Snow's no match for the Red, White and Blue crew

Many people cringe at the thought of the return of a more traditional winter in our region.

In other words, to some, that four-letter word known as SNOW.

But for Gene Haas, he's reveling in the prospect of a white Christmas in the area for the first time since 2008 as his snowplowing business is working overtime - and more - in the lead-up to the Friday holiday.

How busy has it been for Haas and his Medical Lake-based Red, White and Blue Snowplowing service? In less than 10 minutes on the phone conducting this interview, Haas said he had calls from 10 customers.

Just as many wait for the first snow to have winter tires installed, Haas said, he gets so busy he turns away upwards of 40 customers a day when the lineup of storms, like those that hit the Northwest recently, march eastward. He sends them to businesses like Arborpro and Spokane Boys.

"I'm up for the next 18 hours," Haas said as he sat behind the wheel of one of his many plowing devices watching this past Monday's snow blanket the West Plains.

For Haas it's a love-hate relationship with the weather forecasts as of late. "Yes I love it but at the same time I'm scared to death because I picked up a government contract which we're still trying to iron some of the bugs out," Haas said.

With little or no snow in the past several years it's been feast or famine.

"Luckily I have my company set up to where if we get 10 days of snow at two inches a day the company is profitable," Haas, who retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force said.

Haas has two dump trucks, four pickups and a variety of heavy equipment. He hires independent drivers, 15 in all sometimes to man the various pieces of snow plowing equipment.

His company services "a lot of properties," Haas said, opting not to disclose exact numbers.

"I started this by accident in 2004-05 when I moved out here from California for the Air Force," Haas said. His initial focus was to keep the driveway and road in front of his house open.

He bought a bigger plow and began to think "Maybe I can make a little money." Starting out with four accounts in 2007, in eight years the business has grown exponentially. Haas recently acquired Spokane Plow when the owner retired to Hawaii.

Aside from figuring out how to get all the work done in the first place the bigger challenge for RWB Plowing is trying to figure out who gets plowed first, second and so on.

The customers, "They want everything now," Haas said. "They want to know 'Why aren't you here when I call you?'"

Generally how he decides where to send plows is based on the length of time a client has been on his list. "Older customers are at the top of the list," Haas said. But there are other considerations.

Haas starts out at a 2-inch minimum. But he has clients that pay for what is termed "no slip, no fall," meaning the minimum snowfall does not apply. "I have others that want to pay for 1-inch," Haas said. Besides snow removal the company also does deicing.

He keeps healthcare providers high on the pecking order.

Even when it isn't snowing, Haas is often behind the wheel of a truck tending to the proper care of the roadways. In the summer he drives a tanker truck for Custom Spray doing dust control.

When asked about the week leading up to Christmas if he'll have time off, Haas said with a laugh, "Ask Mother Nature."

Red, White and Blue Snowplowing and Spokane Plow are both located at 1006 Tara Lee Ave., Medical Lake. Contact Gene Haas at (509) 995-0944, email SnowMan@SpokanePlow.com. For more information visit spokaneplow.com

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.