Snow removal can be a lucrative business during the winter months. Many landscaping and construction companies offer snow removal services to keep the cash coming in and employees working during the off-season when construction slowdowns occur. Snow can present hazards that are very different than those encountered on the traditional construction site.

Safety should be a significant concern when you add snow removal to the services offered by your business. Professional snow removal takes much more than just a snow plow. Here are some of the different kinds of heavy equipment used for the snow removal process:

• Heavy-duty snow blades
• Power plows
• Box plows
• Skid steer snow blower
• Oscillating snow push
• Snow plow attachments
• Clamp-on snow blades
• Snowblower attachments
• Graders

Before the snowfall, make sure you have your equipment and trucks ready. You want to make sure your snow plows and trucks are set up for safety. That means you will need to make sure you strobe lights or flashing lights because visibility is lower even in daylight hours when it is snowing. You want to stand out to get noticed when you are driving around in the snow and plowing parking lots.

Make sure all employees have undergone the proper training. Safe drivers are much more likely to take better care of the equipment. You are most likely using the trucks year-round for all kinds of projects, so you don’t want them to be damaged while working in the winter weather and removing snow. Make sure your staff can drive safely in the snow and ice and be sure you put snow tires on your trucks before sending them out.

Remember that even the safest driver can have an accident and there are going to be less-experienced drivers out there in the snow as well. Be sure you have the right insurance coverage for your snow removal operations. Make sure you have bodily injury and property damage liability, collision and comprehensive, uninsured motorists’ bodily injury and property damage, and equipment coverage. Also, check local and state laws regarding operating such a business.

Summer is over and it may only be Fall, but that means winter is not far off and with winter comes snow. Heavy equipment operators should now be preparing their equipment for snow clearing and part of that preparation will include examining what heavy equipment technology is now available for their machinery.

There are now more than 50 snow removal attachments, with the list including snow blowers, blades, buckets and pushers. The equipment used in snow removal ranges from the small skid steer loaders upwards to include graders, bulldozers and even trucks fitted with snow clearing blades. Each does a job and each can be more effective than the others under different circumstances.

It’s not unusual to see two or three vehicles working together to clear snow covered highways or airport runways. When these vehicles work together, they clear a runway, for instance, extremehttp://www.heavyequipmentschool.com/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1616ly quickly. It is generally the larger bulldozers using a range of heavy equipment technology that work as part of team to clear these large areas.

Snow clearing starts well before the snow falls, particularly in areas that require difficult access. These include mountain roads and trails. By working on these roads now the operators ensure easy access when snow clearing is required. Their work won’t end at the end of winter either. Once the snows melt the roads often need to be leveled again with pot holes filled. It’s a non stop year-round job.

Heavy equipment technology has been improving snow clearing attachments to make snow clearing quick and effective. This ensures that access is available along most roads and highways even through the toughest winters. If you want to be a part of this winter exercise then now is the time to get your heavy equipment training started. Winter is not that far off – get the skills now ready for the big chill.

As August rolls in there is one thing we know, winter is not that far away. Before you know it many of us will be knee deep in snow and grateful for the grader operators that are at least keeping our roads open. I also know one other thing, come winter, many areas will be calling for grader operators. It will be too late to start your training then, you have to prepare now for when that demand starts.

The counties in the north west are particularly vulnerable to road closures due to snow with most counties employing teams of grader operators to clear the roads. John Deere is one business that recognizes the importance of graders producing machines that specialize in snow clearing.

To be employed as a grader operator often required two things: recognized grader training and some experience in the field – not necessarily in snow, although it helps. By undertaking your grader training now, you will leave yourself with plenty of time to gain on-the-job experience operating a motor grader. There are ample opportunities in construction and road maintenance for new operators to gain experience – all that is missing is the training.

ATS Heavy Equipment Operator Schools can fill in that missing piece providing quality training in heavy equipment including motor graders. Many of our schools have motor graders – it’s simply a matter of contacting us to find out which school is closest to you.

You may think that work pushing snow is only limited to the coldest months of the year. That’s not true. Come the end of winter, demand for grader operators often increases as roads that were packed with snow during winter are cleared. This generally happens in spring as it all starts to melt and opens up roads previously only accessed by snowmobiles. In many cases, roads then need grading to repair the damage caused by ice and cold water. Graders can be in demand in some areas for up to five months each year with ongoing work then in highway construction and maintenance. The winter is calling – are you going to be one of our snow clearing grader operators?