ICEBREAKER Podcast

When a winter storm hits, knowing where your crews are, what's been done, and what still needs attention can make all the difference. In Episode 10 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, Amanda sits down with Russell Compton, Co-founder and Head of Design at CrewVision, to talk about technology built around the realities of snow and ice operations. Russell shares how a snow contractor's frustration with list-based software sparked the idea for a map-first dispatch tool. He and Amanda explore what it takes to keep crews and dispatchers on the same page, why usability matters in the middle of a storm, and how contractors can choose technology that solves a real problem. They also get into the salt shortages felt on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, the role of liquids as another tool for contractors, and Russell's perspective on where AI could fit in the industry. In this episode: How CrewVision grew from an idea for "Google Maps for dispatch" Why site maps, photos, and crew information matter during a storm How contractors can get the details of their operations out of their heads and into a system others can follow What to ask before investing in new technology How salt shortages affected contractors and their planning Why Russell believes AI should help people do their jobs, with real people still behind the tools Whether you're running a handful of sites or coordinating multiple crews, this conversation offers a fresh look at making snow operations easier to manage. Learn more about CrewVision: crewvision.io Have a guest suggestion or question? Email [email protected].

In Episode 9 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Chris Franks, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service Omaha/Valley.   Chris is a South Omaha kid, Creighton undergrad, master's in meteorology, and a 20-year NWS lifer: Milwaukee (100 inches of snow his first year), seven winters in Minneapolis (including the Metrodome collapse storm), seven years in Kansas City, then home to Nebraska. He does science, warnings, and forecasts with one mission: public safety.   If you run snow ops, this episode is the decoder ring for the forecasts you build crews and budgets around.   What you will learn in this episode:   • Life at the NWS: Quiet training days vs. all-hands severe shifts, media chat during wall-to-wall coverage, and who is actually calling when the phones blow up (EMs, schools, Friday night lights).   • How far out you can see a major winter storm: Big-pattern signals 7-9 days out, why they do not cry wolf on every model spike, and how they "land the forecast" as track, temps, and snow-vs-ice wobble.   • American vs. European models: Why physics and data processing differ, why picking a favorite model is a bust waiting to happen, and why ensembles and model averages beat team loyalty.   • Biggest forecast misconceptions: No, they do not control the weather. No, it is not a coin flip. Skill is night-and-day better than 20 years ago thanks to satellites, computing, and human expertise.   • Probabilities contractors can use: Chance of 2"+ or 6"+ (or 10"+) for trigger planning, high/low-end potential, and what big probability numbers 2-3 days out actually signal.   • What 30% / 60% / 80% means: Coverage and confidence, not "how much." NWS point forecasts are for your location, not "60% of Nebraska."   • Weather that flies below the radar: Freezing drizzle and freezing rain as the worst impact events (Minneapolis metro nightmare: hundreds of accidents, early-season, hard to see on radar). Give Chris snow over ice every time.   • Underrated hazard: Blowing snow and true blizzard conditions outside the city, open country, and I-80 exposure where you lose the road.   • Bonus color: Aviation forecasting most people never see, Cold War-era alert tones and outdoor sirens that did not start as tornado sirens, and if the office is on fire Chris is saving the radar (Hulk strength optional).   Rapid fire includes underrated hazards, misused weather terms (El Niño is ocean temps, not a storm headed for Omaha), perfect snow amount (give him six), and why he will talk to a contractor any day: their people and their business are on the line.   If you plow, treat, dispatch, or bid winter work, this one will change how you read the next model run.   Connect with the National Weather Service Omaha/Valley for local forecasts and warnings. Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: myicesolutions.com Guest ideas or questions? Email [email protected]

In Episode 8 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Doug Knoerdel, Operations Manager at Ice Solutions.   Doug has about 20 years in snow and ice. He grew up in his parents' residential landscape and snow business on the New Jersey shore, started riding along as a kid, and by roughly 12 years old was left in the machine on a commercial lot with one rule: don't leave the parking lot. By 17 he ran his own residential route of 100+ driveways. Around 2015-2016 he stepped away from the family business to protect the relationship with his parents, went fully commercial, and on day one of a new ops role got handed a brand-new 550 with a 1,000-gallon brine sprayer he had never run.   That night started a liquids path that still shapes how he thinks about snow ops today.   What you will learn in this episode: • Growing up in a family snow business: From gopher and shoveler to machine operator to residential routes, Christmas in the truck with Dad, and why stepping away from Mom and Dad's company saved the relationship.   • Residential vs. commercial: Why Mrs. Smith's Friday 4 p.m. call is a different animal than high-risk facility work, and how residential built his customer skills and tough skin.   • Day-one brine: Interview in January, snow that night, only truck left was a long-frame 550 with a SnowEx 1,000-gallon sprayer and a big V-plow. Learning fill, pump, controller, and rate control on the fly.   • What made him a believer: Immediate reaction. Side-by-side with a salt lot still sitting while the brine lot was already wet blacktop, using a fraction of the material.   • Customer conversation: Cutting salt spend from roughly $500K to about $100K (brine manufacturing) on a full production year, changing the invoice line from "salting" to "deicing," and sometimes showing results before over-explaining the product.   • Biggest misconception: "It's just water." Why residual granular salt keeps rotting concrete and feeding watersheds, and why liquids leave less residual once the job is done.   • Where liquids hit ops hardest: Fleet and logistics. Silo or brine tank vs. tarped salt bins, loaders, unsafe pile climbs, and lost production time.   • Sidewalk ROI: Bagged CMA at $13–$19 vs. a couple gallons of brine, plus labor saved when anti-icing covers the early inch so crews are not scrambling at 6 a.m.   • Mistakes Doug owns: Backing into things with a spray bar, driving off with the fill hose still connected, and the curb rule every plow guy knows.   • Advice for contractors on the fence: Start small. One tote or 55-gallon drum on sidewalks beats buying ten sprayers and ten trucks and falling on your face.   • Rapid fire: Pre-treat over react, stream nozzles, reaction time as the underrated benefit, salt savings as the conversion driver, "it's only water" as the biggest myth, and one word for the future of liquids: innovative.   If you grew up in this industry, run commercial snow, or are thinking about liquids, this episode is the unfiltered New Jersey style version.

In Episode 7 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down with Jack Kobes, co-owner of Owen's Mowing out of Omaha, Nebraska. What started with Jack pushing a neighbor's lawn mower as a kid became a full-time landscape and snow operation in 2019. Today Jack and his brother run local strip malls and smaller lots at home, then load up for travel snow on massive distribution centers and big-box sites, including multi-day Bentonville and Houston runs.   This episode is honest operator talk: the good, the messy, and the parts nobody puts on a highlight reel.   What you will learn in this episode: • Building from a side hustle: How Owen's Mowing went from school-year mowing to full-time commercial work, subcontracting, and owning their own lots. • Travel snow vs. local lots: Why a 1.2-mile windrow on a distribution center is a different beast than bouncing between Omaha strip malls, and what it takes to keep crews motivated on multi-state pivots (including an Arkansas-to-Houston stretch that turned into nearly a week on the road). • Bentonville chaos: Coordinating out-of-town properties by store number, picking up 12 extra-large commercial sites mid-storm when another provider failed, and running 37-39 hour stretches with group phone calls lasting 14-16 hours. • De-icing reality: Why most of their book still runs salt (plus Ice Slicer / treated salt), why a few accounts still want sand, and why Jack is interested in liquids to simplify truck setups and cut corrosion concerns. • Operator truth: Staying focused after hour 30, why almost everyone who plows long enough has backed into a pole, and why safety (pull over and sleep) matters more than bragging about marathon shifts. • Family business leadership: The hard part of employing your brother and close friends when you hate confrontation but still have to run the business. • Local storm prep: Halloween equipment deadlines, day-before plow and salter mounts, True Weather for start times and post-storm inch reports, prioritizing bread-and-butter contracts before travel, and the nap-at-home mistake you only make once. • Rapid fire: Night storms, small events over one giant blizzard, energy drinks, wheel loaders, and the thousand alarms on a snow guy's phone.   If you push snow, manage crews, bid commercial work, or are thinking about travel snow, this one will feel familiar in the best way. Connect with Owen's Mowing: owensmowing.com Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: myicesolutions.com Guest ideas or questions? Email [email protected]

In Episode 6 of the ICEBREAKER Podcast, host Amanda sits down live at the SIMA Snow & Ice Symposium with Scott Scharaldi, Director of Operations at East Coast Facilities.    With over 30 years of experience managing regional snow operations for industry giants like Brickman, BrightView, and LandCare, Scott breaks down why East Coast Facilities pivoted to a self-perform model and how operational visibility changes everything when severe weather hits.   What you will learn in this episode: • Self-Perform vs. The Broker Model: Why relying solely on subcontractors leaves you "handcuffed to a cell phone," and how self-performing gives you total operational control, real-time accountability, and better execution.   • Tech on the Front Lines: How live GPS tracking (monitoring everything from fuel levels to machine speed) and internal operator dashboards allow operations managers to fill labor gaps and shift regional crews across state lines seamlessly.   • Pre-Storm and Post-Storm Execution: The critical steps East Coast Facilities takes before, during, and after a storm, including shift planning for 24+ hour events and restocking logistics to handle back-to-back blizzards.   • The #1 Operational Mistake in Snow Removal: Why planning for a "dusting" can ruin your season. Scott shares his cardinal rule: "Plan for a foot of snow, everything else is gravy."   Advice for Growing Snow Contractors: How up-and-coming entrepreneurs can scale from one truck and a shovel by building a network of industry "frenemies," embracing new technology, and constantly learning from peers.   Whether you run a single pickup truck or oversee multi-state commercial properties, this episode is packed with practical strategies to help you stay ahead of the storm. Connect with East Coast Facilities: EastCoastFacilities.com  Learn more about Ice Solutions & Arctic Armor: MyIceSolutions.com  Got questions or topic requests? Email [email protected]