Cleaning Garbage Trucks

CLRWASH

New member
How long does it typically take to clean a unit that is bad off, using hot water and heavy duty cleaner?
 
Bad off is a relative term. Some of the questions I have are, are they ASL's, front loaders or rear loaders? Are you expected to totally degreaser the trucks? Are the bodies going to be up or down? Are the cabs up or down? If they are front loaders, do you need to clean the canopy?
 
It is a dirty job and most of the time they pay good to keep them clean.

Mostly it is cleaning for sanitary and maintenance reasons, the mechanics don't want to work on them when they are filthy, not just filthy with dirt/grease but filthy with dirt, grease, old rotting garbage and more!

Some washing is just the exterior wash and if you have a guy moving them then you can probably wash 6-10 an hour depending on how dirty they are.

If they want you to lift the box and cab to degrease the engine, transmission and frame rails then you are looking at from 30minutes to almost 3 hours, depending on how dirth they are, if the box has holes and the garbage and dirt has made "hills or mountains" on top of the hoses/pipes on the frame that you have to clean, there could be hydraulic leaks that with dirt make nice hard dirt rocks that need to be cleaned so they can see exactly where the leaks are to be repaired.

Your idea of not too bad can differ from what the rest of us think is not too bad, post pics if you need more help and explain what kind of wash they want or expect.
 
Water from garbage truck washing is some of the nastiest water you will ever deal with. I sold over 300 wash water recycling systems to BFI, Waste Management, and other garbage companies in the 1990's. The smell would knock the average person out. I had two labs tell me to stop sending them samples when we would do waste stream evaluations.

My advise to you is if you get the job, do not try to recycle the water. The bacteria load is more than a mobile filtration system can handle. You end up spraying toxic water back out on the truck. I know of at least once instance where a guy washing a garbage truck got sprayed in the leg with a pressure washer using recycled water and gangrene set in immediately. He was in the hospital for a month and ended up losing his leg.

Be careful.
 
6-10 is possible if you dont have to move them and they don't get too bad and they are being done on a regular schedule- (2 weeks). First time clean I would say 15-30 min per for 1 man to as long as an hour. Regular washing would be much less about 10-15 min per truck.

I agree with Phillip reuse of the water is a bad idea, not just because of the bacteria but the deterents as well. Filtraton systems will remove the particulates and oils but the deteregents that are used are still in the water. You don't want to reuse that water and apply it to the vechile surface. The Ph will be all out of wack and the potential for damage is increased, filtration systems are great for flatwork water reuse or to meet discharge requirements.
 
I agree about not re-using the wash water, there will be all kinds of bacteria, possibly heavy metals, all kinds of detergents, silt that will probably pass through filters, etc....

Re-using that wash water will leave a horrible film on the trucks and leave them smelling worse than not washing them.

Find out exactly what they want done, how often, if there will be degreasing, lifting up the box and/or cab, will you be moving them (if you have to move them, do you have the Class B CDL to drive them?), will you have to process or haul away the wash water, etc.....?

Post here what you find out and we will help you as much as we can.
 
I agree with many poster's here that say cleaning garbage trucks especially the first time can vary greatly in time. I get to wash then once in awhile when they show up at one of the auctions I clean at. These typically are being sold not because they are in great working condition, and they want all the oils, grease, and garbage visible from the outside removed. If you are just removing surface dirt it won't take you long, if you have to clean leaky hydraulics and they grease the crap out of it, then it will take some time.

Getting in with garbage companies though can bring in constant work as was mentioned mechanics and such won't go near a truck unless its been steamed.
 
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