|
Introduction to Street and Municipal Sweeping |
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Municipal SweepingAfter a couple of decades in the industry, here are some things John Davidson says you should do.by John Davidsonwith Ranger Kidwell-Ross 
First off, read your contract. Then, no matter what the city officials might tell you to the contrary, be prepared to perform up to the standards it dictates. In our experience, another rule of thumb is that if people are trying to get a job done 'on the cheap,' they'll probably also be tough to please from a service standpoint. What tends to happen in those situations is that you bid on the low end and have to end up performing at the high end of the scale. The frequency an area is being swept also matters, since there will a considerable difference in how much debris will be collected. This is especially important in the many instances where you are responsible for disposal. Disposal can be a big factor for many other reasons. If you are responsible for disposal, make sure you have a handle on the average travel time to a dumpsite, and your likely cost per ton to dump. See if there is an escalation cost in the contract covering dumpsite fee increases. If not, be sure to add in an amount to cover likely increases. In today's fast-changing environmental world, almost anything could conceivably happen in that regard. If you possibly can, find out how much debris per year has historically been removed from the route. For some reason, this is something that's often hard to come up with. It's an area where perseverance pays off, though, since even with moderate dumping cost per ton it can be a significant variable cost you'll be liable for. If your contract isn't for year 'round service, the time of year you'll be sweeping is another variable to consider. That's because there's a big difference between leaf season, spring cleanup and other times of the year. By the same token, keep in mind how many deciduous trees are on the route and factor in a correspondingly reduced sweeping speed for your fall routes.
Also, some neighborhoods have time restrictions dictating when you can sweep. Especially if you're counting on using existing sweepers that already cover other routes, by working them an additional shift, etc., then the times you can sweep will make a difference. You'll want to figure out how far your sweepers will have to travel to get to the start of the job each day/night. That travel time cost will add up. Almost all cities now require a one-hour, 24/7 emergency response for spills, etc., to be written into the contract, so you'll want to make sure you can comply with any language like that, as well. If a contract requires immediate backup in the event your sweeper goes down, and this means you'll have to purchase an additional sweeper to keep in reserve, that's a cost to you of the contract, as well. One consistency you'll find with sweeping contracts is that each bid is different. You'll have some that will be curb mile, others that will be center-line miles. On a five-lane highway, that means a center-line contract of 1,000 miles is actually calling for 5,000 miles of sweeping. If you make a mistake in reading your contract in a situation like that, it could mean the end of your bond or of your company. I think about every road sweeping contractor out there has a horror story or two about contracts they bid too cheap and then had to fulfill. This is more likely to occur when you're just starting out, too. I'd say that before you start bidding on any of the relatively long-term municipal sweeping contracts, you better have the financial strength to weather any beginner mistakes you might make. In addition to operating Seattle area-based Davidson-Macri Sweeping with partner Joe Macri, John and Joe also are the publishers of SweeperMarket, America's top guide to used sweeping equipment. You may reach John Davidson via email. Ranger Kidwell-Ross is editor of WorldSweeper.com. You may reach him via the contact form on this website. |
 © 2005 - 2012
|
Parking Area Sweeping Contents
|
Equally important are what types of neighborhoods are along the route, and the types of roadway in them. Keep in mind that sweeping curb and gutter streets that have medians takes a lot more time (since material piles up against curbs) than in an area without curb and gutter. The sweeper can also be run faster where there aren't curbs, since the operator doesn't have to be as concise about where s/he puts the gutter brooms. In those situations you can just run the sweeper to the general edge of the road.