WSA Member Update 12.1.22

December 1, 2022  Dear WSA Members,  A few days ago I received an email from a WSA member who asked advice for how to handle a request he had from third party vendor, N.E.L.T.S. His rep for the third party vendor had sent him an email saying that Home Depot wanted him to drop his cost per sweep by $5/night.  For one – and especially with an organization with the shoddy reputation of N.E.L.T.S. – there’s no way to find out if that’s a request by Home Depot or a try by N.E.L.T.S. at making more margin. For two, to do so on an existing (no doubt low margin) existing contract in a time of well-documented inflation, the request wherever it is originating from is outrageous.  Upon reflection of my back-and-forth with the member, I decided to make the issue my topic for one of the upcoming articles I provide for each issue of PAVEMENT magazine. You’re welcome to take a look at my thoughts on the matter via an advanced look at the restricted 300 words format mandated by the magazine. If you have thoughts on this matter, my response, etc., feel free to let me know.  We have negotiated with the National Pavement Expo to have a total of three conferences provided to WSA members at no cost. We just today received our log-in code for the free WSA seminars at this year’s National Pavement Expo. By my request the code is the same as in previous years: WSA  We owe a nod of thanks to Advisory Board Member, Michael Nawa, for choosing the conferences for us from those available. Michael was also a member of NPE’s Advisory Board for 27 years:  Basics of Running a Small Business: Day-to-Day Operations  Wednesday, January 25 | 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm  9 Success Factors for Exceptional Leadership During Challenging Times  Friday, January 27 | 8:00 am to 9:30 am  Grow Your Business with Intention Friday, January 27 | 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm  If you will be attending NPE, note that the NPE ‘Early Bird Discount’ has been extended until December 8th. Also, as an added incentive, NPE is offering $25 off your first 90-minute session when you sign up for one or more sessions. For that, enter promo code EMRF06 when registering.  Many contractors are reporting a long wait time for purchase of new vehicles. That’s why I thought this recent article from Equipment World about the concept of using rebuilt trucks might be worth you taking a look at.  In conversations and communications with our safety expert, John Meola, he has emphasized that when it comes to accident prevention, it’s very important you have your operators and other employees provide information about near misses. Only by documenting those are you able to raise awareness about those situations so as to minimize the chance they might happen to others on your team. In that vein, I encourage you to check out this article that provides concrete data to reenforce John’s advice about near miss reporting.  As always, if you have questions or comments about this WSA Member Update, or anything else to do with the World Sweeping Association or power sweeping in general, please let me know.  Good Sweeping,  Ranger Kidwell-Ross, Executive Director World Sweeping Association