BORN TO BE A SNOWFIGHTER - The Metal Pless™ Podcast
Get to know the incredible people that make the Metal Pless™ Family special. We talk with like-minded folks from throughout the snow and ice industry, all with a common goal - to EFFICIENTLY pave the way to a safer environment. Metal Pless plows are "always copied, never duplicated," and our people are originals too!
BORN TO BE A SNOWFIGHTER - The Metal Pless™ Podcast
5: Rob Vopleus - Lake George and LIVE EDGE™
(Part 1 of 2 with WIT Advisors. Next week, Bob and Nick sit down with Phil Sexton.)
In Episode 5 of the BORN TO BE A SNOWFIGHTER podcast, Bob and Nick sit down with Rob Vopleus, Managing Consultant with WIT Advisers. WIT Advisers is committed to sharing latest industry updates and best practices for sustainable landscape and winter management solutions.
In this episode, Rob discusses his unique background in plowing with the first LIVE EDGE TruckMaxx in the Lake George region of New York state, and how the municipalities in the region, with the help of WIT Advisers, are leading the charge for data-driven metrics and best-practices for environment stewardship of the "Queen of American Lakes."
Come see Metal Pless at upcoming trade shows in North America, including the Landscape Ontario 2026 and remember - Metal Pless™ is always copied, never duplicated!
FROM THIS EPISODE:
Learn more about WIT Advisers and the SWiM® (Sustainable Winter Management) Program:
Watch Paul Vanderzon explain the benefits of LIVE EDGE technology at the 2015 Salt Summit:
Learn about salt-reduction efforts and the annual Salt Symposium from the Lake George Association web site:
Read an article from the Lake Georg Association describing the partnership with Metal Pless:
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Watch BORN TO BE A SNOWFIGHTER episodes on YouTube:
Follow Metal Pless on Instagram:
Follow Metal Pless on Facebook:
Connect with Metal Pless on LinkedIn:
Own a Metal Pless? Join the Metal Pless Owner's Group on Facebook:
Listen to "Born for This" by Royal Deluxe on Spotify:
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Contact Metal Pless directly:
go@metalpless.com
1 (866) 362-1688
Nick Arndt (00:13)
Hey everybody and welcome to another episode of the Born to Be a Snowfighter podcast where myself, Nick, and my co-host Bob sit down and get to know people from the Metal Plus family a little better. Today we have a very good episode, a very good guest. have Rob Voplius of Wit Advisors. ⁓ He's here to tell us about Wit Advisors, his history in snow plowing. He's got a good history running Metal Plus plows, a very unique one.
and we'll just learn about what advisors and what they offer the industry. So Rob, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us today and we're happy to have you here.
Rob Vopleus (00:51)
Thanks.
Nick Arndt (00:53)
So Rob, tell us right now, what do you do on a daily basis? And give us a quick 90 second summary of WID advisors, because what they do in the industry is very, very unique and impactful.
Rob Vopleus (01:06)
What I do on a daily basis usually is working with either landscape professionals or municipalities and try to bring them into a sustainable winter management program. We have a set of standards that we go through that we take this, it's usually a five-year program. Some people do it faster, some people do it little bit slower, but it's really getting them to understand
how to go through this process. It starts out kind of in a discovery phase and then to a data collection and then we kind of intervene after that. And then we go through six real steps. We go through measure, calibrate, prevent, analyze, improve, and optimize, which is, and then there's, in between that, there's a lot of process that gets them to those steps.
Nick Arndt (02:02)
And the end goal of Wit Advisors is to offer what to the snow plowing contractor in municipality.
Rob Vopleus (02:09)
So really it's to make them a better environmental steward, ⁓ more...
friendlier to their budget. you know, it's, it's usually there's a savings that they're able to maintain after going through the process. in a lot of times we usually say that like a 50 % reduction in chlorides is usually like shooting fish in a barrel. Once you start into the program, once we get through that really year one or actually year zero discovery phase, ⁓ it's taking it and they get involved. A lot of these
A lot of these, especially smaller municipalities, smaller landscaping companies, they're still using like salt sand mix. They're still using a lot of the plow technology is either just regular steel cutting edges or rubber cutting edges. And then a lot of times there, there is no tracking equipment, any metering equipment, any computerized application systems to kind of give them an understanding of how much material they're using. So.
Nick Arndt (02:51)
Yeah.
Rob Vopleus (03:12)
And if there is, a lot of times it was installed at the dealer and that was the last time it was ever maintained, calibrated or configured. So we really go in and we, we help them with all these practices. And like I said, usually that 50 % reduction is once we start getting things calibrated, once they start into the process and start moving away from that salt sand mix, we're not saying that that's not a tool that you need in your toolbox. We're saying it's not the tool, the
Nick Arndt (03:19)
Yeah.
Rob Vopleus (03:40)
the first tool to grab out of the toolbox. ⁓ But once they start into this process and they see that 50 % reduction, that's usually like small municipalities have told me that could be $80,000 for them. It's usually why that is, is because once they get out of the, using these better practices, ⁓ it eliminates, a lot of these guys have a season of just cleanup. They're going out with sweepers, they're going out with backpack blowers, and usually it's six weeks to two months.
Nick Arndt (03:53)
Yeah.
Rob Vopleus (04:10)
that this happens, it's an entire crew, ⁓ that collection and hauling and everything. So that usually equates to about $80,000 for these small municipalities.
Nick Arndt (04:21)
And that's not nothing. $80,000 adds up. So we're not talking about just environmental stuff. We're talking about these methods save money and save taxpayers money. ⁓ that's a huge selling point. But I wanna hit on something, Bob. ⁓ So he said 50 % salt reduction or chloride reduction. That's something with our Metal Plus Live Edge that when people come up to us at trade shows or customers who are inquiring about Metal Plus say,
Bob Green (04:28)
budget.
Rob Vopleus (04:33)
Yeah.
Nick Arndt (04:49)
How much salt is Live Edge gonna save me? We've often thrown out there, you know, it's hard, every account's different, every plower is different, everything is different, but 50 % is something that we've thrown out. so, not that Metal Plus or Live Edge contributes to everything you're talking about here, but my point is it's not that difficult to say 50 % in salt. Would you agree with that, Rob, after a little bit of effort?
Rob Vopleus (05:19)
I would 100 % agree with that.
Nick Arndt (05:20)
Yeah. So that's important. So while we're on the topic of salt here, now you're in Lake George, New York. Is that correct? Okay, so salt runoff is something that gets talked about a lot. Tell us about Lake George, what it's like. I know there's not a lot of people, not everyone is familiar with that territory of New York, but give us a little description of Lake George. I know it's a beautiful place that people really cherish.
Rob Vopleus (05:30)
I am.
Nick Arndt (05:49)
So maybe talk a little bit about why it's important to reduce salt usage specifically in that region.
Rob Vopleus (05:57)
Well, mean, Lake George in whole, I mean, I was reading an article today ⁓ that it is credited as being the queen of American lakes, the cleanest, the queen. Yes. It is also the most data driven lake in the entire U S ⁓ we do have a bunch of nonprofit organizations like the Lake George association that
Nick Arndt (06:05)
The Queen. Okay.
Rob Vopleus (06:26)
that uses actual data. They have sensors in the lake to monitor the lake because it is, because they do want the lake to be as clear as it can possibly be. And not just for them because they are an environmental group, for the residents too. They have programs as well as there's a bunch of other ⁓ non-profit groups that involve the citizens of the area.
to really get them involved. There's like cleanup days and these aren't small things. We see a lot of people go to these events because in their community, I mean, it means a lot to them. This is their home. So, I mean, they want it as clean as possible. So the community really takes pride in it and they really come out to these events to take care of their home.
Bob Green (07:17)
The whole region of Lake George, I I live, know, the city of Montreal is a couple hours north. It's a vacation hub for a lot of Quebecers because of the, it's a beautiful area to visit in the summertime. ⁓ And if you don't have clean beaches and clean waters, tourists don't necessarily want to go. We saw the same thing, ⁓ Phil Sexton, who's going to be a guest on another episode spoke.
Nick Arndt (07:18)
awesome.
Bob Green (07:45)
at one of the salt symposiums when we were at Lake Placid. And just this getting away from Lake George a little bit, but talking about how salt affects more than just the drinking water, but the cleanliness. So Phil's a triathlete and Lake Placid holds an annual triathlon event, Ironman, an Ironman. Yeah, a long time ago, but they do the Ironman there and they test the water.
Nick Arndt (08:06)
and the Winter Olympics on occasion.
Yeah.
Bob Green (08:14)
And
Rob tell me what is it in the water that can't be over a certain level for the triathlon to it? It's one of the allergies. This is the blue algae. Is it possible? Yeah. So what happens? I we'll let Phil talk about this. He's he's he's got it all dialed in, freshwater lakes flip every year. And when there's too much salt, we'll just keep it at salt. don't have to get into the actual chemistry of it. But then the top of the water gets too heavy. The lake can't flip and it stops breathing.
Rob Vopleus (08:25)
think so.
Bob Green (08:45)
So Lake Placid and Lake George, all the water, just the groundwater runs into the lake. So when they're mashing down salt, we'll get into this with Robin a bit, but the old timers, this used to burn off all the snow and ice with salt. They'd open up the gate on the spinner and just tonnage and tonnage and tonnage of salt. We still see it. Yeah. So it's that. It's standing water that...
Nick Arndt (09:07)
Well, we still see it. Yeah.
Bob Green (09:15)
Saturated with the road salt goes into the drains and into the lake You know and then know Rob can talk, you know I I've driven up and up and down the whole lake. How many miles is the lake? from end to end Rob, it's like Yeah
Rob Vopleus (09:31)
Late George.
Nick Arndt (09:32)
I it's I was looking I think it's 32 miles. That's a that's a long lake. I'm in North Dakota, Minnesota, Minnesota. We don't have any 32 mile lakes, we might have 10,000 of them, but we don't have any ones that quite that large. Other than the Great Lakes.
Bob Green (09:35)
Yeah, I was going to say 30 miles.
Rob Vopleus (09:35)
Yep.
Bob Green (09:44)
You
So in this journey
up and down, you start, know, my landing pad was Lake George and Rob's Grash, because they were, I think, the first community to have metal plus plow. And then, you know, going north, all the different grashes, and these grashes literally go from barns, like literal barns or sheds, to like,
Bolton Landing that's got like a garage, everybody's dream garage, you know, the base based on the population and the taxpayer money and whatnot. But they're all dialed in to this salt. all, but Rob, how many like a lot of them are dialed into helping the lake now. And it's not always a metal plus. We always like to say metal plus starts to process, right? You know, you get as much snow off before you before the liquids. And but going down really, really opened my eyes because these guys are talking about they have cameras set up.
in shady areas that, you know, on a sunny day, snow can fall off trees and create black ice. They've got temperature sensors on the roads. They've got these amazing calibrations going on in their trucks. And it's unique, I find, because it's not always the superintendents, but guys like Rob talking to guys in other garages, like we'll use Matt Coffin as an example. So Matt Coffin, is he back at Hague? I forget.
He's back at Hague. So Tana Hague, Matt Coffin, he's a guy that you wouldn't think would be super into technology calibration and whatnot. But man, did he have his stuff dialed in? He would go from town to town helping other guys out. It was such a collaboration. And and I think again, we'll go to Paul Van Der Zandt. He stood up in front of everybody at one of the Salt Summits at Lake George and he just said, I'm not going to talk about Metal Plus. I'm not going to talk about me. I'm here to talk about you guys. And he just started clapping his hands going.
You guys, the blue collar guys, are the guys that are making this happen in a community that cares. Like everybody cares. Everybody was dialed into it and it was such a, it was a real eye-opener for me and it's fun driving up and down that stretch because everybody really likes their plow. And a truck max is a different beast than a max pro or whatnot because sometimes we get an operator and he gets the truck max on and it's just like, it's new, don't like new, you know.
Nick Arndt (12:09)
Yeah.
Bob Green (12:10)
They ignore it or they try to push it aside. But once they go up and down the road a few times with it and realize there's less vibration, forget about the salt savings, just the operator comfort. They don't feel the plow anymore. They're like, wow, this is nice, know?
Nick Arndt (12:18)
Yeah.
So for the typical
contractor that's listening, they're probably not too familiar with the truck max. They're more familiar with our wing plows that go on skid steers, wheel loaders, etc. But in this situation, we're talking about a live edge plow, a truck max that goes on a 10 or a 12 wheel dump truck, which is a one way, which is its main goal is clearing streets.
semi residential, not highways, but clearing highway or clearing town streets in these small towns, correct? We're talking about a live edge on a straight blade, not going 60 miles an hour, but going 20, 25 miles an hour.
Bob Green (13:01)
Yeah. And, you know, for people that are watching, can see Rob's truck when he was at Lake George. ⁓ Rob, correct me if I'm wrong again, but you were the first person to run the truck max in the area? You got the first one?
Rob Vopleus (13:01)
Yeah, or less. Yeah.
Nick Arndt (13:03)
Yeah, or less.
Yep, there it is in the back.
Rob Vopleus (13:16)
Yeah,
so we actually, I'm not sure if it was a prototype or something. I know I went to get parts for it at one time and it was kind of billed as a prototype. ⁓ It does look much different than the one that's actually in the background. I think that's a Gen 2. ⁓ But we were one of the first ones to have it in the area. ⁓ We kind of, it was provided to us. ⁓
through one of these nonprofit groups, ⁓ as well as a bunch of other equipment. But we were one of the first ones to have it. ⁓ We kind of passed it from truck to truck, operator to operator, to say, this isn't the operator. It's really the plow that's making this change. And then we documented that. We actually had, like you said, some really cool. ⁓
tracking equipment and cameras on the road are with road watch information systems. And we were able to document, you know, how much different the scrape actually was from, I mean, we ran regular carbide cutting edges with cover plates at that point. And that was huge from, from what, like we still had a bunch of guys that had been there for 30 years, going from the regular steel edges that you may make half a storm.
and then have to replace the edge and ⁓ then to go to the carbide and then to go to this technology from that. Even the old guys that had like 30 years in at the time were driving behind these trucks and seeing comparing. I mean, we ran trucks. had, we have large parking lots down there that we have to clear too. And we would take the trucks and run them side by side. And just, was amazing how much more the truck max would actually clear.
Bob Green (14:44)
Right, right.
Rob Vopleus (15:12)
how much of a cleaner scrape it was. ⁓ We always like to say that it's like shaving with one of those razors that's got multiple blades compared to just a regular straight edge because of how much less. And that helps because that's all the less material that you need to put on afterwards to get back to that really good friction level because you removed so much more material. I mean, we had...
Because our routes down there would actually intersect routes from other communities. So like the state or the county or like the town of Bolton. And so then we would get calls and they would say, we don't know what you guys are doing down there, but what are you doing? Because we're literally going across your roads and our roads are still covered or hard packed and your roads are bare, they're black pavement. Like what is the difference?
Nick Arndt (15:55)
Yeah.
Bob Green (15:57)
you
Rob Vopleus (16:11)
So then it started going from that one plow to then we actually were able to ⁓ get these plows on all of our big trucks. And then we started, other communities started to get them as well in the area.
Nick Arndt (16:26)
Yeah, it's really kind of grown ⁓ naturally from that very first very first plow. But I guess it points to the fact that that region of the US is the most data driven snow removal epicenter there is I can't think of another place. Definitely in Minnesota, Wisconsin, there's efforts to reduce salt. And they're definitely measuring. But this is like the test zone, right? Is it not like this is this is where you need to be if you're testing
or if you're trying to reduce salt and want to measure it. That's pretty cool.
Rob Vopleus (17:00)
Yeah, I mean, we would say this is really the epicenter of where this all started. ⁓
a lot of our efforts. usually cite even at WID advisors, we cite you know Lake George as being the epicenter. Really where a lot of this has started. ⁓ I mean in this truck behind me, I think at one time I had six different systems in it ⁓ all working at once just to collect data. ⁓
Bob Green (17:24)
You ⁓
Nick Arndt (17:26)
Some
people are gonna hear that and go, ⁓ not for me, but... ⁓
Bob Green (17:29)
No, it's not for everybody. No, not every truck needs that though, but
Rob Vopleus (17:32)
No, no, this. Yeah, no,
Bob Green (17:33)
Rob was the catatocly collector that that's normal
Rob Vopleus (17:36)
I was testing equipment ⁓ in these storms, so it was very interesting and a lot of this is all automated. So it's not like I was sitting there like an octopus with seven different hands trying to operate this thing. No, no, it's all automated. It was collecting the data. As we were going down.
Nick Arndt (17:49)
Yeah.
Bob Green (17:50)
You
Rob Vopleus (17:58)
one time this was like a rolling weather station. Is it really interesting?
Bob Green (18:02)
yeah, that's cool.
Nick Arndt (18:04)
And I think things have changed in even the last four or five years where the pushback against even metal plus wing plows was it's too complicated. Now it's been accepted and people are looking, even contractors are looking at that next level. Like what can I automate? What can I automate with my salt applicator? What can I automate with, ⁓ excuse me, what can I automate with my brine? You know, it's.
I'm really thankful that we've seemed to have crossed the threshold of it's too complicated because from beginning contractor, small operation to municipality, I'm seeing more and more technology and that's a good thing. People need to accept it. It's not that complicated. I tell people that their trucks and their wheel loaders are 10 times more complicated than the systems they're dealing with. So that's really cool. To back up a little bit, it must be though that
at this epicenter of salt reduction, snow efficiency technology here, someone must have seen a metal plus plow and thought that is the system that is going to scrape the best. And that was plow number one. Can you remember ⁓ meeting someone from metal plus Paul and Rob van der Zandt, believe? Do you remember that first meeting or how the first plow arrived and any stories behind that?
Rob Vopleus (19:30)
So the first time we actually saw it was at the very first SEL summit, where we actually watched this thing go around and watched the edge move. And I had a very forward thinking superintendent at the time. had just taken the job ⁓ and really wanted to leave his mark. So he started researching brine and liquid deicers. He looked at this technology and said, OK, I'll try it. Come up to my shop.
Nick Arndt (19:33)
Yeah.
Rob Vopleus (19:59)
and prove it to me. We'll put it on my truck. As long as you can show me that this is the wave of the future and that this is good, we'll move forward. But prove it to me." And that's the way he did everything. Willing to try, but prove it to me. So that's what we did. We brought it up there, we tried it, and it was sold. And then at first, when we met Rob and Paul, again, it was a little hesitant because it's like,
Like you said, it was something new that wasn't adopted and there was a little bit of pushback like, come on, that thing's not gonna work. Look how complicated it is. You've got all these edges and everything and it's just too much. ⁓ But after we ran that thing around and like you said, how much less fatigue that the operator felt through the truck because of the soft trip edges ⁓ as well as how much it.
better it scraped, which led to efficiency because then that truck was actually getting done faster because it was more efficient because in a lot of instances where other trucks were dealing with hard pack, this truck didn't have to go back. It didn't have to go back and make that extra round. ⁓ So it was huge. So then the next meeting with Paul, ⁓ it was like, you know,
Welcome Arms accepted into our shop. Let's talk about some, let's talk about more.
Bob Green (21:35)
⁓ I think to go back to your initial question, Nick, I think how that it all panned out was Paul and Phil sexton probably connected at Saima. I feel that's where that connection happened. Phil had this great thing going on in the area. It was the fund of Lake George headed up by Chris Novinsky. I think that's how the first plow found its way into.
the Grash was that Paul, Phil, Chris connection. And Chris is still there. He's super active. I'll be seeing him and Rob pretty soon. It's like George is here, right? The assault summit. Yeah. So we'll be down there.
Rob Vopleus (22:23)
Yep. ⁓ September 24th.
Nick Arndt (22:26)
So if you want to go somewhere and learn everything you need to know about, maybe not everything you need to know, but maybe see how people are doing it in a very forward-thinking way, that might be something you want to think about attending. Yeah. awesome.
Bob Green (22:38)
Yeah, and you don't have to go because they stream it. think
more and more people watch online now than actually go in person. It's the locals that go.
Nick Arndt (22:48)
That's cool. ⁓ Rob, one of the things I wanna hit on that you said a minute ago was when they were first using the Live Edge truck max, they had to take fewer cleanup passes and that kind of gets me into maybe talking about what you guys measure now with with advisors because I've read some stuff that Phil has written and it's interesting to think about. The environmental impact isn't just about
Salt reduction, which is obvious. We don't want salt in our water. I think everybody agrees with that, no matter what your view on the environment is. We don't want salt in the water, that's bad. But it's all of the other inputs. Like when you scrape clean, you don't have to make a backup pass. When you don't have to make a backup pass, you don't have to may have extra trucks. When you don't have to have extra trucks, you don't have to have extra fuel. When the extra trucks aren't running, there's less.
there's less emissions from those extra trucks. I've read some interesting stuff where it tries to take into account all of the environmental factors. Is that something you guys measure today and maybe talk a little bit about the efficiencies you're looking for with WIT advisors.
Rob Vopleus (24:03)
Yeah, 100%. So yeah, mean that in a nutshell is what we're looking to do. We're looking to provide a very high level of service. And then if we can eliminate some of these extra passes, these unnecessary passes, because we've implemented other technologies like segmented plow technology, live edges, like the use of anti-icing before a storm.
So we really, you know, it's kind of like putting butter in a frying pan when we do that. So we're scraping cleaner. Yep, gotta grease that pan. ⁓ So what we do, we measure a lot of these different things. So once we start implementing these technologies, like we start using liquid before the storm and anti-icing to help prevent that bond.
Nick Arndt (24:38)
The no stick pan, yep.
Rob Vopleus (25:01)
So then once it starts using or starts actually snowing and we have to mechanically remove it, then we use technology like the Metal Plus, Trukmax or other ones. And we're getting that cleaner scrape, it's less material we need to put down. ⁓ And then using these calibrated computerized application systems, ⁓ where we're putting the same amount of material all the time. They're also GPS ground speed in most.
cases where it doesn't matter how sleepy the operator may be, though we don't want them out there when they're tired, but it happens. But even the best operator becomes fatigued after a while and isn't going to perform at the same level as he would when he's fresh. These computerized application systems don't care. They're always going to put out the same amount of material. When you start, they start when the vehicle stops. It stops.
Nick Arndt (25:39)
Yeah.
Rob Vopleus (25:58)
So it really saves a lot of material and it saves that and using these practices to go through the, through a storm and making data-driven decisions as you go ⁓ with technology helps not only like we were saying to be better environmental stewards because we're using less material. ⁓ Less of those chlorides are going in and not just chlorides, other things are going into our reservoirs and our lakes and.
are tributaries to lakes, streams and stuff, as well as contaminating soil. ⁓ We actually had another community that was working on because of air quality. If we use less material, it's less material that we need to stockpile. So he actually contributed ⁓ not only the air quality from because of the vehicles running during the storm, but all the trucking.
Bob Green (26:42)
Makes sense, yeah.
Rob Vopleus (26:57)
to get the material to the place also contributes to the air quality.
Bob Green (27:04)
You go back to your sweeping example.
Rob Vopleus (27:04)
So it's really, these are everything. I mean, we're definitely looking at soil quality. We're looking at
water
We're looking at air quality now. And all this things, I mean, it sounds like a lot, but a lot of it becomes automated. And what this does, there is an initial investment in some of these things, but what happens is eventually you become fiscally more responsible and you have more money.
in the end a lot of times because you're saving money overall. You're making these decisions that may be different because now you have the data to support your decision.
Nick Arndt (27:42)
Yeah, it all trickles down from what I gather. It's not just about reducing salt, which it is to begin with, but using these methods, it's happier operators, fewer man hours, fewer inputs on vehicles, fewer inputs on fuel. It just trickles down forever, and ultimately, it pays for itself pretty quickly on the governmental side.
Rob Vopleus (27:46)
Yeah.
Nick Arndt (28:12)
It's just.
Rob Vopleus (28:12)
Well,
and on the private side too, because if you are reducing, especially if you're in a seasonal contract, you're able to be more efficient, becoming more efficient, and you still maintain that very high level of service, and you did eliminate that round. That's one round that now that the service...
and then that truck lasts longer. It's a little bit longer between oil changes. The tires are gonna last longer. All your cutting edges are going to last a little bit longer. ⁓ So you're really prolonging the life of all your stuff as well.
Nick Arndt (28:52)
So let's talk about this. This is where I really wanted to go. Since the majority of Metal Plus owners and majority of listeners are on the commercial private contractor side, what would you say, this is something we hear at trade shows, is, this is maybe exaggerated a bit, but what would you say to this person? They come up to us at the trade show and they go, Metal Plus plow, I know you're the best, but I can't use you. And we say,
that's interesting, why not? And they say, I make money spreading salt, I make money spreading sand. If I'm more efficient, I bill all my contracts or time and materials hourly. I make less money if I were to be more efficient. Tell us what you would say in your sales pitch to a contractor in that world, because as I've seen it, that still exists, but it's dwindling. ⁓ What do you offer that?
that contract.
Rob Vopleus (29:52)
Well, definitely having a piece of equipment that lasts the test of time is great. These plows are constructed much differently than most. The engineering that goes in them actually does provide them with a better scrape, understanding that they are time and materials. But I mean, in the next respect, they are time and materials. We have had seasons in the last three years where we've had really mild winters.
Moving from that time and materials contract to a seasonal contract and be using equipment to be more efficient puts more money in their pocket and consistent money in their pocket. ⁓ You're not worrying about, is it going to snow this year? If it's not going to snow, do I make these investments? We're covered. ⁓ It's really moving out of that mindset of time and materials.
Bob Green (30:52)
Rob, without naming names, I know WIT works with major chain stores to try to encourage them to follow the WIT procedures and be more efficient and whatnot. How's the approach, like how do you first look at the foot in a door with one of these chains? And then how do you convince them to adopt your
processes.
Rob Vopleus (31:23)
lot of these, they're seeing, they want to be more environmentally friendly, right? They're environmentally conscious to being with. But not only that is they're seeing destruction to their infrastructure. They're seeing the door cases rot out that are, in some cases, these really elaborate doors could be $20,000, $30,000 to have them replaced. They're seeing that the entryways going into their,
Bob Green (31:37)
Okay.
Rob Vopleus (31:53)
their stores or buildings, they're corroding because of the extra chloride, the excessive chloride use. ⁓ So it's really saying it's not only you're going to become a better environmental steward, better for a healthier environment all around your store, it's going to protect your assets.
Bob Green (32:12)
Right. That makes sense. That makes sense. The whole infrastructure. And is there any, is there any areas in where you guys are working that the local government, I mean, I'll just use it as a local example. Anytime you build a Home Depot or a Costco now, you have to retain your own water, right? They have to build basins. So is there any of that kind of governmental push or municipal push for
building of a new store to somehow filter out its water before it goes into the land. Is there any of that going on?
Rob Vopleus (32:51)
100 % ⁓ there are and we have worked with different ⁓ Contractors and everything like that to help them develop ⁓ An actual structure from from day one that Will is designed for retention so it can filter out these materials and there's different depending on Local requirements and stuff like that and what they can use ⁓
you write down to what vegetation that is used on the site for plants and whatnot. And in some instances, ⁓ right from day one, some of these structures, we are recommending them to just be chloride-free, to use chloride-free products right from day one to just eliminate as much of this ⁓ contamination and destruction to infrastructure as we can.
Bob Green (33:26)
Understood.
interesting. Right on. ⁓ So we lost Nick. He just sent me a text saying his computer crashed. So we'll wrap up here. Thank you Rob for joining us. ⁓ As always it's a pleasure speaking to you, ⁓ knowing you for a bit. You really care about what you're doing. I think you're in the right place now working with WIT. Your operator knowledge is golden when it comes to speaking to people.
from a, not from a sales perspective, but from a knowledge perspective, wisdom. ⁓ Thank you for everything you guys do and thank you for being a guest and I will see you in October. Looking forward to it.
Rob Vopleus (34:31)
Thank
That was great. Thank you for having me.
Bob Green (34:36)
Thanks, Rob.