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I have had more than 1 maintenance crew back in the late 80's, early 90's.
Each were 4 - 5 man crew.......then a 2 man crew with me, making that a 3 man crew. A few part timers filling in where needed and to this day, I find myself a part timer when needed.
Today I no longer have the 2 maintenance crews.
Here is my take regarding crews.
1......4 man crew can get the work done as 2......2 man crews. Often times quicker.......(this may not be for all, but it has been my experience)
With the one crew.......You don't necessarily need 2 36" or 48" walk behinds or 2 or more 32" walk behinds.........basicaly you don't need a twin set up of equipment and trailer. Right there you are reducing expense..........Also, what about a truck?..........now you need 2 trucks.......Where I am that would be a need for a dump truck. Being that we cart and dispose of all our waste.
So.....now you have doubled expenses.........2 trucks, 2 trailers, and a duplicate set up of equipment.........but you are running the same # of men doing basicaly the same # of accounts.
Does that make sense?...............
Increased expense.......increased insurance liability.......increased labor cost, cause now you have to pay comporable wage to 2 drivers instead of 1........increased maintenance costs.
Costing you more money to do the same # accounts and the same revenue as you did with 1 crew.
True.........dividing your maintenace crew into 2 can allow for opportunity for growth..........so does having that 1 crew of 3 or 4 men..........you can still add another man.....add another half or full day to the maintenance route. If that is possible.
The only time it would make sense to split a crew into 2 is when you have maxed that 1 crew...........lets say for example. Your maintenance is Tuesday - Friday for the 3 or 4 man crew. Can any of the accounts be done on a Monday?.........if you have taken on more accounts, why not utilize the maintenace crew on Saturday?
See where I am going here?
I know that what I described may not be a workable solution for every one. Or for all locations in the country. Where I am and the expectations of the prospective customer. They expect manicured maintenace every week. Cutting, edging, line trimming, beds weeded and cultivated, everything blown down to the street and picked up and hauled away by us.........With that kind of work needed for every property it is best for me to have enough hands on the crew to move them along efficiently and quickly..........
Where as other areas, and maybe your area. Cutting and line trimming is all that is expected..........so sure a 3 man crew, 2 on mowers, 1 line trimming is all that is necessary. But........would the crew benefit with an additional person?..........some properties have more grass area to be cut.......you now have the 3rd man cutting..........some properties require more trimming, now you have a 2nd man on trimming. Same goes for blowing off paved areas........some properties have more than others.
All I am saying is......there is a great deal of expense sending out 2 crews...........rather than just adding on an extra guy for 4 or 5 days in the week.
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