What Happens at Our End During the First Storm of the Season

Most snow removal writing is about what a homeowner should do. This one is about what we do, because it explains several things that look strange from the outside.

The launch decision

Under about two inches we wait for the snow to stop, then make one clean pass. Going early on a small storm means doing the driveway twice for no benefit — and the second time is on our clock, not yours.

Over about two inches we launch while it is still falling and time the loop to run with the city plows rather than ahead of them. This is the part that looks wrong from a front window. If we clear your driveway at midnight and the city comes through at 2am, you wake up to a wall of compacted snow across the end of your apron and a company that appears to have done nothing.

The ridge is the actual job

That wall — the plow ridge — is denser than anything that fell out of the sky. It is snow the city plow has already compressed and dragged, and it is precisely where you need to drive.

So on any storm over two inches we come back. The second pass is not a favor and it is not extra; it is the reason we time the first one the way we do. When people tell us their previous company "did the driveway but left the end", this is what they are describing: one pass, correctly executed, at the wrong moment in the storm.

Why the tractor turns around where it does

An inverted blower throws snow across the lawn instead of pushing it into a pile. That is what keeps your yard edges intact and keeps a mountain from forming beside your garage by February. It also means the machine needs somewhere to throw — which is why some driveways get cleared in an order that looks odd, and why a driveway hemmed in on both sides takes longer than a wider one that is open on one side.

It is also why we say no to a few driveways every year. If there is nowhere to put the snow and nowhere to turn around, we would be doing a worse job than the homeowner could do themselves, and charging for it.

What we are watching all night

Accumulation rate, when it is forecast to stop, and where the city plows are. Everything else — including how many messages we get — changes nothing about the order of the loop. The route is the route. That is the deal, and on the fifth storm of a bad February it is the only reason anybody gets cleared on time.