APRIL 2015
Late News AmeriPride advances alternative fuels program, adds trucks TOPEKA, Kan. — After a successful alternative fuels pilot, textile rental and supply company AmeriPride Services is expanding its program to include additional propane autogas-fueled trucks. In addition to the five ROUSH CleanTech Ford F-59 delivery trucks here, the uniform and linen company is adding 20 more in Northern California later this year. “We’ve been extensively testing fuels and vehicles to find the right area and application that gives us the best environmental and economical benefits,” says Banny Allison, fleet services manager for AmeriPride. “Propane autogas reduces greenhouse gas emissions and has easy, cost-efficient fueling infrastructure. Because of our success in Kansas, we are implementing the same propane autogas vehicles in the Sacramento and Fresno areas.” Each of AmeriPride’s propane autogas trucks will emit about 95,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime. AmeriPride installed a private autogas station with 1,000-gallon tank at its Topeka facility. Infrastructure for propane autogas is less expensive than any other alternative fuel, the company says, partly due to fewer regulatory requirements. Currently, AmeriPride pays $1.55 per gallon for propane autogas that, historically, has cost up to 50% less than diesel. ALN
Volume 41, Number 4
Atlas of
Atlanta
Your tour guide to the city during Clean 2015 By Lauren Dixon, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
After 28 years, the Clean Show returns to Atlanta this month. For those of you planning to attend the biennial event, when you aren’t eyeing the new products or attending educational sessions, exploring the city will keep you entertained. Pack your walking shoes and comfortable clothing, because Atlanta has an abundance of attractions. In downtown is the Georgia World Congress Center, the exhibit space for the Clean Show. Adjacent to the Centennial Olympic Park and conveniently located near major shopping centers, dining and transportation hubs, this spot makes for convenient Atlanta sight-seeing. Historically, the average high temperature in Atlanta in mid-April has been in the low 70s, with the average low in the low 50s, according to U.S. Climate Data. That mild spring weather sounds like an ideal vacation, right? When not on the show floor, get out and about to explore the city the Clean
(Photo: © iStockphoto/ilbusca)
Show is calling home April 16-19. TAKING TRANSIT
Once you’ve landed in Atlanta, what’s the best way to get to Clean 2015? Getting to a hotel from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will require hailing
See ATLAS on Page 8
Growth potential:
Tapping into most promising laundry markets By Theresa Boehl CHICAGO — Whether it’s obvious or not, opportunities are beginning to blossom after the long dry spell experienced by the U.S. economy. Don’t let lamentations on the state of “today’s economy” fool you: Steve Kallenbach, director of market solutions at textile manufacturer, importer and distributor ADI American Dawn, says that phrase more often than
not keeps people from looking more closely at the economy to try to identify emerging opportunity. In a recent Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA) webinar titled Untapped Market and Product Opportunities, Kallenbach expanded on his thoughts on the economy, and how commercial launderers can tap into the multitude of business opportunities in burgeoning industries in the coming years.
It can be tempting, he says, to look at unemployment rates to determine the health of the economy, but that can be misleading. If you’ve followed the gross domestic product (GDP) lately, you’ll notice that in 2014 it was back up to where it had been in 2005, before the recession hit—when things were steadily climbing upward. “Right now, the economy is actually growing at that same speed,” says Kallenbach. “Our eco-
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Inside Panel of Experts
How important is customer service to a laundry/ linen operation?
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a taxi, renting a car or buying a bus ticket. A taxi to downtown runs about $32 for one person, according to Checker Cab. A ticket for the SuperShuttle, a shared-van shuttle service, runs around $16.50. This is for a
nomic outlook is mostly clear and sunny.” So where are the sweet spots that operators should be trying to locate and build on? To find them, you’ll need to look at the growth related to the industries that commercial and industrial laundries serve. To better define the opportunities in various segments, Kallenbach lists See GROWTH on Page 22
The Newspaper of Record for Laundry & Linen Management
[18]
Delivering on a Promise Super 8 owner relies on unique pay-per-use laundry system.
[24]
Laundry Plus Doubles Up
[26]
Commercial laundry moves into new plant, adds second tunnel
3/25/15 10:13 AM