[Ground Illusion]

I have been curious on how other companys act when it comes to ice storms. I know it is always a bad time when mother nature sends out ice instead of snow. So what do you do when you can't get out because of the ice? Or do you try and actually get out to them?

[Lanelle]

We talk with the property managers and get permission to pre-treat with chemicals/salt. We'll be heading out in a couple of hours to hit most of our sites. Those that decline are reminded of the liability issues and have to understand that it may take us a bit more time to get there due to the crazy traffic and accidents that ice storms always bring. Notice that I didn't mention sand. That's not very effective in this situation. In fact we don't use sand anymore.

[Ground Illusion]

Some of our property managers are really stuborn when it comes to pre warning. A couple of them want us to go ahead and put salt down, the others will just say we will wait and see what it does. Then when it is 3 am and you can't get to us because there is to much ice, we will call you and say come help.

[Lanelle]

That's where documentation of the situation can save you later on if someone has a slip-and-fall accident case against you. Just send a fax restating the outcome of the phone call over to the manager. You might even make mention that you will not be liable for personal or property damage that may result from their decision. Funny how the phone rings a bit after they digest the fax.

You see, we're in the winter liability prevention business. Just a reminder of what their lawyer will cost them to defend them, and then paying out a settlement makes my charge for service a bargain.

[cutntrim]

As Lanelle says, we pre-treat with salt when we know an ice event is imminent. None of my contracts are set-up so that the customer makes the call on whether or not to salt. I'm the professional, so I make the call. When I'm talking to a prospective customer I will refer to our winter maintenance services as a form of "snow/ice insurance". Most up here prefer flat seasonal pricing with snow plowing and salting included. There "insured" against snow & ice and the contractor makes the call as to how and when to deal with each event.

Of course, there is a clause in the contract that states we're unable to monitor the lot 24/7 and so if conditions change (e.g. melt+re-freeze after we've been and gone) that require partial re-plow/re-salt of areas, the onus is on the property owner/manager to notify us.

[HRLand]

So how early in advance do you pre-treat for ice? Although we've been plowing for years we haven't done much ice control. This year I picked up a new client that wants everything and I want to keep this place as safe as possible.

[cutntrim]

If the lot's not too far, do a drive-by and check it out for slickness. Otherwise, if you know FOR SURE that freezing rain's coming, you can be safe to salt a few hours in advance of it arriving, hopefully when there's little traffic on the roads to get in your way.