Initiative includes expansion of locations, products and service offerings

FS Solutions, a subsidiary of Federal Signal Corporation’s Environmental Solutions Group, today announced the rollout of a new business expansion strategy, which includes an expansion of FS Solution centers, inventory and service offerings in North America, to continue to meet the needs of the company’s industrial contractor customers. FS Solutions centers—currently located in Leeds, Ala.; Long Beach, Calif.; Streator, Ill.; Gonzales, La.; Toledo, Ohio; Lexington, S.C.; and La Porte, Texas—provide genuine OEM parts and factory-trained, certified technicians to offer recommendations and resolutions to any challenges customers may present.

“Based on careful consideration of comprehensive customer research, and the steady growth in recent years from one FS Solutions location to seven locations, our new strategy summarizes our approach to our customers. We help our customers succeed and achieve sustained productivity by responding with urgency, flexibility and a commitment to go the extra mile,” said Tony Fuller, director of industrial sales for FS Solutions. “At FS Solutions, we want to help our customers ‘Be Unstoppable,’” he added, referring to the company’s new tagline created as a result of the business expansion strategy. The new tagline embodies the actions FS Solutions is taking to improve and expand its level of customer service and support.

FS Solutions recently relocated its Houston location to a more spacious center in nearby La Porte. The larger facility offers greater support with a wider selection of parts, accessories and rentals, and more room for large service jobs—from basic repair and refurbishing vacuum trucks, to pump-related mechanical problems and replacing worn parts. The Lexington center, which opened earlier this month, provides waterblast equipment rentals, parts, accessories and the training customers need to run their waterblasting business more profitably. And as one of six other FS Solutions locations that serve as authorized StoneAge® repair facilities, the Lexington center helps customers maintain their StoneAge tools used for specialized waterblast cleaning applications.

The implementation of the new strategy is designed to increase the clarity, consistency and strength of the FS Solutions brand. “There is no doubt that FS Solutions is a recognized brand in North America, but we need to take it even further by informing our customers, partners and employees about the catalyst behind everything that we do—our commitment to being ‘Unstoppable,’” Fuller said.

According to Fuller, the fundamental success of FS Solutions will continue to be closely tied to offering customers the products, services and expertise they want, when and where they need it most. “Over the next year, we will expand our FS Solutions locations and service offerings in key areas throughout North America,” Fuller said. “We have the right market growth, organization and people to successfully carry out our new brand strategy and meet the expectations of tomorrow’s customers.”

Fuller cited specific examples of FS Solutions’ expanded service offerings, which include state-of-the-art chassis diagnostic software at the centers in Leeds and La Porte, and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 407/412 inspection services for cargo tank equipped vehicles offered at the centers in Long Beach, Leeds and soon to be available at the center in La Porte. “Ensuring that our customers’ vehicles comply with U.S. DOT 407/412 cargo tank regulations helps them reduce downtime and minimize the potential for costly fines,” he said.

FS Solutions carries parts for all makes and models of airmoving and waterblasting equipment, as well as a team of experts at each FS Solutions center to provide repairs and maintenance.

With nearly 100 years of collective experience in industrial vacuum loading, sewer and catch basin cleaning, vacuum excavation and industrial high-pressure waterblasting, FS Solutions offers unsurpassed expertise and a unique breadth of product lines and trusted brands to meet the needs of industrial cleaning contractors and other industry professionals. For more information about products and services available from the FS Solutions centers or to find the nearest location, call 800/822-8785, or visit www.fssolutionsgroup.com.

Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) is a leader in advancing security and well-being for communities and workplaces around the world. The company designs and manufactures a suite of products and integrated solutions for municipal, governmental, industrial and airport customers. Federal Signal’s portfolio of trusted, high-priority products include Bronto aerial devices; Diamond Consulting automatic vehicle detection and classification technology; Elgin street sweepers; Federal Automated Parking Division parking, access and revenue control systems; Federal Signal safety and security systems; Guzzler industrial vacuums; Jetstream waterblasters; PIPS Technology automated license plate recognition systems; SIRIT radio frequency identification technology; Vactor sewer cleaners and vacuum excavators; and VESystems software applications and customer management systems and services. Federal Signal was founded in 1901 and is based in Oak Brook, Ill. For more information, visit www.federalsignal.com.

Plug in, or hang up. The start of 2012 saw a new hand-held cell phone ban for Commercial Drivers. New regulations kicked in January 3, 2012 banning hand held phones in commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds. Drivers are allowed to use hands-free devices, but all across the United States, all commercial drivers, which includes truck and bus drivers, are banned from using hand-held cell phones. If caught, they will be forced to pay a fine of up to $2,700 per offense.

The law does allow emergency responders and roadside assistance workers to use hand-held cell phones, but those are the only commercial drivers who don’t have to go hands-free. An estimated four million commercial drivers will be affected across the nation.

In addition, approximately 40,000 state laws piggy-backing off of this issue have taken effect since the start of the 2012.

The international Professional Landcare Network Association (PLANET) recently recognized Affiliated Grounds Maintenance Group, Inc. (AGMG), a national exterior maintenance service company, for their consistent demonstration and commitment to safety from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010.

AGMG has been honored in previous years for excellence in safety. However, this is the company’s first gold performance level award. With 3,600 PLANET member businesses and affiliates, only 45 companies received the Overall Safety Award Achievement Gold Level this year. The award honors businesses who demonstrate thorough, high-performing safety programs that create and maintain safe work environments in the green industry.

“Safety is paramount to our company and I am honored to receive the highest level in Safety Awards from PLANET,” said Crystal Arlington, CSP, LICM, who was present to accept the prestigious award at the annual GIE Expo and Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky this October 26th through October 29th.

PLANET is an international association serving lawn care professionals, landscape management, design/build/installation professionals and interior plantscapers. For more on the PLANET Safety Award, visit www.landcarenetwork.org. For more information on Affiliated Grounds Maintenance Group, Inc. visit www.agmgus.com or call (866) 923-AGMG.

Consultant and Business Manager of Affiliated Grounds Maintenance Group, Inc. is Richard Arlington, who possesses 25 years of experience providing landscape, lot sweeping, and snow and ice maintenance services to the facility management industry. Arlington is also President of Rich Arlington & Associates and Arlington Lawncare, Inc. in Erie, Pennsylvania, as well as, based in Lake City, Pennsylvania. You may recall that Richard Arlington also provided WorldSweeper.com followers with a webinar about 3rd party aggregators in the spring of 2011. For more information on Rich Arlington & Associates visit www.richarlington.com or call (866) 454-0948.

Road builders in the province are steaming over the Nova Scotia government’s foray into the paving business. “Private industry can do roadwork cheaper, faster and better,” said Ron Dunn, a project manager with S.W. Weeks Construction Ltd. in New Glasgow. “This will take work away from the private sector and, inevitably, jobs will be lost.”

Dunn, also president of the Nova Scotia Road Builders Association, said the province’s chip-sealing work this summer showed that government road crews are less efficient than industry. The process of laying a mixture of stone chips and liquid asphalt was delayed by training and wet weather and only a small stretch of roadwork was done.

Tom Hickey, president of Frontline Asphalt, said he is confident the government will continue to do a “bad enough job” that it will “fail in the paving business.”

“The good news is in five years there will be a cheap asphalt plant for one of us to buy,” he said, referring to the $3.6-million mobile asphalt plant the province scooped up from a Florida company this week. “The bad thing is now we’ve got to compete for labour with the government, which offers good pensions. We stand to lose workers, or worse, be driven out of business.”

Matthew Presti, owner of Prestige Paving Inc., said competition is fierce in the paving industry. “Before it was pretty well two big companies,” he said, pointing to Dexter Construction and Ocean Contractors Ltd. “But there are more players in the industry now and business is pretty cutthroat. People are hungry for work.”

Contracts for driveways and private parking lots will continue to fuel smaller paving firms, Presti said. But he said some larger companies that rely on public work for a large chunk of their business could be hit hard.

Kevin Lacey, Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said the government has embarked on a tax-wasting exercise. “Our province is running a huge deficit, we have the highest taxes in all of Canada and cuts are being made to our health-care system. Surely the government has better things to do with taxpayers’ money than gamble millions on this project.”

Lacey said the government doesn’t have to be in the road-paving and chip-sealing business to get competitive prices. “They control the tenders, timing and whether any work is awarded.” Grant Feltmate, executive director of the road builders association, said the government could get better bids if it changes its approach to tendering. “If they bundle together smaller bits of work into a larger tender, they’d get lower bids. The government complains that they don’t get a good price in remote locations of the province, but if you bundled work together, it makes it much more viable for industry.”

Bill Estabrooks, the minister of transportation and infrastructure renewal, said this week the government’s paving work should end up saving taxpayers money. He said uncompetitive bidding in some parts of the province has led to high prices for asphalt.

“It’s going to be put in situations where there’s a need for more competitive bidding, and of course there’s a need also to make sure that roads in that particular community are brought up to spec.”

An analysis of 2008 and 2009 tenders his department released in March showed there were often three or fewer bids on paving projects in Annapolis, Digby, Guysborough, Inverness, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Shelburne, Victoria and Yarmouth counties.

The new eco-friendly industrial strength Oil Eater wash is formulated to quickly remove grease, diesel, dirt, bird droppings and much more from trucks and heavy equipment.

Ultra-concentrated, Oil Eater is a low VOC cleaner/degreaser that is non-acid, non-corrosive, non-hazardous and completely biodegradable. The high-foaming wash can be diluted up to 100:1.

It works in hard and soft water, cleans carbon deposits, lubricates brushes, is safe on proportioners and is ideal for automatic and high pressure self-service systems. It also is safe on polished aluminum, paint, glass, rubber and vinyl when used as directed.

Oil Eater wash is available in a 5-gallon pail and 30 and 55-gallon drums.

Sample available upon request.

For information, visit www.oileater.com or call (800) 528-0334.

In late October, Global Sweeping Solutions, Inc. of San Bernardino, California has chosen TAB Bank for a $1 million lending facility.

Global Sweeping Solutions is a full service street sweeper parts distribution company. They also operate a satellite office in New York City in addition to their corporate headquarters in San Bernardino, CA. They specialize in offering quality street sweeper parts and products for all makes and models of street sweepers. They also manufacture and distribute street sweepers as well as the replacement parts.

TAB Bank is pleased to be able to provide financing for Global Sweeping Solutions which will in turn facilitate their growth and expansion into other markets and business opportunities.

TAB Bank provides custom working capital solutions to transportation and non-transportation companies in all stages of business life cycles during any economic conditions. TAB Bank does this through Accounts Receivable Financing, Lines of Credit, Equipment Loans, and Asset Based Loans.

For more information visit www.globalsweeper.com.

Fontaine Modification Company, the leading provider of truck modification services for OEMs, dealers and fleets throughout North America, has redesigned and updated its website, www.fontainemod.com. Nearly 100 photos, including numerous “before and after” examples of truck modifications, now demonstrate the company’s comprehensive range of services.

The new website also offers detailed information regarding Fontaine’s technical solutions to support a wide variety of truck modifications and fleet services, including:
• Engineering Services
• Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) Installations
• All Wheel/Four Wheel Drive Installations
• Steering Conversions
• Stand Up Right Drive (SURD)
• Sit Down Dual Drive (SDDD)
• Alternative Fuel System Installations
• Paint Services
• Chassis and Cab Modifications.

“The new website much more accurately depicts who we are as a company and what we do for our customers,” explains Will Trantham, company president. “We take great pride in our innovative solutions, excellence in engineering and superior workmanship, as well as our company history and industry insight. That experience and dedication comes through clearly in the new site, which has also been designed to improve ease-of-use for our customers.”

The website highlights Fontaine’s unique Innovation Model and includes an in-depth summary of how the company designs and develops effective engineering solutions that meet safety and regulatory standards for its customers. In addition, the site provides an at-a-glance view of available modifications for specific truck models from several OEMs.

Other website features include:
• A history of Fontaine’s 30 years of truck modification experience.
• A pressroom offering the latest company news, announcements and media coverage.
• Contact information and site details for each of Fontaine’s six strategically located modification centers.
• Technical support opportunities to “Ask a Question” or “Request a Quote”.

For more info. about Fontaine Modification, call 800.FONTAINE (800.366.8246) or visit www.fontainemod.com.

Fontaine is a Marmon Highway Technologies (MHT) company. MHT companies support the transportation industry worldwide with a wide range of high-quality products and services. MHT companies are members of The Marmon Group, an international association of business units that operate independently within diverse business sectors. The Marmon Group is a Berkshire Hathaway Company.

Its exceptionally high payload potential and small footprint made the 7.5-ton Fuso Canter the perfect platform for a new truck-mounted sweeper designed to work on narrow urban streets.

The compact VT551 is the work of leading manufacturer Johnston Sweepers. At just two meters wide, the vehicle is significantly slimmer than could be achieved with a conventional 7.5-tonner, while the Canter’s light, but strong, ladder frame chassis means it can nevertheless be fitted with a high (5.25m³) capacity hopper.

Having built a prototype, which was quickly snapped up by a customer in Russia, Surrey-based Johnston Sweepers has just completed its second VT551, which will serve as a demonstration unit targeted primarily at municipal operators.

Both units are based on the Canter 7C18D chassis supplied by Aldershot Mercedes-Benz dealer, Rossetts Commercials—the German manufacturer’s UK dealers are also responsible for sales and support of the popular Japanese light truck range.

However, while the first VT551 was a Euro 4 model, the latest is powered by a 180hp, 3.0-litre engine that not only meets Euro 5 emissions limits but also the more stringent—and voluntary—Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle (EEV) standard.

Meanwhile, the new Tier 3a auxiliary engine used to power the sweeping equipment also combines low CO2 emissions with impressive fuel economy—in recent tests it used 27 per cent less fuel at 1400rpm than comparable sweepers, this representing a saving of up to £4,700 over a typical year.

This is the first time that Johnston Sweepers has based one of its products on a Fuso Canter chassis. Graham Howlett, the firm’s UK Sales Manager, confirmed, “The demands of customers in the municipal market are changing, and we have high hopes that the VT551 is going to prove a very attractive option for urban sweeping duties.

“It offers great value of money and productivity. All sweeping equipment is relatively heavy but in the case of the VT551 this is mitigated by the light weight of the Canter. The resulting payload of about 2,200kg for detritus is roughly half a ton more than you’d get from most other 7.5-tonners.

“The smaller Canter chassis has also made it possible to shorten the wheelbase,” said Howlett, “and this, coupled with the fact that it’s very narrow too, gives the vehicle exceptional maneuverability, which is invaluable for operation in areas where access is restricted.”

Johnston Sweepers has been manufacturing road sweepers from its plant in Dorking since 1924 and today also has two other UK plants producing machines for export throughout the world, as well as for domestic customers.

For more information visit www.johnstonsweepers.com.

Alamo Group Inc. announced that effective Tuesday, October 18 it has acquired substantially all of the assets and business of Tenco Group Inc. and its subsidiaries. Tenco, a Canadian based manufacturer and distributor of snow and ice removal equipment, for approximately CDN $6 million in cash, plus the assumption of certain specified liabilities and subject to post closing adjustments.

Tenco’s principal markets are in Canada and the United States with operations in both countries. Tenco’s sales for their most recent fiscal year ending March 31, 2011 were approximately CDN $35 million. Tenco’s Canadian operations had been operating under Receivership Orders from the Quebec Superior Court since July 25, 2011, and this acquisition was approved by the Court on October 17, 2011.

Ron Robinson, Alamo Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer commented, “This is an excellent opportunity for us to expand our presence in snow removal equipment in North America, as Tenco complements and broadens our current range of Henke products in this sector. They have strong brand recognition that will enhance Alamo’s overall presence, particularly in Canada and the northeastern United States. Tenco’s business is in-line with our acquisition strategy and we believe it will be accretive
to Alamo’s 2012 results.”

Alamo Group is a leader in the design, manufacture, distribution and service of high quality equipment for right-of-way maintenance and agriculture. Our products include truck and tractor mounted mowing and other vegetation maintenance equipment, street sweepers, snow removal equipment, pothole patchers, excavators, vacuum trucks, agricultural implements and related aftermarket parts and services. The Company, founded in 1969, had approximately 2,400 employees and operates eighteen plants in North America and Europe as of September 30, 2011. The corporate offices of Alamo Group Inc. are located in Seguin, Texas and the headquarters for the Company’s European operations are located in Salford Priors, England.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company’s actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. Among those factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: market demand, competition, weather, seasonality, currency-related issues, general economic conditions and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update the information contained herein, which speaks only as of this date.

1-800-SWEEPER, a new service network of independently owned power sweeping companies across the United States, has been launched. The organization brings sweeping companies from coast to coast under a unified marketing and service structure. Offering parking lot sweeping, street sweeping and a variety of construction-related sweeping services under a common brand, 1-800-SWEEPER benefits nationwide and regional facility management customers with the ability to contract with self-performing local service providers through a single point of purchase. Customers at all levels benefit from the strength, experience and leverage gained through this combined initiative.

Coordinator Mike Lucht says, “We’re combining resources to provide innovative sweeping solutions, meeting diverse environmental responsibilities and challenges that are inconsistent across the country due to varying effects of climate and regulations at the local level.” Lucht is president of member company Progressive Sweeping in Toledo, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan and is the spokesman for 1-800-SWEEPER.

1-800-SWEEPER provides power sweeping services in the private and public sector to commercial properties, businesses, contractors, municipalities and state governments throughout the United States. From one-time, on-call hourly power sweeping or establishing ongoing routine service to a municipality to sweeping multiple commercial locations on a contract basis, 1-800-SWEEPER offers reliable, value-oriented sweeping services.

Addressing Changes in the Market
In recent years, large national big box retail stores such as Target, Lowe’s, Rite Aid and Best Buy have centralized purchasing, reducing their number of vendors in the interest of reducing their costs for exterior maintenance services. This practice has introduced several “generalist” facility management companies such as US Maintenance (USM acting as a middle man between the buyers and the performers of service). “As a result, many local, qualified sweeping service providers can’t pursue business on a national or regional scale. Sweeping companies find themselves disconnected from their end customer, working for a third party facility maintenance broker,” says Lucht.

1-800-SWEEPER offers facilities managers an alternative to third party maintenance brokers without giving up the economies of scale inherent to a single vendor. “Through our organization, we provide single point billing, single point of contract administration, along with responsibility and built-in quality control for keeping parking lots clean using a dedicated, professional, drug-free workforce,” Lucht noted.

Property managers, municipalities, homeowners’ associations and construction managers recognize power sweeping as a best management practice, or BMP, that shows immediate returns with residents and customers alike. Sweeping directly affects asset management, risk management, environmental management and the upkeep of your property.

Creating Competitive Advantage
Membership started with 21 companies and is poised to grow to 75 companies and beyond with one sweeping service contractor member per market area. The individual members of 1-800-SWEEPER all share in the combined cooperative marketing of the organization through a unified phone number —1-800-793-3737 (SWEEPER, of course!)—that appears on all members’ vehicles, “rolling billboards” Lucht calls them. The national website, http://www.1800sweeper.com, lets a prospective customer select a local sweeping service company or contact the main office to arrange for regional or national sweeping services. In addition, members of 1-800-SWEEPER share valuable benefits beyond marketing. The organization combines purchasing power with strategic vendor partners to create competitive advantage pricing for members in each of their respective local markets, also creating growth opportunities for vendors. Discounted pricing for parts, supplies, equipment, and even fuel are perks of leveraging the power of the buying group co-op model. “Bringing buyers and sellers together to achieve mutual benefit is our mission,” says Lucht. “Leveraging our combined buying power ultimately keeps the prices down for our customers and allows 1-800-SWEEPER to be a truly sustainable solution.”

Supporters of the National Educational Organization
All contractor companies involved in 1-800-SWEEPER are current members of the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA). NAPSA is a national nonprofit trade association committed to promoting and educating the power sweeping community while enhancing the environment. Several 1-800-SWEEPER partner company executives are current or former NAPSA board members.

Mark Carter of Bill’s Sweeping Service in Orange County, California and a former NAPSA board president says, “NAPSA membership tells your clients that your business is knowledgeable, experienced, and professional.”

For more information call 1-800-SWEEPER or visit www.1800sweeper.com.