Wow, that's a lot. I guess your driveway must be long. I also live in Northern IL (in the high rent district) and my guy charges me $20 a plow.
Well, the house is near the back of a one acre lot that is about 130' wide about 300' deep. So about 180' driveway, plus a parking area and a wider lane in one spot for about 25' - it is kind of tricky to plow.
Don't tell my plow guy this, but if the going rate was 2X that, I'd probably still have it done for me. And I AM a cheapskate.
No way I'm gonna shovel that. 2400 sq feet, maybe 10#/foot with a heavy snow? 24,000 pounds to move? That's what snow plows are for.
On the environmental issue
(surprising that ....shhhhh 'gw' wasn't mentioned....), a snow plow on a truck versus a snow blower? I bet that is a HUGE difference. A truck will have a catalytic converter, and all the modern pollution controls. Snow blowers have very little. I remember reading that cutting the grass one day a week spews more pollutants than driving all your cars that week. Snow blowers are probably in that same category. It only takes a few minutes for that truck to clear my drive - I'm guessing 30 minutes with a blower, maybe more - spewing pollution that whole time?
Plus, all the energy that went into making that snow blower is for a single use device. Those trucks get used for other things the rest of the season. Just the plow is dedicated, and there is not much to that.
So, if you have a snow
blower - save the planet! Hire a snow
plower! Martha, isn't it greg who is always saying all the little things add up? Maybe you should tip him off to this one?
-ERD50