'Mr. Plow' working hard to break even

BY ALBERT KRAMBERGER

editor@transcontinental.ca

There's no business like snow business, especially for clearing contractors doing driveways this winter.

With some fixed rates at $200 per residential driveway for the season and about 350 centimetres of snow already fallen, West Island contractors have been busy but facing a slight return for their efforts this winter.

"All of us are not breaking even but that's part of the game," said Jack Tossi, owner of Syljack, one of the larger snow removal contractors in the West Island.

After a major weekend snowfall, he estimated it takes his crew about three or four days to clear it completely for their customers. "On weekends, people don't always move their cars from the driveway, so we have to come back since they have to get to work on Monday," he said.

Because of all the accumulated snow, it's getting difficult to clear driveways. "There's no more room," Tossi said last week. "There's 12 to 15 feet of snow with both us and the city crews piling it up. It's a disaster."

Tossi, however, takes this winter's near-record snowfall in stride, recalling last winter's mild temperature swings. "It's normal — we live in Montreal, Canada. We're always going to get snow. I think the next two years will be as tough as this year."

Chris Kane, owner of Pointe Claire-based TLC Services, said it's been a tough year. "It's been the quantity of snow," he said, not the frequency of storms that has hit the local industry hard. "We're getting laughed at this year, if you think people are paying $200 or $250. If it snows 20 times and we pass two or three times, that works out to about $3 a pass. This year, I think we've been out about 30 times."

The rising cost of fuel for trucks is another concern, especially for smaller operations. "The (diesel) prices keep going up and also maintenance and insurance costs. But we can't raise our prices. People will leave for $5."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Argento, of Pavages Global, who does mainly commercial lots, said he lucked out this year since he didn't sign any snow-removal contracts. "I'm on call this year. People call me when they're stuck. They either pay me by the hour or we work out a flat rate. Considering what's happened this year, it worked out better for me."