MJ Palazzolo with one of his 10 active American Caddy Vacs
Mike “MJ” Palazzolo keeps busy running a business with 20 employees and a fleet of 12 Power Vac trucks, 10 of which are American Caddy Vacs.
MJ says, “We’re a family owned business. My dad established Safety King in 1969 and we’re getting ready to enter into our 50th year in business. We have lots of family employees, along with a number of friends who have become family in our business.
The Palazzolos purchased their first American Caddy Vac in 1999 and have purchased a total of around 20 since then, new and used.
Safety King specializes in Air Duct Cleaning for residential, commercial and industrial customers and American Caddy Vac provides the power needed to work efficiently in all those applications.
What sets American Caddy Vac apart from other cleaners? MJ didn’t have any trouble with that question: “Much of what makes Caddy Vac so great isn’t just new or novel concepts… a lot of the features on their trucks aren’t new ideas… American Caddy Vac has just perfected the execution. So for example, the concept of a PTO driven vacuum, that’s been around for a long time… but the gearing was too small and the bodies weren’t put together the right way so they broke frequently and they rusted out after just a couple of years… What American Caddy Vac is doing is the same ideas, they have just perfected the execution. So the truck is a lot more durable, it’s a self-contained unit, it has everything we need on it, it’s a fantastic billboard when it’s on the road or on a job site. Those are some of the things that we like best about it. And TONS of power!”
“Another big difference is the people. Mac seems to know every machine that he sells… It’s like he can picture every little detail about that particular truck and that particular model and that particular year and how it fits on that particular cab and chassis… Mac can just see it in his head. It’s pretty uncanny how well he knows each and every machine. I call him up about something and he knows where stuff is and exactly what I’m talking about before I finish even talking about it!”
How does American Caddy Vac stack up with the competition? Safety King has plenty of competition, but MJ knows they are offering the best product: “We have hundreds of competitors in our area and they range in using things like shop vacs and leaf blowers all the way up to American Caddy Vacs. If I were to guess, I’d say a quarter of them now are buying American Caddy Vacs. There’s maybe a quarter of them that are buying other Power Vac machines, and then maybe the other half of them are trying silly things… you know, going in with all portables, or shop vacuums and roto-brushes – things that baffle you – how they would try to keep business that way. The difference is power. Now, we use portables in some situations too. Sometimes you need that. The guys don’t like using them, they want to be using the Caddy Vac every day because it is just so powerful and reliable.”
Some of the crew and some of the American Caddy Vacs in the Safety King fleet
Safety King produces many of their own tools, but they also purchase some tools from American Caddy Vac. “The quality of their tools is great. I purchase some of the air tools from them, the air rods, the thumb valves, triggers, some of those types of things.”
“But again, probably the biggest factor is the service. The calls are great. Mac knows his products back and forth… it’s rare that I stump him on a service issue. I’ve also talked with Steve and some of the other guys… they’re all great. When I call, they are very attentive. They know me, they know how to take care of me. They are attentive, personal, and reasonable and ultimately they get you to a resolution very quickly. I’ve been out to their shop too. And my dad went out there last month and picked up our latest truck. We’re fans of Amiercan Caddy Vac.”
“I recommend American Caddy Vac. A great power vac truck, and great people!”
