diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cdede5a1c..0a311b94a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ As we prepare for version 1.0, we're focusing on performance, stability and reli
 * build(deps): bump itertools from 0.11.0 to 0.12.0 by @dependabot in https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/pull/1418
 * build(deps): bump rust_decimal from 1.33.0 to 1.33.1 by @dependabot in https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/pull/1420
 * build(deps): bump polars from 0.35.2 to 0.35.4 by @dependabot in https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/pull/1425
+* build(deps): bump uuid from 1.5.0 to 1.6.0 by @dependabot in https://github.com/jqnatividad/qsv/pull/1428
 * bump MSRV to 1.74.0
 * apply select clippy suggestions
 * update several indirect dependencies
diff --git a/src/cmd/geocode.rs b/src/cmd/geocode.rs
index 6f962bb0c..e0295900b 100644
--- a/src/cmd/geocode.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/geocode.rs
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ use regex::Regex;
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use serde_json::json;
 use simple_home_dir::expand_tilde;
+use tempfile::tempdir;
 use url::Url;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
@@ -1336,7 +1337,7 @@ async fn load_engine(geocode_index_file: PathBuf, progressbar: &ProgressBar) ->
             geocode_index_file.clone(),
             !progressbar.is_hidden(),
             None,
-            None,
+            Some(60),
             None,
         )
         .await?;
@@ -1357,11 +1358,29 @@ async fn load_engine(geocode_index_file: PathBuf, progressbar: &ProgressBar) ->
             geocode_index_file.clone(),
             !progressbar.is_hidden(),
             None,
-            None,
+            Some(60),
             None,
         )
         .await?;
     }
+
+    // check if the geocode_index_file is snappy compressed
+    // if it is, decompress it
+    let geocode_index_file = if geocode_index_file.extension().unwrap() == "sz" {
+        let decompresssed_geocode_index_file = geocode_index_file.with_extension("bincode");
+        progressbar.println(format!(
+            "Decompressing {} to {}",
+            geocode_index_file.display(),
+            decompresssed_geocode_index_file.display()
+        ));
+        let tmpdir = tempdir()?;
+        let decompressed_tmpfile = util::decompress_snappy_file(&geocode_index_file, &tmpdir)?;
+        fs::copy(decompressed_tmpfile, &decompresssed_geocode_index_file)?;
+        decompresssed_geocode_index_file
+    } else {
+        geocode_index_file
+    };
+
     let storage = storage::bincode::Storage::new();
 
     let engine = storage
diff --git a/src/cmd/stats.rs b/src/cmd/stats.rs
index a33d0b638..875960e63 100644
--- a/src/cmd/stats.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/stats.rs
@@ -890,6 +890,8 @@ fn init_date_inference(
         log::info!("inferring dates for ALL fields with DMY preference: {dmy_preferred}");
         vec![true; headers.len()]
     } else {
+        let mut header_str = String::new();
+        let mut date_found = false;
         let whitelist = whitelist_lower
             .split(',')
             .map(str::trim)
@@ -897,8 +899,8 @@ fn init_date_inference(
         headers
             .iter()
             .map(|header| {
-                let header_str = from_bytes::<String>(header).unwrap().to_lowercase();
-                let date_found = whitelist
+                util::to_lowercase_into(&from_bytes::<String>(header).unwrap(), &mut header_str);
+                date_found = whitelist
                     .iter()
                     .any(|whitelist_item| header_str.contains(whitelist_item));
                 if date_found {