Online Service Logs are real-time logs of dates when snow removal services are provided by your local snow removal company. They include information about the date of service, what time the snow removal company’s tractors were dispatched, how long the company worked to complete its operations, and how many service visits it provided to its clients for each snow clearing event of the season. The log is typically updated before, during, or after snow removal operations and will always include one of the following data entries for each snow removal event:
- ‘…cms’ – This refers to the total snow accumulation for a particular snow removal event for which all tractors were dispatched.
- ‘Drifts’ – This refers to a service provided by the contractor to remove drifting from driveways where blowing has caused excessive accumulations of 10 cms or more. This occurs only in areas which are prone to severe drifting on windy days.
- ‘City Plows’ – This typically refers to a service provided by the contractor on a ‘non’ snow day to remove city plow ridges without any snow accumulation. For instance, if the city plows go around to ‘scrape down’ the streets on a ‘non’ snow day the contractor will dispatch its tractors to clear away the plow ridges at the ends of driveways without clearing the driveways themselves.
- ‘Sidewalk Plow Ridges’ – This typically refers to a service provided by the contractor on a ‘non’ snow day to remove city sidewalk plow ridges only. For instance, if the sidewalk plows go around to ‘scrape down’ the city sidewalks on a non snow day the contractor will dispatch its tractors to clear away the plow ridges at the ends of driveways without clearing the full driveways themselves.
- ‘… cms + City Plows’ – This refers to a minor snow event of less than 5 cms for which the city plows its residential streets. Although the total accumulation is less than 5 cms the contractor will send out all of its tractors to remove city plow ridges if the plow ridges exceed 12” in height.
- ‘City Plows [zone]’ – This typically refers to a service provided by the contractor on a ‘non’ snow day in one particular zone of its service area only. This occurs when the city dispatches its plows to clear residential streets in one area alone. In this case, the contractor will service all of its clients in a particular zone.
- ‘Drifts + City Plows’ – This refers to a service event in which the contractor dispatches all of its tractors to remove city plow ridges and drifts on windy days.
- ‘Service Calls’ - This designation does not appear on Kodiak’s Online Service Logs. It refers to the activities of 1 or 2 tractors only on ‘non’ snow days (typically on a day immediately following a snow storm), which have been dispatched to deal with missed driveways or quality issues. Unlike the terms used above it, it does not constitute a full service pass in any particular service zone. Some contractors will insert this designation into their Service Logs to artificially inflate the total number of service visits they provide in a season.