Many years ago, Aero Snow Removal Corp. began operations in the snow removal business. Before too long, dealing with storage of piled snow emerged as our greatest logistical problem. At first, trucking of snow was an obvious and fairly efficient solution, but by the mid 1970’s Aero, after considerable analysis, made a threshold decision: trucking of snow was not the best way to deal with snow - melting was and remains far preferable.

In 1978, Aero formed a R&D group charged with the responsibility of producing the most efficient snow melting equipment in the world, and we, along with many of our customers, believe we have done just that.

Why melt snow?

Snow melting services are utilized primarily by those responsible for snow removal at airports and parking lots/garages. Each presents differing circumstances but with equally compelling reasoning in support of melting.

Airports

Many airports today either use push and pile equipment to store snow on airport ramp areas or on grass areas immediately adjacent to the ramp area. Both of these approaches present serious flaws: (a) Storing snow on paved airport areas is very expensive, because these areas are revenue producing and the presence of large snow piles reduces the revenue producing activities. (b) At the conclusion of large storms, snow piles often are so high that aircraft may ingest snow, causing mechanical problems. (c) Snow melted during warmer daytime temperature, re-freezes at night necessitating further sanding and melting operations due to safety concerns. (d) An airport may be able to store snow during small snow falls, but a large storm almost always makes storage impractical.

As an alternative to snow storage on airport ramp and adjacent areas, traveling to pre-determined dump locations is also utilized, but this option is becoming increasingly problematic. Allowing large quantities of snow laden with glycol, hydrocarbons and other pollutants to melt and simply filter into groundwater or runoff into surface waters is environmentally unacceptable. Airport managers are facing Best Management Practices demanding that they severely limit and ameliorate the discharge of pollutants into storm drains and other conduits to surface waters and groundwater. Aero melters not only capture most of the heavy metals in the lower portion of their melting vats by design, but they also discharge water directly into the most environmentally- appropriate place available.

A second major deficiency area with trucking snow off ramp to dump locations is that of security. Creating a situation where trucks make literally hundreds of round trips on and off the ramp during a snow storm presents an obvious security risk. In an era where airports are a prime target for international terrorism this added risk is simply foolhardy.

Finally, there is the very real increased likelihood of vehicle accidents on the ramps and roadways caused by having numerous trucks on the ramp for extended periods, driven by personnel unfamiliar with the airport.

Parking Lots/Garages

Storage of snow in parking areas can be dangerous or shut down an operation entirely in a large snow storm. If the owner of the parking lot waits for the snow to melt there is a loss of a number of parking spaces, and while the melting is occurring the operator faces the problem of snow melting and then re-freezing thus creating a serious safety exposure. At that point the operator must engage in sanding and salting activities which are costly and rather messy. Melting results in snow disappearing from the parking lot, allowing every parking spot to be utilized by the operator.

There are parking lot/garage operators who truck snow to various dump locations. As is the case in trucking snow off airport ramp areas, the dump areas selected must take into account the hydrocarbons and other pollutants found in snow taken from parking areas. Melting permits water to be discharged in the most environmentally appropriate manner possible.

Roof top parking presents an even more difficult problem in that trucking simply is not possible for logistical reasons, and pushing the snow off the roof may be dangerous to people and objects below. Aero manufactures melters specifically designed for rooftop parking areas.

Is snow melting more expensive than trucking?
Generally speaking, no. However, it depends on various factors such as the distance to the snow dump site, cost per hour of the trucks, the weight of the snow, and the cost of the land for the snow dump to name a few of the items to be considered.

What are the most obvious components to look at when comparing the cost of trucking to the cost of melting snow?
A melter is rated in tons per hour and trucks are rated in the yards of snow they can carry, so to compare them we need to put them on the same measurement scale. Although snow can vary in weight per cubic foot, we will use 12 lbs. for our example.

How do you price snow removal services?
It depends on the customer’s needs. We have basically 3 different pricing alternatives;

Flat Fee – as the name implies the same rate regardless of the presence or absence of snow

Per Inch - fees are set based upon a cost per inch of snow and then billed based on the recorded snow fall

Time & Material – the equipment and manpower is paid for by the hour by the type of equipment

If I contract with Aero for snow removal services will I need to call them for service?
Most of Aero’s contracts have a predetermined automatic start level. That means that Aero shows up without being called out by the customer as can be set forth in the contract.

Does Aero provide snow services to private homes?
No, Aero’s services are geared to larger business accounts.