MONCTON – Put away your snow blowers and shovels and take it easy, an Uber-like snow plow service is on its way to the snow covered driveways of frustrated Maritimers.
“We’ve used Uber in the past when we traveled and it was a really easy way to travel and get around and we thought, ‘Hey can we bring that same idea to the snow removal industry and instantly connect people with plow operators in their local area,'” Sean Griffith told Global News.
Griffith and his business partner in Halifax are getting ready to launch Plow Me Out, an online and app driven on-demand snow removal service.
He says the idea was born out of necessity after last year’s brutal winter.
“We realized when we moved into our own home a couple of years ago that we weren’t really ready to commit to snow removal as a contracted service, it’s pretty expensive. But sometimes we had a hard time doing it ourselves,” he said.
READ MORE: Residents dig out from under Maritimes’ first winter storm
But soon, the snowed in people of Moncton, Saint John and Halifax will be able to book a snow plow to dig them out on an as-needed basis, simply by registering with the service online which links users directly to a variety of snow contractors.
“The way that it works is; the job has been tendered out and that driver is on route to the customer, [then] the customer gets a notification the [plow is] on route, get ready to go move your car,” Griffith said.
Or, he says, people can download the Plow Me Out app and book the service from anywhere.
“If you are traveling and you are away, and maybe you are coming home and maybe there is a big snow storm, you know, you can request service from anywhere.”
READ MORE: Halifax grinds to a halt under the weight of another winter storm
The app will automatically generate pricing based on driveway specs. The average price being anywhere from 30 to 45 dollars. Plow Me Out takes a 30 per cent cut of the profits, the rest goes to the plow operator.
Griffith believes the service will help boost business for plow operators looking to top up their client base.
“I will definitely look into it for sure,” said Moncton plow operator Josh Cormier.
“If you are driving by and get a little ping on your phone and there is a chance to help somebody out and make a little money at the same time, it’s a great idea, I think.”
Griffith says people can sign up now and the service will be officially launched in Moncton, Saint John and Halifax within the next two weeks.
“We hope to grow it across the country hopefully in a very short period of time.”
Comments