Get on a Plow Route Before the First Storm
The worst time to look for a plow is the morning after eight inches. Everybody worth calling is already out, and they are running a list that was set weeks earlier.
Routes are built, not improvised
A plow route is a fixed order of stops arranged so the truck is never backtracking. Adding a driveway in the middle of a storm means either working it in badly or pushing it to the end of the run. That is why most operators close the list before winter starts instead of taking calls during a storm. Getting on early is how you land a reasonable spot in the order rather than last.
Get the property ready in the fall
- Mark the edges of the driveway with stakes, especially where gravel meets turf and wherever the drive bends
- Flag anything a blade cannot see under snow, including culvert ends, low walls, sprinkler heads, septic lids and landscape lights
- Move whatever normally gets parked in the way, and decide now where the piles are going
- Trim branches that hang low over the drive, because they hang lower once they are loaded with ice
Decide where snow goes before it falls
Piles need somewhere to sit that will not drift back across the drive, block a sight line at the road, or send meltwater across the pavement where it refreezes overnight. Sorting that out ahead of time is easier than moving a pile in February.
Know what you are signing up for
Ask what triggers a visit, whether walks and porches are included, and what happens with the pile the county plow leaves at the end of your drive. Those answers should be clear before the first storm, not after it.
See snow removal, or call and text JR at (517) 993-8393 to talk about this winter.
