The five inputs

Blade price, life, change-out labour, surface damage and downtime. Four of them are estimates; the model improves as each becomes a measurement.

Price and life

Price is the easy input and the misleading one. Life has to be measured in lane-kilometres or operating hours rather than seasons, because a season is not a fixed amount of work. One season of measurement gives a usable figure.

Labour, surface damage and downtime

Every blade change costs crew hours, and a change during an event costs a shift. Surface damage adds repair cost on decorative or sealed surfaces. These three items are what separate two blades that look identical on a quote.

Turning the model into a decision

Compare candidates on the same route and the same season, then check how sensitive the answer is to the two uncertain inputs.

Sensitivity and honest assumptions

Model life and downtime as ranges rather than single numbers. If the ranking flips inside the plausible range, you do not have enough data to decide and the honest move is a trial on two machines.

Where the savings actually are

On most fleets the blade line is small against fuel, labour and de-icer. The largest blade-related savings come from fewer passes, less fuel per pass and fewer mid-storm changes — all of which show up outside the blade budget.

Cost model questions

What is the right denominator — miles, hours or seasons?

Lane-kilometres or operating hours. A season varies in severity, so seasonal comparisons between two winters are usually misleading.

Use the manufacturer’s figure only as a starting assumption, then run a trial on two or three machines for a season. Your own measurement is the one that matters.

Where it applies, yes. On decorative concrete, sealed asphalt and airport pavements the repair cost can exceed the blade cost entirely.

Use the cost of the shift or the penalty under the contract. That number is usually far larger than the difference in blade price and it changes the decision.

Update the life figures annually and rebuild the structure only if the duty changes. A model that is maintained is more useful than one that is perfect once.

Send us your route and duty

We will model the cost per mile for the alternatives and show where the sensitivity sits.

✓ Route length and surface type
✓ Current blade life in hours or km
✓ Change-out labour and downtime cost
✓ Annual volume and delivery destination

Email: [email protected]

JOMA Blade Quote Form

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