diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 0cb4feb..458b06c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ Install qsv::
 [Download the appropriate precompiled binaries](https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/releases/latest) for your platform and copy
 it to the appropriate directory, e.g. for Linux:
 
-    wget https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/releases/download/0.44.0/qsv-0.44.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
-    unzip qsv-0.44.0-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
+    wget https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/releases/download/0.45.2/qsv-0.45.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
+    unzip qsv-0.45.2-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.zip
     sudo mv qsv /usr/local/bin
     sudo mv qsvlite /usr/local/bin
     sudo mv qsvdp /usr/local/bin
diff --git a/datapusher/jobs.py b/datapusher/jobs.py
index 821d38d..1bca4ef 100644
--- a/datapusher/jobs.py
+++ b/datapusher/jobs.py
@@ -83,6 +83,16 @@
 TYPE_MAPPING = web.app.config.get('TYPE_MAPPING', _TYPE_MAPPING)
 TYPES = web.app.config.get('TYPES', _TYPES)
 
+# if a field has any of these anywhere in their name, date inferencing
+# is turned on when scanning for data types, which is a relatively expensive op
+# if DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES is empty, date inferencing will always be on
+_DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES = ['date', 'time', 'open', 'close', 'due']
+
+DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES = web.app.config.get(
+    'DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES', _DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES)
+
+DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES = [field.lower() for field in DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES]
+
 DATASTORE_URLS = {
     'datastore_delete': '{ckan_url}/api/action/datastore_delete',
     'resource_update': '{ckan_url}/api/action/resource_update'
@@ -124,7 +134,7 @@ def as_dict(self):
 
         """
         if self.response and len(self.response) > 200:
-            response = str.encode(self.response[:200] + '...')
+            response = self.response[:200]
         else:
             response = self.response
         return {
@@ -502,7 +512,8 @@ def push_to_datastore(task_id, input, dry_run=False):
             )
         dupe_count = int(str(qsv_dedup.stderr).strip())
         if dupe_count > 0:
-            logger.info('{:,} duplicates found and removed...'.format(dupe_count))
+            logger.info(
+                '{:,} duplicates found and removed...'.format(dupe_count))
         else:
             logger.info('No duplicates found...')
 
@@ -529,13 +540,33 @@ def push_to_datastore(task_id, input, dry_run=False):
     record_count = int(str(qsv_count.stdout).strip())
     logger.info('{:,} records detected...'.format(record_count))
 
+    # if DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES is not empty, scan CSV headers for date-like field,
+    # otherwise, always --infer-dates when scanning for types
+    inferdates_flag = True
+    if DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES:
+        try:
+            qsv_headers = subprocess.run(
+                [QSV_BIN, 'headers', tmp.name], capture_output=True, text=True)
+        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+            tmp.close()
+            raise util.JobError(
+                'Cannot scan CSV headers: {}'.format(e)
+            )
+        header_fields = str(qsv_headers.stdout).strip().lower()
+        if not any(datelike_fieldname in header_fields for datelike_fieldname in DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES):
+            inferdates_flag = False
+
     # run qsv stats to get data types and descriptive statistics
     headers = []
     types = []
     qsv_stats_csv = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.csv')
+    qsv_stats_cmd = [QSV_BIN, 'stats', tmp.name,
+                     '--output', qsv_stats_csv.name]
+    if inferdates_flag:
+        qsv_stats_cmd.append('--infer-dates')
+        logger.info('Date-like fields detected. Date inferencing enabled...')
     try:
-        qsv_stats = subprocess.run(
-            [QSV_BIN, 'stats', tmp.name, '--infer-dates', '--output', qsv_stats_csv.name], check=True)
+        qsv_stats = subprocess.run(qsv_stats_cmd, check=True)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         tmp.close()
         qsv_stats_csv.close()
@@ -692,6 +723,9 @@ def push_to_datastore(task_id, input, dry_run=False):
         else:
             alias = None
 
+        # check if the alias exist, if it does
+        # add a sequence suffix until it can be created
+
     # tell CKAN to calculate_record_count and set alias if set
     send_resource_to_datastore(resource, headers_dicts, api_key, ckan_url,
                                records=None, aliases=alias, calculate_record_count=True)
diff --git a/datapusher/settings.py b/datapusher/settings.py
index 2739a6a..dd021a3 100644
--- a/datapusher/settings.py
+++ b/datapusher/settings.py
@@ -41,3 +41,9 @@
 # logging
 LOG_FILE = os.environ.get('DATAPUSHER_LOG_FILE', '/tmp/ckan_service.log')
 STDERR = bool(int(os.environ.get('DATAPUSHER_STDERR', '1')))
+
+# other config values that can be overriden here if you don't want to modify jobs.py
+# see jobs.py for their current default values
+# DATELIKE_FIELDNAMES
+# TYPE_MAPPING
+# TYPES