Snow plow price calculator: per push, per inch and seasonal

Work out the minutes a push takes, multiply by what your truck and crew cost per minute, then divide by one minus your margin.

1. Plow minutes = area in sq ft ÷ (blade width in ft × speed in ft per minute × blade efficiency)
2. Minutes per push = drive from the last stop + setup and cleanup + plow minutes
3. Cost per push = hours × (truck cost per hour + wages × (1 + labor burden) × overtime factor)
4. Price per push = cost ÷ (1 − target margin)

The overtime factor is 1 + 0.5 × the share of storm hours paid at time and a half. One mile is 5,280 feet, so 5 mph is 440 feet a minute.

Example: a 60,000 sq ft lot with an 8 ft blade at 5 mph and 60% efficiency takes 28.4 minutes to plow, or 50.4 with 22 minutes of driving and setup. At 50 dollars an hour for the truck, a driver at 26 dollars and two walk crew at 20, with 20% burden and 30% of hours at overtime, the push costs 118.53 dollars. At a 35% margin the price is 182.35 dollars.

Convert acres to square feet, since one acre is 43,560 square feet, and run the same minutes-per-push formula.

Square feet = acres × 43,560

The calculator takes either unit. A per-acre price hides the drive, setup and sidewalk time, so price each lot from its own minutes.

Example: the 60,000 sq ft lot above is 1.38 acres. With 600 feet of walks cleared by two people at 40 feet a minute each, the walks take 7.5 minutes and finish while the truck plows.

Charge for the whole visit, because the drive and setup take longer than the plowing on most driveways.

Price per push = (drive + setup + plow minutes) ÷ 60 × hourly cost ÷ (1 − margin)

Set a minimum charge per visit so short driveways still cover the stop.

Example: a 60 × 12 ft driveway with 30 feet of walk takes about 2 minutes to clear and 18 minutes with the drive and setup. With the same truck and driver costs, the push costs 25.82 dollars and prices at 39.72 dollars.

Price each salt application as its own visit: the spreading time plus the salt and ice melt you put down.

1. Salt pounds = lot sq ft ÷ 1,000 × your rate per 1,000 sq ft
2. Salt cost = pounds ÷ 2,000 × cost per ton
3. Price per application = (visit time cost + salt + ice melt) ÷ (1 − margin)

Take the rate from your spreader’s calibration card. Connecticut’s parking lot guide says to plow before salting, use more salt as pavement temperature drops, and expect dry salt to stop working below 15°F.

Example: 6 lb per 1,000 sq ft on 60,000 sq ft is 360 lb, or 19.80 dollars at 110 dollars a ton. With 8.10 dollars of ice melt on the walks and 33 minutes of truck time, the application costs 106.35 dollars with the same crew and prices at 163.61 dollars.

A seasonal contract pays you more than per-push billing in any winter with fewer pushes than its break-even count.

Break-even pushes = seasonal price ÷ price per average push

Pushes where seasonal stops covering cost = seasonal price ÷ cost per average push

Base the push count on your own push logs for that site. The calculator also shows a light, average and heavy winter side by side.

Example: 12 pushes at 182.35 dollars plus a 10% premium is a 2,407.04 dollar seasonal contract. It beats per push in winters under 13.2 pushes and stops covering costs at 20.3 pushes. Overtime and labor burden move every one of these numbers, so run your crew through the labor burden calculator first.