whats your first step in fleet cleaning

A

A.TRKWASH

New member
hello all, im curious 2 see whats everyones first approach when cleaning a rig... we 2 step but always start from the back of the trailer and work our way to the cab ......brushing only when necessary ....
 
we brush a lot, but for us it depends on what, where, and who we are washing. I have customers that are thrilled if we single step with soap and then rinse and others that demand the full service. it really depends on the customer, their expectations and what they are willing to pay. The downside to all this is that it gets really confusing to employees when one customer demands one thing and the next wants a different level of service.
 
A.TRKWASH said:
we 2 step but always start from the back of the trailer and work our way to the cab ......brushing only when necessary ....
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That's not a bad program for the most part, because then I don't have to worry about re-rinsing the tractor glass and mirrors again due to overspray once I'm done. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work out that way because of wind and weather and the way the equipment is parked.
 
Pre-treat is our 1st step.

We apply a strong detergent solution to bugs, oil, carbon, etc. Then we come back and apply our truck wash detergent brush and rinse. On some fleets with certain air dams we do the dams first and then come back and wash the rest of the cab giving the dams a few minutes to drip.

We don't two-step. We acid wash aluminum after we've finished the rest of the truck.

Takes a four man crew about an hour and a half to do 12 day-cab tandem tractors. Two hours from the time they pull in the gate until leaving.

Dave Olson
 
We do most of the above. Like Dave said on certain vehicles we do the top fairings first and let them run off to prevent any soap residue form the roof. As far as directional washing we always start upwind and work our way downwind trying to do the tractors last. Sometimes we 2 step, sometimes we one step, and other times we brush. It just depends on what is necessary to get the vehicle clean. Most important is consistency provide the same level of service every time.
 
Mobi Clean Inc. said:
We do most of the above. Like Dave said on certain vehicles we do the top fairings first and let them run off to prevent any soap residue form the roof. As far as directional washing we always start upwind and work our way downwind trying to do the tractors last. Sometimes we 2 step, sometimes we one step, and other times we brush. It just depends on what is necessary to get the vehicle clean. Most important is consistency provide the same level of service every time.
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Pauls comment was right on, espencially the last two sentences. And I hate to say it, but sometimes the procedure varies depending on how much chemicals I have left at the end of the day!:D
 
yea there is def many factors when washing a rig especially dealing with the outside elements ... does anyone clean up the inside of the trucks .. like vacuum windows and a good wipe down... i used to own a detail shop and i had a few rigs like dump trucks and even tractors with a sleeper want interiors done as well ... i know fleet accounts arent 2 particular with this but does anyone have any owner operators that want this service..i was also considering on doing polishing but thats a whole other business in itself.....
 
A.TRKWASH said:
yea there is def many factors when washing a rig especially dealing with the outside elements ... does anyone clean up the inside of the trucks .. like vacuum windows and a good wipe down... i used to own a detail shop and i had a few rigs like dump trucks and even tractors with a sleeper want interiors done as well ... i know fleet accounts arent 2 particular with this but does anyone have any owner operators that want this service..i was also considering on doing polishing but thats a whole other business in itself.....
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I have done some mobile detailing on tractors. I would rather just have them take it to my detail shop and have my detailers deal with it instead of me or my pressure washing guys. Right now with the economy the way it is the fleet accounts wont spend the money to have the inside done and the owner operators are to picky for just a quik wipe down. As for the polishing that gets old really quik. The last guy that wanted me to polish all the aluminum on his truck said that he had a guy quote him $275 for everything and he was wanting to know if i could do it for less...i walked into the shop and grabed everything that would be needed for the job and handed it to him...told him he could use the equipment for a week and save himself some money...a week later he came back. He had only polished one tank halfway. He said i guess $275 was a good deal. Then asked me how much to acid the aluminum from now on lol
 
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