For pumping and onsite contractors in many parts of the country, winter brings new challenges. There’s less work, but the jobs can get tougher, says Jack Coleman, owner of Jack’s Septic Service, in Syracuse, New York. 

Coleman says his work slows down about 50% in the winter — and he’s glad it does because it’s harder to get around and takes longer to do everything. “You get fewer jobs done compared to the summer when the weather’s nice. You can see things and you can safely drive down the road and not have to go 25 miles an hour in a snowstorm. In the winter, it’s cold, and everything freezes up even though you’ve got heated valves and stainless collars on them.”

Winter jobs are often emergency situations, so the company makes every effort to service the customer, no matter what kind of weather they’re experiencing. Sometimes the first challenge is getting to the job site, driving in snowy conditions. Then it may be hard to find the tank if there’s snow on the ground — and the customer probably won’t be any help. “So now I’ve got to send a locator down and track it,” Coleman says. “It takes you three times longer to do the job so you’ve got to charge accordingly for payroll and expenses.”

But Coleman doesn’t surprise the customer with an outsized bill. “I give them the price when I’m on the phone with them,” he says. “And most people are like, ‘Yes, it’s understandable. I should have done it in the summer.”

Another issue Coleman says contractors have to be aware of in the winter is the possibility of a load of waste freezing in the truck’s tank. “You get that freezing temperature and you’re going down the road at 40, 50 miles an hour, you get a big snowstorm and a couple days later the temperature is down to -14. Now you’ve got to hurry up and get your load to the dump station before it freezes in the truck just driving down the road.” 

Read more about Jack’s Septic Service in the February issue of Pumper magazine.