For Mayor Bilantic, it didn't help that the City of Chicago received nearly 7 feet of snow. There was simply no place to plow, and lives were tragically lost. Mayor Barry enjoyed a gambling vacation in Las Vegas during the Blizzard of '96. This didn't sit well with John Q. Public. But, you get the idea. Snow is a BIG deal. It's a job that you can't afford to take lightly.

Honestly, the public has NO idea what comprises the "business" of snow removal, and perhaps if it were enlightened, it might be an ounce more patient with your efforts. But alas, you do not have that luxury.

So lets take a moment to define the BUSINESS of Snow Removal - from YOUR perspective:

1. Extensive Planning and Preparation.

You need working trucks, with working parts. This includes plow and spreader equipment. And, where ever your fleet may appear shortchanged - you fill the void by contracting out part of your fleet to an army of landscapers and trucking companies who are willing to stick a plow on their truck and be ready at moments notice to serve.

You need to assess your inventory of salt and other abrasives, and determine who, where and when you purchase your next shipment. You need to make sure that your salt domes or salt reserves are not compromised by vandalism or weather.

You understand that your best chance for success on your snow and ice removal efforts - lie with your employees. It is not always easy to find employees who are willing to work 3rd shifts for regular pay (no overtime), or pull double shifts when your efforts are short-handed.

2. Operational chaos.

Snow doesn't always give you advance warning. Mother nature has a way of just "showing up". Sure, with weather technology available, you can remain glued to a variety of Weather information providers (weather.com, Accu-Weather, National Weather) - and your odds of getting accurate weather information are at 50%. If your operation exists in higher elevations - you know that anything goes. At 5000' elevation you can see sunshine, and at 9000' elevation you are in blinding snow.

You may have hours to mobilize all of your resources, or mere minutes. You need to announce to your employee team that they are "ON" - and hope that they all get the message. Your fleet of trucks which is busy performing other city services, needs to STOP, and get ready to start efforts to remove snow. Your team of employees and contractors need to know their routes - and be able to hit the emergency (or priority) routes first.

Once you have made sufficient passes on emergency routes, you move your efforts to clearing priority, secondary and residential routes - in that order. This order does not make your residents happy, since their neighborhoods are the last to see your trucks, but YOU know that this is the best order to keep emergency city services running.

All of this time, you are busy checking and rechecking the weather, as if your second career was meteorology. And, by the time that your team is completely exhausted, and you can no longer enjoy the affects of Red Bull - a second wave of snow storms is on your way.

3. Paperwork.

Now that the snow on the roadways has been cleared, your job is done - right? Wrong. You have to make sure that any employee who worked the snow event, gets paid. You need to re-evaluate your salt or sand inventories. You need to make sure that contracted companies get paid. You need to assess the quality of your fleet - how many vehicles are no longer operational due to repairs? Oh, and when you have a minute, your boss would like to know exactly how much money you spent on the last snow event. Remember, you have a snow budget.

You have a job to perform, and each time it snows - your job is on the line. You can't afford to spin your wheels, reinvent the wheel or leave hot tread marks on the pavement. You need REAL traction for your snow and ice removal program. While the business of snow repeats itself over and over from October thru April -- your political leaders are counting on you. It's game-time. Are you ready? Nothing quite like pressure eh?