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S4-160: Talking Mega Storm Hernando with Coastal Companies and Outdoor Pride
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The guys sit down with Jack Lutzel and Meghan Geer of Coastal Companies in Rhode Island, and Mike Santolucito of Outdoor Pride of Massachusetts and New Hampshire to hear how they fared during the largest winter storm to hit in years!
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, let's get it. Snow Jobs Nation, we are back again bringing you episode 160 of the Snow Jobs Podcast main show powered by Top Gun Backblades. The best show in snow. You know who I am You know who's with me.
00:00:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Steve and Jeremy doing it again for the 160th Monday in a row. What is
Weather Predictions vs. Reality
00:01:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
up, Jay? How you doing?
00:01:04
RICK JAMES
Hey, Steve-O. Not a whole lot. How about you? Just another week. God, it's almost like we had a week off because we recorded.
00:01:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Doing it.
00:01:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
We did. Thank God we recorded.
00:01:14
RICK JAMES
Yeah, you're screwed.
00:01:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because that... Yeah, what was the... so I've gotten so many texts and DMs in the last week. I guess I must have said it. I haven't listened to the the James Rice, Snow Be Gone episode yet. But I must have said that there you know the weather guys don't know what the fuck they're talking about. This two inches is going to turn into a megastorm.
00:01:32
RICK JAMES
Yep, you're right.
00:01:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Because I called it. Yeah.
00:01:38
RICK JAMES
We might as well open that branch, Snow Jobs Weather. that we inly
00:01:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
we're definitely going to do that. We can't possibly do any worse, you know, two and a half.
00:01:44
RICK JAMES
Nah. Who cares if we do? Who cares if we do?
00:01:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Exactly. Exactly.
00:01:48
RICK JAMES
We'll just charge them. Charge them. Send the bill.
00:01:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Two and a half inches, two and a half inches became God, 12 to 18 within, do i I think 24 hours before it hit all week, nothing to worry about.
00:02:01
RICK JAMES
Yeah. We only got snow last week.
00:02:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, it's going South glancing, blow glancing, blow two inches, maybe, literally Friday
Impact of Megastorm Hernando
00:02:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
night. Oh, by the way, yeah, Sunday's going to be, like, they kind of even, like, he muffled their voice a little bit so you couldn't tell what they were doing.
00:02:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah, we know we said two and a half, but now that we're getting closer, we go 12 to 20. What? Sounded like you said 12 to 20. 12 to 20. And we got, you know what, dude? I'll give them this one.
00:02:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
I couldn't possibly tell them if they were wrong or not. They gave us 15. I don't know because we had Fargo fucking wind The entire time, I couldn't tell you what was falling and what was blowing and, you know, which was which. It was just a lot of snow for a long-ass time.
00:02:48
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:02:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, it was... No,
00:02:50
RICK JAMES
So I heard you guys had the big wind up there and a lot of crying I heard out there from the wind.
00:02:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, the wind really didn't... It wasn't a problem for us.
00:02:59
RICK JAMES
I'm not just talking about you. I'm talking about a lot of my guys out there I talked to that were whining about the wind.
00:03:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
I was going to say, I mean, the wind really didn't... I mean, it was it was tough driving. But um other than that, it wasn't it didn't make it any tougher to plow.
00:03:12
RICK JAMES
We have a tough time driving in the summer when it's raining and windy too, so.
00:03:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, yeah, I mean, rain and wind, dude, you got to be careful, man.
00:03:18
RICK JAMES
right
00:03:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
You forget what my other job is. i'm a very careful person.
00:03:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I'm not.
00:03:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, my God. And like I said, if you're out in Fargo and you're driving, I would i would go 90 to 100 miles an hour, too, in any conditions if I could see 18 miles ahead of me down the road.
00:03:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
We have terrain, turns, you know, all those those little things.
00:03:43
RICK JAMES
Yeah, but faster you go, and you get more of a surprise going when you come around the corner.
00:03:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, yes, yeah. Oh, my gosh. But, yeah, we did have winter storm Hernando, I guess they called it. i don't know.
00:03:53
RICK JAMES
Orlando.
00:03:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're saying, oh, we don't name winter storms. Well, somebody named it bitch, and it was was called Hernando. So it hit big on the East Coast, the second major Northeast snowstorm in three weeks.
Recap and Upcoming Events
00:04:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it was something like that.
00:04:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Three weeks? Yeah.
00:04:10
RICK JAMES
It's pretty cool.
00:04:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, second major storm, and this one was even worse than the first one. The first one was relatively easy comparatively for most of the people out there, because it was powder, and it didn't produce what this one did.
00:04:16
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:04:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
There are areas that got 30, like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 30 inches plus. I think the the biggest one was 40 inches somebody got in Massachusetts.
00:04:30
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:04:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I mean, this thing was decimating. So, it was, uh, was a crazy storm, and that's what we're going to do tonight. We got a couple of the people that fought it that got hit big. So that's what we're going to be doing. We're talking Megastorm Hernando with some of the warriors that that braved it.
00:04:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
And to help us do that tonight, we have Jack Lutzel, Megan Gear of Coastal Companies up in Rhode Island. And we always have Mike Santolocito from ODP. from ah I don't remember the other name. Sorry, Mike. Forgive me.
00:05:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
um
00:05:07
RICK JAMES
Stevo, don't forget about me.
00:05:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
but
00:05:08
RICK JAMES
I had a seven-inch storm last week. I mean, that was huge.
00:05:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
You had seven inches?
00:05:12
RICK JAMES
Yeah, it was huge.
00:05:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Seven? Really? I didn't even hear about that.
00:05:14
RICK JAMES
Seven. ah yeah Yeah, even if the Smythe came and pushed, it was...
00:05:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
I thought you had two inches. It was seven?
00:05:20
RICK JAMES
Nah, seven, yeah.
00:05:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:05:23
RICK JAMES
Six, seven, I don't know.
00:05:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jeremy's on the board then. Oh, my goodness.
00:05:26
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's like a major deal for Fargo.
00:05:28
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:05:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
I didn't realize you had that much.
00:05:31
RICK JAMES
Yeah, I mean, it wasn't forecast, but we got her.
00:05:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I mean... What is these days? it's ah It's pretty bad when you couldn't even look at the GFS the first two and a half months of the winter, and now that's the model.
00:05:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's their go-to model now. It's insane.
00:05:48
RICK JAMES
Hey, I'm going to tell you that remember Nick talking when we did our weather show with the weather pros about the AI weather.
00:05:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:05:57
RICK JAMES
I downloaded an AI weather at the beginning the season, and that one was actually one that was right the last couple of times for me, is the AI weather.
00:05:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:06:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:06:04
RICK JAMES
so
00:06:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
See, we're not going to need any of these guys soon.
Ventrac SSV Discontinuation
00:06:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not Nope.
00:06:10
RICK JAMES
well We'll see if they're right tomorrow. they're talking Nobody's talking to any snow tomorrow. they're ai is saying two and a half inches, so we'll see.
00:06:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I'm worried about Tuesday, Wednesday, because next Tuesday, Wednesday is eerily similar. What we're hearing from the weather dudes is eerily similar to last week.
00:06:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
where it was, nope, it's going south, it's going to be rain, it's maybe a glancing blow of most two inches, and boom.
00:06:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's, yeah.
00:06:41
RICK JAMES
um heard I heard they already cut that one out for next week.
00:06:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
I didn't fuck anybody, Mike. It's not me. It's the weather dudes. not It's not me. it's I'm getting a little tired of these guys telling you, no, no, no, no no you're good, and and then, by the way, 12 to 24 hours beforehand, no now you're going to get two feet.
00:07:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sorry. Like, really? How do you do that shit?
00:07:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
It is what it is. But that's what we're doing today. We got Mikey San Luisito, and we got Jack and Megan from Coastal. Jack and Megan from Coastal got absolutely hammered up there.
00:07:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
so And Mike's got, you know, ODP's got tons of sites everywhere in the in the Boston Metroplex and couple different states. So we're going to hear how they made out with that. But before we do that, as always, going
Community Engagement and Merchandise
00:07:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
hear from Team Top Gun. come back and do a quick week in review.
00:08:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, gang, we're back. So last week, last week we had snow be gone founder, James Rice. He was on with us, told us all about how he's transforming his farming empire. Fifth is fourth generation or fifth generation farmer.
00:08:18
RICK JAMES
For the fourth I believe it was going in the fifth.
00:08:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's awesome, dude.
00:08:20
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
That is awesome. Love hearing that. Uh, but he's, he's transforming that family, that family farming into a snow empire out there in Indiana.
00:08:24
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:08:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, uh, it was great hearing about that, hearing how he's growing it. And, uh, Thanks to James for the time, and we wish him all the best in the future. And, you know, here's to a fifth and sixth generation of family farming.
00:08:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because can't do much without the farmers.
00:08:44
RICK JAMES
No.
00:08:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's see. Storks. Tickets are on sale for Storks Snow Alliance 2026. All right. The dates are April 24th and 25th. The tickets are live. You can get them. I think Gene said they sold a quarter of the tickets the first day.
00:09:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
So big sales for the tickets. They will sell out guys. If you are looking to go get your tickets
Guest Experiences with Recent Snowstorm
00:09:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
now, they are limited there. There's only so many people we can cram into that event.
00:09:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
So get them quick, better sooner than later.
00:09:15
RICK JAMES
always a good time.
00:09:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's always a good time.
00:09:16
RICK JAMES
Always a good time.
00:09:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's going to be a great time. um Friday night before the event, you have the welcome party that is sponsored by case construction equipment Friday morning. This year is something new. They have a golf tournament that's sponsored by Arctic Snow and Ice Control products.
00:09:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that's cool. It's expanding.
00:09:36
RICK JAMES
They're giving away a prize. I thought I heard Steve's going be somebody's caddy.
00:09:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Steve who? Smythe?
00:09:42
RICK JAMES
No, you.
00:09:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Arctic Steve? I didn't agree to that.
00:09:44
RICK JAMES
No, you. You're going to be somebody's caddy.
00:09:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cinderella boy!
00:09:49
RICK JAMES
ah
00:09:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah I could do that. I could play Carl from Caddyshack out there. No problem. But, yeah, it's a great event. Get your tickets. We'll see you there. It's ah it's a great way to wrap up the winter with a bunch of like-minded.
00:10:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, after this winter, if you're still thinking snow in the end of April, you're a psycho. I want to forget about this, but we'll be there. We will definitely be there. It's a great day, so come out and join us.
00:10:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Get your tickets on Storks. What is it, StorksPlows.com? Yeah, StorksPlows.com. All right, and now some crazy news. It hasn't been officially announced yet, but Ventrac has decided to discontinue the SSV.
00:10:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So second model of three in the last five years that they've decided to discontinue. First it was a 3400, and now it's the SSV. they They announced that the other – well, they didn't announce it yet, but I got – huh?
00:10:48
RICK JAMES
why
00:10:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Huh?
00:10:50
RICK JAMES
Why?
00:10:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Why what?
00:10:51
RICK JAMES
any reason?
00:10:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Why did they do it?
00:10:52
RICK JAMES
Why they just... yeah Something better coming?
00:10:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
No idea. I guess sales weren't what they... No, there's nothing else coming. I guarantee it. They're not cutting something to make something better. Because that was my original thing.
00:11:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
If sales are not what you want, then you know what you do. You have the best buggy out there. The buggy itself is great. Tear the PTO, the pulleys, and the belts out of it. If that's what's keeping people you know people from buying it and that's what people are having problems with, tear all that crap out and make them direct drive hydraulic attachments.
00:11:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
put a reservoir in there, put a pump and do it.
00:11:22
RICK JAMES
Does that have been?
00:11:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
But they did not want to go that route. So they decided to cancel it. So guys let Ben track here. it Tell them, you know, if you like the SSVs and for those of us in 36 inch sidewalk markets, they they were the only game in town that could switch attachments for us. So let them hear it.
00:11:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cause I think it's the, I think this is the dumbest, dumbest decision that I've ever heard of for a product line. you're You're taking two of your, now you've eliminated, you had three product lines five years ago.
00:11:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Now you're down to one.
00:12:00
RICK JAMES
4,500 or whatever it is.
00:12:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it, 4500s, all that's left. So, you know, I'm not, I'm personally not going to buy any products that are not going to be supported long term. So, you know, the SSV is why only six years old.
00:12:14
RICK JAMES
So that's it. That's the only one that's 36 inches wide or that'll fit on your sidewalks.
00:12:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it. That's all you got. 36-inch wide, that's the only game in town for switching attachments. the snow raider The original Snow Raider will fit 36-inch sidewalks, but it's got a straight blade.
00:12:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that was the only game in town.
00:12:30
RICK JAMES
Tom, you'll tell me off the fingers of the room room, maybe come up with the sidewalk machine.
00:12:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, you know what? the the The door is wide open because, well you know, the entire Northeast is old infrastructure, which means 36-inch sidewalks and are the norm.
00:12:43
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:12:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
if not if not the bigger portion of it. So you're cutting off a whole, God, I would love to know how much percentage of equipment buying is in the Northeast, but that's going to cut off a lot of people.
00:12:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
So I think it's a dumb decision, but it's their decision to make. And yeah, so the SSV is no more, guys. So if you need stuff, if you need units, get them. That's it.
00:13:10
RICK JAMES
somebody Somebody's got an opportunity to jump in now, I guess. Build something.
00:13:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's it The door is open. Just make it direct drive hydraulics. No PTO, no pulleys, no belts. That's it. Guys, keep hitting the Apple Podcast and Spotify. Like and subscribe.
00:13:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Definitely give us the five-star reviews. It definitely makes a huge difference. So keep doing that. Snow Jobs Nation store, as always, stocked and ready for your orders. So get them in.
00:13:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank you to everybody that's been ordering stuff lately. That's been pretty awesome. We're kind of in a nice little swing there. snowjobsnationstore.com. Anything else, Jay?
00:13:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, cool.
00:13:50
RICK JAMES
I don't think so. That should do it.
00:13:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's hear from our partners. We'll be right back and we will get into it with the gang.
00:16:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, gang, we are back. Thank you to all our partners. And let's let's get into this. Let's welcome Jack and Megan from Coastal, and we'll welcome Mikey from ODP. Guys, how are we?
Extreme Weather Challenges
00:16:25
Jack
What's going on?
00:16:25
Mikey
Good.
00:16:26
RICK JAMES
Hey guys.
00:16:26
Jack
How are you?
00:16:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Everybody zombie? Total zombie mode from the last week?
00:16:31
Jack
little bit.
00:16:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
I bet.
00:16:33
Jack
I got eight hours last night, so I'm good.
00:16:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
You got eight hours?
00:16:35
Mikey
I was going to I got the full eight last night too.
00:16:36
Jack
I did.
00:16:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow. Wow.
00:16:39
Mikey
was felt good.
00:16:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
guys are done hauling already all right all right good good so let's uh let's start so jack what did you guys get what uh what did coastal get in your area
00:16:43
Mikey
Mm-mm.
00:16:43
Jack
No, but the boys got it. can handle it.
00:16:53
Jack
So the highest total we recorded, or sorry, that was recorded, was 38 inches in the city of Providence.
00:17:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
wow
00:17:02
Jack
um That was the single highest snowfall in history, um which beat the Blizzard at 78, which was 28.6, I think it was.
00:17:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:17:10
RICK JAMES
Oh, wow.
00:17:11
Jack
So, I mean, significantly, significantly...
00:17:11
RICK JAMES
wow Crushed it.
00:17:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Over three feet.
00:17:14
Mikey
beat it by a mile.
00:17:16
Jack
Plus, you know, we had wind from 60 to 70 mile an hour gusts. I heard it was was a hurricane in the summertime. It would have been a cat too. So that was pretty wild.
00:17:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
I believe it. There was definitely wind with this. Which it makes you wonder how they actually get totals when when there's that much wind involved.
00:17:37
Jack
yeah I mean i think that's why there's so many different variations, like you look at the different certified totals you know you know like we're just talking about two minutes ago fall river your thing what was yeah.
00:17:47
Mikey
Yeah, they're saying 32, but you'd you go online, you said National Weather Service at like 41.
00:17:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I saw 41 for Fall River Mast. That was the highest.
00:17:56
Mikey
I'm okay if you're off by two inches, but when you're off by 11?
00:18:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, listen, I've had this argument. i was I was funny as hell because they called me and said, hey, what did you get out of this? I'm like, I literally could not fucking tell you.
00:18:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
I know we got over a foot, but I don't know how much over a foot. I really couldn't tell you because of the win. Because...
00:18:19
Mikey
yeah. Yeah.
00:18:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
We had a foot of snow on one half of the roof, and maybe 16 inches. And then the other half the other side of the roof was bare. You could see all the shingles, you know depending on how the wind was blowing.
00:18:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
So the wind was crazy for most of that storm. So how big were your drifts up there in Rhode Island, Jack?
00:18:34
Mikey
yeah
00:18:38
Jack
Oh God. So one site that we had, i swear to God, the drift was 200 feet long, 25 feet wide, and about 15 feet tall, burying an entire sidewalk.
00:18:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow. Wow.
00:18:49
Jack
And it took three skid steers, four or five hours unburied that sidewalk.
00:18:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
I bet.
00:18:55
Mikey
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:18:56
Jack
That was probably single biggest drift. I mean, we had drifts little bit. What was the site you were at? I mean, how many drifts were like over there? Probably like five to seven feet in some areas. so i mean, they had staircases that
00:19:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:19:08
Jack
I mean, no words of a lie. probably like nine feet tall that we had to shovel out. It was crazy.
00:19:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow. That's wild.
00:19:18
RICK JAMES
Shovelers have a tough one.
00:19:21
Jack
Yeah, and we we pulled them off.
00:19:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
was it What was your snow like? Was it heavy and wet or was it you know was it powder?
00:19:28
Mikey
Jack, was yours a mix?
00:19:29
Jack
Yeah, so yeah the first four inches, five inches was heavy wet, and then it was fluffy on top of that.
00:19:34
Mikey
Yeah.
00:19:35
Jack
Yeah. So like you like when i went out when i first put a shovel in the ground, and I did the first one, I'm like, wow, this is nice, light, and fluffy.
00:19:36
Mikey
But then...
00:19:41
Jack
This is going great. And I got my second scoop. like, that's a little heavier. And the final scoop was like, damn, this sucks.
00:19:47
Mikey
ah wait, you got you thought you got the lighter stuff first?
00:19:47
RICK JAMES
you on
00:19:50
Jack
Well, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the top was all light. The bottom of it was heavy wet.
00:19:53
RICK JAMES
He shoveled the lighter stuff first, then he worked his way down to heavy stuff.
00:19:54
Mikey
Yeah.
00:19:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, yeah. It ended as lighter.
00:19:56
Jack
Yeah. Well, when I opened the door and, you know, I couldn't walk out of because it was a six foot, I had to start at the top and work my way down.
Managing Snowstorm Challenges
00:20:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:20:02
Mikey
Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:03
Jack
But, you know, I swear, I thought i thought the whole storm was going to be a bust because it came in around like, it's going to start nine o'clock, eight o'clock at night. Yeah. But it was 34 degrees. So it wasn't sticking.
00:20:14
Jack
It was just hitting the ground and melting. And I it did that for like three hours, four hours.
00:20:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, that's how it started for us, too.
00:20:20
Jack
And I'm like, this is going to be a bust. I'm like, this temp is not going drop. And they're going to go a call for two feet of snow and going to get nothing. God, I was wrong. But.
00:20:29
RICK JAMES
smith
00:20:29
Mikey
Matt Bolian, It was also like 40 degrees for what a week with like great sun, so the ground is finally starting to lose that that initial two inches three inches of frost so that's what we were contending with is just that little bit of ice is forming underneath.
00:20:32
Jack
Mm hmm.
00:20:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
yep
00:20:44
RICK JAMES
And you will slimy when you went off the ground around the grass, i would assume.
00:20:48
Mikey
Matt Bolian, yep.
00:20:49
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:20:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, there's, yeah. the the damage
00:20:52
RICK JAMES
Be some landscape repair.
00:20:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
The damage after this is going to be incredible as far as turf damage and stuff.
00:20:59
Mikey
Oh, it's going to be biblical.
00:21:02
Jack
And it made it tough to plow because it was all ice underneath.
00:21:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not good.
00:21:04
Jack
And if a car drove on top of it, it just turned it right to hard pack.
00:21:04
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
00:21:08
Jack
It was brutal.
00:21:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:21:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
You got ice out of this too?
00:21:13
Jack
Yeah, it snowed. It was a little bit of sleet before I changed over to snow and just completely snowed.
00:21:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Interesting. see that
00:21:20
Jack
So everything was just it was just a sheet of ice underneath all the all the snow.
00:21:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
So we didn't have that to deal with. We started as snow and it was snow right through. um The only kind of weird weird thing we had, the difference of, the difference to say 10 miles was a difference in in the weight of the snow.
00:21:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, we had very, we started out very wet and very heavy in Fishkill. But then when we went to East Fishkill, further east, it was light powder, the whole storm.
00:21:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
it was It was weird how we were wet and heavy, but yet 10 miles away was noticeably lighter. So, interesting.
00:22:01
RICK JAMES
Well, like they said, once the ground ground was warm for a week or so ah beforehand, so it started melting from the bottom up. And also, of course, that turns the ice when all the snow on. know how hard pack? Yeah, that sucks. cause You can never get traction for that. And it adheres the pavement and then the fun begins.
00:22:17
Mikey
The non snow tire machines are not having it. i
00:22:20
RICK JAMES
No, I could have unimaginable.
00:22:21
Mikey
I can tell you that.
00:22:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
No.
00:22:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope. No, they weren't. You weren't doing much with that without snow tires.
00:22:26
RICK JAMES
Should have been selling them on the corner.
00:22:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Crazy.
00:22:32
RICK JAMES
Yeah, pretty deep.
00:22:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
So what?
00:22:33
RICK JAMES
on Megan sent me some Snapchat. She said, I think snow was up to the door handles or whatever, your pickup or whatever when you were driving. It was crazy.
00:22:40
Jack
A lot of the door handles are my waist. You had to like walk through it. It was crazy.
00:22:45
Mikey
jesus
00:22:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mike, how much did you guys get across your portfolio there?
00:22:51
Mikey
oh let's see for us the lowest was like 13 and a half the highest 32 for massachusetts and nahamshad some really northern parts got a trace but uh 10 inches was the highest that we saw in the the border of uh salem for those guys
00:23:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
What were they calling for, Jack, for you guys?
00:23:13
RICK JAMES
have the win.
00:23:16
Jack
um well it started off by saying it was going to miss us or have a just a quick you know a slight graze so you know one to three two to four yeah that was friday and um
00:23:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Love the grazing.
00:23:24
Mikey
And that was Friday.
00:23:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yep. Yep. Love the old grazing.
00:23:28
Jack
and Then I woke up, and they were like, 18 to 24. I'm like, are you kidding? I go, how does this happen? I'm like, how does it go from two inches to 18 to 24? And then in the middle of the storm, they sent us an update, and they go 24 to 36 plus.
00:23:42
Jack
And i just I just remember sitting in my truck going, oh, my God. Like, it's not.
00:23:47
Mikey
How do you prepare for that? Can you prepare for that?
00:23:49
RICK JAMES
Heavier in local areas?
00:23:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
No.
00:23:51
Jack
You can't.
00:23:51
Mikey
in In a day and a half.
00:23:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah i Yeah, I mean, it's it would be tough if you had a week and a half to prepare for that. But when you're only getting 18 hours notice that, oh, by the way, you're no longer a miss or two inches, you're not getting two feet.
00:23:58
Mikey
Yeah.
00:24:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
like I don't if think they understand that.
00:24:08
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they would if they would have been saying it a week out, it would never showed up. That's what happens around here. Whenever they talk a storm up, and it always fizzles off the shit. Everybody cancels everything, and it's a beautiful day out.
00:24:20
RICK JAMES
So it's more fun just to figure it out as you go, right?
00:24:20
Mikey
of table
00:24:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:24:22
Mikey
staff comments
00:24:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
I think they're just so gun shy to be wrong then that they don't want to say anything until they're absolutely sure.
00:24:28
Mikey
um That's probably true.
00:24:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
um Well, ah they don't want their balls broken. But guess what? Their balls are going to get broken either way. It's either going to be in jest when, hey, you called for two feet of snow, we got two inches.
00:24:43
Mikey
ah
00:24:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Or in anger when, hey, you called for two inches, we got two feet. Like, which kind of ball breaker do you want? you want us to get nasty or you want us to have a laugh? Because either way, it's coming.
00:24:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's your choice, weather dudes.
00:24:59
Jack
I feel like
00:24:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
i would much rather I would much rather have a good laugh about how they called for two feet and we got two inches.
00:25:00
RICK JAMES
Weather dude.
00:25:04
Mikey
Yeah.
00:25:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
know. That's just me.
00:25:10
Jack
every model run on Saturday, it just upped the totals by about four to six inches. you know It was six to 10, and was like,
00:25:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. When's it going to stop?
00:25:24
Jack
And then, you know, then when that came out, it was 18, 24 to 36 plus. I was just like, wow. I'm like, I go, we're screwed. I'm like, there's something you can do. Just let it do its thing and then come up with a plan.
00:25:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:25:37
Mikey
It was locked in by 6 p.m.
00:25:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
but i mean...
00:25:38
Mikey
Saturday night.
00:25:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
But I think that, you know, you're in a state of emergency at that point. Everybody is screwed. Nobody, nobody's built the handle for a fetus. No, like everybody's going to have to take a breath.
00:25:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
And like you said, all right, let it do what it's going to do. And then we come up with a plan to keep it going. But was there any keeping up with it during the storm?
00:25:58
Jack
Right.
00:26:01
Mikey
Not a chance.
00:26:02
Jack
No, we, we had to pull our guys off at like right yeah about six or eight hours. Probably. It was so dangerous. I mean,
00:26:10
Mikey
Yeah.
00:26:10
RICK JAMES
What was the rates coming down?
00:26:13
Jack
to have been three plus in some areas at some point.
00:26:16
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:26:17
Jack
The bill ability was like non-existent at that point.
00:26:17
Mikey
yeah
00:26:22
Jack
Yeah, I mean, it's just even even dedicated sites like you couldn't see literally your hand in front of your face. You couldn't see it like it's just you had a part.
00:26:31
RICK JAMES
That's when gets fun.
00:26:33
Mikey
yeah
00:26:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. I was definitely driving from, I was driving from site to site in my truck with the lights off.
00:26:41
Jack
Yeah.
00:26:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
You didn't need it. It was a total whiteout, and the only way you could see any semblance, because nobody was plowing it. So everything was just white. So you couldn't really discern where the road was, where the road wasn't, especially if you had LEDs on.
00:26:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Forget it. So just turn that turn the lights off and hope for the best at that point.
00:26:59
Jack
I mean, even the city pulled off the highway.
00:26:59
Mikey
Yeah.
00:27:02
Jack
It's cities and towns where they they all pulled off the roads. And that that really screwed us up because then when you could get, when it finally was lighting up so you could actually go to work, you couldn't get anywhere because all the streets are under two feet of snow.
00:27:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:14
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:27:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
So how long did it last?
00:27:17
Jack
But, you know, I'll give the city, how long did it last?
00:27:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
How long did it last?
00:27:21
Jack
18, 24 hours?
00:27:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:23
Jack
Yeah.
Community Storm Response
00:27:25
Jack
yeah that Yeah. I would say no, it was probably like 18. We started at 4 p.m. the next day. But we did for shoveling.
00:27:32
Mikey
Yeah.
00:27:33
Jack
Yeah. but Yeah, because it lingered like snow showers.
00:27:35
Mikey
next
00:27:38
Jack
I told my guys, I'm like, listen, we got three feet of snow. What the hell is another inch? Like, let's just go out and start clearing it.
00:27:42
Mikey
yeah
00:27:43
Jack
You know, when it, because we had from like two o'clock to six o'clock, they're calling from maybe one, one to two inches. i'm like, let's just start clearing it now because if we can clear three feet, we can clear two inches like that. So let's just go out and get a handle on it.
00:27:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:27:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah that's the Yeah, that's crazy. So what was... I mean, I would imagine trucks were pretty much ineffective, right?
00:28:06
Jack
Yeah, yeah, you you weren't doing anything unless you had equipment.
00:28:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's wild.
00:28:13
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:28:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, I saw videos from Fall River and just just nothing but plow trucks stuck.
00:28:17
Mikey
They're still not dug out.
00:28:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, nothing but plow trucks just stuck on streets.
00:28:19
Mikey
There's still full streets not dug out. There are people stuck in their houses.
00:28:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Crazy. It's so crazy.
00:28:28
Jack
I mean, we were in Providence last night and there's rows aren't plowed.
00:28:32
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
00:28:32
Jack
Or just have a goat path down the middle of it, you know, and and that's it. We do a site in Providence and the side, you you have your city sidewalk from the city sidewalk, like 15 feet off the city sidewalk is just snow. And then you got the road.
00:28:47
Jack
And I'm like, what do you like? How you that far off? Five, four days after the storm, five days after the storm.
00:28:50
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
00:28:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cities are usually like that. Like cities generally do not have great snow removal plans in place. Like at least.
00:28:59
RICK JAMES
I think New York's got really good snow, doesn't I've seen a lot of videos on Yeah.
00:29:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're still, there's they're doing great.
00:29:04
Jack
Yeah.
00:29:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
But like, you look at like, like a city like Montreal, like how they do snow after a snow storm with that coordination and stuff. And all that snow is gone. That doesn't exist in American cities.
00:29:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nobody has that set up, ready to go.
00:29:21
Mikey
No, it doesn't exist.
00:29:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nobody does that. It doesn't exist here.
00:29:25
Mikey
We get it once every 10 years.
00:29:25
RICK JAMES
We do out here. Our city does that.
00:29:26
Mikey
what
00:29:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
You do that there?
00:29:28
RICK JAMES
Our city does it all time. Yeah, they got trucks trucks and blowers going like the next day, falling pulling off curbs and hauling.
00:29:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Getting that whole inch up and out of there?
00:29:36
RICK JAMES
Well, yeah, you to get the curbs clean.
00:29:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jesus
00:29:40
RICK JAMES
Dude, did you not see the ah videos few years ago when we actually got snow?
00:29:40
Jack
Yeah.
00:29:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Christ.
00:29:44
RICK JAMES
We made Mount Fargo and shit. All that snow went somewhere.
00:29:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, man. so So this thing blows for about 24 hours, and when it's finally done, it's got over you got over three feet to deal with. What?
00:29:58
Jack
I remember when we stopped.
00:29:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Go ahead.
00:30:01
Jack
The snow finally stopped and I could just theite i was on. I'm like i'm just going to take a look and drive around. i mean it was like It was unbelievable. i mean It was just three four four three to four feet of snow plus the drifts just covered everything.
00:30:13
Jack
don't even know where to start. Where do you start?
00:30:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
that That was my next question.
00:30:17
Jack
I don't know.
00:30:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, all right, what is your plan of attack at that point? Like.
00:30:21
Mikey
We ripped the boxes off.
00:30:21
RICK JAMES
of Hopefully you got the 48 inch
00:30:25
Jack
better
00:30:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, hopefully you went with the 48-inch plow rides, 42-inch plow rides, rather. Oh,
00:30:35
Mikey
We had a shitload of crews rip off their boxes and just go straight buckets just to start making some go paths.
00:30:39
Jack
Yeah.
00:30:39
RICK JAMES
you gotta go back this.
00:30:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
I would imagine. Yeah, I would imagine you do.
00:30:40
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:30:42
Mikey
And plus the ice underneath, like we did, there's just way too much for us to try and push with either 12 or 14 foot box.
00:30:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, I believe it. I don't think you can.
00:30:52
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:30:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
i think you gotta go buckets at that when you're dealing with...
00:30:54
RICK JAMES
You got go bucket, make couple passes, and then can start slivering it off you know with a pusher after that.
00:30:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:30:58
Mikey
Yeah.
00:30:59
RICK JAMES
But, yeah.
00:31:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:31:02
Mikey
And none of it's going where you want it to You're literally just moving it out of the way.
00:31:06
RICK JAMES
Making piles.
00:31:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:31:07
Mikey
yep
00:31:08
RICK JAMES
Emergency piles, right? Emergency piles. ye
00:31:10
Jack
merchant surprise
00:31:11
RICK JAMES
Then you get that movement later again. Charge. Charge.
00:31:15
Mikey
Yep.
00:31:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:31:15
Mikey
yep
00:31:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jack and Megan, what do you guys have up there as far as equipment? Like, what do you normally roll with versus what what were what did you bring in to deal with this storm? and the In the 12 hours notice you had that it was going to be a big one, did you do anything different?
00:31:30
Jack
yes So we run on a regular storm, we on one, two, three, four, five, five loaders.
00:31:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:31:39
Jack
of skid steers um you know plus all our sidewalk equipment all that kind of stuff but um once we knew that so in the middle of the storm we realized like oh shit how much we were actually had we started making some phone calls we brought in out of new york um six crews with uh plow trucks and skid steers um we brought in a couple additional operators in from ohio but they came in before the storm they drove in for us
00:32:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay.
00:32:02
Jack
um and what else oh and then a couple guys out of Long Island believe it or not out of Long Island which i thought was kind of strange but you guys have enough snow yeah yeah but they did too I mean Long Island got a lot of snow so was kind of surprised yeah yeah yeah surprised that guys were able to pull off but they did and they sent it up to us so I was uh south of Buffalo um
00:32:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Long Island got plastered. Long Island got crushed.
00:32:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
They did. That's what i'm saying. They got crushed. They got two feet.
00:32:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Where were the guys in New York from?
00:32:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
all right. Yeah, they might have not gotten any. They didn't get anything out of that.
00:32:32
Jack
No, no, they they they were out of it. um I mean, thank God for those. I mean, they they came to our staging yard and we literally just started to give them list of stuff like go hit this, go hit that and and start knocking them off.
00:32:43
Jack
And they did phenomenal. I mean, for guys who've never been in the state, never been to these sites. I mean, they kicked ass. They really did. i don't know what we would have done without them.
00:32:52
RICK JAMES
Nice.
00:32:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's great. Mike, what about you? You guys doing anything different? Getting ready for that? Would you bring in any mercenaries?
00:32:58
Mikey
No, not really. mean, we extra staffed our shovel team for this one so we could do some shifts, shift changes, but nothing really equipment wise that we brought in. We just rolled what we had.
00:33:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Do you have blowers for your sidewalk stuff or you you just roll the blades and brooms?
00:33:19
Mikey
We have one, what's the, the alpha blower from snow wolf.
00:33:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:33:23
Mikey
We have, we have one of those at a distribution center to help us push snow piles back into the wood line, but no, nothing big. Like you got like Jeremy, like you have the little room.
00:33:33
Mikey
We have a bunch of the Bobcat high flow snowblowers that we use on the the road edges to get back to the curb lines or to do parking decks.
00:33:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:33:41
Mikey
But that's the biggest unit that we use on a regular basis.
00:33:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I wonder how that would have worked out. Like have a bunch of skid blowers and stuff. And then
00:33:51
Jack
So I could leave.
00:33:51
Mikey
Well, we did, we used them to make go paths for a lot of stuff that we needed to like tight areas just to get some access into or the set it with the shovelers. Shit. i mean, give them whatever, whatever help you can get.
00:34:04
Mikey
We gave the shovelers, the ventracks and the SSVs when the guys were taking a nap, like here, here's how you use it.
00:34:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:34:09
Mikey
Just don't break it.
00:34:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:34:13
Jack
We rented a house.
00:34:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
You were going to say something, Jack, about the blowers? Mm-hmm.
00:34:16
Jack
Yeah, we rented a couple from Bobcat to have. And that sidewalk I was talking about earlier, the seven-foot one, I mean, it didn't even touch it.
00:34:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
It what?
00:34:25
Jack
It wouldn't even touch it.
00:34:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Really?
00:34:27
Jack
Yeah, it's just so much snow. I mean, you had to just literally go up, down, up, down. it I mean, we just took – it was bogging down, and we just took a wheel loader, and we just picked a way at it that way.
00:34:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah, you definitely got to do that.
00:34:33
Mikey
Oh, it was just taking a long time.
00:34:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well,
00:34:40
Jack
The only way to do it.
00:34:42
RICK JAMES
God, I would love to have my blowers out there having fun.
00:34:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
well I think Top Dog's got a blower somewhere up there, right?
00:34:47
RICK JAMES
Three blowers, touching tips.
00:34:50
RICK JAMES
Who?
00:34:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
Top Dog, I saw a video of him going down some street in...
00:34:52
RICK JAMES
Yeah. yeah he just He brought in for FEMA yesterday. so i thought can't remember the town he said it was. Huh?
00:34:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Where are they, Rhode Island?
00:34:59
RICK JAMES
I thought it was Connecticut, wasn't it?
00:35:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Where is it, Rhode Island? I saw a video of it. Oh, is it Connecticut?
00:35:09
RICK JAMES
I don't know.
00:35:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Interesting.
00:35:10
Jack
It could have been Cranston, Rhode Island, because Cranston, I don't know why, but they i mean they're a pretty decent city.
00:35:13
Mikey
Mm-hmm. Hmm.
00:35:15
Jack
I don't know why. They were having a lot of hard times, and they brought in a lot of equipment from outside.
00:35:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
This was definitely an equipment storm. Guys that had trucks had a lot of issues. even Even by us.
00:35:31
RICK JAMES
Cranston. Yeah, it was Cranston or Rhode Island. That's where he's at right now.
00:35:33
Jack
I see that.
00:35:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:35:35
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:35:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
He's just blowing out everybody's windows, just taking four feet off the street and blowing it through their living room.
00:35:40
RICK JAMES
I don't know. He's got – think there's two of them out there. He's said that. Go on.
00:35:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
What is he? Where are they?
00:35:49
RICK JAMES
know.
00:35:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I didn't see in the video. Where is the exhaust? Like where, where is he shooting all the snow?
00:35:56
RICK JAMES
I think they're just rolling her over. Because what I saw in the video, weren't they just doing a street or something?
00:36:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. He was going right down the middle of two, two rows of cars.
00:36:03
RICK JAMES
Like down the municipal?
00:36:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:07
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:36:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
So I was like, where is he exhausting that snow? Out the back? Or is he just shooting it through the car windows? Because I don't know.
00:36:16
Jack
They had a state of Connecticut came in with a couple of wheel loader blowers and they did a road my mom was on and she sent me a video of it and they were literally just blowing it in the front yards of people's houses.
00:36:17
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:36:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:36:25
Jack
And I'm like missing their house by like, you know, six inches or something.
00:36:29
Mikey
Yeah.
00:36:30
Jack
Like, oh my God.
00:36:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I mean, I guess at that point, like, all right, what what do you do? ah you look What are your options?
00:36:34
Jack
Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:37
Jack
Gotta get the street opened.
00:36:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. It's dangerous.
00:36:42
RICK JAMES
We did that a few years ago here we and people were not happy putting snow back,
00:36:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Definitely dangerous.
00:36:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
What? Back
Operational Strategies During Storm
00:36:48
RICK JAMES
widening the streets.
00:36:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
in the yards?
00:36:48
RICK JAMES
And yeah, they weren't happy. I'm like, what do you want us to do with it?
00:36:55
Mikey
It's either we do something or we do nothing.
00:36:55
RICK JAMES
But it was for the city, so we didn't care. We were just city workers at that point. We didn't care. We just did what we wanted. Working for the city.
00:37:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Too funny.
00:37:03
RICK JAMES
can what we want.
00:37:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Too funny. So what what went well and what didn't go well with the operation?
00:37:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Because, I mean, nobody can really have, you can't really have a plan for that.
00:37:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
You can, but it's not going to go to plan. You got to adapt and stuff.
00:37:25
Mikey
what What went well was the this state of emergency and the forced shutdown that kept everybody home so we could do our fucking job.
00:37:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, what went well for you?
00:37:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
right, cool. Did that work there? Because it did not work in New York.
00:37:35
Mikey
Yeah. Yeah, it worked.
00:37:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, good. Well, least people listened.
00:37:40
Jack
well I wish could wait until the last second to call a state emergency because then everybody freaked out 12 hours before the storm.
00:37:44
Mikey
They always do. Yeah.
00:37:48
Jack
um But no, that helped. I mean, there nobody on the road. Nobody was out. Everything shut down. You could do your job. Nobody was... Monday, I thought my phone was not going to stop ringing and it it basically... Nobody called because nobody was there.
00:38:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hmm.
00:38:00
Jack
You know? um Yeah, that was huge. I mean, schools were shut down this entire week. Yeah, I think...
00:38:07
Mikey
Yeah, that has second February vacation.
00:38:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
As well they should.
00:38:09
Jack
Yeah.
00:38:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
As well they should be.
00:38:13
Jack
So that worked out well.
00:38:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, because this is not a storm to mess around with.
00:38:14
Jack
That was
00:38:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
like This was a legit like major, major deal. and I mean, that's cool.
00:38:20
Mikey
Yeah.
00:38:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm glad that worked. It did not work in New York. Every Honda Civic rear-wheel drive was still on the road. The Subaru Mafia was all over the place.
00:38:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know Getting their bread and milk.
00:38:33
RICK JAMES
well
00:38:34
Mikey
Well, hey, I mean, ah some of those guys might have been shovelers heading somewhere, you know.
00:38:35
RICK JAMES
All-wheel drive.
00:38:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, no, definitely not. Definitely not. the one one The one woman that decided to cut me off in in the Subaru going through an intersection, I'm like, what are you thinking?
00:38:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
And it was, no, it was, i would i would have to estimate in the mid mid mid eighty s
00:38:51
RICK JAMES
Going to protest.
00:38:52
Mikey
She's thinking she's in a Subaru and they're built for this.
00:39:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
mid-80s, probably have to get to the post office, which is going to be closed, but you know the routine says, Every Monday, 8 a.m., we are at the post office.
00:39:10
RICK JAMES
Oh.
00:39:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, and she's got to go.
00:39:15
Mikey
I got to get this to my nephew. His birthday is a month.
00:39:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yes, 100%.
00:39:18
Jack
yeah
00:39:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
She's got to go.
00:39:19
RICK JAMES
yeah but Carl?
00:39:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
She's got to go. But, yeah. so So the state of emergency went well. that That allowed you guys to get caught up a little bit. How long did it take you to get, like, what you would call a handle on that?
00:39:38
Jack
You know,
00:39:38
Mikey
Dependent on the area, honestly. Some guys were good by... Midday Tuesday, maybe end of the day Tuesday. Some guys were good by the end of the day on Monday.
00:39:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Okay, so not horrible.
00:39:49
Jack
It took less time than I thought it would take. I'll give it that. Like, I thought we'd be at it for just days, you know, trying to get things cleaned up. But the guys, they pushed right through it. Like, they, you know, they did a hell of a job.
00:40:00
Jack
um
00:40:01
Mikey
Well, we also had two feet like two weeks ago.
00:40:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, they're probably well-rested, right?
00:40:04
Jack
Well, yeah, that, yeah, it was, yeah, that certainly. This year it actually snowed. So, like, now we're, like, seasoned veterans now. You know what I mean? We know we know how to plow snow.
00:40:11
Mikey
Yeah.
00:40:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, the routine is there.
00:40:13
Mikey
And we got a bunch of storms before these ones.
00:40:13
Jack
Yeah.
00:40:14
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
00:40:15
Mikey
So it wasn't like, you know, two or three. And then all of a sudden we get two feet. we have like We have like 12, 14 events of decent snowfall, eight inches, 12 inches, couple twos, two to fours, get the dust off.
00:40:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Did you find any piece of equipment or any tactic worked what well beyond expectation?
00:40:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, not really. It would easily say not really.
00:40:43
Mikey
No. No.
00:40:45
Jack
yeah
00:40:47
RICK JAMES
How did the crews do? Did you have to, I mean, the your shovel crews, we talked about a little bit, those guys have to be, get their ass kicked, but I mean, did they have a, did you, did you have buses?
00:40:55
Jack
i think
00:40:57
RICK JAMES
How did you get everybody get to work? Cause know, did you have to go get a bunch of guys would assume or no?
00:41:03
Jack
So going back to the question, what went wrong, I think we called everybody in basically right as it started, knowing that we'd have to shut them shut down, knowing they'd have to sit in the truck and wait and all that.
00:41:03
Mikey
no
00:41:15
Jack
you know We're going to pay that labor, but we knew that if we tried to get them in after the storm, they they were not coming in. They were going not come in.
00:41:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nope.
00:41:20
Mikey
Yep.
00:41:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:41:20
RICK JAMES
ye
00:41:22
Jack
And we don't have time to drive around pick everybody up. And even if you could, if you did have time, you can't get anywhere. youre Like I said, the streets were all, they weren't even plowed. So what I'd like to have done in the future is um shift change, you know, 12 hours on 12 hours off, put these guys in hotels. So bring everybody in put the first half of them in hotels and just let them sit and hang out for 12 hours.
00:41:45
Jack
um You know, and then just rotate those crews like that. Yeah.
00:41:49
RICK JAMES
ye
00:41:51
Jack
I know, obviously, it's tough to it's tough to do that because you don't have the labor.
00:41:55
RICK JAMES
Kivolowitz- Right.
00:41:56
Jack
um But I think that if even if you split your labor in half, and you let them rest every 12 hours, i think you can get more out of them than all you guys out there at once going for 20-30 hours.
00:41:56
Mikey
Yeah.
00:42:01
RICK JAMES
Perry
00:42:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Or you
00:42:06
RICK JAMES
Kivolowitz- yeah.
00:42:07
Mikey
I think that's where I would say things went wrong.
00:42:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
or you overlap them.
00:42:10
Mikey
we kept We kept some of these guys out a lot longer because we were trying to just muscle through it, get as much snowmood as we could. But I mean, some guys wanted to. They made the choice to be out there instead of taking that
Dealing with Fuel Shortages
00:42:20
Mikey
that break. We got a ton of hotel rooms everywhere for guys so they could least just shower, change, get a nap in if they want.
00:42:26
Mikey
same thing for the shovelers but the shovelers actually had way more downtime because we didn't want them out there in that crazy wind you know they probably were inside or in their vehicles or at the hotels for like you know 8 10 12 hours before things got quiet enough they could come back outside but the the guys on the ground yeah i wish i wish a we didn't have them in so early which i i i can't believe i'm saying that because every time i'm like i wish i had the guys in earlier but to Jack's point, we were talking about earlier, like it stayed wet for so much longer than we thought. Like it said, start eight, nine, eight, nine o'clock at night on Sunday, which is great, but didn't really start to do anything until 1am, Like that's, that's a few more hours. The guys could have gotten, you know, at home to get some rest, but then what if it does come in earlier and we get hammered and 1am comes around and they can't get in like,
00:43:17
Mikey
you You roll the dice. Either way, you feel like you're going to lose. You're either going to lose money or you're going to lose them getting in.
00:43:24
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:43:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
ye
00:43:26
RICK JAMES
And usually, I don't know, my guys or myself, if I tell them, out the they're going to stay up anyway and watch the weather. They're not going to sleeping that extra couple hours because, I don't know, it just seems to be standard where it's going to watch the weather until we go to work and go work for two days, three days.
00:43:32
Mikey
Yeah.
00:43:45
Mikey
It's the, it's the excitement and it's the anxiety. It's those are the two things that combine. It'll keep you up for the entire storm when you're trying to get sleep.
00:43:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
got to say, this has been some winter for the Northeast. Because, like, I got 15, 16 inches out of this, and I'm not even talking about it. Like, yeah I want to hear what you guys did in the thirty s Because, oh, yeah, we got a foot and a half.
00:44:03
Mikey
Yeah.
00:44:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's no big deal, though. You know, it's just, it's a footnote. It's like we got three inches. Because we sent everybody home because of the state of emergency. So, guys, make a hit on it.
00:44:14
Mikey
Hmm.
00:44:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's going to continue to snow until 10 a.m. on Monday. Everybody come back in at 5. Nobody's opening up for business. You know, we don't have anything to worry about. We kept the skeleton crew on that are keep that we're keeping the zero the zero T's open. the You know, the firehouses, stuff like that, police stations.
00:44:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Everything else? No, everybody go home.
00:44:36
Mikey
But Steve, you guys got a lot of those 14, 15 inch storms, like more than we did this year.
00:44:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Done.
00:44:40
Mikey
I feel like you had mostly over a foot storms.
00:44:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
We... What we yeah We got 20... twenty We got a 20-something, 21 or so, 23. I forget what they they call it.
00:44:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Then we got this one at 15. i think we got 10 and maybe 182. I mean, we're we're close to 80 inches right now.
00:45:05
Mikey
Maybe I'm wrong. i thought you had more big totals this year.
00:45:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, I think it was just the just a couple. ah I mean, honestly, dude, they're all blending together at this point.
00:45:14
Mikey
Yeah.
00:45:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
like i don't really I don't really care. I just want it to be over at this point. like I've had enough of this winter. You can go now. No problem. because we had the We had Sunday into Monday.
00:45:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
and We get all cleaned up from that by whatever, 2 p.m. or something on Monday. We're all done. Monday night, we got another two inches.
00:45:36
Jack
Oh, you dig it? Can you hear me, you guys?
00:45:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, we got another... oh by the way. Another two inches. and Then we got... a The next night, we got another dusting. So, like, Jesus, come on.
00:45:47
Mikey
Jesus Christ.
00:45:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, let the guys get one one night's sleep.
00:45:49
Mikey
I'm already getting.
00:45:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
one and ah One uninterrupted night's sleep.
00:45:57
Jack
It snowed, dumb so Wednesday maybe? It was snowing Wednesday morning, but it never stopped. It just melted on contact, thank God. Did that.
00:46:05
Mikey
Yeah.
00:46:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, it's stuck. I thought, I was hoping we were going to get lucky that it wasn't going to stick, but it's stuck.
00:46:11
Mikey
We got an inch out of that.
00:46:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Even with all the salt down. That's what I use as my gauge. Like when I wake up, I'll look out the window at 4 a.m. m And if it's snowing, I'll look at how much there's snow is on my road, because I know if, if the amount of the salt that's down from the town that they put on my road, if it's still sticking, then it's definitely sticking on my lots.
00:46:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it's time to go out. But I do got to give the ah New York state, the DOT, a lot of credit during that storm. They kept, They kept everything open, and they were running. Those guys were running ragged. You just kept seeing those wolf packs back and forth, back and forth.
00:46:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't know if they took a break, but the main the main state roads were were really good throughout that whole storm. And like I said, we you know it's it pales in comparison with you guys, but we got 15, 16 inches out of it.
00:47:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
Kudos to them.
00:47:08
Mikey
I would love to try that just once.
00:47:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:47:11
Mikey
Doing highway plowing.
00:47:14
RICK JAMES
Angle left, angle right.
00:47:15
Mikey
Just something about it just seems therapeutic.
00:47:15
RICK JAMES
Call it a day.
00:47:19
Mikey
Just driving straight.
00:47:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Bow down, drive straight.
00:47:21
Mikey
That's it.
00:47:22
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's got to be... i would I would think I'd get into accidents more because I would just lose focus.
00:47:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
know, like, ooh, median.
00:47:33
Mikey
Well, they probably gotta pretty good group chat going between the five of them.
00:47:34
RICK JAMES
You just bounce some you bounce off.
00:47:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
will say this. I saw a wing plow snow take out somebody's window.
00:47:43
Mikey
Nice.
00:47:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was pretty... Not to be messed with. like yeah don't Don't mess with the wings though because they can put that stuff where they want it.
00:47:52
Jack
I'd like to try it
00:47:52
RICK JAMES
Do any you guys lose power out there? Or do a lot of places lost power,
Snow Removal Techniques
00:47:56
RICK JAMES
right?
00:47:56
Mikey
Couple did.
00:47:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Flickered a couple times but didn't go out.
00:47:57
Mikey
Yeah.
00:48:01
RICK JAMES
So how about fuel?
00:48:01
Jack
it with
00:48:02
RICK JAMES
Anybody have fuel issues getting fuel?
00:48:04
Jack
Horrible fuel issues.
00:48:06
RICK JAMES
Yeah?
00:48:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:48:06
Mikey
Like fuel quality.
00:48:08
Jack
No, like either the gas was shut down or out of gas.
00:48:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like you can't get it
00:48:12
Mikey
Oh, gotcha.
00:48:13
Jack
Because they like I said, they called to see an emergency 12 hours before the storm. So everybody panicked, rushed out, filled the car up, filled the generator up, filled everything up. Now there's no fuel.
00:48:22
Mikey
Hmm.
00:48:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
You
00:48:25
Mikey
Fuel trucks are still allowed to be on the road though, aren't they?
00:48:25
Jack
So.
00:48:28
Jack
Yeah, but even those couldn't get through because we had a fuel truck that we tried to get to us and they were getting stuck.
00:48:35
The SnowJobs Podcast
guys don't have psych tanks or anything?
00:48:38
Jack
um No, because every site every site that we have is a gas station across the street.
00:48:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
00:48:44
Jack
And so we're driving across the street, but this made us think twice.
00:48:48
Mikey
Yeah, we, uh, we made sure all of our tanks were full fuel cells full, even the portable tanks, the hundred gallon electric portable tanks that we have just stuffed everything that we could and try to ration as best as possible, but that much snow, it's tough.
00:48:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:49:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. That's literally what my guy Mark does before every freaking storm over like four inches.
00:49:05
RICK JAMES
yeah
00:49:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
He goes and... He goes grabs the fuel pods. He tops all the fuel pods off. They all get anti-gel. They all get the additive. And like that's his thing. like he's he's not We're not going to run out of fuel during a storm. Mark makes sure of that.
00:49:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Very particular.
00:49:24
Mikey
Yeah.
00:49:27
RICK JAMES
sucks.
00:49:30
Jack
We had issues with our fuel suppliers, like the the the diesel trucks that come to fill up everything.
00:49:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, yeah, that makes it a little difficult if you can't move any machines.
00:49:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
00:49:41
Jack
One of them ran off the road in the store. They go pull it out with the loader. Just trying to get the scheduled times for fill ups. They just didn't show up, didn't have it, you know, all sorts of problems.
00:49:53
Jack
So that made it challenging for us.
00:49:57
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:49:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
Interesting.
00:49:59
RICK JAMES
You ran a bunch of melters, didn't you guys, Johnic and Megan?
00:50:02
Jack
Yeah, we had five running. And so I mean, like, you know, the the diesel company that we hired to keep those things loaded, you have to fuel them every, you know, six to eight hours on the dot.
00:50:06
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:50:15
Jack
And they didn't show up sometimes or they came with a little, they have these F550 fuel trucks now, I guess, like three gallons.
00:50:22
Mikey
Hmm. Yep. yep
00:50:24
Jack
I'm like, what am I gonna do with this?
00:50:26
RICK JAMES
so
00:50:27
Jack
Yeah, it was just, it wasn't good.
00:50:33
RICK JAMES
Sure.
00:50:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
What, like, I'm hearing some some wide variation melter prices out there. Like, because melters are in such demand right now throughout the Northeast in certain areas.
00:50:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm hearing anything from, what's that?
00:50:45
Jack
The melting mafia.
00:50:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, right?
00:50:50
Jack
It used to be the dump truck mafia and now it's the melting mafia.
00:50:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't know. I'm hearing, like, crazy. I'm hearing anything from $1,200 all the way to $15,000 an hour.
00:51:01
Jack
Well, the so we had three 135s and two 80s. And the 135s, I mean, I think they were going, they're 1,500 gallons every eight hours. So, I mean, just the fuel bill alone is 500, 600 bucks, you know, in an hour.
00:51:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep. Yep.
00:51:15
Jack
um But i mean, was not it's not even so much the price. Is it cheaper? Is it not cheaper? You couldn't get trucks. You couldn't get people and you couldn't get trucks.
00:51:27
Jack
And that's my point to these clients. I'm like, if you truly need to be operational, you need to open up and you can't have these piles here. If I can't get trucks, I can't get your site opened up. I bring a melter. I need three guys, two lower operators and um and a melter operator.
00:51:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:51:38
Mikey
Yeah.
00:51:41
Jack
And that's it. And so this one site, we were running three melters at one point and one operator could run all three melters.
00:51:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:51:48
Jack
because you can you can watch them on your laptop to the program. And, you they sat in your truck, and they just watched all the data on them. And if it was getting over too hot to go whatever, you know, you just go over to where that machine was.
00:52:01
Jack
So, you know, I was melting an entire site with two, four, six, seven guys, that would take 4050 people with tri axles, and all that stuff.
00:52:09
RICK JAMES
Yep.
00:52:10
Jack
So so
00:52:14
Mikey
I think it is cheaper.
00:52:14
RICK JAMES
Thing is the the thing is, you gotta, like these guys are melters. i mean, what do i use them? What? Once, twice, every five years at the most. So, I mean, they're a big ticket item.
00:52:24
Mikey
Yeah.
00:52:25
RICK JAMES
So when it's time to work, you gotta charge for those babies accordingly.
00:52:29
Jack
Well, you used to be able to get tree can for $600,000, $700,000. Well, now the tariffs are $1.something million.
00:52:36
RICK JAMES
Yeah, they're like 1.2, 1.5 That's what I've heard.
00:52:40
Jack
So you use them two, three, four times a year. got recover $250,000 year on that thing to run 200 hours or whatever it may be. So just your recovery on those machines are $2,000, $3,000 an hour. Never mind fuel, overhead, profit, and everything else that goes with it.
00:52:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
00:52:57
RICK JAMES
I heard a guy, well, one of my subs today, he's got some trucks and he actually sold tractor trailer to some, some guys from Minneapolis. And he was going from here to Connecticut to haul snow today.
00:53:11
RICK JAMES
I'm like, what?
00:53:11
Jack
It's crazy.
00:53:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, because they're getting FEMA rates.
00:53:16
RICK JAMES
Oh,
00:53:18
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're getting ridiculous money.
00:53:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's got to get done. The cities will pay.
00:53:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Especially if it's not their money. They'll get it in there.
00:53:31
Mikey
Yeah, how'd that work out for New York City with their shovel brigade? brigade ah saw a lot of us standing around.
00:53:36
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
00:53:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
I can't speak to it. I can't speak to it.
00:53:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I don't know. i do not i do not know.
Reflection and Future Improvements
00:53:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah i was I was not worried about anything south of us. Just us.
00:53:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, I think it's net 90 on payment, though. Might as well be net never.
00:54:00
RICK JAMES
Heh.
00:54:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, you what?
00:54:03
Jack
at night.
00:54:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's hit some commercials real quick. We'll come back and we'll ah keep going with these guys.
00:55:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, we're back. So let's do this. Let's go time machine. So the next time that they give you 12 hours notice that you're no longer getting two inches, you're getting three feet, what would you do differently?
00:55:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
Lessons learned. What are you going to change up for next time?
00:55:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nothing. We were perfect. That's what I'm gathering.
00:55:38
Jack
I don't know.
00:55:39
Mikey
schedule.
00:55:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
What's that?
00:55:41
Mikey
Go ahead, Jack.
00:55:43
Jack
I mean, you could sit here all day long and say, I mean, I don't any, know what the right word to say, but like,
00:55:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Anything, though, that you you said, oh, shit, you know what? that That would have worked well. We should put that in place next time to do. Like, anything stick out like that for you?
00:55:58
Jack
I think the big one is crew rotation and hotels, you know, more of that.
00:56:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:56:02
Mikey
Yep.
00:56:03
Jack
um And more. So one thing I never thought of before was food. Like you could not go to McDonald's. They were close. Your gas stations had crap food in it.
00:56:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
00:56:13
Jack
Having an ability to cook a guy, a real meal for a guy, I think goes a long way. And I don't know how to combat that in some areas. Like, how do you cook a decent meal with somebody and not just give backstage and food when you're on a site and stuff? I don't know. I don't know what the right way to do that is, but I think that's i think that would go a long way.
00:56:30
RICK JAMES
Hot dogs on a grill.
00:56:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
We got them the hotel rooms and the like residence inn type deals, the mainstays, you know the the long-term stays that have their own kitchens, so that at least the least they can do that.
00:56:36
Jack
Yeah.
00:56:39
Jack
Yeah, that's good idea.
00:56:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
But we we we ran into a problem with that the last big storm. We didn't get hotel rooms this storm, and we didn't get it because the last storm, the ninjas were partying. Like, go no, no, no, no. We're there to rest. Like, you're not there to party. You're there to rest. But, yeah, they were apparently having a having a big old time in there. So, Mark was like, no hotel rooms this time. like Okay, good enough.
00:57:08
Mikey
Yeah, I would agree with that. The hotel rooms, we did them. I wish we did them a little bit earlier. So the guys had somewhere to hunker down during the storm and not, you know, after we were trying to get them some rest so they could keep going into the next day.
00:57:22
Mikey
food. i didn't even think of that. I, these guys came so well prepared in a lot of areas that they brought a lot of extra food, probably knowing that things are going closed down. um lot of them still went to the gas station, did their usual call it the trash run.
00:57:36
Mikey
They're white monsters and yo-yos and Twinkies, whatever. But I know.
00:57:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Shit will kill you. Wow,
00:57:44
Mikey
Yeah, I would, equipment wise, i there's not much I would say that we can really change. you You could bring in airport size stuff like Todd has at Top Dog. You're still not going to, you're just still going muscle your way through this any faster. You got to combat Mother Nature. She never plays fair.
00:58:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's deep. That's a t-shirt right there. Battling Mother Nature and she don't play fair. like it, Mike. I like it.
00:58:13
Mikey
That's the next shirt for you guys.
00:58:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's true, though, dude. She's a bitch, man. She just keeps kicking in the nuts. um'm I'm thanking God, though. At least we transferred to the Northeast and it left Christian Lefley alone up in Michigan for a couple days.
00:58:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
because I swear I think he was losing his mind a little bit.
00:58:30
RICK JAMES
yeah Yeah, yeah.
00:58:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
He was going a little crazy. Yeah.
00:58:35
Jack
Is he from Windward?
00:58:36
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Yeah, he was, a yeah.
00:58:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
00:58:39
Jack
I have never seen someone plow so much snow when watching his Instagram stories. That is fun. I'm like, every day, know,
00:58:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
His posts were getting a little bit crazier every every couple of days. like, I think he's actually going snow blind.
00:58:50
RICK JAMES
Oh, Lefty.
00:58:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, he's going insane.
00:58:54
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
00:58:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, I'm just glad that we were able to give him a little break because I think we were losing him.
Seasonal Weather Patterns and Business Impact
00:59:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
I don't know if he was going to come fully back. But, yeah, it's been, a what do you think? we got You think we got another week and a half and then we're out of it?
00:59:11
Jack
Yeah, it's going be 50s here next week, so.
00:59:14
Mikey
But somebody finally ah behead the hedgehog.
00:59:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
I just looked at the i looked at the extended for March, and it looks like after next Wednesday, we're we're looking pretty damn warm.
00:59:22
Jack
I hope so. We got 75 inches in our right now, and our average is usually, our ten sorry, 30-year average is like 35, so we're double our average, so I'm done.
00:59:32
RICK JAMES
Wow.
00:59:32
Jack
don't know.
00:59:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I got to look it up. we're where're I believe we're at or a little over 80 after this last one, which is double us for...
00:59:41
RICK JAMES
Jack, did you, i think I might have touched on this before I know last year you were trying a lot of brine stuff. that Are you doing that this year again? I know this storm, probably not obviously, but I'm just touching base from our last time.
00:59:51
RICK JAMES
I know you're going to try to use the ocean water and stuff and
00:59:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, the ocean brine.
00:59:54
Jack
Yeah, so we stopped with the ocean. You know, site restrictions and stuff like that, it made it very difficult. You didn't have a great place to make it out in the open and all that kind of stuff and making it.
01:00:06
RICK JAMES
Mm-hmm.
01:00:07
Jack
One thing I never thought about at the time when we started the program was the ocean tides, realizing how much... um depth you lose so um yeah you could only do it for like eight hours a day and at different times of the day and stuff like that so it made it very challenging to make brian there um that being said the contract for that site that we did all that work at changed this year um so we we kind of changed our tactic we didn't use it much because it they actually pulled it out of the contract
01:00:16
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, yeah.
01:00:39
RICK JAMES
o
01:00:39
Jack
um And what worked out well in our favor is it was so cold this year that salt couldn't work and we couldn't get salt um because of salt shortage.
01:00:51
Jack
Then when we finally got salt, it was like $250 a ton delivered at one point. um And then all we could get was straight salt. We couldn't get treated salt. So um I think that kind of helped bring that back for next year.
01:01:05
Jack
um so I think, you know, I think next year we'll we'll be back to it, but we got we had to build a real brine plant. um The amount of the month that we're using stuff that.
01:01:15
Jack
And I talked to Pat about, we just rented a new building now where we actually have a full garage where we can actually run an inside blank brine plant and all that kind of stuff. So I'm going to bring it back for next year.
01:01:24
RICK JAMES
Nice.
01:01:25
Mikey
Nice.
01:01:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Cool.
01:01:28
Mikey
That's great.
01:01:30
RICK JAMES
Hey, Mikey, I know you guys are big on like doing sweeping trucks off. I bet that's going pretty hard hard and heavy still no.
01:01:40
Mikey
Not as much as you'd think only because New Hampshire didn't get the crazy amounts that we did down here. We don't truck brush in Massachusetts. Nobody does it down here.
01:01:48
RICK JAMES
Okay.
01:01:49
Mikey
I'm sure there are guys like, you know, that work around us that do it, but none of our clients ask us for it. It's, It's all in New Hampshire.
01:01:55
RICK JAMES
Gotcha.
01:01:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
Massachusetts thoroughbred caving in your windshield going down the road.
01:01:57
Mikey
Would have made a
01:02:01
Mikey
Yeah, exactly. They they love their V-Blade gantries and whatever the hell they're using.
01:02:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:02:08
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
01:02:09
Mikey
Ridiculous. There's a site that I have town next to me. It's shredder company, so they don't have like 14 trucks. It's not crazy. But they have this this tall, like those Home Depot staircases that you see in the aisles, like maybe like two times the size of that.
01:02:26
Mikey
And they just give the guys a roof rake and have them bring these like 32 foot long shredder trucks over.
01:02:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Are you serious?
01:02:31
Mikey
I'm not kidding.
01:02:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh my god.
01:02:33
Mikey
Poor guys up there just like pulling snow out, pushing snow off.
01:02:38
RICK JAMES
Thank you.
01:02:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
01:02:39
Mikey
Can make a lot of money up here if you have it.
01:02:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:02:43
Jack
So we have this site. So we do an Amazon site. It's like a Final Mile site. And they had all their vans parked up against the chain link fence.
01:02:54
Jack
And the wind must have been blown just right. It buried every single van in a drift. I mean, the drift must have been blown off.
01:03:00
Mikey
It was just a white wall and there's trucks underneath.
01:03:03
Jack
ah picture of it I was like, oh my God. I'm like, so we, you know, obviously we brought in so much additional labor for those, for those guys going to all the vans, pull all the snow out. It took our guys, I don't know, 18 hours, 24 hours to have a crew to go in there and detail that site. 100%. I mean, I couldn't, I couldn't believe it.
01:03:24
Jack
What it took to do that. I mean, these vans, just like said, it's just a wall of white snow.
01:03:30
RICK JAMES
and And now the fun begins, all the billing process, right? you gotta figure out all the all the stuff you've, hopefully you don't forget much.
01:03:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, oh God.
01:03:34
Jack
Yeah.
01:03:34
Mikey
Oh no, no, no.
01:03:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Don't get any of that wrong.
01:03:40
Mikey
So bad. This is going to be worse than January. I thought January was heavy. This is going to be so much worse.
01:03:47
The SnowJobs Podcast
January was a heavy month. February for us is easier to build than January was. February, honestly, we didn't do all that much, if I remember correctly.
01:03:52
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
01:03:57
The SnowJobs Podcast
We had the big one last week. And maybe four or five other pushes. Wasn't like January where we're going every two days.
01:04:05
Mikey
Yeah. Well, I think what it is, is the the relocation now, because sites were still hanging on to that snowfall from, was at the end of January, that first two feet that we got.
01:04:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:04:15
Mikey
So now it was like DEFCON 5. Like now you got zero parking, buddy. You got to start getting this stuff out of here.
01:04:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
Nah, it'll be gone in a week.
01:04:25
Mikey
oh yeah. I've already had clients today tell me, you know what, let's just hold off. It's going to be 50 this weekend. we got 40s all next week. yeah Let's just let it melt. Like, okay. Your garage.
01:04:37
Jack
yeah It's strange. like People don't usually haul in Rhode Island because, of ah like you said, it gets so warm in between snowstorms, a lot it melts.
01:04:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:04:44
Jack
I've never hauled so much in my life than we did this year. Not just from this storm, but from the January storm. and january i mean It was so cold this year, and it never melted.
01:04:53
Mikey
Yep.
01:04:54
Jack
and Which is good. i mean Maybe that you know people will kind of see the value in it now, moving forward. Yeah, yeah.
Learning from Larger Storms
01:05:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
This is definitely, yeah.
01:05:02
Mikey
For us, it's cold for Jeremy.
01:05:02
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:05:03
Mikey
It's short weather.
01:05:05
Jack
yeah yeah
01:05:07
RICK JAMES
Cold is cold.
01:05:07
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I mean, listen, we were locked down below freezing for a good portion of this entire winter.
01:05:13
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
01:05:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
That was absolutely, you know, you were well over a solid month and a half of below freezing temperatures where it didn't get above 30 all day or all night.
01:05:14
Mikey
The longest I've seen in a while.
01:05:26
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's not That's not what we've experienced much in the last 15 years. In the last 15 years, you have a ah maybe a week of cold, and then you're in the mid-40s for four or five days.
01:05:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
you know And then you're back down. Okay, maybe it drops into the 30s, but then you're back into the 40s. It's a yo-yo.
01:05:45
Mikey
Yeah.
01:05:45
The SnowJobs Podcast
like That kind of lockdown cold we have not experienced outside of the last two winters. The last two winters, we've had good good stretches of lockdown cold.
01:05:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
which it's, you know, it's been good. But i think I think this winter has been very, very good, especially this storm. It's been very good for, you know, street cred, like I said, with the last one, building your rep.
01:06:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
If you handled this one, you know, you got some you got some cred. But,
01:06:16
Mikey
We definitely did better on this one than the last one for sure.
01:06:20
Jack
What?
01:06:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
oh, you guys didn't do so good on the first one?
01:06:23
Mikey
It was okay. Like 90% of what we do in our our book of business did well, but there was a lot of the the brand new sites that we took on, some of the larger ones that we we learned through the first few storms.
01:06:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Got you. Mm-hmm.
01:06:35
Mikey
But like the big storms is where you really kind of figure out what the package that you have, like what you needed for a storm that size, like we got it done.
01:06:46
Mikey
We definitely overextended a few managers to get it done, but it just kind of opened up a lot of doors of like, all right, this is what we would do next time for this site.
01:06:57
Mikey
If we had the chance and we did it.
01:06:57
RICK JAMES
Good.
01:06:58
Mikey
So we, that's why I said we did pretty well for this one.
01:07:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
01:07:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
Megan, what are your thoughts about this storm? any Anything you want to throw out there other than telling
Shoveling Challenges at Pharmaceutical Company
01:07:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
Jack, leave you leave you alone, you got it? Like, I got this.
01:07:13
Mikey
Hmm.
01:07:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Just get away from me. I'll handle it. I knew I'd get a laugh out of it.
01:07:18
Jack
I just never again.
01:07:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Never again. right, I like it.
01:07:22
Jack
i don't know. i want another one. Yeah. Two weeks from now. One more. Well, you weren't out shoveled. I was out shoveling.
01:07:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah?
01:07:29
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:07:30
Jack
My arms still hurt.
01:07:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh my goodness.
01:07:32
Jack
It was a lot of fucking snow to shovel. um And at the site, we out were just in charge of strictly sidewalks.
01:07:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
Mm-hmm.
01:07:39
Jack
And it's a pharmaceutical company. So, I mean, they have, you know, five different buildings, you know, the sidewalks go, I don't know, a mile. What do you think? A mile, two miles there.
01:07:50
Jack
It's not even the the sidewalk. It's even the length of sidewalk. It's the messed up. It's like in and out and the snow drifts are huge and...
01:07:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
And you're shoveling that? You don't have sidewalk machines or anything?
01:08:01
Jack
um so We had a UTV there that worked on some of them, but once you get like inside and go like in between the built, like you can't get anything. like You physically can't get equipment in there. We had snowblowers for some of the areas, but they didn't work the greatest for this for the type of snow that was in there.
01:08:17
Jack
so The fastest, cleanest way to do it was to just hand shovel it all. and i mean We had a crew of seven guys that stayed the whole storm, and then an additional four that came in towards the end for the last couple of hours, which really helped.
01:08:33
Jack
But um yeah, that was brutal.
01:08:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
Now, is the pharmaceutical company shut down for the storm?
01:08:37
RICK JAMES
Oh. Oh.
01:08:40
Jack
They did, yeah.
01:08:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh.
01:08:42
RICK JAMES
I have any of Oxy?
01:08:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm going to say, you could have knocked on their door and said, hey, listen, I got a shovel for 24 hours.
01:08:43
Jack
Yeah.
01:08:45
Jack
there
01:08:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
My arms are hurting. What do you recommend? yeah
01:08:50
RICK JAMES
What do you recommend? Come on now.
01:08:53
Jack
yeah
01:08:54
RICK JAMES
Here's a script pad.
01:08:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
I need energy. i need superhuman strength. I need to go for 24 hours. you got anything in there that might help?
01:09:01
Jack
yeah
01:09:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
but but but
01:09:02
Mikey
and ah And I don't want to feel any pain.
01:09:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it.
01:09:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah. Here's a cocktail.
01:09:07
Jack
And then it's snow drifts. So then the next day we had to go back and basically redo some of what we already had to do because there's the snow drifts and then the plows come through. So then they throw.
01:09:17
Mikey
Were the drifts really bad for you guys?
01:09:19
Jack
Yeah. Yeah.
01:09:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not for us.
01:09:20
Mikey
They...
01:09:21
RICK JAMES
Welcome to room, people. Welcome to my room.
01:09:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
No. We were worried about it. We thought we going have to do all our sidewalks again Monday night or Tuesday morning. And no, the wind the wind died right down when the snow left.
01:09:32
Mikey
Exactly. Yeah. They kept talking up the, uh, the drifting, how bad it was going to be when this thing pulled out and the sun came out. It, it was so calm even at night.
01:09:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, didn't happen.
01:09:41
Mikey
Like we had a couple like little, uh, 20 mile an hour gusts come through. You can see it coming off the roofs, but it was so few and far between.
01:09:49
Jack
Yeah, no, I'm...
01:09:49
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, thankfully there was nothing left on ah on the windward side of the roofs by the time the the storm subsided.
01:09:54
Mikey
Yeah, true. It was on the ground.
01:09:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
So it was all on the ground already, so the guys cleared it. because
Salt Supply Frustrations
01:10:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
that's With the one complex we have, we've had that in the past where you get windy three or four days after a storm and all of a sudden it ends up in the stairwells.
01:10:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I said, we got to keep an eye on this. And they're like, no, we got zero. There's nothing left to blow off.
01:10:14
Mikey
Yeah.
01:10:14
The SnowJobs Podcast
it's all I can see every shingle on that roof. Okay. Well, it's wild. i'm glad you guys all came through it. it's a
01:10:21
RICK JAMES
Yeah, some of you guys kicked ass.
01:10:24
Mikey
You guys got any salt coming in?
01:10:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's wild. No.
01:10:27
Jack
You know, I think it's all a joke. I think they just did this to get more money out of us because like three weeks ago there was no salt and now there's everybody's got salt again. And even the bag product.
01:10:34
Mikey
Yeah.
01:10:35
Jack
Our distributors for bag product.
01:10:36
Mikey
Oh, the barge just showed up the day after the day after the storm.
01:10:39
Jack
Yeah.
01:10:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, the river did unfreeze.
01:10:40
Jack
It's all BS.
01:10:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
the river The river is not... I know the Hudson is not frozen anymore. The barges are going up and down the Hudson.
01:10:49
Jack
Yeah, i don't know. You know, my suppliers like, you better buy our sidewalk to Eishanel because in in three weeks, there's going absolutely nothing left. And they're going on on and on. And then they had nothing. And now all of a sudden now, hey, we just got a couple of truckloads.
01:11:01
Jack
ah Do you want some bad product?
01:11:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, i yeah.
01:11:03
Jack
oh
01:11:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
that
01:11:04
Jack
this is all it It was all predetermined, I think.
01:11:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know what? i Yeah, we i mean, we can we can go into that all, you know, everybody has their theory.
01:11:06
Mikey
Yeah.
01:11:12
The SnowJobs Podcast
But I think it's trickling down now to at first it was the minds that were saying, you know, we don't have any or we can't bring it out fast enough. So the price is going to go up.
01:11:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not that that's going to do anything about the shortage, but now I think the smaller suppliers are doing their own little gouging and their own little fucking shell games.
01:11:31
Jack
Right.
01:11:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
so But you know what? I'm not bringing any more in. Whatever we got is whatever we got for the year, and I'm not i'm not playing these games. you know Call me when shit's back to normal in June, and I'll refill the bin.
01:11:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
But we're hoping we can still get that salt insider guy on but uh he got shut down an hour before he was supposed to come out with us and tell everybody all the big secrets that uh we have
Salt Infrastructure Critique
01:12:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
not we have not heard from him since
01:12:03
Jack
Thank you.
01:12:03
Mikey
Who shut him down?
01:12:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
legal his company's legal department yeah yeah he might be in a trunk somewhere yeah i haven't talked to him
01:12:09
RICK JAMES
swear a He's wearing a pair of cement block shoes now, probably.
01:12:14
Mikey
Just, you know, show the lower half of his head, distort his voice, put him in a darkly lit room.
01:12:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, yeah, I mean, he was basically going to tell everybody that the entire salt infrastructure for the country is broken.
01:12:29
RICK JAMES
Fuck.
01:12:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, totally fucked. And this is the new normal, and it's not going to get better. So basically build bins that are capable of holding everything you need for a year for a whole winter and bring it in before, you know, August.
01:12:44
Mikey
Isn't it, it's a little crazy to me and maybe this is a rabbit hole I don't need to go down. How are we still relying on salt to melt our fucking roads? How the most technologically advanced country in the world have we not figured out a better fucking product to burn down our roads?
01:13:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Money. It comes down to money.
01:13:04
RICK JAMES
We use lasers up here. What do you guys do?
01:13:06
Mikey
Ugh. Japan's got little like water misters that come out of the ground and just spray warm water and keep the road wet. They don't even get real snow up there. I can't figure something cool like that out.
01:13:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, I don't know. All I know is I was in Lake Placid last weekend, and that was, I would love to do snow up there.
01:13:24
Jack
Thank you.
01:13:24
The SnowJobs Podcast
they They don't use salt. They use sand. They literally, they cut their salt usage down to next to nothing. They only do the main roads, and then and even then it's a 50-50 mix. um you get We got a foot of snow on Friday night into Saturday up there in Lake Placid.
01:13:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Not a plow truck came through that complex until 7 a.m. m the next day. And they everybody's good with it. Like, it's just the how it is. Two inches of snow hard packed on the roads, that's just how it is for the winter.
01:13:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
I love that.
01:13:55
Mikey
That's nice.
01:13:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
Let's get back to that. If you slip and fall up there, you're an idiot.
01:13:57
RICK JAMES
Steve. No.
Personal Story and Hockey Victory
01:14:00
Jack
i
01:14:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
It's on you. it's not ah It's not anybody else's fault. It's not negligence. It's winter. Don't wear stilettos. you know You know, don't wear them out. So I loved it.
01:14:12
RICK JAMES
Steve. Mentioned like like Placid, who won the hockey games again?
01:14:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, I believe that was the United States. And the United States. Yeah.
01:14:26
RICK JAMES
Oh, yeah.
01:14:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
yeah My kid.
01:14:27
RICK JAMES
Who did we beat? Who did we beat again? don't remember.
01:14:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
Canada.
01:14:31
RICK JAMES
Oh, Canadian.
01:14:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
he
01:14:32
RICK JAMES
Was that for the gold medal?
01:14:34
The SnowJobs Podcast
It was for it was for medals of gold. And yeah, it was kind of fitting.
01:14:37
RICK JAMES
Yes.
01:14:39
The SnowJobs Podcast
We were in Lake Placid. Because they hadn't won there since 1980, since the Miracle on Ice, and they won. And my son was actually on international TV.
01:14:49
Mikey
Yep.
01:14:49
RICK JAMES
Saw that.
01:14:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
So that was pretty, pretty freaking fun.
01:14:50
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:14:51
Mikey
Riley's famous.
01:14:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, i got a bunch of I got a bunch of DMs, I guess guys with bigger bigger screen TVs than I was watching, saying, dude, I'm like, the one guy was really funny.
01:14:55
RICK JAMES
Pretty cool.
01:15:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
I may still be drunk from last night, but I swear I just saw a Snow Jobs Nation logo on on one of these kids at this hockey game. I'm like, yeah, that's my son.
01:15:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
He got right up there and started mugging for the camera.
01:15:17
RICK JAMES
should have turned around. You should have turned around put the bigger logo on. You should have turned around but the bigger logo.
01:15:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
i I said that. I'm like, Riley, that was great, buddy, but you got to turn around, get the big logo front and center.
01:15:22
RICK JAMES
Come on, Riley.
01:15:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
But yeah, I didn't see it.
01:15:28
RICK JAMES
Little.
01:15:29
The SnowJobs Podcast
they I was getting the car. um So they said he was on like three times, three different times he was on there on ah NBC during the game. So pretty funny.
Client Communication During Storms
01:15:41
Mikey
ah Jack, I got a question for you guys from a client standpoint, what would you have done different to prepare them for this storm?
01:15:43
Jack
What
01:15:51
Mikey
Like with your communication to them, do you feel like you, you guys did well preparing them for the shit show that came through that crippled everything
01:15:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
Thank
01:16:03
Jack
what do you think? don't you take that? Because you do all the communication stuff. Yeah, mean, we updated them that, you know, it was going to dump snow on us anyway. And, you know, it was already, ah like you said, the state of an emergency. So a lot of people actually listened to that.
01:16:17
Jack
um And that helped out big time. And then just updating them throughout the storm, like, Hey, we're just trying our best. We, we, mean, we were honest with them. We told them we had to pull trucks off the roads because ultimately it becomes unsafe for, you know, our crews.
01:16:31
Jack
um And I think they kind of took that to heart because again, you know, they don't want to be the,
01:16:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Absolutely.
01:16:38
Jack
the terrible person that wants to put anyone at risk.
01:16:40
Mikey
Yeah, they don't want to be the reason someone doesn't go home.
01:16:42
The SnowJobs Podcast
And unless you're doing a firehouse, a police station, or a hospital, you really got nothing to worry about as far as your customer bitching.
01:16:43
Jack
Yeah.
01:16:51
Jack
Yeah.
01:16:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, those are the only ones that you got to make sure are taken care of. In my in my mind, I really... Anybody else? Hey, listen, everybody's everybody's aware of what's going on.
01:17:03
Mikey
Yeah.
01:17:03
The SnowJobs Podcast
You know, there shouldn't be anybody that's in a rush to open up their dollar store, you know, on on Monday morning.
01:17:07
Mikey
Hmm.
01:17:08
The SnowJobs Podcast
like It's just not to happen. We're doing the world a favor by keeping you closed.
01:17:13
Jack
And I think we set of the expectation too, like you're not going open Monday.
01:17:13
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
01:17:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, and they should ah and they most of them understood that.
01:17:18
Jack
I'm sorry. not
01:17:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, we had one place that was like, well, you know, if things change, we really want to shoot for, like, a noon opening on Monday.
01:17:21
Jack
Yeah.
01:17:27
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I flat out told the guy, you're on crack. That is not happening. It's just absolutely off the table. The travel ban is in place till 4 p.m., minimum. And they might extend it further depending on when the storm ends.
01:17:41
The SnowJobs Podcast
So once I hit him with the travel ban, then he was like, oh, okay, all right, maybe we'll just stay closed then.
01:17:41
Jack
Right.
01:17:45
Jack
Yeah, we had travel bands too, which I'm sure help yeah least said helped. That helped a lot.
01:17:49
Mikey
Yeah.
01:17:50
Jack
they Even if they wanted to, they're not allowed to go anywhere. you know
01:17:53
Mikey
yeah
01:17:54
Jack
like Like with Amazon, like they wanted to know like how soon can we get back up but running and running. We're just honest. like
01:17:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
That I get.
01:17:59
Jack
It's not going to be until midday Tuesday at best. You set that expectation early. All right, well, it is what it is. Everybody's in the same boat. Even if you were operational before that, you can't go anywhere and your employees can't get because the streets weren't even blocked.
01:18:15
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:18:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:18:16
Jack
So I think updating them on some of that kind of stuff so they understand like, hey,
Resident Challenges and Snowmobiles
01:18:20
Jack
even if we wanted to open and could open, you couldn't get there. And that kind of comes out.
01:18:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah, your your people aren't going to be able to get in the gate. Everything inside the gates might be perfect, but outside is still a freaking war zone.
01:18:28
Jack
Right.
01:18:33
Jack
Right.
01:18:34
RICK JAMES
That's it.
01:18:34
Jack
The bigger problem we have were with the condos. Just because you had one old lady said, I need to go to CVS to get my medication.
01:18:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, absolutely.
01:18:45
Jack
not open. You can't even talk.
01:18:46
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, they'll open it for me.
01:18:46
Mikey
Should have done it, Ethel. Should have done earlier.
01:18:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
They'll open for me.
01:18:49
Jack
Yeah. It's not open. Yeah. Or my husband has a heart condition. Like what if he has to get out? And it's like, well, am ambulances can't even get to you.
01:18:58
Mikey
Is he the only one?
01:18:58
Jack
yeah. So just, you know, thankfully we had someone in the office answering the phone.
01:19:01
RICK JAMES
I got snowmobiles.
01:19:06
Jack
So they made
01:19:09
RICK JAMES
Or you guys can buy the snowcat and can give rides on the snowcat I got for...
01:19:13
The SnowJobs Podcast
Why are you giving away our snowcat? Why are why are you giving that away?
01:19:16
Mikey
Do you just need the room in your shop?
01:19:17
RICK JAMES
um I just want to sell it.
01:19:20
Jack
I'll buy it.
01:19:20
RICK JAMES
So snowcat.
01:19:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
Why?
01:19:21
Jack
Open checkbook. Nope.
01:19:23
The SnowJobs Podcast
ah thought we were rolling in Cincinnati with that.
01:19:23
RICK JAMES
We have no use for it. we have We have no no use for it here. ah Should we bring it to Cincinnati and sell it there?
01:19:30
The SnowJobs Podcast
I told you, put the wrap on and well that's how we'll roll into Cincy. Done.
01:19:35
RICK JAMES
That would be sweet. yeah
01:19:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Done.
01:19:37
RICK JAMES
Put a rubber tracks on it.
01:19:37
The SnowJobs Podcast
<unk> put it We'll put it in the Snow Jobs booth that I'm sure Simon's going to give us. sure they're going to give us Snow Jobs booth for the show.
01:19:42
Jack
and
01:19:45
RICK JAMES
We're probably not allowed this year.
01:19:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, it's possible.
01:19:51
Jack
Just go under alias names.
01:19:52
RICK JAMES
That's fine.
01:19:52
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
01:19:54
Jack
Alias.
01:19:54
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm going to go under i'm goingnna go under Steve Smythe.
01:19:55
Mikey
Oh, it's bro jobs nation.
01:19:58
Jack
yeah
01:19:58
The SnowJobs Podcast
No, I'm going to register as Steve Smythe. I'm going call myself Arctic Steve.
01:20:02
Mikey
Yeah.
01:20:05
The SnowJobs Podcast
See, two can play at that game.
01:20:05
RICK JAMES
Yeah. ah I'll sell the snowcat. If anybody's interested, look me up.
01:20:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, God. All right, anything else, guys? Because my voice is about done here.
01:20:20
Jack
I think we're good.
01:20:20
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, well, glad you guys got through it. Glad you came on. That's three feet of snow is no... That's got to be the record, right, for this year?
01:20:28
RICK JAMES
No, that's awesome.
01:20:31
Jack
Yeah.
01:20:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's the biggest storm anywhere this year, right?
01:20:33
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
01:20:33
Jack
Yeah, it's forever, 30 years. Well, in Rhode Island, it was the biggest storm we've ever had on record.
01:20:37
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:20:39
Jack
Yeah.
01:20:40
The SnowJobs Podcast
Wow.
01:20:40
Jack
I mean, there were people that died during the storm just because there was a college student at the college nearby us that they went to their their car to charge their phones. um And a couple of people didn't think their exhaust got covered and they just, yeah, yeah.
01:20:54
RICK JAMES
Uh, went sleepy.
01:20:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Aww.
01:20:56
Jack
It's amazing how many people don't know that's a thing. And like, I reiterate that to my crews continuously.
01:20:59
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:21:01
Jack
Like, listen, while you're parked, make sure you you know there's no drift that's gonna block that. People are like, what do you mean?
01:21:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yep.
01:21:07
Jack
What's carbon monoxide? Like, know, to me, that's crazy.
01:21:10
Mikey
Yeah.
01:21:11
The SnowJobs Podcast
Aww, that's a shame. You hate hearing and shit like that. Alright, well, way to end the episode on a down note.
01:21:17
Jack
the happy y'all.
01:21:19
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's good.
01:21:20
RICK JAMES
Did your horses make it, Megan? did
01:21:23
Jack
No, but with all the snow, they're coming.
01:21:25
The SnowJobs Podcast
No?
01:21:25
Jack
No, don't talk about it. Don't talk about it.
01:21:27
RICK JAMES
See, you hook a sleigh them and you could sleigh ride to work.
01:21:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
There you go.
01:21:32
Jack
That's what I said. They can pull the melters. Oh, God.
01:21:36
The SnowJobs Podcast
Oh, jeez.
01:21:37
Jack
Go back to old school. They can pull the...
01:21:39
RICK JAMES
I'm helping. I'm trying to help
Post-Winter Billing Anticipations
01:21:40
RICK JAMES
you, Megan. Trying to spend you guys' money.
01:21:43
Jack
After this year, I'm getting one. We haven't even collected it yet. She's already trying to spend it. Yeah.
01:21:48
The SnowJobs Podcast
Well, I'll tell you, that's going to be the real interesting thing with a lot of people in the Northeast is they've had a lot of light winters of billing, and now they're not – this one is – this one's going to hurt badly.
01:21:59
Mikey
Oh, this one's gonna hurt.
01:22:01
The SnowJobs Podcast
And I wonder – like, I've even wondered for myself, our cap is 52. We hit 52 before January was half over.
01:22:10
Mikey
Mm-hmm.
01:22:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
So, like, I really want to see – all the extra money when they get that check or or that bill. I want to see how many of them are going to struggle because some of them are haggling over the contract price as it was.
01:22:23
Jack
Yeah. Yeah. yep
01:22:24
Mikey
Some of them are struggling right now, just with the MIS know that we've gotten. it's
01:22:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah.
01:22:29
Mikey
I'm not looking forward to chasing it this year.
01:22:32
RICK JAMES
chasing money.
01:22:32
The SnowJobs Podcast
I'm already going to send out with that final bill with what their overages are and their final charges are. I'm going to send out a, listen, you can pay this from now until December.
01:22:44
The SnowJobs Podcast
Like, let's do six-month payment, you know, and get and get you down so that it's not all due at once.
01:22:51
Jack
yeah
01:22:53
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, all right.
01:22:54
RICK JAMES
Yeah, we don't want to advertise that.
01:22:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
I've had it. My voice is done. Let's wrap it. Thank you guys for coming on.
01:22:58
RICK JAMES
We would have Sean on, but he's still up on, right?
01:23:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sean is still hauling.
01:23:04
The SnowJobs Podcast
Sean is, I don't know.
01:23:05
RICK JAMES
i was kidding. What?
01:23:06
The SnowJobs Podcast
He's got his ah he's got his his wife and couple other. the Thank God for the the, what does he call them? like Like yeah his women heroes, man. He's got the three women that he says outworked 10 of his other operators.
01:23:21
The SnowJobs Podcast
They're absolutely killing it. says they get in the machines. They do exactly what they're told to do. They work for forever and they don't bitch. It's freaking amazing.
01:23:32
RICK JAMES
what
01:23:33
Jack
When he's done with them, we'll take him over here.
01:23:33
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's what he says. That's what he says. He says his wife and her friends, they get in those machines and they just keep working and they don't complain. And it's good for him. He actually sounded like he made it through that storm pretty good and he got over two feet.
01:23:49
RICK JAMES
Good.
01:23:50
The SnowJobs Podcast
I've seen him
01:23:50
RICK JAMES
and
01:23:51
The SnowJobs Podcast
I've seen him shit himself for three weeks over two inches. So, I mean, like, i don't know.
01:23:55
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:23:56
The SnowJobs Podcast
I mean, things must be going really well.
01:24:00
The SnowJobs Podcast
Good for him.
01:24:01
Mikey
Oh, Sean.
01:24:01
RICK JAMES
Well, awesome.
01:24:02
The SnowJobs Podcast
We'll get Sean on. we'll get We'll get the Jersey crew on to talk about their their portion of the storm.
01:24:04
RICK JAMES
Yeah, yeah.
01:24:06
RICK JAMES
Maybe he made some money this year, he can give us a sweatshirt.
01:24:09
The SnowJobs Podcast
Yeah,
Episode Wrap-up
01:24:10
The SnowJobs Podcast
a native sweatshirt. There we go.
01:24:11
RICK JAMES
yeah
01:24:12
Mikey
Well, he's got remember to put the checks in the bank first.
01:24:15
RICK JAMES
Yeah.
01:24:17
The SnowJobs Podcast
But, yeah, we'll ah we'll hear it because a lot of people got big snow out of this storm. So, you know, we'll we'll do a couple episodes talking to guys that had to tackle multiple feet of snow. And that's good.
01:24:27
Mikey
Get your credit lines ready.
01:24:27
RICK JAMES
Fun, fun.
01:24:28
Mikey
For the love of God, get your credit lines ready.
01:24:28
The SnowJobs Podcast
That's it.
01:24:30
RICK JAMES
Yep.
01:24:31
The SnowJobs Podcast
Always good to see you, Mikey. Thanks for coming on. Jack and Megan, thank you very much for the time. i know you guys are still busy handling that stuff.
01:24:36
RICK JAMES
Thank you all.
01:24:37
Jack
Thank you.
01:24:38
The SnowJobs Podcast
So thank you guys a lot. We appreciate you coming on.
01:24:42
Jack
Anytime.
01:24:42
Mikey
Thank you.
01:24:43
Jack
Thank you.
01:24:43
The SnowJobs Podcast
All right, let's wrap it then. That's going to do it. Episode 160 of the Snow Jaws Podcast, main show in the books. Thank you guys for the time as always. Everybody be safe out there.
01:24:55
The SnowJobs Podcast
Hopefully we are done with the snow. Have a great week. Keep pushing.