From light trucks, heavy haulers to off-road trucks, these vehicles take a beating on the road. As a fleet operator, you know your trucks are always fighting against corrosion, grime and muck.

Benefits of Keeping the Fleet Clean

Fleet operators, owners and drivers all want a clean truck. The benefits are many and obvious, including keeping corrosion at bay, increasing the longevity of your trucks and of course, maintaining brand image are all proven benefits you’ll get just by keeping a clean fleet.

Time Factor in Labour Costs with Truck Washing

I’m sure you’ll agree that the goal to establish a maintenance program is twofold, to instil good regular fleet washing routine and at the same time, reduce the frequency of vehicle maintenance. However, with regular fleet washing comes the challenge of managing labour costs. The labour needed to keep your truck clean adds up to costs in time spent by your driver not being on the road. Because when it comes to fleet washing, time is money.

In this post, we’ll review different fleet washing methods to help you assess which one is right for your trucking operation.

Bay Wash System

The Bay Wash System is one of the most efficient methods for fleet cleaning. It is a fully automated, drive-through wash system. The Bay Wash Systems requires minimal labour with only the driver’s time on standby as the truck drives through the automated wash and rinse cycle.

Investing in a Bay Wash System is popular with large fleet owners. The benefit of owning your own Bay Wash System is the ability to become better at managing the driver’s waiting time, as well as water and fuel consumption and thereby reducing time in fleet washing.

For smaller companies or independent truckers, time management can be more difficult since you most likely use the public truck washes. Consider all washing methods and options, including hiring professional pressure washer cleaners to do the job or opting for a mobile high-pressure cleaning unit.

High Power Pressure Washer

There’s good news; pressure washing is synonymous with quality. Should you even be debating between hand washing with a bucket for each vehicle to high-pressure washing, pressure washing simply gets the job done faster.

And, fast cleaning time will save you money. On the other hand, you’ll need to estimate the additional cost in the time needed due to increased labour, electricity, water and fuel consumption with pressure washing. The more time you or your driver takes to wash each truck, utility costs will increase.

You may want to consider investing in a Unimanix high-pressure washer, which includes proper application method training to ensure you get the best and fastest cleaning results.

Don’t underestimate what proper training for a high-pressure washer will do for your bottom line. Plus, there are methods of pressure washing that can reduce electricity, water and fuel costs and can still provide dependable, high-quality cleaning results. You might want to check out the Single Step Fleet Washing Method highlighted in our previous post,“8 Best Fleet/Truck Pressure Washing Tips''.

Detergent Factor in Truck Washing Time

Having the right detergent, correct water temperature and proper dwell time are all crucial to good time management in high-pressure washing. We’ve given you a quick list to help you with cost management regarding the detergent application in managing truck washing time.

• Quality Detergent: If you are using soap that doesn’t remove road film, you may find yourself needing to hand brush with the soap followed by a rinse.
• Amount of Detergent: Too much or not enough, both will determine the quality of the cleaning job and in the end, the additional cost.
• Dwell Time: Allow for the proper time to let the detergent do its job, read the instructions and ask us questions before purchase, so you don’t waste money.
• Climate: On colder and cloudy days you may need to power wash a second time because the soap did not penetrate as quickly as expected.

Research Best Fleet Washing Methods

As you can see, whether you are a large fleet owner or an independent truck driver taking the time to research which truck washing method will provide you with the best and fastest cleaning results is beneficial. There are proven fleet washing methods that can help to reduce the time in truck washing. It is also best to take the time to learn these methods and work with a qualified manufacturer, like Unimanix.

We’ll work with you to help you decide which cleaning method is best for your fleet operation. Contact us today.

About Unimanix

Choose a best industrial, portable electric pressure washer for commercial or industrial applications! Unimanix has been manufacturing durability since 1993, with features that can handle the challenges of heavy-duty trucks, trailers, buses and trains. Whether it is to design, install, build a complete washing facility or customise a trailer for mobile pressure washing services, Unimanix is committed to meeting your exact needs. Serving Ontario and Quebec! Proudly Made In Canada.