Looking back on Winter 2009-10, and in discussing it with contractors throughout the North American snow belt, it’s fair to say that, while not as spectacular as Winter 2008-09, it was still another pretty solid season for the professional snow and ice removal industry.

First, it exceeded many contractors’ expectations. Heading into Winter 2009-10, according to Snow Magazine State of the Industry research, more than half (55 percent) of snow fighters were planning for normal winter conditions and nearly a quarter (23 percent) were preparing for a warm winter with fewer workable snow and ice events.

While spotty at times, overall, winter produced a fair number of  workable snow and ice events throughout the snow belt, with nearly half (47 percent) of contractors reporting an increase in their total gross sales revenue this past winter. Likewise, they remain optimistic that this revenue boost will carry over into next winter with nearly three quarters anticipating some percentage of growth heading into Winter 2009-10.

The average contractor
Based on this past winter, what did the typical snow removal contractor look like? Snow Magazine’s research portrays the typical snow removal contractor as the owner and/or president of a landscape firm (60 percent) who’s been in the snow removal business for nearly two decades (19 years). He maintained  a gross profit margin of around 39 percent last winter and depended on snow and ice removal for more than a third (42 percent) of his company’s overall annual revenue.

The average snow contractor oversaw a client portfolio of between 75 and 90 clients and maintained a client retention rate of 91 percent. The average contractor’s winter sales came from 25 percent residential snow removal contracts, while 71 percent from commercial/industrial work and 4 percent stemmed from government contracts.

Further, 54 percent of his total snow removal revenue came from plowing, 28 percent from salting and deicing, 12 percent from sidewalk and walkway clearing and 6 percent from snow removal or off-site disposal. The typical snow removal contractor has 8 full-time and 13 part-time/seasonal snow fighters on staff and employs as many as 14 subcontractors who cleared, on average, 12 plowing and 16 ice mitigation events.