Hate shovelling snow? There’s an app for that

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This article was published 23/12/2015 (3893 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers may already be getting a little tired of the seemingly endless snow-shovelling they’ve had to do lately. But thanks to an Ottawa-based company, there’s now an app for that.

TouchPlow, which launched in Winnipeg in mid-November, allows users to order plows for on-demand snow removal from their driveways and walkways.

The company partners with local plow operators, said CEO Ken Dale, who calls the system the Uber of snow clearing.

“It’s growing leaps and bounds every day,” Dale said. “Wherever it snows, it just grows.”

As of late December, the app had 279 Winnipeg users, with about 50 new users signing up each day, he said.

Property owners can use the app to order snow removal services when they need them, Dale said, as opposed to shovelling the snow on their own or signing expensive seasonal snow-removal contracts.

Users indicate the size of the laneway they need done, whether they need a walkway or sidewalk shovelled, and how quickly they need the job done. Time frames range from within four hours, between four and 12 hours, and between 12 and 24 hours, with the price of the job increasing the faster it must be done.

“The average price without walkway shovelling is between 25 and 40 dollars,” Dale said. “That’s a fairly good average for any amount of snow, from a little bit to a lot.”

The app uses forecasts from Environment Canada to calculate the approximate amount of snow expected, and applies a multiplier to the price depending on how heavy the snow cover is, Dale said.

TouchPlow is picky with the companies and providers it partners with, Dale said, always requiring operators to have substantial insurance and a valid city licence.

Ratings go both ways

Al Gagliardi is one of the operators working with TouchPlow in Winnipeg, and got involved in the venture just a few weeks ago.

“The whole Uber-type app that they’re trying to use sounded interesting to me,” he said. “I thought it was a pretty neat idea.”

As a service provider, Gagliardi gets a notification informing him of upcoming snowfalls and has the opportunity to accept jobs requested by users in his area.

As the app gains more users, he said, he anticipates more requests for jobs when heavy snowfall occurs.

As with Uber, customers have the ability to rate the provider who completed their request — and plow operators can also rate the property owners, taking note of whether the size and scope of the job requested was accurate.

“To keep their rating up, operators really have to do a great job,” Dale said. Each operator must submit a photo of the completed job, providing a level of accountability and peace of mind for homeowners.

Available in 51 cities

Dale himself started in the snow clearing business about 25 years ago with just a single plow truck. Over the years, his business grew and evolved into Appleseed Snowblowing, which still operates in the Ottawa area.

Originally, Dale thought the idea of an app would be good for his existing 4,000 customers in Ottawa, but soon realized that it could be useful nation-wide.

“It’s about being ahead of the curve with technology,” he said. “I just figured there’s gotta be a high-tech way of doing this business.”

Since TouchPlow launched in November, the app has spread to 51 cities across Canada and will be expanding into the northern United States soon, Dale said, focusing on cities in states from Minnesota to Maine.

“If someone doesn’t feel like shovelling, if there’s a big blizzard or if they’re going away, I think it’s a fantastic idea.” Gagliardi said. “I think it’s really going to take off.”

leah.hansen@freepress.mb.ca