The Editor’s Notebook

Hi, Everybody-
For many, the rush of summer business is now over. Let’s hope the profits and productivity were as high as the busy-ness of it all!

Now is a good time to reflect on how your business (or public organization) is changing, as well as the way you want it to change for the better. This includes how the economy is factoring into your business, how your employees are faring in the downturn and as your ‘face’ to the public.

A good, approximately 3-minute video entitled ‘From Managing to Leading‘ is available on this topic from BNet.com.

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to explore your current strategies for business operation. Project what you feel will occur within your organization during the next 3 - 6 months at the current rate of change. Decide if you should be purchasing capital equipment, sweepers or other, prior to year’s end in order to get the current accelerated tax write-off on it. Here is our article on that topic.

Keeping up with the changing times is increasingly difficult. That makes it more important than ever to plan, Plan, PLAN in order to achieve the business future you want and deserve.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
Sorry to have been so ’spotty’ with my blog, but I’m still recovering from my motorcycle wreck. Writing the blog isn’t something I can reassign to someone else.

In this edition I want to encourage everyone to look to the near future, when the season will change. With the many climate changes that seem to be hitting us in the past few years, for some it may be a time to re-think how their operation should be run during winter months.

For example, you may want to examine the change in snowfall in your area over the past 5-10 years. If you’re a contractor, does the change mean you should consider getting into (out of…) snow removal during winter months? For municipalities, should you modify your sweeping program to account for the changes?

If you’re a contractor that’s been doing snow removal and the workload has dropped off in the last few years, is there another sideline you might want to get into? Sealcoating, striping, seasonal banner placement/removal?

If you’re in one of the Eastern seaboard states that seems to be getting more vicious storms, necessitating heavier cleanup duties, should you evaluate different types/makes/models of sweepers than you’ve been using so as to better handle the changing debris load?

For that matter, a number of changes have been made in the manufacturing side of sweepers. For example, although Schwarze machines have historically been the sweeper of choice for parking area cleanup, that appears to be shifting to the Victory Sweepers line. Perhaps that’s because Mark Schwarze, son of Schwarze’s founder and the person with oversight on Schwarze’s previous line is now heading up Victory.

As we head toward the year’s end you contractors also want to take a hard look at your revenue differences this year from the last. There’s still time to make course corrections designed to get you on target by year’s end!

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
I’m back from the APWA Congress, which was held in New Orleans last week. It was the toughest show I’ve ever had to cover, since I had a motorcycle wreck two days before leaving. Someone had allowed a large amount of clear oil to spill onto the pavement and not notified anyone (even anonymously) of the fact. Mine was the first motorcycle to hit its brakes and the rest was skidding along under the bike for about 25′. It’s a good reminder to secure those loads!

Although I’ll be back to normal in another week or so, it was difficult going through with the trip while being so banged, bruised and scraped up. Then, once there, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of sweeper-related seminars available. There was actually only one that totally targeted sweeping, and it covered the use of a camera on a sweeper to give out tickets to those who don’t move their cars. The others of potential interest all were on the topic of fleet management. You’ll see that the first of these is already online.

However, I did gather a number of exhibitor videos that we’ll have for you over the next several weeks. These range from sweeper manufacturers to those with products that seemed of interest to the industry.

Since all of the street sweeping manufacturers were at the show, it’s clear that APWA is trying to include the industry from a vendor point of view. What’s surprising is that the organizers don’t seem to care enough about us to have many seminars on the topic of better sweeping, etc. If you’re an APWA member, I encourage you to let them know you expect better. The APWA contact email for Dana Priddy, APWA’s Director of Meetings, is: dpriddy@apwa.net.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
The WorldSweeper.com website was hacked over the July 4th weekend by someone promoting a ‘phishing scheme’ designed to get account info from patrons of Canada Trust Bank. How these kind of guys often work is to run password algorithm software against website until they get a match, then break in and place files onto legitimate sites like WorldSweeper.com.

Once that’s done, they send out emails purporting to be from, in this case, Canada Trust, requesting that the recipient update their account info. Their twisted goal is to try and get info they can use for identity theft.

For the first time in many months, I spent the holiday by taking a break from everything computer-related, with friends at the Pacific Ocean. Wouldn’t you know that’s when these guys would strike. Since the server support personnel couldn’t reach me – and since every time they’d remove the phishing files the bad guys would re-upload them – they shut the site down for what amounted to about 48 hours.

I detail this as a reminder to all of you with websites to remain vigilant for this type of scheme occurring at your own site. Although these types of operators normally choose large sites, like WorldSweeper.com, where the new files won’t be spotted as easily, it can happen to anyone.

To reduce the risk, it’s important to have obscure passwords that include an ideally random combination of letters (both upper- and lower-case) and numbers. Even then, make sure you have a notification system in place, as we do for WorldSweeper.com and the approximately 75 other websites we host for contractors and others. Early notice is the key to keeping any damage to a minimum.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
Because of the hotbed of regulatory activity that describes California, the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) is now offering a direct link to the Association’s work in that state.

The new California Chapter of NAPSA is at: http://ca.napsaonline.com. On the same topic, the president of Bill’s Sweeping and former NAPSA president, Mark Carter, recently developed what might be called an ‘analogy white paper’ that outlined the value of sweepers currently being operated in California.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) wants older, more polluting engines to be taken out of service. This is in spite of the fact that all of the sweepers currently in operation clearly remove more pollutants than they emit. To make that point, Carter compares the cost-benefit to ATM machines.

Basically, Carter suggests that if there were ATM machines where you could put in $1 and get out $500 (which is the ratio of engine pollution-to-pollutant pickup by older sweepers), then everyone would want to use them. If there were newer ATMs subsequently invented where you only had to put in 20 cents to get out the $500 (the pollutant output-to-pickup ratio for the new class of engines), that would be better.

However, that doesn’t mean you would want to scrap all the old ATMs just because they weren’t quite as efficient as the new ones… any more than the California government should scrap older sweepers just because the new ones are more efficient.

It’s an interesting argument, and one the California government should heed if it truly does want to reduce air pollution in the state. Unlike virtually any other vehicle on the roads, sweepers remove more pollutants than they emit through operation every time, every sweeper.

Here is a pdf copy of Carter’s paper on the topic. We also have it linked here at the page where all the California emissions discussion is being cataloged.

Even if you’re not located in California, be assured that these same types of requirements will be heading your way in the next few years. The fact that sweepers remove more pollutants than they emit during operation is an argument the industry has a big stake in getting across prior to when national legislation along these same lines is enacted.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
At the risk of mixing my metaphors, I’ve recently had two quite different encounters with ways that news about an organization’s quality can spread. What it showed me was that, for better or for worse, in today’s fast-paced information world people can learn about you and your company faster than every before possible.

The first, quite negative piece of news is the recent article link I posted about the bull terrier being pulled off its leash and into a mechanical sweeper in the Bronx.

In the “olden, pre-Internet days,” news of the tragedy would be confined to at least the New York area. However, within a few days of the occurrence I received several emails about it. Although these included sweeping contractors located on both coasts and in Michigan, none originated from New York.

Particularly distressing to the dog owner and bystanders — and ultimately for the management team of the operator — was that the sweeper operator reportedly was “going fast and listening to headphones,” and that he wouldn’t stop the sweeper but just kept on going. Using the power of the Internet, the bad publicity on this incident was quickly spread far and wide. All bad for the sweeping community, as well as for the workers actually involved.

The second, somewhat disparate example, involves a man named Jimmy who owns a Chinese factory that makes sweeper brushes. He came to the U.S. a few weeks back to personally visit U.S. broom suppliers in order to show off the quality of his wares. At the same time, he contacted me to place an ad at WorldSweeper.com for retail broom sales.

As it turned out, by the time he’d made the rounds of sweeper manufacturers and broom suppliers to drum up wholesale business, Jimmy got so many commitments to purchase that he now has no capacity left to sell to retail customers. Although I lost out on the ad, the big news is what an inroad this broom manufacturer was able to make by personally showcasing his quality of wares. And, no doubt, the prices were attractive compared to U.S. labor.

Both of these instances offer a glimpse into the Brave New U.S., and world, in which we live. It is apparent that staying off the radar is no longer possible when stuff hits the fan. On the other hand, the potential to spread the good news about your organization is now possible like never before.

Whichever it is, be ready for news to spread.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
Plans have just been finalized for me to present a topic at the next National Pavement Exposition, to be held in Charlotte, NC, next February 18 - 21. Here’s the info about my seminar topic:

“Unpredictable but steadily rising fuel and other costs can take a big bite out of your bottom line. To stay competitive, sweeping contractors must find ways to control their costs and protect their profit. In this timely session by a sweeping industry expert you’ll learn some of the creative steps other contractors have taken steps you can implement in your own business to lessen the impact of increased fuel costs.

“You’ll learn how to apply a surcharge for fuel and other items to invoices, workable options for explaining surcharges to your customers, and what to do when surcharges become no longer options (you can’t use them forever).

“Plus, take home basic driving, routing, and equipment maintenance tips any contractor can use. And, sweepers who operate a second engine will learn when and how they can benefit from the excise tax rebate on fuel during both parking lot and municipal operations, including how to apply for it and what it can mean to your bottom line. A real money-saving session for sweepers (and other contractors)!”

I look forward to working with Allan Heydorn and his staff to provide the latest info to attendees on this topic.

On another front, the South Coast Air Quality Management District is holding a hearing on July 11th to develop the way sweeper aftermarket parts can be certified as providing the same overall performance as the original equipment parts. This link is to the SCAQMD page on its Rule 1186.1. The ruling, when it comes, may have a significant impact on those who sell aftermarket parts to the sweeping industry.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
I was asked by a NE contractor to see if the IRS had any ‘good’ or ‘bad’ wording that should be used when requesting what most would call a fuel surcharge to be paid by customers. He had heard that use of the term “fuel surcharge” might trigger a different taxing situation than use of some other term on the invoice or request.

On May 1st I called the excise tax division of the IRS, explained my request, and they said they’d have someone return my call. They didn’t. So, I re-called today and kicked the concept around with an excise tax specialist. Although there is a great deal of rigamarole needed to get an official determination, he couldn’t see how the wording could possibly matter.

Any extra income that is received as a result of the fuel surcharge, he said, would be income. Extra costs for fuel would be an added expense. Income minus expenses equals taxable income. End of story.

On the other hand, if anyone reading this has heard something different, please let me know.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

PS If you are not getting the fuel taxes on your auxiliary engine fuel usage in parking lots returned to you, give us a call at (866) 635-2205.

Hi, Everybody-
Our word for the day is ‘planning.’ Although that’s something we all do — and that many of us realize we should do more of — changing circumstances sometimes mean that previously planned actions must be put in place quickly.

Fear of a coming recession are one reason to do so currently. Business leaders across the nation are taking measures to ensure their firms’ survival as fears of a recession grow.

Information Strategies, Inc., recently surveyed more than 6,000 business leaders on what actions they are taking under the threat of reduced business activity.Respondents reported numerous options they are either implementing or considering. The five top actions reported are:

* Build up cash reserves to at least three month expenses.
* Maintain current employee staffing and to reduce inventory as much as possible.
* Increase the sales/marketing effort and renew ties with critical client.
* Seek better payment terms from suppliers.
* Plan projects that can be done with current staff if there are slack times.

According to JoAnn M. Laing, ISI’s President & CEO, just six of 10 respondents said they had implemented plans to reduce expenditures or previously planned outlays. Of these respondents, 51% said these reductions were more symbolic than actual but almost all said stronger measures were ready should sales or other indicators prove negative.

However, it is clear that those surveyed are far from a panic mode. When asked if they expected their companies to do better or worse in terms of sales and profits, 79% reported a positive outlook with only 8% saying they were experiencing negative results as compared to last year at this time.

Perhaps somewhat harder to plan for is a split with your partner(s). One contractor reported that he’s become the victim of what might be called a ‘forced departure.’ His partner(s) have engineered a power play that, so far at least, has allowed them to take over the company and force him out of it.

This one example — and the myriad other reasons and ways that business partners can become at odds with each other over time — underscores how important it is to have solid paperwork that spells out the legalities of your company structure.

Unless you are totally comfortable that you have already done so, I urge you to review your corporate or other structure to ensure that the details are in place for what happens in the case of sudden death of partners, for example, and all other foreseeable contingencies.

Good Sweeping,
Ranger

Hi, Everybody-
I’ve been involved over the last several weeks with providing an industry perspective on the California environmental regulations that threaten to park a significant number of existing street sweepers in that state. The regs, which target chassis engines in street-class sweepers, have already resulted in at least one contractor having a dozen machines parked. More are bound to follow.

Some of the top street sweeping contractors in California are meeting with representatives of the state’s Air Resources Board tomorrow, and we’ll have coverage after the fact. Central to our industry argument, which I have discussed in a 6-page ‘white paper’ submitted to ARB, is that sweepers appear to deserve an exemption since my analysis shows that even an older broom sweeper should pick up more small-micron debris than their now-outlawed engines emit.

I found the information interesting to develop — especially since I was doing so on a scientific basis, not having a business that is directly affected by the outcome of the data — was an interesting, if time-consuming, process. The crux is that it would appear that a minimum of 5 times more small-micron material should be contained than is emitted by the relatively ‘dirty’ engine exhaust from a sweeper’s chassis engine. We should have info about the outcome in a few days.

I want to welcome Timothy Dix and Von McCray and Sons Maintenance to our Contractor Locator and Ethics Program. Von McCray is located in the Washington, DC, area.

I’ve also been doing an in-depth investigation into what can be done in light of rising fuel costs. Today, I posted the first of a pair of articles on this topic, which is composed of a list of things you can do to reduce your fuel usage through things like driving techniques, vehicle maintenance, etc.
Good Sweeping,
Ranger