:50
Chris
Yep. Yeah. Word of mouth and and reputation, especially like you were saying, the smaller areas is everything it's, it's everything.
00:32:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it's awesome.
00:32:59
RICK JAMES
So is that the rest residential stuff you're doing the snow? i would assume you're doing a lawn and everything for it too, probably, or for the most part.
00:33:04
Chris
Yep. Yep. Yeah.
00:33:06
RICK JAMES
So, like.
00:33:06
Chris
We generally for all of our, uh, all our properties, it's a full service. We try to kind of bundle everything together for them, keep it easy and you got it.
00:33:11
RICK JAMES
Nice. Lock them in, right?
00:33:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
I was going to say, do you do you do driveways of places that you don't do everything else?
00:33:19
Chris
Not too many, some, but not too many.
00:33:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:33:21
Chris
We try to kind of encompass everything in a, in a full season contract.
00:33:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:33:26
RICK JAMES
Good.
00:33:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Awesome. Good for you guys. Smart.
00:33:29
Chris
Yeah.
00:33:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Love it. Jay, what do you think? Your favorite portion of the Ness leasing equipment segment?
00:33:35
RICK JAMES
You got it. Hi, Chris. It's my favorite segment, as everybody everybody knows. Why don't you tell me about all your equipment you got, everything.
00:33:43
Chris
Yeah. So, um, we're, we got 16 trucks, um, all GMs and Chevys, um, the one ton dumps. Uh, we have actually, we have a Kenworth, uh, six wheeler as well.
00:33:58
Chris
Um, that hauls and stuff when we need removal, um, we're running Fisher, everything, um, steel casters, uh, V blades.
00:34:10
Chris
Uh, yeah, they've they've been super reliable. Um, The little things we know that's going to break, solenoids or shit like that.
00:34:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:34:19
Chris
But knock on wood, we've we've had really good luck with those guys. And a lot of dealers are close to us, so so parts are never an issue. Yeah, hits that part's been really nice.
00:34:34
Chris
Got it a snow raider right now. actually was messaging a guy online earlier to pick up a second one. um that been kind of reluctant reluctant to go that route because we haven't had as much demand on our commercial stuff for it.
00:34:49
Chris
We don't have a ton of big sidewalks, um but we're definitely moving everything that way. the guys The guys love that, obviously. So and anything to make their lives easier.
00:34:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:34:59
RICK JAMES
Yep. Okay.
00:35:00
Chris
And so it's all about efficiency and timing.
00:35:02
RICK JAMES
you know
00:35:04
Chris
So yeah um you guys know it makes it easier, so so we'll do it. um And we got Kubota equipment, skid steers, loader, we're running boss 12 foot push box and a eight foot push box.
00:35:24
Chris
um And then for some of our smaller ones, we we just have a snow bucket, tight, a lot of curbs.
00:35:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:35:29
Chris
So not much we can we can do on those.
00:35:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope.
00:35:35
RICK JAMES
How's the Kubota wheel odor?
00:35:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
I noticed. right
00:35:37
Chris
We have a wheel on the tracks with SSV and SVL. Awesome. ah I got, I mean, I've seen online, some guys complain about underpowered or we have none of those issues. We never a single issue with either one of them, just general maintenance.
00:35:55
Chris
I mean, both of ours will, will outlift themselves. So it's there. They're really good, reliable. So that's, we got excavators and stuff.
00:36:05
RICK JAMES
Good.
00:36:06
Chris
Everything's Kubota. So yeah, it seemed to work out.
00:36:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. Good dealer support in that area.
00:36:11
Chris
ah Yeah, yeah, it's ah it's good. We got a couple larger places and kind of hit or miss, but we've we've got our little niche group of guys that we work with that it makes it easy.
Truck Brands and Salting Operations
00:36:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. Sweet.
00:36:26
Chris
Yeah, it's all about support.
00:36:28
RICK JAMES
yep
00:36:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Notice you said V-blades. Why the V-blades?
00:36:36
Chris
Generally, because some of our driveways are very steep, and once you get that stuff setting up, man, you're not moving shit.
00:36:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. I knew it.
00:36:43
Chris
So, yeah, yeah, it's
00:36:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
I just wanted you to say it for everybody else.
00:36:45
RICK JAMES
so
00:36:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. ah You only make that mistake once trying to attack uphill with a straight blade, trying to get through this a the state DOT berm.
00:36:51
Chris
the first year.
00:36:54
Chris
Yep, oh yeah.
00:36:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah yeah
00:36:56
Chris
Pushes a truck four feet.
00:36:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
I did the same thing. Yep. Stuck for three hours trying to dig it out by yourself at three in the morning. That's not next plow. I buys a V blade. Sorry. I'm telling it.
00:37:07
Chris
Yep.
00:37:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Never look back.
00:37:07
Chris
Yeah. Nope. I think we have one, one of my first straight blades left, but that just sits now. I mean, and once you go to a V, there's not a chance in hell are you going anything else for a truck.
00:37:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:37:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Oh, it's yeah they're they're very versatile.
00:37:21
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:37:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Have you looked at the snow power V yet? yeah
00:37:26
Chris
I have not yet. Nope. well I got, I, one of my guys sends me all kinds of equipment all the time. He's, he's, he's been on me on one, but we'll see.
00:37:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Check that thing out. Yeah. You got check it out at least.
00:37:36
Chris
Yeah, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's yeah.
00:37:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:37:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's nice. 11 foot.
00:37:38
RICK JAMES
What?
00:37:41
Chris
Move some snow.
00:37:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
00:37:43
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:37:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
That it does. it definitely does. That's cool. Let me ask you question about the GMs, because I have GM now.
00:37:46
RICK JAMES
You are not.
00:37:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
The last two trucks I bought are GMs, but we don't have... We have them wired for spreaders, but we don't have the spreaders put in yet.
00:37:55
Chris
Yep.
00:37:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Now, to remove the tailgate on those GMs, you you know the plug, right? Is underneath the like spare tire and shit all tucked away. Absolutely.
00:38:07
Chris
Oh, yeah. were
00:38:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
And there's, correct me if I'm wrong, but there's still no OEM cover when you unplug that.
00:38:14
Chris
It's ironic you say that, man. I have two trucks right now, brand new, that the wiring that goes to the cameras on the inside of the truck, 7,000 miles on them, junk.
00:38:24
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:38:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what I was worried about. that So you just yeah you just answered my question because we have not taken the tailgates off those yet.
00:38:29
Chris
Junk.
00:38:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Those are sidewalk guy trucks. And I'm like, well, listen, next year, it's the one's going back into the fleet, and it's going to have the spreader thats that it was bought with going to be on there.
00:38:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I'm like, how are we going to do this? I'm thinking like 3D printing a cover for it and then just taping it on there somehow.
00:38:51
Chris
Oh
00:38:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because I said, this is going to get screwed up. Like, the second I disconnect that plug for the tailgate and take the tailgate out, it's exposed to all the elements of of the winter, all the salt spray, everything.
00:38:56
Chris
oh yeah.
00:39:03
Chris
Yeah, we we had ours duct tape up and everything and my tailgate sat in my garage.
00:39:04
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:39:09
Chris
It still didn't do a damn thing.
00:39:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
That sucks.
00:39:10
Chris
So, yep, yeah, 700 bucks for the harness.
00:39:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
That sucks. Great. Great. So there's no way to avoid that.
00:39:15
Chris
Yep. Get ready.
00:39:18
RICK JAMES
Oh, jeez.
00:39:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Yeah, I kind of knew it.
00:39:19
Chris
How do you like your GM?
00:39:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
I like the GM. I mean, I really do. I like the GMCs. ah We have a GMC 3500, which is mine until it goes. yeah I usually use it for two years and then I put it in the fleet.
00:39:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
And then um ah we just bought the sidewalk guys, a new 2500 gasser Chevy. And, you know, they love that thing, too.
00:39:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're great trucks. I love them. They're more comfortable. It's definitely a better ride than the Rams. Yeah.
00:39:48
Chris
Yep.
00:39:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
But the Rams, as far as work trucks, we have Rams too. The Rams are hard to beat. you know We got Rams that have not had any problems. and one We still have two thousand two two thousand and fifteen And we have no problems with them. We take care of them. they yeah They only have 40,000 miles on on each of them approximately.
00:40:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, you know, they they have covers when you take the tailgate out so you don't lose all your electronics and shit and your wiring doesn't corrode. And everything's in the right spot.
00:40:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
The other thing I don't like about the Chevys is the Chevys or the GM, whatever you want to call it, Both of them, same thing. You order them with those auxiliary switches, the auxiliary panel, the five five little you know things.
00:40:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
They don't come wired.
00:40:33
Chris
Nope, nothing.
00:40:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
You have to wire those bitches yourself.
00:40:34
RICK JAMES
Nope.
00:40:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is such bullshit.
00:40:37
Chris
Yup. It's pain in the ass.
00:40:37
RICK JAMES
Yup.
00:40:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm paying 80 grand for you know an SLT, and i have those switches on it, and I got to run the wires through the firewall and put the module up on the um in the fucking engine block? Are you kidding me? It's so stupid.
00:40:49
Chris
Yup.
00:40:50
RICK JAMES
Yup.
00:40:52
Chris
Yeah.
00:40:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that...
00:40:52
Chris
The price you pay to be comfy, you know?
00:40:53
RICK JAMES
Four does that good.
00:40:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well,
00:40:54
RICK JAMES
Four does four does that good.
00:40:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:40:56
Chris
Yeah.
00:40:56
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:40:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, so does Ram. Ram gives you a little pigtails. They all come in a bundle, and you just plug the the module already there, and you just plug them.
00:41:02
RICK JAMES
okay.
00:41:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
You wire whatever you want right to the pigtail, and you plug the pigtail into the box, and it's done. Everything's done for you.
00:41:09
RICK JAMES
no
00:41:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's pretty cool. It's all laid out one through six on the switches and one through six on the ah on the box under the and on the engine block, and they they have the little pigtails. Boom, just wire them, pop them in.
00:41:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, yeah, Ram's good with that too.
00:41:25
Chris
be nice on the GMs.
00:41:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
It would. i just, I mean, shit, soon you're going to have to paint your own truck.
00:41:29
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:41:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're going to come unpainted. Oh, you want to paint? No, you got to paint it yourself. We don't do that.
00:41:36
RICK JAMES
oh yeah.
00:41:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Here's the engine. It's in a crate. You got to put it together yourself.
00:41:38
RICK JAMES
At least...
00:41:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
I couldn't believe that.
00:41:42
RICK JAMES
See?
00:41:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
When the switches, I'm pushing the switches. I'm like, hey this ain't working. You know, I got no power to these switches. Well, no, you don't. You got to wire them in yourself. What? What?
00:41:50
Chris
Yep. And the new ones, uh, they don't even have the auxiliary plug for like the cigarette lighter for all just your general accessories.
00:41:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, my God.
00:41:59
Chris
So everything's gotta be hardwired. Any lights.
00:42:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
So stupid. Like, Jesus.
00:42:05
Chris
Yep.
00:42:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, what could that possibly cost and how long could that possibly take to do it? If you're ordering it that way, why can't they wire it?
00:42:14
Chris
Yep. Totally agree, man.
00:42:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:42:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, so those are my only two downsides about the GMs. As far as the ride, you i don't think you can beat the ride.
00:42:23
Chris
no
00:42:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
As far as all three of the the big three, I think the GMs, I think that independent front, i they just they they ride like they ride like Cadillacs. They're theyre beautiful riding trucks. They ride even better when they have a load on, but they ride great even with a load or without a load. rather ah The fit and finish inside, I think, is is pretty much tops for like work truck class.
00:42:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah But yeah, that the tailgate thing, that tailgate thing and the the auxiliary switches just pissed me off as far as a work truck. That's ridiculous.
00:42:53
Chris
Yep, agreed.
00:42:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, sorry. got We got off on a tangent there.
00:42:57
Chris
yeah
00:42:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
But i had to since you have all GMs, I wanted to ask that question because I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear from somebody with that experience already.
00:42:59
RICK JAMES
ah
00:43:06
Chris
Yep, just went in the shop Thursday, so I'll let you know.
00:43:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Shit. Stupid. Yeah, I got a 3D printer at work.
00:43:11
RICK JAMES
hu um
00:43:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm going to try and get them to print up a cap that'll fit it. and We'll see.
00:43:19
Chris
oh
00:43:20
RICK JAMES
how many how many salters you said you got 16 trucks how many salters do you have they all have a salter or you just have them or what do you yeah
00:43:25
Chris
We have 11 Sanders spreaders.
00:43:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:43:30
Chris
Yep. All steel cast.
00:43:30
RICK JAMES
oh
00:43:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they're all steel casters? No polycasters?
00:43:32
Chris
all All of them two. Two of the big ones are poly.
00:43:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:43:36
Chris
Yep. And I mean, those things, chains and your your normal shit from just being in the salt all the time.
00:43:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:43:43
Chris
So, but as long as you keep up on them, they're, yeah.
00:43:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
gotcha gotcha
00:43:45
RICK JAMES
Those are great.
00:43:47
Chris
really reliable good wiring problems sometimes but that's just nature of the beast with
00:43:51
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
Team Management and Technology in Snow Removal
00:43:53
Chris
the salt uh treated salt we we treat our own at the shop um but no no brine or anything yet and we're moving there i've started to look at it as we get larger um commercial stuff but it's a it's a hell of an investment
00:43:53
RICK JAMES
What are you using for salt then?
00:44:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
not pushing you. The state's not pushing you in Lake country there to get your salt down.
00:44:14
Chris
Not yet, it's coming.
00:44:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:44:16
Chris
that's We're trying to kind of get ahead of it a little bit. We have a couple outfits around us that do it, um but where we're just not there yet.
00:44:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:44:28
Chris
Probably within two years, we'll be all set up for it.
00:44:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:44:29
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:44:30
Chris
So we'll...
00:44:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
What do you treat your granular with?
00:44:33
Chris
ah We got a little, um it's like a pet-friendly eco-touch. mixture um actually got got a hookup from a guy that went out of business about don't know 10 years ago and i bought i don't know probably 8 000 gallons of it um so we we we treat that sparingly it works real real well um so yeah we we're still running on that honestly yeah yep works real good and to be honest i couldn't even tell you the mixture but it it's
00:44:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
but
00:44:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:45:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome. Works good. Makes it hotter. Sweet.
00:45:11
Chris
It's awesome.
00:45:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's like liquid plutonium.
00:45:13
RICK JAMES
Just spray your pile with it? Is that what you do?
00:45:15
Chris
Yeah. okay
00:45:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah ah It's like radioactive. It's so hot.
00:45:22
Chris
That's right. It works great.
00:45:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool, man.
00:45:23
Chris
So.
00:45:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool. Yeah, it works, right?
00:45:25
RICK JAMES
So you just spray your pile with it or you you don't you don't spray it on the disc, right?
00:45:27
Chris
Yep.
00:45:28
RICK JAMES
You just spray your pile, assume?
00:45:29
Chris
Nope. Spray it on the pile, turn it It's a do the process, but it's worth it.
00:45:34
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:45:35
Chris
It makes a huge difference. I mean, this year, mean, you guys have talked about it before, but the salt that was coming through was horrible. mean, it was sitting I mean, a solid block after a day.
00:45:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:45:47
Chris
So we, we had to stay right on it, turn the pile and making sure everything was, we have a big salt bin and stuff, but anything that was exposed at all was just a rock.
00:45:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:45:58
Chris
So.
00:45:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I think they were, i think a couple guys have said it, like they were getting into stockpiles that were two and three years old and covered, you know, because they were so low on salt.
00:46:06
Chris
Yep.
00:46:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
So you were getting a lot of chunky moisture filled salt that, and what, what, who said that the salt, they tested the salt and there was salt. The water content was like 14% in the salt.
00:46:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think it was at Brandon LADC.
00:46:20
RICK JAMES
I don't remember who it was.
00:46:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
i think it was I think it was Brandon from LADC.
00:46:23
RICK JAMES
Yeah, maybe. I don't
00:46:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think he said it, that he tested it. That's ridiculous.
00:46:29
Chris
Yeah, it was it was rough, rough year for the salt.
00:46:30
RICK JAMES
know.
00:46:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:46:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah.
00:46:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah How many guys do you guys run during a storm?
00:46:35
Chris
um We got
00:46:39
Chris
11 drivers and eight shovelers.
00:46:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. It's a good size.
00:46:44
Chris
Yep.
00:46:46
RICK JAMES
Nope.
00:46:46
Chris
Yeah. And then more if needed. We got some guys on call and stuff, but that's, that's our core crew. Um, they, they all pull their own weight. It's a, it's a, we ask a lot out of the guys during the storms. Um, but everybody's holds up their end. So it, it works well.
00:47:04
Chris
We always need more though.
00:47:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:47:05
Chris
So.
00:47:06
RICK JAMES
are these your year-round guys that work with you all the time or you have seasonals too okay
00:47:10
Chris
Yep, yep. We keep everybody keep everybody all year round. It's been lucky enough. We never had to lay anybody off or anything like that.
00:47:20
Chris
So no matter what, we keep them busy and and employed. So that's that's been good.
00:47:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:47:25
RICK JAMES
good
00:47:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. You know what? let's ah yeah Let's let Chris get a drink real quick. We're gonna hit some commercials, hear from our partners, and we'll be back.
00:48:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. We're back. Wanted to let Chris get a drink there and collect his thoughts. ah what would What did you say the name of your weather guy was? You guys have a weather guy? You don't use a weather service?
00:48:41
Chris
Correct. Weatherman Gene.
00:48:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Weatherman Gene. All right.
00:48:45
Chris
Yep.
00:48:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
How's he been?
00:48:46
Chris
Yep. Awesome. Spot on. du I mean, the guys.
00:48:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah?
00:48:49
Chris
Yeah.
00:48:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:48:50
Chris
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gene, you're about to become a lot more popular if you're listening because that's a rarity.
00:48:51
RICK JAMES
Ha
00:48:54
Chris
That's right.
00:48:55
RICK JAMES
ha ha
00:48:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's hot on.
00:48:56
Chris
Hey, he's our secret weapon.
00:48:56
RICK JAMES
but
00:48:57
Chris
Don't don't give it all out.
00:49:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Does he just do like he's a local guy that just does your area?
00:49:03
Chris
Yep. Yep. Yeah.
00:49:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, that's the best.
00:49:04
Chris
He's up. He's up in elevation and he does it as kind of like a hobby. And yeah, he's... he's He's key on when it's starting to stop in, when it's going to turn over ah rain or sleet, whatever.
00:49:18
Chris
he's a He's our guy. So, yep.
00:49:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:49:21
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:49:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I can already hear Nick saying, well, that's why he's so good. He's only responsible to do one tiny area.
00:49:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
can already hear him.
00:49:29
RICK JAMES
always there's always a There's always a reason.
00:49:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
I can already hear him do it.
00:49:32
RICK JAMES
There's always a reason.
00:49:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
00:49:33
RICK JAMES
your Excuse.
00:49:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely. That's awesome. Good for Gene.
00:49:37
Chris
Yep, yeah.
00:49:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great.
00:49:37
Chris
fear
00:49:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Does he have like a website or something? are you just, you know, he's just a guy, you know, that does it. So
00:49:41
Chris
No, just ah just a guy. he used to have a little website with like the lake weather and stuff like that. But um yeah, no, he posts.
00:49:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
so you just tell him, call me when it's going to snow.
00:49:52
Chris
Yeah, shoot me a text no matter what time.
00:49:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:49:54
RICK JAMES
is
00:49:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is so great.
00:49:55
Chris
It's nice. he'll He'll do like weather alerts and stuff on our like local Facebook page or whatever for the Newfound Lake area. But yeah, he's a...
00:50:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Does he just do it for you guys or he does it for some other companies too?
00:50:07
Chris
Just for us that I know of, but he also, he'll put it out on like the Newfound Lake page and stuff like that.
00:50:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's awesome.
00:50:14
Chris
So keeps keep local area informed.
00:50:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great.
00:50:17
Chris
It's really nice.
00:50:19
RICK JAMES
That's great.
00:50:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. What else you got, Jay?
00:50:20
Chris
Yep.
00:50:20
RICK JAMES
Your own personal idea. I was going go back to your
00:50:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
I know. All personal weather, dude.
00:50:24
Chris
That's right. Not paying for those weather services.
00:50:24
RICK JAMES
Your equipment. Yeah, I was gonna go back to your equipment. Do you run any snow tires or anything? i so i heard you say you run studs and in your tires, or is that true?
00:50:34
Chris
Yep.
00:50:35
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:50:35
Chris
Yep, yep, studded snows on everything. Everything. it's a
00:50:40
RICK JAMES
Those work pretty good up there, I assume, obviously.
00:50:42
Chris
Yeah, they they do until too many road miles and not so studded tires anymore. i mean, that's a huge downfall.
00:50:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm
00:50:50
Chris
But, yeah, no, ah some of our driveways, you're just not getting up. So you got don't have a choice. So it's it's definitely a must. They don't last forever, that's for sure, but got to have them.
00:51:03
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:51:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Now, you guys in an area like I've seen some areas up there where, you know, in smaller towns where they don't go down to black pavement like the town or the state? They don't they don't take everything down to black pavement. They leave, you know, snow on the streets for the winter if it's going to be. Is that you guys or no, you guys are black pavement again?
00:51:22
Chris
No, we're we're black, we're down to bare pavement on everything.
00:51:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:51:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:51:28
Chris
Yeah, yep.
00:51:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
So you said you can't.
00:51:31
RICK JAMES
Your commercial? Go ahead.
00:51:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, go ahead, Jay. Sorry. Go ahead.
00:51:33
RICK JAMES
would say your commercial lots you have, or those are those pretty high traffic is what I'm trying to say? are they love You're on them all the time, I assume?
00:51:41
Chris
Oh yeah.
00:51:43
Chris
Yep, yep, yeah, autumn. We have a... Um, super, a lot of them are super high traffic. And then we, we do have a 55 or 50 plus community that we take care of, 60, 70 houses. Um, same thing that's everything's about liability. I mean, it's right in our contracts.
00:52:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:52:06
Chris
We're going to take care of it if it's
Future Plans and Business Growth
00:52:08
Chris
fallen. So it's cover our ass and get it done.
00:52:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
the only way to do it.
00:52:12
RICK JAMES
So, so, so all these are doing the stuff we're just using the v blade for the most part, just back dragging or what you're not, don't have.
00:52:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
I agree.
00:52:20
Chris
Yep.
00:52:20
RICK JAMES
Okay.
00:52:22
Chris
V blades and we'll get the snow Raider out. And, and I mean, a lot of them we snow blow if needed, because they're so steep. Um, we'll bring the skid steers out, relocate. Um, yeah, a lot, a lot of it's plowing and shoveling of the driveways.
00:52:37
Chris
Um, and then all of our commercials, we'll have equipment staged where needed, or if one piece of equipment will travel to four or five different locations in that area for the commercials.
00:52:46
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:52:48
Chris
Um, so yeah, it's, Got a little system down, so it's been working well.
00:52:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Awesome. So you said youre your, your commercials, if I'm not mistaken, you said your commercials are seasonals and your, your residentials are per storm, right?
00:53:03
Chris
Correct.
00:53:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay. So we covered that.
00:53:05
Chris
Yep. Yeah, that's...
00:53:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
What else you got, Jay?
00:53:07
RICK JAMES
How about your communication to guys? You guys got to communicate out there?
00:53:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:53:12
RICK JAMES
I was talking about Doyle years ago, and he was always trying to get some two-ways, and he said they didn't work very good in the trees and mountains around there or something. So what do you use, cell phones?
00:53:20
Chris
Yeah.
00:53:21
RICK JAMES
Everybody just knows what to do.
00:53:23
Chris
Yeah, we we we'll end up having about 50 different company group techs throughout the year.
00:53:24
RICK JAMES
er reg just knows what to do
00:53:30
Chris
um But yeah, the walkie talkies and stuff like that, it is it's too dense in a lot of the areas. So it'd be really tough.
00:53:41
Chris
But yeah, phone calls, group calls, stuff like that. We try to try to stay in contact with between the office and they're kind of running the show. I mean, my wife's up here just pulling all the strings and telling us all where to go and what to do and how to do it.
00:53:56
RICK JAMES
OK. Dispatch them.
00:53:58
Chris
So it, it, it works well.
00:54:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. Good for you guys.
00:54:01
RICK JAMES
good
00:54:02
Chris
Yep. Yeah. yeah We went to a kind of a managing software this year, switching everybody iPad.
00:54:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
00:54:09
Chris
So this coming winter will be the first one, everybody on those, which will make it really nice. So I'll truck tracking where you are, um So let the let the client know we'll be showing up a few minutes, move anything that needs to be moved if you're home and get in and get out.
00:54:26
Chris
So
00:54:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
What software did you use? If I'm not, if it's okay to ask.
00:54:29
Chris
for the routing, we have Jobber right now.
00:54:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right
00:54:36
Chris
And then we have a truck tracking system that is Periscope um that kind of lets the office girls know where everybody is and
00:54:37
RICK JAMES
Uh-huh.
00:54:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha.
00:54:48
Chris
And they can, if we get calls throughout the storm, kind of one-offs, people in a bind, they can look at where the truck is, reroute if needed, and kind of take care of it like that.
00:54:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
00:55:02
Chris
Yeah, it seems to work out well. So we'll see how the the tablets work and go from there.
00:55:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:55:10
Chris
What about you guys? How do you, I mean, Jeremy, you got an insane fleet, so...
00:55:15
RICK JAMES
um We run a software in our... We run Verizon for our tracking or, you know, software, and GPS and everything.
00:55:21
Chris
Yep.
00:55:24
RICK JAMES
But then we also have a system with all of our iPads and everything or tablets and everything. It's called IndusTrack. So that's what we use. think they're based out of Minneapolis area.
00:55:35
RICK JAMES
But yeah, it works pretty good. Everything's geofence. And once you get there, you just punch in where you're at or it should see where you're at and you just got to push start plow, you know, so...
00:55:38
Chris
Yep.
00:55:45
RICK JAMES
so it's It's pretty simple.
00:55:45
Chris
Did you get a lot of pushback?
00:55:46
RICK JAMES
and he kind I can pull... What's that?
00:55:49
Chris
Did you get a lot of pushback when you guys implemented all that stuff or but any, or I made everybody's life way easier?
00:55:53
RICK JAMES
No. got Guys loved it. We've had this for... i mean here's a we've had this for how many years we've had it now quite a few years but before that were pen and paper still and you know how you know how that is you you don't that's horrible to go through and it's you find stuff in the summer what are you gonna do bill for it now you find something behind the cow or you know behind the seats or something or like oh i guess we didn't we didn't get yeah i guess we're not getting paid for that so
00:56:06
Chris
Yeah.
00:56:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
awesome
00:56:08
Chris
Oh yeah, man.
00:56:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah oh shit
00:56:18
Chris
receipts down in between the seats and yep.
00:56:24
RICK JAMES
ah yeah So, yeah yeah, I know the guys love it. It's very simple. So, it I mean, the onboarding, you know, there's a lot of work for that. But that's besides that, it was it's definitely pays for itself.
00:56:32
Chris
Right.
00:56:35
RICK JAMES
so
00:56:36
Chris
Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. Yeah. and I know that, uh, I did the ah pen and the paper thing for gosh, six years, I think we're on the schedule. i mean, it It gets a lot.
00:56:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:56:48
Chris
So the automation is key. I mean, all the systems and stuff that we've been able to implement the last year with with adding to the office staff and everything has been a complete game changer.
00:56:59
Chris
It's definitely a must.
00:56:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's cool.
00:57:01
Chris
Yeah.
00:57:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool. ah What else you got, Jack? Anything else for him?
00:57:08
RICK JAMES
do you want to five and five now or all right chris where you like see your company ah going the next five years
00:57:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, we get a five and five.
00:57:17
Chris
Next five years. Um, continue growth. I mean, we've been 35 to 85% growth every year for the last, I don't know, six years, huge jump.
00:57:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
00:57:33
Chris
I mean, one year we were like 110%, um, but huge jump once, once we built our shop and had all the office staff and stuff in place. Um, so just continue growth. Um,
00:57:47
Chris
We built a 36 by 38 shop five years ago, actually. And we outgrew that, man. The first summer we had it.
00:57:58
Chris
So we've we ended up
00:57:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, was going to say, basically, by the time he got the CMO, you outgrew it.
00:58:03
Chris
Yep. Yep.
00:58:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:58:05
Chris
So we bought another piece of property, a couple towns over and off of exit 23, off 93. So we're um in the works to put up a 117 by 70 or 116 by 70.
00:58:21
Chris
Hopefully this year. So that will.
00:58:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice. That's
00:58:24
Chris
That's that's a game plan.
00:58:24
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:58:26
Chris
So yeah, move everything over there and yeah, we'll take daily operations and stuff.
00:58:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
cool.
00:58:28
RICK JAMES
Would you move everything over there then? Yeah.
00:58:33
Chris
We'll still have some stuff run out of here to be more focused around the lake, but that'll give us another avenue to to branch off towards the other lakes more and provided a good service out there.
00:58:45
Chris
So
00:58:45
RICK JAMES
Cool.
00:58:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very cool.
00:58:46
Chris
Yeah.
00:58:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
what's What's been your most important decision in the last five years to get you where you are right now?
00:58:55
Chris
I'll bring in my wife on board, man. Someone, someone that you can, that you can trust and communicate clearly to and not worry about their hurt, their feelings getting hurt throughout the day and, um, can't quit.
00:59:09
RICK JAMES
Really?
00:59:09
Chris
So yeah, no, that's, uh, hands down.
00:59:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
i I'd rather fold up.
00:59:16
Chris
Yep.
00:59:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Just kidding, honey.
00:59:21
Chris
Yeah, yeah, no way.
00:59:22
RICK JAMES
Oh, wow.
00:59:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:59:24
Chris
You're in trouble now.
00:59:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Does she have to be in the truck with you? like ah Okay.
00:59:27
Chris
Nope.
00:59:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right.
00:59:31
Chris
Nope.
00:59:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
00:59:31
Chris
Yeah, no, that was probably the biggest, uh, just get, cause I did everything myself for such a long time, just kind of relinquishing all the daily operation stuff.
00:59:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Gotcha. That's cool, man.
00:59:40
Chris
So yeah, that was, that was that.
00:59:41
RICK JAMES
Do you have like a business background?
00:59:41
Chris
And then the shop, um, she worked for like ah
00:59:44
RICK JAMES
Or?
00:59:45
Chris
um Electronic PCB, uh, company beforehand. So she customer service wise and stuff like that, she's on top of it and processes.
00:59:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
okay
00:59:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:59:57
Chris
So yeah, that's huge jump. Wouldn't be here for sure.
01:00:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
and My wife's good for eight phone calls a day without working for me.
01:00:02
RICK JAMES
No spats at work?
01:00:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
If she was working for me and needed answers to questions, I can't imagine how what my phone call log would look like.
01:00:08
RICK JAMES
Oh,
01:00:14
Chris
Yeah, some days, man, some days, but it it's worth it.
01:00:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, my God.
01:00:15
RICK JAMES
but ah thought gi I thought Gina was only allowed five, he said.
01:00:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, no, that's awesome, man. Good for you.
01:00:23
RICK JAMES
Oh, poor Gina.
01:00:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah Well, yeah, i she I only answer five. Put it that way.
01:00:28
RICK JAMES
okay
01:00:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
She'll call eight. I will only answer five, and then I'll text her. You have exceeded your allotment of phone calls for the day. Try again tomorrow.
01:00:37
RICK JAMES
oh poorina
01:00:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah She's the best. Oh, shit. That's great.
01:00:43
Chris
Yeah. and
01:00:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for you. That's awesome, Chris.
01:00:45
Chris
Thank you. Thank you.
01:00:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's really cool, man.
01:00:46
Chris
I mean, another kind of leading off that to another huge thing was getting guys in place below me that will manage the guys to kind of relinquish some of the other stuff, daily operations.
01:00:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's huge.
01:00:59
Chris
So I got a really, really good friend, and Andrew and
01:01:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, take it off your plate.
Industry Challenges and Economic Viability
01:01:04
Chris
Casey.
01:01:04
Chris
So those guys kind of hold everything down what's going on below me. So it's, it's, it's awesome.
01:01:11
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you got a good crew
01:01:13
Chris
It's everything, man.
01:01:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
You guys do a lot of different things. What's your favorite part of the business of what you guys do?
01:01:19
Chris
um I'd probably say snow and the hardscape and and and the the the end result of all the construction stuff for sure.
01:01:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, cool.
01:01:29
Chris
It's something different in every one.
01:01:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nice.
01:01:30
RICK JAMES
Okay.
01:01:32
Chris
So it keeps us very busy and you're not always doing the same thing. So it switches it up. but It's nice and showing up every day do the same thing. and get monotonous and keep everybody on their toes.
01:01:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, absolutely.
01:01:49
RICK JAMES
If you're around a lake area, I bet you do a lot of cool hardscape stuff out there, huh?
01:01:53
Chris
Yeah. Yeah. It's, we've been lucky to be a part of some pretty cool stuff. A lot of it going on right now as well. So yeah, it's, it's good. It's good.
01:02:03
Chris
and what about you guys?
01:02:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's awesome.
01:02:03
RICK JAMES
That's good.
01:02:04
Chris
You dabbling in any of that stuff?
01:02:06
RICK JAMES
yeah No, no, nope.
01:02:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope. No, we do. ah
01:02:10
RICK JAMES
Our skill set pushing snow.
01:02:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
The most we'll do is installs.
01:02:13
Chris
Yep.
01:02:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's that?
01:02:14
RICK JAMES
and so My skill set is pushing snow and God's juice. That's about it.
01:02:18
Chris
Yep. Nice.
01:02:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
The most we do is like we'll come in after a contractor builds a house and, you know, they just want to turn over, get it done. And then we we take care of the outside. We rough grade, finish grade, topsoil, hydro seed or sod and all the and the the plantings and stuff like that. That's that's about as much as we're doing.
01:02:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mostly land clearing and stuff. I'm kind of I've kind of transitioned in the last three years to go mostly the other way. So, my yeah, because the lawn we were doing, we were doing so many lawns at one point and you know how it was as soon as COVID hit.
01:02:45
Chris
nice
01:02:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Even, even honestly, even before COVID, like 2019 was really the first year where I just said the numbers are not making sense doing bulk lawns anymore. You know, a turf tiger is pushing $18,000 the way we set it up right now.
01:03:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're getting maybe four seasons out of it. And like your mean average lawn, $65. Like yeah these guys are coming back after we're done paying expenses for a four-man mowing crew for five days of mowing.
01:03:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're making a cool $400 profit for the week. Like, you know, I can send the machine out for a day and make two grand.
01:03:21
Chris
ah
01:03:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, like what am I doing with one guy?
01:03:26
Chris
Yep, it's tough.
01:03:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like this is just stupid. We got to rethink this.
01:03:29
Chris
Yep. Yeah, it gets tough.
01:03:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:03:33
Chris
It's... a
01:03:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, i die I mean, I'm older, too, so I downsized a lot looking at like, hey, I'm going to be 50 next year. So, I mean, I might be wrapping this ah wrapping this chapter up soon, especially now with the podcast. You know, you never know how long I'm going to even really want. This keeps taking more and more time. so
01:03:51
Chris
Oh yeah.
01:03:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
And new york New York's a horrible state to do business in. Absolute awful state. Oh, yeah. Horrible.
01:03:57
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:03:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't even know. Honestly, I mean, I don't even know. And this is not even joking. I don't know if you will be able to get snow insurance in New York in the next two years. Like it's so many people are out and they'll just send you a cancellation notice, even if you've never had a claim and just say, hey, we're not doing it anymore.
01:04:08
Chris
Yeah.
01:04:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think there's only two companies that will even talk to you. And it's astronomical.
01:04:21
Chris
That's nuts.
01:04:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's it's tough.
01:04:22
Chris
Yeah, ours has gone through the roof and we've we've never never had a claim or anything on snow.
01:04:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope.
01:04:28
Chris
So it's like, yep.
01:04:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
You're paying for all the guys that have.
01:04:31
Chris
Yep.
01:04:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's ah And basically, there's so many insurance companies have gotten out of it. Now it's almost a monopoly. They know they can charge whatever they want because you need it and they have it. If they're willing to give it to you, you got to pay what they want.
01:04:41
Chris
Yep.
01:04:44
Chris
Yep.
01:04:44
RICK JAMES
right
01:04:45
Chris
You got to have it. So they got you.
01:04:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. But when it comes to the point where it's just not when it's just eating up too much profit just to have insurance that, you know, the way we do things, we're likely never going to need to use the insurance. It just, you get to a tipping point and you're like, what am I doing?
01:05:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, at this stage of the game, I've been doing this long enough, but yeah, we'll see. It's going to be interesting. The next two years, i think is going to be real interesting because a couple more, you had a couple more insurance companies leave New York this year as far as snow.
01:05:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
um And it's, it's only a couple that I know of, so it's going to get interesting.
01:05:21
Chris
Yeah. Thinning everybody out.
01:05:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yep. But, ah you know, i mean, listen, I'm sure there's guys out there doing it with no snow insurance. So, you know,
01:05:31
Chris
Yeah, we've...
01:05:31
RICK JAMES
No.
01:05:32
Chris
You'd
01:05:33
RICK JAMES
No.
01:05:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm sure it could happen. You know, probably at a Walmart.
01:05:35
RICK JAMES
No.
01:05:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Uh,
01:05:39
RICK JAMES
he Are you hes you saying people would drive even just drive around all insurance on their vehicle?
01:05:39
Chris
be surprised. Yeah, yeah.
01:05:45
RICK JAMES
No.
01:05:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah I would, yeah, I'm saying it happens.
01:05:49
RICK JAMES
I don't think so.
01:05:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm saying it happens.
01:05:51
RICK JAMES
Oh my God.
01:05:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh man. So what up there, like, what do you guys experience that you feel are the biggest issues facing the snow management industry?
01:06:03
Chris
Oh man. um Definitely everybody with contracts and and pricing. I mean, period.
01:06:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:06:14
Chris
But I feel like that's across the board and we've we've touched on in past a little bit briefly, but it's a you got guys coming in and doing it for nothing and then you you go in and present yourself and
01:06:25
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:06:28
Chris
show up in nice equipment that's reliable and then you give them the proposal and they almost fall down. and
01:06:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:06:37
Chris
it It makes it really hard on the sell when they when they're comparing. And yeah, that's that's definitely huge.
01:06:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
01:06:42
RICK JAMES
Yeah,
01:06:44
Chris
and And driveways are tough. I mean, it's 25, 30 bucks. It's hard to show up for that. So yeah, that's...
01:06:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:06:53
RICK JAMES
yeah. yeah Yep.
01:06:55
Chris
so yeah that's
01:06:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Can't show up for that.
01:06:57
Chris
That's definitely it. And then, like you said, just a general, the cost of everything, just just to roll out the employees, the trucks, the the equipment, the fuel, the insurances.
01:07:08
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:07:08
Chris
So, yep.
01:07:10
RICK JAMES
Breakdowns, all the fun stuff.
01:07:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, and that's and i mean that's why education is so important and not just education for snow guys, education for the customers, potential customers, like knowing and understanding how much money goes into mobilization.
01:07:23
Chris
Yep.
01:07:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like we had a property management company ask us this. say Why is, know, I said the first payment is due on signature of the contract or November 1st, the latest, or your contract is not active.
01:07:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Why are you guys such sticklers for this November 1st stuff? I'm like, do you know how much money we lay out in advance of the winter preparing for your freaking property?
01:07:44
Chris
Yep.
01:07:44
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:07:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, you know what, you know how much salt I had to order for the entire, for the contract, just for your property.
01:07:44
RICK JAMES
dont
01:07:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, like 10 grand in salt for you, dude. Like, yeah, that first check has to be given to us on so on signing of the contract or by November 1st or your contract is not active. If you get snow on November 2nd, we will not be there unless we have check in hand on November 1st.
01:08:08
Chris
Yep. yeah You got to do it.
01:08:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
And they don't get it. So I think education is definitely education of customers is a key.
01:08:14
Chris
Yep.
01:08:15
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:08:15
Chris
Yeah. it And yeah
01:08:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
If they'll let you, if they'll let you talk to them and just you know say, hey, listen, some of them are great.
01:08:19
Chris
just...
01:08:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, yeah, tell us what we don't know. That's a, we're, we're an open book. When we go in there to a a bid meeting presentation meeting, we show them every cost. Like here's our cost. Here's the margin we put on each cost. It's very respectable margin.
01:08:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
We're not gouging you, but here's our actual costs here. You want documentation on that? No problem. Here's a bill here. Look at the, look at this receipt for, you know, just the service on the one machine out of the three, that's going to be on your property.
01:08:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's preparing it for the season. you know All this stuff, that and we'll show them everything. The snow stakes. like One property's got $5,000 in snow stakes on one of our bigger properties but because they want every square inch stake.
01:09:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know Okay, you want it you can have anything you want, but there's a dollar amount associated with anything that you want in snow.
01:09:05
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm.
01:09:08
Chris
Correct.
01:09:08
RICK JAMES
don
01:09:08
Chris
Yep.
01:09:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, it's cool.
01:09:09
Chris
Yep. man And just laying that all out is, is like you said, it's, it, it can be tough as well. Some just want, want the, want the price, a quick outline and, but yeah, that's, that's by far our biggest challenge.
01:09:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:09:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you have guys in your area that'll listen to you? like Like the low balls in your area, will they actually listen to reason?
01:09:27
Chris
ah Some, yeah. um
01:09:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
01:09:29
Chris
Some kind of doing their thing.
01:09:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
No. Hmm. There's nothing more frustrating than spending like 10, 12 hours preparing a professional bid. You have two to three other companies that come into the presentation and they also have professional bids. They're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
01:09:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know they're professional about it. And you're all within $10,000 of each other on 110, $120,000 contract. And then some jackass comes in at 35. Like what, dude, what the hell is wrong with you?
01:09:55
Chris
Yep.
01:09:56
RICK JAMES
All
01:09:59
Chris
Yep. Yeah, we we had that on a
01:09:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I don't have the overhead you guys have. That's fine. But if you know that, then bid 90. At least you're in the ballpark. You make a lot more money for winning.
01:10:09
RICK JAMES
right.
01:10:09
Chris
Yep, everybody on the same page.
01:10:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know? Idiots. Drives me nuts.
01:10:13
Chris
Yeah, we have Boxstore that was about 145 at
01:10:14
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:10:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
01:10:20
RICK JAMES
Yep. Yep.
01:10:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. That's everywhere.
01:10:22
RICK JAMES
ye
01:10:22
Chris
so
01:10:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's everywhere.
01:10:24
Chris
and then
01:10:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Guys don't understand what they're doing. They're cutting the throats. They're cutting the throats of these contracts, and it took 20 years to get them to the price they're at, and then one asshole lowballs it. And even if he fails in one year by bidding half of that 140, he brings it down to 70.
01:10:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Even if he fails miserably, the most you're going to get out of them the next year is 80 because they're going to like, well, we paid 70 last year.
01:10:44
Chris
Yep. Yep.
01:10:44
RICK JAMES
Right. i
01:10:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, it was shit. All well, we'll pay you 80, but that's high as we're going to go. So that's going to take you another 10, 15 years to get that contract back up where it was supposed to be.
01:10:49
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:10:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
And, you know, you're 10 years behind the eight ball. It's ridiculous. do you Do you think that there can be standardization in snow? Like ah basically, you know, accred actual accredation accreditation rather and an education where you got to pay you you have to adhere to a certain amount of standards?
01:11:14
Chris
I do. I also think that there probably be some guys that will skate under and and kind of avoid those situations. But i think I think even if it's locally, people start getting together and kind of just working together.
01:11:33
Chris
And we're lucky that a lot of the guys in our area, we do do that.
01:11:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:11:37
Chris
So that that's nice. um But just across the board, I think it would be good for the industry to see that.
01:11:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:11:39
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:11:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
we I mean, yeah i think I think it has to be done at a local level um to start at least.
01:11:43
Chris
I know.
01:11:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like you look at like my town. Any electrician that operates in my town has to be registered in the town. Has to be approved. Any plumber but has to be approved. Snow guys, you don't need any approval.
01:12:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know?
01:12:01
RICK JAMES
Nope.
01:12:02
Chris
Nope.
01:12:02
RICK JAMES
Nope.
01:12:03
Chris
I think it'd be really good for everybody and kind of set a benchmark and everybody knows kind of where everybody's at, which I find to me.
01:12:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
So... Yeah.
01:12:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Try and get the, try and get local, local governments to, to set standards or, you know, that'll even listen to you about setting standards and say, Hey, listen, this is, you want to eliminate, you know, all these accidents and stuff and slip falls and all this stuff, you know, maybe we should have some standards.
01:12:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, like ah all the trades have standards. They all have to get approvals and certifications to work in town.
01:12:31
Chris
Yep.
01:12:34
Chris
Yep. Yeah.
01:12:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know,
01:12:35
Chris
You'll probably see it definitely going that
Standardizing Practices and Legal Issues
01:12:38
Chris
way. I mean, especially around like the water and stuff like that. ah I think you'll see certifications and stuff needed um to some extent.
01:12:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. I mean, i think if there were I think if there were actual standards and certifications that you actually had to prove that you knew how to do what you were doing and you did it right, um I think you would have you know insurance companies more willing to come back in and play ball rather than you know they don't know who they're who're doing business with.
01:12:48
RICK JAMES
Right.
01:13:06
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:13:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
All they know is they're taking a lot of slip and fall losses, so they don't want anything to do with it.
01:13:09
Chris
Correct.
01:13:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're all about eliminating all risks. they don't you know They're Vegas. They don't lose.
01:13:17
RICK JAMES
right
01:13:17
Chris
correct
01:13:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, so insurance is Vegas, but.
01:13:20
RICK JAMES
But the majority the slip and falls are all make-believe too. So that's part of the major problem.
01:13:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
100 percent. And and until you until you get government changing that where they can be prosecuted for that bullshit, you know, hey, we got you on camera stepping out of your car, looking both ways and then just dropping like a stone.
01:13:30
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:13:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's bullshit. You know, you're going to jail until you gives them some deterrent against fucking scamming. They're going to scam.
01:13:44
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:13:45
Chris
Yep. Yeah, we we had ah almost one of those four years ago now at one of the the gas stations we we take care of and went in and the guy called us, said he fell, was contacting his insurance company and all that stuff.
01:14:00
Chris
And we went in, pulled footage, no slip, no fall. Just, yep. So called him back and never heard from him, but
01:14:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's the only good thing. That's the only good thing that this day and age has where it's it's horrible because we do live in a frivolous lawsuit society, and for snow guys, that's awful. But every square inch of everywhere now is somehow on camera.
01:14:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
You can find footage of every corner of every building in most places if you look hard enough.
01:14:25
Chris
Yep.
01:14:31
Chris
You guys run truck cameras?
01:14:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah No.
01:14:35
RICK JAMES
No.
01:14:36
Chris
No.
01:14:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, we should, though. We really should.
01:14:39
Chris
Yeah, we we don't get either.
01:14:40
RICK JAMES
oh Yeah, i wouldn't mind it. i think it'd be kind of cool, though.
01:14:43
Chris
Definitely an application for it. but
01:14:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, 100%. I mean, it it definitely might save your ass, you know, that because there are a lot of people. You see these videos on YouTube and stuff. It's funny where these people are stopping short and then backing up into the car behind them to to simulate a rear ending.
01:15:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:15:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know where most of those are?
01:15:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Those videos? They're on the Bell Parkway. They're on the Taconic Park. They're in New York. like That is an actual thing that happens here. It's the worst state in the union for frivolous lawsuits, man.
01:15:17
Chris
Nuts.
01:15:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's bunch of scammers.
01:15:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man. What else you got for him, Jay?
01:15:24
RICK JAMES
Oh, well, got any good plot stories for legal? Anything you want to share?
01:15:31
Chris
Nuts. I mean, just the the typical thinking you're going nuts and seeing stuff after a couple days.
01:15:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah
01:15:39
Chris
I, we We don't, we're we're pretty mellow out here, honestly.
01:15:40
RICK JAMES
you know
01:15:45
Chris
Mailboxes, just a little frustration stuff, some trim, like stuff that's going to happen throughout the long duration
Communication and Employee Motivation
01:15:52
Chris
stuff. But I mean, thankfully, nothing nothing too bad. And yeah, not not ah not really a funny one. just
01:16:03
Chris
Just the seeing the deer run across the road when there isn't one.
01:16:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:16:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah
01:16:09
RICK JAMES
ah That's not so bad.
01:16:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
No Bigfoot? No Bigfoot sightings up there?
01:16:11
Chris
and the Oh, we got people who have those damn things in their yards all over the place.
01:16:16
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
01:16:16
Chris
Those, oh man.
01:16:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Silhouettes.
01:16:20
Chris
Yeah, yeah. So those will still get you, but yeah.
01:16:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
a
01:16:21
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:16:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's funny. We're going to start asking everybody that. Yeah, you got Bigfoot there?
01:16:27
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:16:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man.
01:16:30
Chris
We have them everywhere.
01:16:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
So I got one more for you. what What lessons did you learn ah in the early stages of, you know, when you were growing ah that you want to pass on to other guys that may just be starting out or or looking to start growing from their young stage here
01:16:46
Chris
Yeah, um communication, customer service, man, it's everything. Do what you say you're gonna do, when you're gonna do it, follow through with your word. And it's it's honestly, it's pretty easy.
01:16:58
Chris
Just communicate and and show up. that's And put your head down and and grind it out.
01:17:02
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:17:05
Chris
It takes a little bit, but as long as you do it every day, you shouldn't have a problem.
01:17:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, sir. Love it.
01:17:11
RICK JAMES
ye Yeah,
01:17:11
Chris
Yeah.
01:17:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Heard that a bunch. There must be something to it. Do what you say you're going to do.
01:17:15
Chris
That's right.
01:17:18
RICK JAMES
fair.
01:17:18
Chris
Yep.
01:17:19
Chris
Yep. Customer communication, even the little things like after big jobs and stuff, we'll, we'll send gift cards or flowers and hook them up with shirts and hats and stuff like that.
01:17:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Crazy concept.
01:17:30
Chris
The littlest thing just sets you apart from, from everybody that, that sometimes you might not, might not think you can swing it or whatever, but that, that $25 gift card or whatever you do, it helps a lot.
01:17:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sure.
01:17:34
RICK JAMES
yep yep.
01:17:45
Chris
Remembers.
01:17:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
it has the ah It has the tendency to multiply.
01:17:49
Chris
Yes, significantly.
01:17:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, $25 gift card turns into $25,000 and will work in the next two years.
01:17:52
RICK JAMES
and
01:17:55
Chris
Yep.
01:17:56
RICK JAMES
you
01:17:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, sir. oh
01:17:59
Chris
Yep. got a question for you guys.
01:18:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, let it rip.
01:18:02
Chris
what What do you do with the guys during the storms? How do you keep them all going and motivated? What's your pick-me-up?
01:18:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
and Whip. Whip. but and
01:18:11
RICK JAMES
whip whip that's my guys would say
01:18:14
Chris
After that wears out.
01:18:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Um, honestly, they, I mean, we're not out crazy amounts of hours. Like we're like a 12 hour, maybe 14 at the most before we're either taking a break, you know, for five or six hours. If it's a long duration thing, like two days,
01:18:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
um they're not going longer than 12, 14 hours, but we really don't have to motivate them. The sidewalk kids are all young. They're all ninjas. They don't know quit. like they When do you want us And, okay, you give them a time, and they they let you know when they finished the round, and then they take a couple hours. I'll tell them, go take a couple hours off, get some sleep, get dry clothes.
01:18:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
You want food? What do you want? But, yeah, no, it's it's generally, we don't have problems keeping guys going. Do you, Jay? Yeah.
01:19:07
RICK JAMES
No, my guys usually keep going. I don't know.
01:19:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:19:09
RICK JAMES
It's, we always, you know, well, they'll stop for, for in a long duration. We'll, we'll bring them all to eat or something. Or, you know, if it's a really bad storm, we'll get them rooms at hotel and try to switch guys out.
01:19:17
Chris
yeah
01:19:21
RICK JAMES
But it's just, the guys here, they kind of, they kind of like the big ones. They, they, they they want to,
01:19:27
Chris
Yeah.
01:19:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, that's the Super Bowl.
01:19:28
RICK JAMES
They want to go. Yeah. Yeah.
01:19:30
Chris
Yep.
01:19:30
RICK JAMES
They, they like to see, they like to show what they can get done They, they always want, always want to try out do me, but they won't get there.
01:19:37
Chris
yeah
01:19:40
Chris
Not yet, huh?
01:19:41
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:19:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
i think yeah i mean I think it all comes down to your people. If you if you have the right kind of self-motivated and just get-it-done mentality guys, they're going to work until you force them to stop, most of them.
01:19:44
Chris
Yeah.
01:19:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah Very rarely, I mean, once in a while...
01:19:55
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:19:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know One of the guys will call and be like, dude, listen, I'm going to finish up such and such court and I'm going to finish you know this and then i'm gonna I'm going to just stop the machine I'm going to take 20 minutes, call me in 20 minutes, wake me up because I'm falling asleep at the controls.
01:20:10
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:20:10
Chris
Yep.
01:20:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
No problem.
01:20:12
RICK JAMES
No problem.
01:20:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
But like as far as I'm going home, this sucks.
01:20:13
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:20:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
like No, we don't we don't have that.
01:20:16
Chris
Yeah. Nope. Yeah. we're Same. Same. Fortunately, we don't, we don't either just feed them and.
01:20:20
RICK JAMES
No. I'll beat this drum. I'll beat this drum over and over.
01:20:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Feed them.
01:20:24
RICK JAMES
It's, it's, it's ah it not, don't beat them. I mean, I'll beat this drum about our, our, our party call we have that.
01:20:27
Chris
Yeah.
01:20:30
RICK JAMES
That's just huge. That but keeps it keeps them all entertained that, you know, that that time flies by.
01:20:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
It does. it makes the time fly.
01:20:33
Chris
Yeah.
01:20:36
RICK JAMES
And I mean, yeah, it's, it's, it's just it was It's a game changer for for our operation. I'm not saying this for everybody, but it really it brings your team closer together.
01:20:47
RICK JAMES
At least that's how I feel.
01:20:47
Chris
Yeah.
01:20:48
RICK JAMES
so
01:20:48
Chris
Yep.
01:20:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, like when I'm sitting through a Broadway show or something, every second feels like it takes 10 minutes to go by. But when it comes to snow, you can go four or five hours in the blink of an eye where you're looking at the clock. You're like there's no freaking way.
01:21:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
and it was just 11 p.m. Now I'm at 4 a.m. Where the hell did time go? So, yeah, I think that that has a lot to do with it, too, is it's not hard to keep guys motivated because the the time's just flying by.
01:21:16
Chris
Yep.
01:21:16
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:21:16
Chris
Yeah. The long duration ones are, we all like them a lot more than the, than the couple inch quick in and out ones.
01:21:22
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:21:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. It takes you just as long.
01:21:24
RICK JAMES
Yep, exactly.
01:21:24
Chris
Yeah.
01:21:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
It takes us just as long to push two inches.
01:21:25
Chris
Yep. Oh yeah.
01:21:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
as It does 10.
01:21:28
Chris
Yep.
01:21:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's the only difference is how much you can bill for it. So, yeah, my guys like the bigger ones, too. and
01:21:36
Chris
Pumped up for them.
01:21:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, the motivation, though, not usually a problem. I mean, they as long as they're long as they were usually warm, ah they got their energy drinks or coffee and they got their tobacco, they're they're pretty well set.
01:21:50
Chris
Couple slices and give it hell.
01:21:50
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:21:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it. Chicken fingers and fries is all my sidewalk crew elite. So that's all they want. Those kids. that I'm like, whatever, whatever you want.
01:21:58
Chris
That's awesome. That's right. Hell yeah.
01:22:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
Ah, but yeah, that's it. i think that's all we got for you, brother.
01:22:06
Chris
Awesome, guys.
01:22:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:22:07
Chris
Thank you very much.
01:22:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Got anything for us before we let you go.
01:22:09
RICK JAMES
Thanks a lot, Chris.
01:22:11
Chris
No, keep ah keep doing what you guys are doing. Keeps us going during the the storm, so we really appreciate it.
01:22:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
We appreciate it. No, we appreciate you listening, man. It's great. Thanks for the support.
01:22:21
Chris
Anytime. Thank you guys.
01:22:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's awesome. All right. Well, we're going to let Chris go then. Thanks to Chris for coming on. That is all. We're going wrap episode 115 of the Snow Jaws podcast main show.
Conclusion and Future Engagements
01:22:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right. Everybody ah just have a great week. Be safe. Go ahead, Jay. What do you got?
01:22:42
RICK JAMES
Keep pushing and watch the show on Friday night.
01:22:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Storm Chasing, Friday night, 8 p.m. All right, tune in. And if you haven't subscribed yet, subscribe to the Storm Chasing YouTube channel. All right, that's where it'll be dropping. And then, ah yeah, everybody hit us up. Let us know what you think, all right? So have a safe week.
01:23:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Keep pushing.