E-mail about CNG

"Mr. Bane, I have not been in the cleaning business very long. The man who retired and sold me his business and your equipment said that you had trucks that ran on natural gas a long time ago. There is lots of talk right now about using natural gas. Can you tell me about these trucks and how I can get one?" Tom

The vehicles you refer to, Tom, were powered by CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) and it was nearly 22 years ago. Our trucks were rigged with cylinders mounted inside for the CNG. We could also use the truck's gasoline tank by turning a switch on the dash when the CNG ran out. There was also a tax rebate on the conversion which made it reasonable.

We stopped using CNG for two reasons. There was only one filling station in our area, it always had a long line and our techs didn't like waiting. The second reason was the gas company never made available the in-house filling station that was promised in the beginning. It would have been very convenient to have compressors in our garage.

Our GMC ¾ and 1 ton trucks ran very well on CNG. There was no loss of power, engines ran cooler, we got much better mileage and CNG cost less than gasoline. We only had the CNG trucks a little over a year, so we don't really know about long-term effects, but the cooler operation should have made the engines last longer.

I suggest you contact your local gas company to find out if CNG is available in your area. They would probably be able to suggest someone to install the conversion gear, too. Some truck dealers may have the information. I believe CNG is the best alternative fuel except for the lack of filling stations. If they perfect in-house compressors we'll buy them again.

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Bureaucrats at work

Remember the ominous threat that businesses had to post a sign giving National Labor Relations Board policies or pay a fine. The NLRB posting requirement was set to take effect at the end of April 2012. It has already been postponed twice, and now it's off again.

A Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued an injunction prohibiting enforcement of the rule until the appeal of a lower court's decision is decided. The court's order means there likely won't be a decision on the NLRB posting requirement until this fall at the earliest.

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A very special day

On Thanksgiving day, 1945, a Marine fresh back from the Pacific, arrived at his new duty station. He was sent to a city in the north instead of a hot, southern climate because he had contracted malaria. But, the malady turned out to be a blessing in disguise. On January 22, 1946, he was introduced to the love of his life and lived the luckiest and most blessed day of his life 65 years ago today.

On April 26, 1947, Elizabeth and I were married in St. Francis Xavier Church in Philadelphia.

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Bring on the carpet

A British couple filed a law suit because of noisy upstairs neighbors' shoes on a wooden floor. The suit names the London landlord of the £5 million apartment for maintaining a "noise nuisance." The plaintiffs say their lives are miserable because of the noise of clicking heels from the family of five that lives above them.

The suit asks that the landlord replace the wooden floor with carpet, according to The London Daily Telegraph. "The appellants' case is that the nature of the flooring is such that the nuisance arises from normal use, which would be abated by the respondent laying carpet and underlay, as required by the lease."

Brits aren't the only ones disliking hard floors. Besides dust balls rolling like tumbleweed, ugly scuff marks are taking the luster off hard floors. Serious slip and fall accidents that could be avoided with carpeted floors and the fact that folks are tiring of the same old look are bringing carpet back to the forefront of interior decor.

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Complaint on cleaning equipment claims

The Council of Better Business Bureaus has challenged Tenant® Company's advertising. The complaint was made by Nilfisk-Advance®, Inc., a competitor. Tennant's machine is said to convert plain water by electrolysis into an environmentally safe cleaning agent. Tennant says the water performs like a powerful detergent and reduces environmental impact by more than 90%. Their claims are said to be supported by independent third party testing.

This makes me wonder when the CRI® Seal of Approval program will be challenged. CRI's independent lab testing has certified that a little Rug Doctor® rental machine can clean as well or better than some powerful truck-mounted cleaning systems. CRI uses an independent lab which is said to have had input from NASA. CRI claims they use space age technology and equate their tests of cleaning machines and chemicals to "Rocket Science."

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Semper Fi

A retired Marine Corps Master Sergeant, William “Spanky” Gibson, has been retained by Tandus Flooring to work as a consultant. His responsibilities will include working to promote floor covering products and developing business with government agencies.

M/Sgt.Gibson is a combat veteran and amputee. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Purple Heart, Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Valor Device, Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals and many Combat Action Ribbons.

Congratulations to Tandus and "Semper Fi" from an old Jarhead to M/Sgt.Gibson.

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Dummies at work

A carpet cleaner was responsible for runs by both the Southington and Cheshire, Connecticut, police and fire departments. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection agencies also responded to calls that a carpet cleaning van had dumped liquid in a storm drain. The Cheshire police department eventually took over investigation of the case.

Unless someone in the cleaning business has been living under a rock they know that dumping in storm drains or anywhere else is frowned upon by the public. Even though most cleaners use harmless products, the public doesn't know that. Dumping of radioactive and toxic material by other industries has made everyone edgy about seeing anything dumped anywhere.

An example I saw of stupidity at work was an unattended direct drive carpet cleaning unit roaring at the curb and pumping water onto the pavement at an airport entrance. It was below freezing and the water formed a sheet of ice. The only good thing about this disaster in the making was that I knew it wouldn't be my company that was sued when someone fell on that ice.

Besides uncouth behavior, cleaning firms that dump in storm drains or in front of a customer's home or place of business should be chastised by colleagues, trade magazines and associations. This is not being done and it is costly. Disreputable operators are making "cleaning" a dirty word and we're all paying the bill for that.

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More on "QE"

The Federal Reserve is reportedly buying 61% of Treasury Department debt. Since there hasn't been a budget from the Democrat controlled Senate in more than three years, the government is growing more dependent on borrowing to finance itself. They're taking money (that they print) out of one pocket and putting it in the other. This is fiscal suicide.

Lack of leadership by our extravagant government filtered all the way down to the consumer level about ten years ago. People began using one credit card to pay the interest on what they had borrowed on another credit card. This exercise in futility led to an almost complete collapse in the economy and was part of the major financial meltdown in '08.

With the Fed's intercession in the debt market, the demand for Treasury bonds appears to be higher than it really is for the benefit of foreign creditors. Treasury has resorted to the Fed itself to make the purchases. The Fed makes up the shortfall and keeps long term interest rates artificially low. Credit card abusers must have learned from the Fed/Treasury experts.

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Electricity more popular as gas prices rise

Cleaners buying used Bane-Clene® equipment on the open market should be wary. It may have been cannibalized of the OEM components. Inferior replacement parts will give less-than-satisfactory performance and results and may make it inoperable in a short time. Following are some suggestions if you're buying used equipment from someone you don't know:

• Require a bill of sale and notarized guarantee that the equipment is not encumbered by a lease, financing agreement or a lien of any kind. Make sure that the serial number and model number are stamped into the metal on the unit. If the serial number has been removed or altered, the unit may be stolen or may not even be Bane-Clene. You may call us toll-free at 800 428 9512 to verify the authenticity of a serial number.
  
• Ask for an operating manual. Require the seller to demonstrate the equipment to be sure it is in working order and meets your expectations. Parts should look like the illustrations in the manual. Have the seller demonstrate the maintenance routine, locate filters and explain the functions of the gauges. If the gauges are not operable, require the seller to replace them. Working gauges are critical in assessing equipment performance.

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More bureaucrats

A new association has entered the arena of competition for the meager membership dollars of our industry. The ICRA (Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Association) opened for business on April 1st. I'm not so sure there isn't some significance in that date.

Meanwhile, the RIA (Restoration Industry Association) and Clean Trust, (which was/or is) the IICRC (International Institute of Cleaning and Restoration Certification) have approved a working relationship. Clean Trust is rumored to be forming an association, too.

Color me old fashioned, but I really liked the days when nearly every city or state had a local group where colleagues got together once in a while to compare notes and have a friendly meal. Suppliers came calling on occasion to demonstrate the latest and the greatest.

But then the "bigger is better" mentality erased those quieter, productive and economical days just as big government in Washington has taken over the control of state business. They seem to think we hicks in fly over country can't figure out how to do anything on our own.

Walt Lipscomb, God rest his soul, wrote a history of our industry just before he died. It was titled "The Collected Works of Professor I. Lirpa." If you spell "I Lirpa" backwards you'll see how it may apply to what is happening in our country and our industry today. I sure miss old Walt.

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Tax day is upon us

Some last minute things to think about: A small business may be able to recover the cost of capital expenditures including leasehold improvements that were put in service after Sept. 8, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2012. These may qualify for a first year depreciation deduction of 100 % of the expenditure, up to $500,000.

Businesses with fewer than 25 full time employees making an average of less than $50,000 per year are eligible for a health insurance credit, with a maximum credit of 35 percent. A business is eligible for a credit equal to 6.2 percent of wages, up to $1,000 per employee for each full time employee hired after March 18, 2010, and retained for at least 52 consecutive weeks.

If your business is a corporation and you already filed the return due March 15, you may be able to file an amended return to claim any tax breaks you missed. This information is from public sources. Good management takes advantage of every legal tax advantage available. Be sure to speak with your CPA about these valuable tax credits.

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Company values

A few years ago, a professor at Harvard School of Business wrote a beautiful dissertation about the attributes of a true leader. He said, "A true leader doesn't compromise on issues of their company's basic values. Compromise and negotiations dilute those values and vacillation and inconsistency make it extremely difficult for outsiders to take the company's values seriously."

It's a shame that this professor didn't work in the Political Science department of that famous factory up in New England that turns out so many politicians. His philosophy, if applied to running our country, would be a refreshing relief from what we've experienced in the past half century. Compromise ("Pork") is abundant in every bill passed by legislators.

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Demand for mohair carpet up

The Mohair Council of America, based in San Angelo, Texas, has announced an increase in consumer demand for mohair carpet. Mohair has mainly been used on luxury items in the fashion world. It is a product made from Angora goats which are apparently in a declining population so it is very expensive.

Mohair carpet is reportedly being requested by upper echelon designers so it is likely we will see it in the homes and offices of our high-end customers. Don Terry says to be wary because mohair stains easily and should be treated like wool as far as cleaning is concerned.

PS...Happy birthday to a very special person today.

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More "QE?"

Ben (printing press) Bernanke and Tim (turbo tax) Geithner hint that they'll minister to the big New York money interests again. Word has it they're ready to instigate another round of "QE" to alleviate the malady known as the market and its contingent dangers to the financial industry.

They'll print money to buy bonds and pay interest on the massive debt owed to the money lenders who got in trouble by bundling derivatives. These obligations were forced on them by the government in their haste to have everyone own a home even if they couldn't afford one.

The "QE" that the Federal Reserve Czar talks about, means "Quantitative Easing." I have a better interpretation. "QE" means "Quick Erosion" of savings accounts, spending money and home values. QE is a ticket to inflation and loss of value in everything we own.

If you have a strong stomach click on the national debt clock. It took the Romans 500 years for decadence, over indulgence and greed to do them in. Since we have fast planes, fast cars, fast computers and live life in the fast lane, we might make it in half that time: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

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