This Weather We Live In: F-M Snow Removal

By Troy L. Jackson
Contributing Writer

Have you ever had to wake up at the crack of dawn to venture out into another subzero winter day, to warm your car up before school or work? Adjusted the heater to full blast, scooped up the dirty snow from beneath the tires, scraped the windshield and defrosted your frozen hands, found a ticket issued earlier that morning? Little did I know of the street parking laws around here.

As I was sitting in my car stuffing another ticket in my glove compartment, I heard the sound of a honk behind me. The nine-foot-wide shovel scoop and bright lights covered my rear view mirror. Humming down the street was an early model Chevy 4x4 pick-up truck, swerving to pass the parked vehicle. As the driver dodged my car to continue along his snow removal route, his massive scoop caused my windshield to be covered with more snow. This is why, I thought, there are not so many morning people during the winter months.

But my view of these Fargo-Moorhead snowplow people has changed and my gratitude goes out to them.

It was amusing to watch the weekend edition of “Good Morning America.” The main headlines were about the massive snow storm in the Mid- Atlantic and parts of the Southeast. In Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.,  20-plus inches of snow, in addition to high winds, closed streets and hundreds of thousands of people were unable to go to work and school. People who did take a chance on going up against the elements suffered many accidents on the roads. Businesses, schools and government offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma and even Georgia took a snow day or two off to cope with the weather.

Not here. We in North Dakota and northern Minnesota seem to be immune. We should be thankful for the work the snow removal people do around the clock.

Some numbers. According to the Fargo-Moorhead census, the average winter snowfall for our area from 2000 to 2010 was 48 inches. WDAY Meteorologist Rob Kupecof added that the massive snowfall this winter and last has averaged 60 inches.

That is a lot of snow to remove from the streets. To be exact, these snowplow operators are responsible for 1,650 lane miles, 360 center lane miles, 300 alleys and 130 cul-de-sacs, and that is not including the many parking lots, businesses, gas stations, trailer stops and other places that we as drivers need to get to in our vehicles.

After chattin’ it up with Al Weigel, Fargo Director of Public Works, I learned that Fargo and Moorhead have two kinds of snow removal in their arsenal: plows provided by the city and privately run operations. The two cities can keep their streets clear, but what about all the residential lots, apartment parking lots, restaurants, gas stations, schools and churches?

The cities unfortunately cannot offer that luxury. Remy Bosch, Larry Bosmo, Paul Albright, and others of the private snow removal companies take care of it.

Larry Bosmo is a veteran in the snow removal business. My initial thought before I met this successful snowplowman was that I’d be inside an auto garage shop with splashes of oil and grease mixed with paperwork spread around. But as I sat down in his lake cabin-decorated office, my perception changed quickly.

Had his business been hit by the recession? Larry leaned back in his chair. “Nah, we haven’t been hit by it, but that doesn’t mean we’re recession-proof…snow plowing is an expensive job if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Knowing what to do and doing it well involves far more than people may realize.

“I almost died plowing in the cold last winter…cellphone wasn’t working, and that was after plowing for 35 hours straight,” said Paul Albright, who handles more than 60 accounts in the South Fargo area and some parts of Moorhead. “Private companies like us buy our own equipment… that’s why it is wise just to buy used trucks and equipment, since it’s going to wear down anyway over time.”

Bosmo and Albright spoke of the pros and cons of working a job like this.

PROS: good money if you know what you’re doing and can tolerate working in the cold and snow; great if you like to drive trucks and heavy equipment, but only if you can drive effectively in snow.

CONS: expensive to maintain: vehicles, plow machines, salt/sand mixtures, insurance for your vehicles, diesel gas (which is above 30 cents a gallon more expensive than regular gas), awkward sleeping habits, possible car accidents (according to NDOT, snowplow operators collectively have 10 to 16 accidents per year) and the worst con of all, lack of quality time with family.

“Yeah it’s kinda hard to plan a vacation for the family” sighed Paul, who’s been doing this for over 10 years.

My own personal CON: I feel like I’m slipping and sliding around a lot more in Moorhead. Is it just me? The Key City does a good job on its streets, but when it comes to private property, “It costs more money to run a business in the State of Minnesota,” said snowplowman Ken Jones.
Snow removal people are jacks of all trades. There is more to know than just pushing snow around, from understanding wind snowfall patterns and the texture of various snow types, to mechanical smarts to maintain their trucks and tractors.

Remy Bosch, owner of a prominent snow removal business in the area, also owns a landscaping business, handling dangerous situations like floods and dike building. “Most guys who do snow removal in winter, do landscaping right after winter…so it’s a constant process.”

In a city that deals with the worst winters in the continental United States, Remy, Paul and Larry, like many other snowplow/landscaping workers, make transportation possible for the rest of us, and had important roles in the flood of 2009.

Ken Jones invited me to ride with him to plow the Country Heart Bread premises. It was the 11:45 p.m. shift, the first shift of the night for the Bosmo crew. Ken got into such details as maneuvering around big trucks, as he dodged parked and moving cars, and shoveled snow from one small pile to a larger pile the size of an 18-wheeler. “I haven’t been in any accidents,” he said.
“It’s a physically demanding gig,” he went on. Ken was right. After two hours of ramming his quarter-ton pickup truck into a wall of snow, I did get light-headed and my lower back started to hurt. Mind you, this was the crew’s first stop of the night.

They feel unappreciated, sometimes unfairly complained-about. Start talking about it and they get a look on their faces, like hey, cut us some slack.
After they answered my questions, I turned the mic over to them, and they all gave variations of the same answer. “We have a job to do just like everyone else in this weather we live in.”

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