First Wash Job (Fleet) Help

W

Will

New member
I was doing some flat work the other morning (restaurant) and a guy asked me if I could do his truck for him so being the eager fellow I am I said "SURE" how about $ 30.00 he said alright. Now I did this for more of a learning experience than anything else. I run a dual lance wand and just used my own car wash solution (film fighter, shot of joy, shot of cascade gel) at about 40/1 I presoaked the rig and trailer and sprayed it all down with a 25 degree tip and about 175 on the heat (3500 psi/5 gal min). I thought it looked ok, a few water spots though. This guy thought it looked great so I was happy and left it at that.

Next day the phone rings... Owner of the truck company almost 50 rigs in all.... wants them all washed every weekend. I need some help here. I have been all over this board looking at topics but want to know the following:
How to cut down on water spotting? or do you guys actually dry these things off somehow? I only use a downstream setup but will i need to change? They have there own washpit so no reclaim is needed. Also note... I am a one man band and prefer to keep it that way. Is this possible to handle?

Thanks in advance.
 
Will sometime's my boys help out but for the most part i work alone..........

to answer your question if you can do it all your self >>
yes,
i do around 75 a weekend, most of the time by my self

there is many ways you can do it and it will shine......

First method i use is pre-spray w/shure-flo

second up stream.... i have found that with the proper soap and water .. it never spots.......... and up-stream is nice b/c you dont have to drag another hose around......pre-spray is also nice b/c you save in water........................

i have come a long way since i first started ......... I remember when i got my first contract i was dragging around a 5 gal bucket and slopping a brush in it and brushing the whole side then rincingthen doing the other side,,,,,,,,,,, that was not fun...

w/up stream if your machine does 16/1 you should only use about/around 1/2 gal of soap.... something like that......that depends on how long you wash .... sometimes it feels like i can wash a truck in 15 sec. rincing is different...my trucks get washed every w/end so they really dont get that bad..and they look great when im done........ good luck and keep in touch.....
 
Will, For reducing the spots add a little wax to your truck wash and if you are running from a water tank add a rinse aid to your water. If you can hire a teenager to apply soap with the Sureflo you can cut your wash time in half.
 
It really depends on what kind of truck it is. If it is a dirt jerker, unless they are pretty much show trucks, I would not worry about the water spotting. Remember that the water here is a lot harder than anywhere else. Consequently more money and effort has to be made to get spot free. A water softener will do for most jobs. If the trucks are dark you will need to go the DI route. You might also want ot look at getting a real truck soap. Especially if it is a company of any size. The dish soap will eat at the paint before too long. It is really a pretty strong soap in the concentrations that you will be using it. If all else fails, if you decide that you don't want it, give me a call. I could send a crew down to do it, and would probably show up most often myself.
BTW, in my opinion, 50 trucks is a lot to do as a one man band. You will especially hate it when it is around 105 to 110 out. Talk about hot!!!
Scott
 
Yes its possible for a one man team to handle 50 rigs.If they'll let you start on friday or better thrusday it wouldn''t be so hard on ya.Besides some will say they want all 50 washed every week but will wash only 25 to 40 b/c of some not in off the road or didn't have drivers for all the trucks.Plumb another chemical tank for metering a weak wax sul'tion and apply while rinsing.A sheat wax works great but if bead wax make it even weaker,all your looking for is enough to run the water off not a true wax job..........this also helps dry the truck faster.

P.S.------ even the dirt jerkers have proud drivers,they don't like pokey dot trucks either...besides Scott don't even know what a dirty truck is,much less how to clean it..:eek:
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the info gang. You were more on target BigBoy... They have around 15-25 that will be done on a weekly basis.
I only used the dish soap because I was out of my reg chems for that type of job.

I may be kicking this your way if you want it Scott as I really do not want to work weekends too much and I especially hate days in the summer (HOT HOT HOT).

Thanks again
 
If you want to, let me know, and we will work something out $$$

As for not doing dirty trucks, Uhmm, yeah, Right.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Scott
 
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