Be wary of manufacturers who misrepresent products as something they are not

By Bob Carter

I recently traveled to the ISSA jan-san industry conference and trade show in Orlando, where ice melt products represented a sizable portion of the goods promoted on the trade show floor.   What struck me as interesting, and a little off-putting, was the number of packaged dry-blended products being offered with very little disclosure as to the propor­tions of their constituent blends, and the levels of downright misinformation promoted as gospel.    Continue reading →

Sustainability is achievable, regardless of business size

By Bob Carter

In the August issue of Snow Business, I introduced the idea of achieving true economic and environmental sustainability by combining en­hanced liquid application levels with either dry salt or pretreated salts. The examples trended toward use by municipalities and bigger contractors with larger equipment. This month, I’d like to make the point for universal inclusion of enhanced liquid use for contractors of all sizes.

Smaller contractors have the same need for cost efficiency as do their larger counterparts. Costs associated with empty trips back to the yard for resupply have a very urgent, real and personal effect. Avoiding the need to make as many trips to reload would drive imme­diate benefits to the bottom line.

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As prices continue to rise, efficiencies must become top of mind

By Bob Carter

It might not be Whistler, Vail or even the local bunny slope, but the fastest-growing sport in Dubai, United Arab Emirate’s searing 100° F heat is indoor skiing. A towering, state-of-the-art facility stands approximately 25 stories high with runs of more than 1,300 ft. and a vertical height of almost 200 ft.  The park draws 3,000 people or more each day.  All it costs is a paltry 3,500 barrels energy costs to run.  All of a sudden, that trip to the Rockies doesn’t seem so expensive. But how does this affect us? The average price of unleaded gasoline in 2005, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, was US$1.80/gallon. Runaway de­mand spiked in mid-2008 with prices over $4.40/gallon. Prices now average around the $2.65/gallon mark.

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By Bob Carter

As snow fighting professionals, we have a responsibility to deliver the safest conditions possible for our clients. We have an even greater responsibility to operate using economically and environmentally sound products, practices and technologies. We have been getting better in managing our use of salt, but there is still room for improvement.

The U.S. government issued a rather benign statement that described “green products” as those that did less harm to the environment than products offered in the past. Doing less harm has been over-promoted to mean doing no harm, which simply may not be the case.

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