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By Amanda Hosey

The year is winding down, and you know what that means—time to look ahead to another year and get your plans in place. I know as business owners and leaders, it feels like you never get to live in the present, that you must always be looking ahead, but such is the nature of the job.

This month’s Cleanfax provides many points to aid you in your company improvements in the coming months. From maintenance tips to teambuilding, we’ve got the goods.

A good place to start this fall is making sure your company has in place a plan for protecting your truckmounts. It’s easy to procrastinate on upkeep on your trucks, but as we all know, “tomorrow” often turns into weeks (or worse) when we put off maintenance of things. My car, for instance, needed an oil change something like a decade ago.

In our October issue, you’ll find a helpful guide developed by the truckmount team at Legend Brands that lists high-priority maintenance items and how often and why they must be performed.

If you’ve been thinking it is time for you or your techs to take new or more advanced IICRC classes and/or have been wondering if it’s worth the time, money, and effort, take a look at IICRC Standards Director Mili Washington’s article. It explains in detail how IICRC standards are developed and published, including how the association decides what goes into each one and, therefore, what is taught in class. No matter how much you think you know about the standards process, you will likely learn something in this article.

Looking to add new staff in the coming months? Check out “How to Build a Cleaning Dream Team.” It will give you a primer on “behavioral interviewing” techniques, which uses specifically worded questions to find out whether job candidates’ personalities are aligned with your company, greatly reducing turnover.

You can learn how to make time use on the jobsite more efficient by creating an order for equipment to be carried onsite. You might be surprised to learn how much time (and how many steps) techs are wasting simply walking back and forth to the truck!

You’ll also find part two of Mark Springer’s “The Greatest Need” (see part one in the September issue) in which he lays out the steps needed to bring the restoration industry together for the betterment of all stakeholders. If you’ve ever complained about TPAs, insurance companies, or other restoration issues, this is the article for you.

Lastly, with the rise in popularity of 3D imaging tools in restoration and with the publication of PIRC’s “Best Practices for Photo Documentation (Learn more about this.), it seems time we took a look at this technology and what it can do. Brandon Donatelli does just that in “Reality Capture: Using 3D Imaging in Restoration.”

Whatever improvements you’re hoping to make in the next few months and the coming year, we want to help. If you have an issue you’re struggling with as you look ahead and would like it addressed in an article, let me know at [email protected], and I’ll find an expert(s) with a solution.

Amanda Hosey is the managing editor of Cleanfax. She has worked as an editor and writer for more than six years, including four years with Cleanfax. Reach her at [email protected].