Help on a vary vary larg bid

Hi Guys <p>I am farly new to this form and I have a chance to land the job that could put me ahead, <p>I need help as to what I would bid for approximately 1 million square feet of plowing, No this is not a joke, but a vary large national company that wants a bid<br>What I would like to get is a price range per square foot. most is vary flat and they provide the salt. approxmently 500,000 sq ft is half full of semi tralers that would not normaly need plowed under, but if it bad they will pull them out and we would plow under them 1 by 1. this part i will bid by the hour because there is no way to tell how long this will take. <p>i will also need to bid for loader snow removal, this I think would be best by the hour also. how much an hour?<p>What i was thinking of for equiment was <p>1 f650 dump with 12' plow tailgate spreader<br>2 f250 with with 8 foot plows.<p>Thank you vary much <p>John W Bell

 

Ok Equipment wise you are set up ok. I would get v-plows on those pick ups if it was me. Now your 650, if you don't have a plow on it yet, get a 10'. With the 10' blade you can make longer runs. Just note the F 650 is 2wd, even with weight there are sometimes traction problems. So the bigger the blade the harder to get started, i have a 10' blade on my 650 works great. <p>I would suggest if you have the funds and equipment, a snowpusher. Only if you don't you should be able to do the job with what ya have. I can't and won't give you a cost to plow the place with out seeing it. I think you will need some sourt of loader, to do the job right. Either have someone you know, do the loader work, or find your own loader. <p>I would tell the company this, this would be my plan. I plow the lot that has no trailers, sand/salt. Then they move all the other trailers and plow/sand in salt. The reason is, because i wouldn't want any ice build up around those trucks and trailers. Once it's there and in the shade of the traiers, i may not melt fast. So if you have to plow, and there is ice everywhere it's going to suck. They might not be able to move their trailers if the ice gets really bad, and then they are yelling at you.<p>My advice plow the whole lot every time. Sell them on that, yes it will cost more, but you can tell them they will never have a problem moving their trailers all winter long. That right there is worth the extra money. <p>I have never plowed a trailer truck lot, so i wouldn't know how to give you an exact cost. Or how this would fly with the company.<p>Loader Work, i hear some guys get in the area of 100-175 and hour. Depends on urgency, location, and amount of trafic.<p>If you are only going to use the tailgate spreader at that location only, then you will be all set. I would want to have to drive up the hills we have in maine with a dump body up. I would suggest a double acting body from frink if you can get one for a F 650 not sure, or a V-box.<p>What do you currently have for equipment? <p>I would advise useing as much of your existing equipment as possible. Big accounts are nice like that, only i would go out a buy a lot of new and expensive stuff for one account. I have been plowing with over 6 trucks ( i consider that commercial) for over 10 years, the 30K pick up doesn't bother me, but that 80K backhoe kinda makes me think hard.<p>Yes you will have a contract regarding that you will have the job for a year. Only if they don't want you anymore, they will be able to get out of it. Any nation wide company has a legal department the size of the a Wall Mart store. I bet their lawyers can make yours look like a fool. I mean you probably have a good lawyer, but when a big company onces out of a snowplowing contract, they can and will get out of it.<p>My Snowplowing combo. <br>Ford Truck, Diamond Plow when blade size is 8', 8.5, or 9', Swenson v-box, Fisher plow when i want a 10' blade or v-plow. I would also say if you are putting plows on F 250, get the 8.5 blade, the 8' is too small for the ford's turning radius.<p>Geoff<br>

 

Welcome to the forum,i am off to chicago but i will give you a few thoughts real quick.If the lot is flat and square or rectangle with not to many nooks and crannys,forget all the trucks.we do lots like this and you need to think about loaders with pusher boxes.1 decent size loader(2.5 to3yd) with a 16ft pusher box can do the work of 5 loaders.use your trucks for sanding and the small more difficult plow areas on the site. Ill will try to add to your post when i come back,oh and get the company to spray there salt pile it will make life much easier for you. <p>----------<br>J PARKER<br>914-485-4200

 

Thanks for the replies, Just to let you know i just got in to plowing this past year.<br>The equiment i have is just my 99 3/4 ton chevy with an 8' blade. I only did a few drivways and some fast foods so this is all new to me. is there a formula to figure out productivity with an 8 foot plow so I can figure out how long it takes so i can come up with a price, I only have till friday.<p>Thanks, John Bell

 

It's not simple to come up with &quot;formulas&quot; plowing is a business that is un like any other. Sometimes i can plow 5 achers in 2 hours, other times it take 4. It depends on the type of snow, type of area. If you are just getting into plowing i might want to pass on that job, just because you might want to gain some more experience. Anyways I will say this yes the loaders are nice, but if you don't have the funds to buy them, use the trucks and you can do the job just fine. The 650 with a 10' blade, and 2 F 250s i would use a 350 if it was my choice, with v-plows should work fine for you. Then maybe later you can start adding loaders.<p>Best of luck. Can't give ya a price with out seeing it, sorry.<p>This May Help:<p>Truck Plow Open Area closed<br>F 2-350 8' 88,000 42,500<br>F 3-550 9' 67,500 30,000<br>F 6-760 10' 67,500 Don't try it<p>Ok i got this from my diamond snowplow book. Those are the number of square feet cleared on average in an hour. Now i think the 9' numbers are off, because i think they are for a 2wd truck. These figures are for clearing 6&quot; of snow with an average opperator. <p>Maybe that helps, best of luck. Try to sell them on plowing the whole lot everytime. <p>Geoff<br>

 

You lease a loader and buy/lease a pusher box.

 

First Join SIMA. The Snow and Ice Management Association. As a memeber help with pricing is part of the perks. Next forget the trucks, with what they will be paying,you will be able to lease the boxes and loaders. Next sell them on the fact that every minute a truck cannot get in or out they lose$$$$. <br>Next figure out how long it will take to clear the place once, multiply by the total # of times you will have to do this in a season and sell a seasonal price. MY guess would be in the 10's of thouseands to maybe as much as 100k per season, depending on annual snow fall.<br>Unforntuantely they is no set per sq ft price in snow removal. Reason is to many variables, and with the production rate of the new pusher boxes, all the #'s would be way off. If you price the job by the hour, you will not make the $$ you should be making.<br>You also need to ask, why are they changing service companies. Are they new to the area? NY Snow pros is working for a co, that is southern based, they have no idea what snow remoavl will cost. If you are in the same boat, play that angle. They have no point of reference. If they are price shopping, then find out why. If they just want lower costs, then dont take it. Also remember you are taking a huge leap from drives and small commercial to huge industrial. You may make alot of $$ but if you are wrong on the bid, you will probably go out of business. That is why $165.00 for a sima membership is pocket change to get help for this type of property. They have members that manage sites this large for a morning snack.<br>www.sima.org<br>also go back through older posts and feel free to call any of us, and we will be able to go into more detail on bidding this porperty.<br>Dino <p>----------<br> Professional Ice and Snow Management <br>Products:Services:Equipment www.sima.org

 

Thanks for all the help<p>1 they did the snow work in house last year. they had 3 3/4 ton trucks with boss v plows<p>2 there is no room for a snow pusher, to many trucks that cant park worth a crap.<br>some rows are only ten feet wide<p>3 The good news is they have extendid the bid due date 1 week<p>All for now,<br>John

 

I think I'd be a little scared jumpintg into such a big site after only a year in the plowing business. What's worse is that depending on how much coordination is required (and achieved) between you and the customer it could turn into a real pissing contest. I would definately try to get help in figuring the cost and negotiating terms of the contract from someone who is familiar with this sort of site. Just out of curiousity, why are they looking at outsourcing it now? Could they just be using the bid process to establish their own budget for snow removal?

 

Alan, no they are not just geting a buget to go by, as they sold all there equiment and have know time to do it themselves, they cant find the help, I cant imagine that!