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.

Heavy equipment operators are generally involved with the construction industry. Not all jobs, and there are occasional openings for jobs that can be a lot of fun. These jobs are often seasonal, lasting two or three months. Other seasonal jobs can last six months and if not ‘fun’, they are at least interesting. Some of these jobs include:

Snow field grooming – small bulldozer-like machinery is used to groom snow fields. This is generally done very early in the morning, and whilst it’s cold work, it’s certainly interesting and does require a lot of skills. Bulldozer operators are perfect for these positions, however, being specialized work, there are few vacancies and high demand. Related work that can give you some of the skills required includes snow plowing streets.

Beach grooming – like snow field grooming, beach grooming uses bulldozers of varying sizes to groom beaches. There is also often work available restoring beaches following heavy storms. Some heavy equipment operators move from the snow fields to the beaches each year.

Land restoration – there is a lot of work going on around the nation to restore land to its natural state. Bulldozers and backhoes are often found working in these areas along with smaller equipment like skid steer loaders.

Landscape gardening – skid steer loaders and backhoes are often found working as a part of a landscape gardening team. Team work is important as is following carefully designed plans.

Demolition work – there’s a little bit of the devil in all of us and that can often find an outlet in demolition work. The downside, you can’t just go in and destroy everything. These days, buildings are demolished carefully, sometimes because the materials removed are being recylced (or have the potential for recycling), or because there is a possibility of asbestos and other troublesome materials. Bulldozers, backhoes, loaders and excavators are often found working as a part of a demolition team.

Whilst there is not an abundance of work available in these areas, opportunities do arise. If you have gained good skills in heavy equipment operations, then you never know, you could find yourself working in a ‘fun’ or interesting job. It all starts with heavy equipment operator training and your first job.