If the first snow fall of the year is 4 to 6 inches, we just drive our vehicles up and down over the next few days to pack it down good. It's good insulation over the ground to prevent the frost from dropping deeper in the ground as the season progresses and causing more problems, frost heaves, broken water pipes, etc.. Weird, huh?! Also, since we have a dirt and rock driveway, it keeps the rocks from getting in your shoe treads and ending up in the house (I hate all those little rocks hiding in the carpet waiting for my vacuum cleaner to come by). If the first snowfall is deeper than that, DH raises the deck on the tractor/snowblower combo and makes sure he's not scrapping the ground.