Topic: Cleaner Times Article

[Celeste@CarolinaProWash]

Not that Russ needs defending, but maybe clarifying would help.  I read that to say that, the government officials don't need to be bombarded with letters from all over.  These politicians read precious few pieces of correspondence and if a local constituents letter gets lumped in with a whole bunch of letters from people that don't/can't vote for them, it may not be seen at all.  It is even on some of our officials sites that they don't acknowledge correspondence from outside the district.

Some things are better left to locals, other things can be managed far better on a national level.

Celeste

[Chris]

I agree with Russ about this, you do not need a lot of stuff to purchase.

I had talked to a few guys about this after the Alabama Round Table.

If you haul hazardous waste, you are opening up a can of worms that you really don't want to open and most of you don't have a clue unless you have a CDL license and have hauled hazardous waste before.

This is not a simple issue of putting dirty water in a tank and driving it to a car wash and emptying it, it is as serious as it gets. Here at a recovery facility, the minimum charge for hazardous waste, dirty water, gray water, etc.... is $.50 per pound, not gallon but pound and they do have truck scales.

If you haul hazardous waste (dirty water) you will need the following in order to not get tickets, get your rig impounded and face possible jail time, here in Texas at least but most states DOT (Department Of Transportation) regulations are the same but vary a little from state to state.

1. Any tank that has hazardous waste must be labeled and have placards on the vehicle on all 4 sides if the weight of one chemical exceeds 1000 pounds.

For an example, water weighs 8.33 pounds so if it was as heavy as water, you could only haul 119 gallons of it or (2) 55 gallon drums of that chemical before you would need: Placards on all 4 sides of the trailer or truck that is hauling the chemical and most important, a CDL for the hazardous chemical because the vehicle is hauling hazardous chemicals and is placarded.


2. You must have proper paperwork for hauling the hazardous waste meaning a bill of lading, manifest or other proper shipping papers which would include the signatures of the shipper (where the chemical came from) and who is hauling it and where it is delivered to and the records must be kept for a number of years.

I don't know about you but not too many people will want to sign to have that stuff hauled away as they could be potentially liable if something went wrong.

You must have a MSDS for the chemical, which would involve a very accurate description of what is in that tank, not a guess but exactly what is in there. You can get fined for hauling chemicals without MSDS sheets.

If you don't have an MSDS for that chemical, I would not haul it.


3. For a DOT inspection, you will have all paperwork within arm's reach for the state trooper to look at and you will do a walk-around inspection of the vehicle and explain what the equipment is along with all chemicals that are in the truck and trailer along with the proper shipping papers, MSDS and explanation of where you came from and where you are taking the chemicals to.

If there was an accident and there was dirty water (hazardous waste) on the ground and there was no MSDS, you are now having a life-altering experience because the state trooper or local police will call out the HAZMAT team to deal with the mess.

Think of around $1000 per hour to clean up the unknown chemical (since you do not have a MSDS and cannot prove it is just dirty water, especially if you are hurt or unconscious and then if it is all over the truck or trailer, they will have to haul it away to be cleaned (very expensive) and maybe deem for it to be PROPERLY DISPOSED OF, in other words, you lost your rig but that is at their discretion, not yours.


There is more to this but this gives you an idea of how serious this can get and worse like driving a placarded truck or trailer without a CDL, now you are driving a vehicle without a license and now breaking a federal law. It can get a lot worse.

Just don't take my word for it, look up this online or ask a state trooper, they know the laws better than the local police.


I am not trying to come off as an a** here but when someone tells you you need to haul off the dirty water, they just wiped their hands clean and stuck you with a big problem that most of you don't even have a clue of what could happen if you ever get stopped or in an accident.


There are many different ways to do the reclaim and you do not need to go out and spend $10,000,  $20,000 or more for something that is not needed. There are many ways to  do this reclaim, just ask around or go to the Round Tables that are being in places like Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, etc...
Ron Musgraves is doing an excellent job of helping educate everyone and there is even more that a lot of manufacturers don't want you to know about but you will not know unless you hear from people that know and have been around for a while.

I am going to copy this post and put it on the boards so nothing is changed, deleted or manipulated in any way. If you are not sure if it is all here from what I typed, just check the other boards and read and compare.

Sometimes people are being manipulated by suppliers, manufacturers, etc... to help get the word out about their equipment to help them sell high-dollar stuff that most of us don't need so they will hold back the truth or not tell you what you really need to know.

Sorry this is so long but I am passionate about people being ripped off for stuff that they don't need.

Have a nice day!

[Celeste@CarolinaProWash]

I can't believe this is coming out of my mouth........

At some point in time, contractors need to take responsibility for making choices on what they do and buy.  If a contractor doesn't do his own "due diligence" in researching what is required versus what is needed for certain applications, and purchases an expensive piece of equipment because he read an ad - is that the manufacturer's fault for having successful advertising?

Chris, I have no problem with your personal passion - I understand it well, however, manipulated is a strong word.  It is the job of the manufacturers and vendors to sell their equipment.  It is our responsibility as contractors to help ourselves become educated in what we need to do to perform our services.  I personally believe it is the responsibility of an organization to serve the needs of the contractors who join.  With that said, should there be a circumstance of reclaiming and transporting water from a job, yes that organization should be aware of the rules and all applicable details....and there are jobs like that out there.  Are they the most common - probably not - so again, the "sky is falling" tactic should not be employed.

It's all about the proper education.

[pressurepros]

I'm with Henry on his first thoughts. I must be reading a different article. Its not about redneck's or otherwise (that's your own hangup, Scott) I must be the thick headed one as I do not see this agenda that is being mentioned within the words of that article. If Carlos owned a portion of Sunbrite, Delco or any distributor.. I could see the connection. Even if I sold any type of equipment I could see where eyebrows would definitely be raised. Carlos mentioned $800 worth of equipment. Is that where the sticking point is, the number? Maybe that's what he spent on his equipment. I could just as easily counter and say he was defending the contractors against the distributors by indirectly saying "listen, guys you don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to be in compliance". You can believe what you want but again, I have the facts since I am involved directly.

It keeps getting mentioned.. stay out of my sandbox. Very few stepped forward and offered to deal with Carlos and RFW directly so no misinformation would be released. The appeal was made many times. Scott and Russ, you guys were offered leadership roles in the RFW for Georgia and Alabama. Am I wrong or did you guys decline that invitation? When you declined inside participation, you also sacrificed the right to start second guessing agendas from the outside looking in, did you not? All that is asked is fair play. Can you have your own opinions? Of course. My question is, what do you hope to achieve speaking your opinions? I think we are all big enough and smart enough to make our own decisions based upon the facts. A fact is not an interpretation of something written by a third party (Cleaner Times). The KKK will show you their interpretations of the Bible telling you to stomp queers and hate all non-whites. That doesn't make them right.

The point is this.. the leaders in the industry are going to be appointed by the contractors, not vice versa. A leader is someone whom makes things happen and leads by example. I believe we all watch to see whom has the savvy, alertness and organization to make changes. Mistakes will be made. Mistakes are a part of business development. If Carlos made a mistake by believing that the inevitable tougher reclaim enforcement is going to be a part of drought recovery, oh well. Let's fix it and move on.

[Chris]

Very good point Celeste.

It kind of is like, I want to do the right thing where do I start and how much money will I need??

You either have a Dealer that will be honest with them or a Dealer that will sell them "The Sky Is Falling" so that they are covered but will not mention that you can do the job properly without even spending $1000.00 in most cases.

I guess it should be the contractor's responsibility to check everything out, and before he buys certain equipment, check with local authorities and state troopers to see if that is legal.

Sure you can buy the equipment, sure you can do the job, sure you can reclaim the dirty water....BUT YOU ARE NOT DRIVING THAT ON MY HIGHWAY WITHOUT THE PAPERWORK, CDL, AND PROPER PLACARDS.  says the state trooper.

[Celeste@CarolinaProWash]

Very few stepped forward and offered to deal with Carlos and RFW directly so no misinformation would be released. The appeal was made many times.

That is really unfair Ken.  Multiple people & companies all have contributed time, money and information to RFW - you only have to look at the article that Carlos just put over on PWI to see that...and it's not even a complete list.

[Jeff]

Hey Celeste did you think of the overall article. Once again you have done a good job at your efforts congrats

[pressurepros]

C, I didn't say "no one" but considering the magnitude of the drought and the many states it affected the list is a very short one. The people that contributed money, while very much appreciated, and they know whom they are, can be counted on one hand. I don't want to make light of your contributions nor those of Scott K. (I don't want to mention anyone else as they may wish to remain anonymous) What got to me a little bit was that as soon as soon as one person brings up what they perceive as an agenda, everyone runs to their island and declares war. You also know as well as I do that when I use the word "directly" its for a reason.