Snow and Ice Removal Cost Analysis

Updated for 2011

Averages (per season)

Times out                                                19

Salt usage (Dec 2005 through Feb 2011)    2286 tons

Average Route                                          9.2 miles

Average Miles Traveled to Make One Run     26

Past Usage  

2005   21 times out    1900 tons of salt used 

2006   11 times out    1400 tons of salt used 

2007   16 times out    2200 tons of salt used 

2008   21 times out    2600 tons of salt used  

2009   14 times out    2250 tons of salt used  

2010   23 times out    2419 tons of salt used  

This Season 

2011   30 times out      3130 tons of salt used 

($64.23 per ton this season)

118 tons of salt average use per event using above information (past 7 years). (Highest usage in last 17 years was 3800 tons)  

Time it Takes to Salt and Plow 

Salt only 3 hours Quick Plow 6-7 hours (plow in, plow out) Complete Plow 12 hours (this is curb to curb and intersections requiring multiple passes with the plow)  

Why we don’t clean culdesacs every time out
We have about 275 culdesacs in the Township. To perform a complete clean up would average about 10 minutes per culdesac. That equals 2,750 minutes or additional 46 hours of work (over 4.5 hours additional per route).   

Material Costs Per Run

Most trucks begin their route with approximately 8 tons of salt. At $64.23 per ton, this means that they are carrying $514 in material. This year, we are averaging 118 tons of salt used per event. At $64.23 per ton, this is an expense of $7,579 per event for material only ($82 per mile). We average 100 gallons of fuel per run @ $2.70 per gallon. That is an additional $270. When we use liquid calcium chloride (generally below 20 degrees), the trucks average use is 35 gallons per run. 350 gallons (10 trucks) @ .77 per gallon is an additional $270.  

Avg run including fuel:$7,849

Avg run including fuel, salt and calcium: $8,119