The Importance Of Tailored Snow Removal Approaches
All businesses can benefit from professional snow removal services. Snow removal reduces the risk of slip-and-fall accidents, helps staff and clients access your business, keeps you compliant with local bylaws, and saves you the time, money, and energy it would take to clear snow yourself.
No two businesses are exactly the same, however, and standardizing snow removal services for every business makes little sense. Different businesses have different priorities—your snow removal service should reflect your priorities. A tailored approach ensures that snow is being cleared when it needs to be, where it needs to be, and how it needs to be.
Assessing Your Commercial Property Needs
To understand tailored snow removal services, it’s important to first recognize what snow removal typically includes. The scope of snow and ice removal may include:
- Parking lots
- Pathways
- Sidewalks
- Entryways
- Exits
- Access roads
- And more
The number of different surfaces that commercial snow removal companies must clear creates a need for a diverse fleet. Snow removal companies may use any number of different pieces of equipment to get the job done, including:
- Snow plows
- Snowblowers
- Salt spreaders
- Skid steer loaders
- Compact wheel loaders
- Power brooms
- And more
Not every commercial property will be well served by all of these pieces of equipment—it all depends on the size and layout of your property.
Size And Layout Considerations
Consider your property. Which surfaces need to be cleared? Which surfaces are a priority to clear first, and which can wait until later? What size of vehicle usually occupies space on your property? Are you expecting standard vehicle traffic, or does heavy equipment need to move freely? Do you use small vehicles on pathways that are shared with pedestrians?
These and other questions will help you determine where you need snow to be cleared, which areas need to be cleared first, and how much snow needs to be cleared. Sharing this information with your commercial snow removal company will help determine what equipment it should use, how to plan the route, and more.
Snow Removal Strategies For Retail Spaces
Let’s now move to some of the considerations that businesses may have for their snow removal operations, starting with retail spaces.
For retail spaces, there are three primary concerns:
- Maintaining staff access
- Maintaining customer access
- Maintaining access points for deliveries
Maintaining Customer Access
In most cases, the first two concerns can be blended into one—staff can typically access retail spaces through the same access points as customers.
This concern is the main priority for retail businesses. Customers want to be able to park effortlessly, walk up to the front doors of your business, and walk in without any problems. To ensure that this is possible, commercial snow removal companies should:
- Prioritize access roads, entryways, and exits to parking lots
- Clear parking lots
- Clear entrances and exits
- Clear pathways
Your contractor should also use ice management techniques to reduce the risk of slip-and-trip accidents. As a retail business, it is your responsibility to ensure your premises are safe for customers—if they slip and fall, you could be held liable. For this reason, retail snow removal contracts should always include both snow and ice management.
In addition, customers will want to access your business right away—your snow removal contract should include early morning or overnight snow removal to allow access before you even open. Snow relocation is another important feature so that your storefront remains visible from sidewalks and roads.
Maintaining Access For Deliveries
The third concern, maintaining access points for deliveries, is important but typically less pressing than the first two. Deliveries are typically on a fairly consistent schedule (though this schedule can be disrupted by snowstorms). Many retailers opt to have their deliveries when customer volume is lower, giving staff members the chance to unpack and stock the deliveries.
This means that commercial snow-clearing companies can often focus on loading bays after they’ve cleared other, more customer-centric areas like parking lots and entryways. Sometimes deliveries get moved around; however, for this reason, retail business owners will want to choose a commercial snow-clearing company that offers flexibility in which areas get cleared first.
Industrial Parking Lot Snow Removal
In industrial spaces, the goal of snow removal should be to reduce operational downtime while allowing heavy equipment to move safely. Snow removal contractors must also be aware that the large, open spaces present in most industrial areas will require snow removal over a large distance.
Safety And Efficiency Priorities
To ensure that your business remains safe and efficient, an effective snow removal contract might include 24/7 services—especially if your business is open 24/7. You’ll also want your snow removal services to prioritize loading docks to ensure that all deliveries and shipments are made in a safe and timely manner.
Given the size of most industrial businesses, focus on snow removal companies that have fleets featuring high-capacity equipment so they can cover ground quickly.
Healthcare Facility Snow Removal Challenges
In healthcare, there are a number of pressing concerns that make effective snow removal services a must.
One of the most important concerns is that healthcare facilities see a lot of foot traffic from populations who are particularly vulnerable to slip-and-fall accidents. At these facilities, clearing and de-icing walkways, as well as entry and exit points, are priorities.
Many healthcare facilities are also open 24/7—this makes 24/7 emergency snow-clearing services an essential part of any snow-clearing contract.
Critical Access Maintenance
Ambulances and staff must be able to access healthcare facilities at all times. Your snow removal company should prioritize creating a route to the ambulance bay and other critical areas staff members need to access.
These areas must be clear at all times. The essential nature of our healthcare infrastructure means that all healthcare snow removal contracts should feature a priority clause—to be cleared before other, less essential businesses.
Additionally, real-time monitoring is a must. When there’s snowfall on the horizon (or even other winter weather, like high winds that can blow snow onto a property), your snow removal company should have a plan in place well in advance and be able to communicate that plan to you. Real-time monitoring allows snow removal companies to predict and plan well in advance of snowfall events.
Selecting The Right Snow Removal Equipment
Your commercial snow removal service will be tailored to your business; that means the equipment your snow removal company will use is going to vary based on your needs.
In most cases, it wouldn’t make sense to clear an industrial business with handheld snow blowers; in the same vein, it wouldn’t make sense to clear a retail entryway with a full-sized snow plow.
The goal of your snow removal company is to keep your property safe and accessible after heavy snowfall. The best way to know what equipment is right for you is to talk to your snow removal contractor. Using specialized equipment will help the company clear snow more effectively while making the most of your commercial snow removal budget.
Remember: Bigger is not always better. Some businesses benefit more from a smaller crew and smaller vehicles to clear pathways. A larger crew might clear your business more quickly, but if a smaller crew can save you money and get the job done before customers or staff need to access your business, it might be a better way to go.
Developing A Comprehensive Snow Removal Plan
We hope this article has highlighted a truth about our industry: Effective commercial snow removal is complex. Timing snow and ice removal services, determining what equipment to use, and calculating how many staff members will be needed are only part of the equation.
How much snow needs to fall before your snow removal service is triggered? What routes should your snow removal company follow to ensure the most important parts of your business are accessible first? Where should it pile the snow?
These questions and more will depend on the size of your property, the nature of your business, and more.
Our commercial snow removal company in Calgary can help answer these questions and plan the perfect snow removal process for your business. We offer parking lot snow plowing, sidewalk clearing, entryway clearing, priority snow and ice removal, and more. We’ve cleared snow for small businesses and for one of the biggest malls in Canada; we’d be happy to serve your business.