Off Season
- Thread starter jreedpw
- Start date
Michael DeRose
New member
Plow snow. I know other guys do kitchen exhaust cleaning as well.
I wash/steam more in the winter then I do the summer.
Some guys plow, others find other work to occupy their time. I find anything that drives on a road gets dirty 10x faster in the winter and guys want the salt and road chems off quicker. When if gets really cold ie well below freezing I try not to go out unless I need too. I find though that when things get to those temperatures guys call me to warm things up and thaw things out so they can get back to work.
Some guys plow, others find other work to occupy their time. I find anything that drives on a road gets dirty 10x faster in the winter and guys want the salt and road chems off quicker. When if gets really cold ie well below freezing I try not to go out unless I need too. I find though that when things get to those temperatures guys call me to warm things up and thaw things out so they can get back to work.
jreedpw
New member
You fleet wash in the winter? Are you set up inside a building?
All outside, you can wash in the cold, although you have to learn when and what you can do. Where I am you can't wash first thing in the morning, but give the sun a few hours on a truck/trailer surface with hot water you should be fine into the 20 ish `F range. Wash with out sun or heat, it will freeze and cause you issues.
I can't get the same volume on fleet washing that I can do in the summer due to the temps and lack of daylight. I get more work outside of fleet washing though because of the cold temps and dirty roads. An example I have a heavy haul customer that uses 3-4 large goldhofer trailers regularly in the winter. Every time they come back with a trailer I get a call, so about once a week I am out there. Trailer takes a day to wash depending on the salt/sand and amount of frozen snow I have to deal with. These are charged hourly of course, but in the summer I don't hear from them because the roads don't cover them with all the sand and salt.
I do say no if it the job and the temperature are not a good or safe (Ice build up makes surfaces slippery). I am not afraid of the cold though, layer up well and make sure you take breaks. I have worked down to -40`f before, not exactly a day I wanted to remember, but the job was 2 months of 6 days a week 12 hours a day job. I would never make an employee work in that, but I guess as the owner and an operator I am on a different level of crazy.
I can't get the same volume on fleet washing that I can do in the summer due to the temps and lack of daylight. I get more work outside of fleet washing though because of the cold temps and dirty roads. An example I have a heavy haul customer that uses 3-4 large goldhofer trailers regularly in the winter. Every time they come back with a trailer I get a call, so about once a week I am out there. Trailer takes a day to wash depending on the salt/sand and amount of frozen snow I have to deal with. These are charged hourly of course, but in the summer I don't hear from them because the roads don't cover them with all the sand and salt.
I do say no if it the job and the temperature are not a good or safe (Ice build up makes surfaces slippery). I am not afraid of the cold though, layer up well and make sure you take breaks. I have worked down to -40`f before, not exactly a day I wanted to remember, but the job was 2 months of 6 days a week 12 hours a day job. I would never make an employee work in that, but I guess as the owner and an operator I am on a different level of crazy.
We also fleet wash outside during the winter, we go until about -15 C (5 F) after that it becomes to easy to freeze up locks and doors etc. This past winter we only lost one weekend on fleets because it was to cold. We also run with an open trailer, which seems insane but as long as water is moving it won't freeze so we just cycle the units while driving from job to job. I also find it oddly satisfying to wash-off winter road grime. Like Benjamin said as long as you are dressed properly its not a problem. I suggest multiple pairs of gloves and many layers, because once you start working it does not take long to get hot!
Scott Stone
New member
And I hate washing below 40f.