Snow plow routing software for repeat storm runs.

Why routes start from contracts

Most small operators have plowed a driveway they were never paid for. It usually happens because the route sheet and the customer list live in different places: someone called in November, got added to the notebook, and never signed or paid. PlowPilot builds route lists from service addresses that have an eligible contract behind them. The route reflects your agreements instead of your memory.

This is a deliberate constraint. For a seasonal customer, the contract becomes active once the full seasonal amount is recorded as paid, not when signatures arrive. That keeps the question "should I be plowing this?" answered before the snow starts.

Building a route master

1. Create a route list, for example "North loop: commercial first" or "Hillside residential."
2. Add eligible stops from your contracted service addresses.
3. Drag stops into the order you drive, or run optimization and then adjust it.
4. Open each property guide to check hazards, keep-clear zones, snow pile spots and walkways you marked on the satellite view.
5. Assign the route to an invited driver if you run a second truck.

Optimization is a suggestion based on addresses. It does not know that one lot must be clear before a 6 a.m. shift change, that a hill is impassable before the town sands it, or that you prefer to finish downhill. Review the order yourself. PlowPilot does not promise a fastest or safest route.

Running a route on storm day

Storm Mode is designed for a tablet mounted in the cab: large targets, one stop at a time, and the actions you actually need. Start, defer, resume and complete visits, or record an unsuccessful visit when access is blocked. Additional passes in a long storm are recorded as new visits while earlier history stays intact.

Load your routes while you have a connection and keep the app open. Visit updates queue while you are offline and sync when you reconnect. Unable-to-service drafts can retain reasons, trip choices and selected photos; uploads, email and automatic weather lookups wait for a connection. Sign-in and payments require a connection. Use the app only while safely stopped.

Cars blocking the driveway? Record an unsuccessful visit.

Instead of silently skipping the address or marking unperformed work complete, choose Unable to service. For example, enter “Two cars blocking the driveway” as the required reason and take or upload optional photos.

• Return later this trip moves the stop to the end of the current run. A return time is not guaranteed; access and conditions still matter.
• Skip for this trip leaves the property unserviced on this run only. It does not remove the customer from future route masters.
• Save only, or email an eligible customer using an editable business-branded template with the reason and links to explicitly shared photos. No shared photos means no photo links. Email permission, account allowances and provider availability apply.
• Keep attempted-visit and server-received timestamps, fresh device GPS when available, optional photos and automatic nearby U.S. NOAA / National Weather Service observations after sync. Missing evidence is clearly labeled.

What a completed stop leaves behind

Completing a stop creates the service record: completion and server-received timestamps, device GPS where location permission allows, and nearby NOAA / National Weather Service observations retrieved after sync. Read how those records work, and what they do not prove, on the proof-of-service page.

How this differs from larger field-service tools

Broader platforms such as Jobber, FieldBin and LawnPro cover snow work alongside quoting, dispatch, CRM, storm events and payments, and many teams are well served by them. PlowPilot is narrower on purpose: one winter workflow from contract to route to record, tablet-first, at one flat price, with its limitations written down. If you need live crew tracking, online card collection from customers, or large-fleet dispatch, a broader tool may fit better today.