Home / Blog / Seasonal contract or per-push?

Seasonal contract or per-push? How commercial snow pricing works in the Fox Valley

By Brandon, Arctic Fox Snow Services · July 6, 2026

The short answer: commercial snow removal is sold two ways. A seasonal contract charges one fixed monthly amount for the whole winter, whatever the weather does. Per-push billing charges you for each service visit. Arctic Fox sells seasonal contracts only. This article explains how both models work, why we picked a side, and the questions to ask before signing anything.

How a seasonal contract works

You agree on a monthly price for the snow season, typically November through March in Kane, Cook, and DuPage counties. Whether it snows four times or nineteen times, the invoice is the same line item every month. The contract spells out what triggers service (for example, 2 inches of accumulation), which surfaces are covered, and how salting is handled.

Seasonal contracts favor properties that cannot tolerate surprises: retail centers, medical offices, and anyone whose budget is set a year in advance. A brutal winter costs you nothing extra. The trade is that a mild winter does not give money back, the same way a safe year does not refund your insurance premium. Over several years it averages out; what you are buying is the certainty, and the certainty is exactly what a budget needs.

How per-push pricing works

Every time the contractor services your property, you pay the agreed per-visit rate. Salting is usually a separate per-application charge. Your winter cost is the number of storms times the rate.

Per-push favors smaller lots, properties with flexible budgets, and owners who would rather ride the weather than insure against it. The risk cuts the other way: a winter like 2013-14, when Chicago-area snowfall ran far past normal, turns per-push into the expensive option, and it does so in the exact months cash flow is tightest.

Why Arctic Fox sells seasonal only

We quote one model on purpose:

• Your budget stays flat. A winter like 2013-14 does not touch your line item. The weather risk sits with us, where it belongs.
• Route capacity stays committed. Per-push customers compete for trucks in the middle of a storm. Seasonal clients own their slot on the route, every storm, all winter.
• No mid-storm billing math. When every visit is a new charge, every visit is a potential argument. A fixed contract removes the incentive to debate inches at 4 a.m.
• Incentives point the right way. A per-push contractor earns more when your winter gets worse. Ours run the opposite direction: we do best by keeping your property clear efficiently, storm after storm.

What actually drives the price

Whichever model you choose, the underlying cost drivers are the same:

• Plowable square footage. The single biggest factor: how much pavement has to move. A quote should be anchored to your actual lot, not a guess from the street.
• Trigger depth. A 2-inch trigger costs less than zero-tolerance service, because zero-tolerance means more visits per storm.
• Sidewalks and hand work. Walkway clearing is labor, not plow time, and it is priced accordingly.
• Salt scope. With every plow, on request, or monitored: more coverage, more material, more cost.
• Obstacles and complexity. Islands, tight drive lanes, carts, curbs, and limited places to pile snow all add time.
• Timing constraints. "Clear by 6 a.m. every day" costs more than "clear by mid-morning" because it constrains routing.

Questions to ask any snow contractor before signing

1. What exactly triggers a service visit, and who decides when it is met?
2. How did you measure my lot, and can I see the measurement?
3. What is documented after each visit, and will I get access to those records?
4. Where will snow be piled, and what happens when the piles outgrow the space?
5. How is salting billed, and what product goes on my walks versus my lot?
6. How many properties are on the route ahead of mine?

A contractor who answers all six in writing is a contractor you can hold to it in February.