A Command Center That Never Sleeps
Some businesses can’t afford the luxury of closing down for a snowstorm. They might be hospitals or nursing homes. They might be distribution centers. Those that are clients of Snow Management, Inc. have the assurance of knowing that a professional snow-clearing team is on their side, backed by the real-time monitoring power of VisionLink and the reliable service at Cleveland Brothers.
“When a distribution center is closed for four hours, it can mean lots and lots of money for them,” said Adam Pendolphia, vice president of Snow Management, Inc. “We like a challenge.”
Snow Management is one branch of the Evergreen Company, devoted to property management in many forms serving businesses within about 100 miles of its Scranton/Wilkes-Barre office. The firm started when Patrick Kane and his brother Frank were in high school, mowing neighbors’ lawns. When Frank joined the U.S. Army and went overseas for a tour in Iraq, Pendolphia and Pat took over, managing the business even as they went to college at their parents’ insistence.
“One of us would do morning classes, and one of us would do night classes so somebody was running the company at all times,” said Pendolphia.
As the business expanded, Snow Management was born from a desire to provide year-round work for Evergreen’s employees. All share the work ethic and competitive spirit that drives Kane and Pendolphia.
“We started to become friends with our workers,” said Pendolphia. “They’re like family.”
When a Storms Hits…
It took years of trial and error, but Snow Management’s response when storms hit is now a finely honed system. Logistics are managed from a computer- and monitor-filled room they call the Command Center. During a storm, six or eight people take their places, including area supervisors making sure workers are on site including those monitoring machines and watching the weather.
Hours before every storm, the crew at Snow Management is in the Command Center preparing for action. “We’re in there four hours before a storm hits,” said Pendolphia. “I know where every piece of equipment is at all times. I know if a guy is up and ready. Is that truck still at the garage? Is it on? Is it running?”
VisionLink plays a crucial role in the logistics and planning for Pendolphia and his team. The easy-to-use web-based interface communicates with the telematics in every machine within Snow Management’s connected fleet, allowing Pendolphia to track all models by ID number and garage of origin.
During a storm, the fuel tracking feature in VisionLink is crucial, allowing the command center personnel to mobilize fuel trucks in a timely and efficient manner. “When you break down in a storm, you don’t have a day or two to get it fixed,” said Pendolphia. “You have minutes.” And when Pendolphia sees an error or service alert message on his monitor, a phone call to Cleveland Brothers connects him to immediate solutions.
Between storms, Pendolphia uses VisionLink to check the service status of every machine in the fleet. He knows exactly where those machines are and can call the nearest Cleveland Brothers branch to schedule the service.
The Only Brand Trusted By Snow Management
Every year, Cleveland Brothers works with Snow Management on its equipment needs for the winter, helping Pendolphia determine the right mix of purchased and rented pieces. Even the clients are impressed, knowing that new, reliable machines will do the job. Especially for clients who keep Snow Management’s equipment onsite, they are proud to display the equipment in their lot while waiting for the next storm.
“Cleveland Brothers has been outstanding to us,” said Pendolphia. “I don’t know how we’d have gotten through some of these winters without them. They always seem to come through for us.”
Cat® equipment and Cleveland Brothers’ service are so reliable that Snow Management is in the process of switching its handful of non-Cat units to a Cat® only fleet before the coming winter.