How Big Is Your Fleet Wash Rig

Hi All - I'm in the market for a box truck for fleet washing operations - I thought I would just ask the people who wash fleets what type of trucks or trailers are you running and how big. "Size of truck or trailer" and what is the total amount of water you are able to carry on your specific rig "for reclaim". Do you find it better to have a traditional box truck or a cab over truck etc..... do you carry a wash mat or any other of type of reclaim equipment on board, Any input in this would be greatly welcomed. Thanks in advance for any responces. - Michael Barnes

for us flatbed trucks are the way to go. Isuzu NPR flatbeds would be even better. It's a pain in the but having to get in and out of a box truck all the time. And harder to find what you are looking for. With a flatbed it's all within easy reach.

I used to run a Top kick but I recently upgraded to a Freightliner with 18' box. We run 2 hot units and a 1500 gallon tank plus on board recollection or a trailer unit for recollection.

I just use my long bed truck with a 275gal tank. We mainly do fleet detailing. Our largest account is 5 trucks....lol But we get $35-$45 a truck.

2 7x12 open trailers one with a cold water unit one with a hot water unit on it,bowth have a 125gal float tank and a 325 reclaim tank onem with all the fixens.one is a 2 man setup onther is a 1 coldw pw. do sevral fleets. but are mainly used for all types of pwing.

Thanks to all for your responces!!

hello i use a mitsubishi fuso box truck 16 ft 625 gallon of water and 300 gallon collection

I use 20 ft trailer with 2 hot water units , 250 gal water tank

Thanks for any replies - I was thinking about a 24 ft box truck but I don't know if that is over kill or not ? I want to be able to hold are contaminant mat, reclaim equipment, waste water tanks, clean water tank, as well as 2 hot water skids - and other misc. items, For the people who have 18-20 ft truck or trailers, did you wish you had more room? Or are you happy with what you have. I would like to be capable of carrying at least 1500 gallons of used wash water, plus a fresh water tank as well.
Do any of you run the problem of maxin out your weight limit of your vehicle or is it no problem for you??

Thanks for any replies - I was thinking about a 24ft box truck but i dont know if that is over kill or not. I want to be able to hold are contaminet mat, reclaim equiment, waste water tanks - clean water tank - as well as 2 hot water skids - and other misc iteams, For the people who have 18-20ft truck or trailers, did you wish you had more room or are you happy with what you have. I would like to be capable of carrying at least 1500gallons of used wash water, plus a fresh water tank as well.
Do any of you run the problem of maxxing out your weight limit of your veichale o

ShoreWash said:

Thanks for any replies - I was thinking about a 24ft box truck but i dont know if that is over kill or not. I want to be able to hold are contaminet mat, reclaim equiment, waste water tanks - clean water tank - as well as 2 hot water skids - and other misc iteams, For the people who have 18-20ft truck or trailers, did you wish you had more room or are you happy with what you have. I would like to be capable of carrying at least 1500gallons of used wash water, plus a fresh water tank as well.
Do any of you run the problem of maxxing out your weight limit of your veichale o

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I cant wait to see this rig, Bring it to MB when you get it.

ShoreWash said:

Thanks for any replies - I was thinking about a 24ft box truck but i dont know if that is over kill or not. I want to be able to hold are contaminet mat, reclaim equiment, waste water tanks - clean water tank - as well as 2 hot water skids - and other misc iteams, For the people who have 18-20ft truck or trailers, did you wish you had more room or are you happy with what you have. I would like to be capable of carrying at least 1500gallons of used wash water, plus a fresh water tank as well.
Do any of you run the problem of maxxing out your weight limit of your veichale

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Wow, are you serious? If you are thinking of running an under-CDL truck you easily would be over your weight limit with just the two skids and 1500 gallons of water. It sounds like you've given no thought to what each axle is rated at either. Unless you put the water tank near the rear of the box and close to the rear axle (which kind of defeats the purpose of a 24 foot box) you are carrying too much weight on the front axle. Even Paul K is close to doing that with an 18 foot box unless he's got an over CDL truck now, and Paul has years of experience and knows what he's doing. What happens when that water weight shifts to the front axle when the brakes are applied? That would be great if you shear the axle or steering linkage. Plus, is the frame designed to carry that kind of weight over that great a span? Probably not, so you'd need to reinforce it, which adds to the weight. Now, what do you do about the springs which weren't designed for a shifting load that water causes? If you design it like you're thinking and you eventually get in a collision (it's not an "accident when there is negligence involved), don't think you may get a ticket cause you'd be visiting a jail instead. You better rethink your plan....

You beat me to the post Blaine.

Guys, you really need to look at the GVR, GWR, or GVWR of the vehicles and remember that the water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon and DO THE MATH.

There are several trucks out there that have huge tanks but they have been planned out and not exceeded the weight rating of the trucks or truck and trailer capacity.

D.O.T. (Department Of Transportation....State Troopers) are doing more and more routine stops of regular box trucks and truck/trailers because they are catching more and more people putting too much weight in them and are over-loaded.

They are giving out tickets like crazy for all kinds of things and if you do not know about this stuff, you can go online for your State Department of Transportation info and read up on trucks and trailers.

In case you do not know what that means is if you are over-loaded, they don't have to let you keep going, they can make you leave that trailer there and/or call for someone to bring another truck or trailer to off-load some of that weight so it is legal weight.

I do not know if they would let you dump out water out of the truck onto the side of the road to lighten up the load....that would be up to them on that one.

Just for an FYI people, I would hate to see anyone get some of the huge fines they are giving out all around.



_________________
Superior Power Washing<O</O
Chris Chappell<O</O
361-853-2513<O</O
prostaff@superiorpowerwashing.com<O</O
Exterior House Cleaning Corpus Christi Texas<O</O
Cleaning Driveways and Sidewalks Corpus Christi Texas

No I know that I would really need to run a truck that is CDL, That was my dilemma weather to take less water and smaller equipment or go the cdl route. And all things considered that is the way I am going to go only because I want to be able to carry enough used wash water with out having to leave the job site to dump, only to return to the site to finish the work...... And as far as DOT, I already had a run in with them in my pickup truck with some stone in the back and they had no problem writting me a ticket for $1,758.00 , They are everywhere up here so you don't break laws because they will get you.... Thanks for your input guys you all keep opening my eyes in every direction. Chris & BioClean thanks for post responce . Thats why I posted this tread becasue I was hoping people such as your self's would step forward and give me tips and hints add everything you all said was excatilly what I was looking for so keep them coming. Thanks Again - Michael Barnes

If you are planning on pulling each truck over a mat, you will have a lot of dirty water to deal with. Its a whole different ballgame if you go this route. Otherwise, you could get by with a lot smaller equipment.

I have access to a scale at one of my jobs so I have taken care in knowing how much I can carry and still be under the GVWR. Now you have to be sure your plates are correct for what you carry too to avoid problems.

Blane is right though you will be a bit over with all that stuff if you are full with water, i am guessing with what you want to haul the most water you can get on the truck and be under CDL is 800-1000 gal.

Hello Michael,

Both of our GMC's are just under CDL requirements (25,950 GVWR). Both have 11,000 pound front axles so we can have our water up front in the box.

We have 2 vertical 500 gallon tanks up front and space for other stuff in the empty floor room that we have. The horizontal tank that we have used for waste water is also 500 gallon capacity.

In our experience doing fleets we loose at least 50% of the the water through blow off and evaporation.

Dave Olson

Those are nice rigs - Whats the other type of equiment that you have in those photos. If I may ask.

The equipment in the back of the White truck is powered by a 48 hp Kubota liquid cooled engine. We run a General TSF-2221, 10.2 gpm rated pump. We also have an 8,000-watt Witco generator running off of the Kubota. We have upsized the burner and I think it is now 8-900,000 Btu. The Kubota and the burner run on off road K-1 fuel. The right side saddle tank on the chassis is for the K-1 fuel. The truck chassis has a 454-gasoline engine, 5-speed transmission and a 2-speed rear axle.

We have a 16,000 Btu Lp heater mounted inside the box. Three hose reels with 150-200 feet each of 3/8” 2 wire hose.

Biodude said:

Wow, are you serious? If you are thinking of running an under-CDL truck you easily would be over your weight limit with just the two skids and 1500 gallons of water. It sounds like you've given no thought to what each axle is rated at either. Unless you put the water tank near the rear of the box and close to the rear axle (which kind of defeats the purpose of a 24 foot box) you are carrying too much weight on the front axle. Even Paul K is close to doing that with an 18 foot box unless he's got an over CDL truck now, and Paul has years of experience and knows what he's doing. What happens when that water weight shifts to the front axle when the brakes are applied? That would be great if you shear the axle or steering linkage. Plus, is the frame designed to carry that kind of weight over that great a span? Probably not, so you'd need to reinforce it, which adds to the weight. Now, what do you do about the springs which weren't designed for a shifting load that water causes? If you design it like you're thinking and you eventually get in a collision (it's not an "accident when there is negligence involved), don't think you may get a ticket cause you'd be visiting a jail instead. You better rethink your plan....

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Am I off in my math? 1500 gallons of water would weigh approx 12000 lbs., two skids and related equipment would come in at 2000 lbs., the truck itself would be about 10000 lbs., for a grand total of 24000 lbs. Add in a couple 300 lbs. guys and you still have slightly over 1000 lbs. of headroom until the 25950 rating most sub CDL trucks carry. Where do you view him as being over?