March snowfall is welcomed by struggling Detroit-area plow drivers
Tony Yasee (YAH'-see) was ready to go this winter. The owner of Motor City Plow invested $85,000 in two trucks and a plow to attach to each one. And he partnered with the Uber/Lyft-style Plowz & Mowz app. The problem is: It didn’t snow much in Detroit. “Not enough money at all, to be honest with you, just because the simple fact is: It only snowed three times -- only plowable snow three times this year,” Yasee said Friday while driving through the city’s eastern suburbs. Yasee eagerly accepted more than a few jobs on the app plowing a driveway or parking lot. Sadly for him, the 6 inches or less of snow expected to fall on the area Friday was too-little, too-late for Yasee. “Am I concerned? 150%. Am I trying to venture out to a different business? 1,000%? You know, because I cannot feed my family with this," he said. “Yeah, it sucks. You know, the winter really -- this winter has been horrible,” Yasee said. Detroit isn’t the only place where snow has been light this winter. For much of the Eastern U.S., winter has been a bust. Snow totals are far below average from Boston to Philadelphia and warmer temperatures often have resulted in more spring-like days that blizzard-like conditions. Businesses like snow-plow drivers and small ski resorts have struggled financially.
