Routes start Dec. 1
Run a route this winter
Clear by 7 plans the routes and checks the photos. Local landscaping crews do the shoveling, the kind that mow lawns in July and often sit out the winter.
How routes work
A route is a cluster of about 25 homes within roughly half a mile, so nobody drives across town at 5 a.m. One crew of two works a route between about 3:00 and 7:00 a.m.
8:00 p.m.
We read the National Weather Service forecast. If an inch or more is coming, your crew is put on call.
1:00 a.m.
We check the radar and the snow stick on your route, and tell you the start time.
3:00 a.m.
Your two-person crew starts its route: about 25 homes within roughly half a mile.
Each stop
A 5-foot sidewalk path (all sides on a corner), the front walk, the stairs, the apron, ice melt. Snow goes on the parkway or yard. Then a photo, uploaded before you move on.
6:30 a.m.
The route desk checks which photos are in. A backup crew covers anything at risk of missing 7:00.
What every crew must have
We check certificates before a crew is put on a route, and customers get the crew’s name and certificate before the first visit.
- General liability insurance of at least $1 million that covers snow and ice work, with no snow-and-ice exclusion
- Clear by 7 named on that policy as an additional insured
- Workers’ compensation if you have employees
- Insurance on the trucks you drive to the route
- A City of Chicago business license if your company is in the city and one is required
- Two snow blowers, shovels and a spreader
- A smartphone for visit photos
- A timed dry run of your route before the season
Pay
- Per visit
- Paid for every completed visit with a photo.
- Storm nights
- Call-out pay for nights your crew is put on call.
- Payouts
- Weekly, for the visits logged that week.
- In writing
- Rates are set per route and written into the crew agreement before you sign. Crew materials come in English and Spanish.
Run a route
Tell us about your crew. The route desk writes back by email about route areas near you.