I was in Alberta recently with our early Spring weather, driving the Queen Elizabeth II Highway between Calgary and Edmonton, roundtrip in two days.  If you ever want to see what difference image can make, just drive around these cities, up and down the highway at this time of year.  Wow…clean is WOW.

If you ever wonder if your image sticks out when you are clean, there is no more evidence than this route at this time of year.  Vehicles are almost obscure of graphics, name and colour with all the dirt and stones on the highway.  The clean vehicles really catch your eye.  Imagine what your customers think?

Later the same week I was driving the 401 from Toronto to Montreal and the same evidence was true.  A clean vehicle and truck stands out so much more as a company you want to do business with.

With technology available today, many operators are choosing to have control of their image with an ecological theme with the modern truck green movements.  Why not couple this with a green, clean graphic of your logo or product mural on the side of your truck?  Do you believe people want to do business with companies that work on that clean, green image?  Most do, yet we don’t take the time to consider the competitive advantage you can have over your competition.

Consider adding to your profile a green, clean image when presenting your company to potential clients.  Put in your portfolio how you are green all around, including washing your vehicles to maintain the best image when arriving at your customers doors to deliver.  The ability to offer green certification of washing with the correct chemicals in the most efficient water usage can be offered when you do your research.  Look for that green certification that you can control and you will take something to a client that your competition may not be thinking of to offer.

Most large corporations and government facilities wash their own vehicles, not leaving their image to some third party that shows up on weekends (maybe) to pressure wash the sides of their trucks since the back door is usually parked against a fence or building, it seems to be ignored.  What chemicals are used and where do those chemicals end up in the sewers or ground in your parking lot?  Does your competition offer a green package to their customers on sustainability procedures, including washing that can put them ahead of your company?

It’s time to think of ways to be better and washing your own vehicles with the proper methods will put you in the league of the industry leaders that may be taking away the best clients in your industry.

Jack Jackson is President of Awash Systems Corp.  Email: jjackson@awashystems.com or call 1 800 265 7405.  Visit our website www.awashsystems.com.  North America’s leader in Fleet Washing Solutions.

Washing your bus can be another dynamic way to be environmentally sound and save some money as well.  Let’s discover the world of washing buses, put some myths to bed and pass on some ideas on how to be green while saving money and improving your image.

Today there is technology available to meet any needs and desires of your washing requirements, be it budget or environmentally based.  Generally, the most popular automatic machinery to wash vehicles today consists of automated drive through, rollover and walkaround units.  These automated systems enable a bus to be washed and rinsed in less than 5 minutes. Available as well are water reclamation and recycle systems to offset environment concerns and save on water costs. 

However, there are many operators still using the manual pressure washer and hand brush scrub system, taking up to 30 minutes or more to wash and rinse.  Reliable labor, time costs and wash consistency are the major frustrations with any operator utilizing a manual handwash system.

Here are some facts:

Washing buses in your parking lot:

Do you know some municipalities and States have banned washing cars on the street and even your driveway?  Yes, that water goes directly to the storm sewer and immediately into your local water source (stream, river, lake or ocean).  If you are washing in your parking lot, where does that drain go?  Most likely, directly to the closest aquatic system in your area (river, stream, lake or ocean).

Whatever chemicals that are being used for washing end up in the local aquatic systems.   Did you realize that if even if you used the proper “biodegradable soaps”, you are still sending grease, oil, gasoline and other contaminants with that wash water into the water shed?

The EPA suggests washing your vehicles on gravel or grassy surfaces as Mother Nature knows how to neutralize those contaminants in the soil.  However, this can’t be efficient for any bus operator that has multiple vehicles to wash.  The surface would obviously become overcome with water and mud, so there has to be more thought put into large vehicle washing.

There are technologies available to capture your wash water in your parking lot, recycle and reuse this water.  Also there are companies that will capture and dispose in the proper sewer system so as not to pollute your environment.

Washing inside your building:

Washing inside your building, in majority of cases, means you are tapped into your municipal water sewage system, thus the wash water is being sent to your treatment facility.  This does help the environment; however, there is a cost.

1. Cost to the municipality to clean this water
2.  Your company or building is paying for water (possibly on a meter).  Check your water bill and understand it.
3. Are you paying for sewage discharge as well?  Many companies do not realize that there is a water charge in and many times there is a “water out” charge.  Some areas meter water in and out, with a hefty charge for water discharge.  So you are paying for water in and then paying again for water out, sometimes twice the amount to discharge.

Today’s technology allows for water treatment systems at your wash bay.  There are many systems available that allow for you to capture your water, clean it and re-use for washing.  This would allow a zero discharge, thus saving money and the environment.

Handwashing Buses:

Did you know a 3/4” water hose dispenses 17 gallons of water per minute?  Do the math and washing a bus for 30 minutes = 510 gallons of water.  Each gallon weighs 8.3lbs, so you may have used over 2 tons (4,200lbs) of water to wash that bus.

Whether you are washing inside your building or outside on your parking lot, the use and cost of water can be a major hidden cost to your facility.  Do the analysis and find a major saving, especially when you look at your cost per gallon of water.

Today’s technology for cleaning buses, no matter if you are using an automatic system, a walk around single brush unit, pressure washer or old fashioned hand brush can be a green initiative in your company.  It’s a matter of education of water usage, techniques and analysis.  Long ignored as a factor in costs, with water shortages and environmental impacts, this is a growing concern.

The cost of water varies across the continent, thus it can have different impacts depending on your location.  Do you draw water out of a well or lake?  We hear from these customers that we don’t pay for water, so not a concern.  We have to believe there is a cost to all of us eventually.

For most of us, the municipality supplies our water through pipes to our facility.  Take a minute to examine the water bill and come up with a cost per gallon of water.  This is not easy, but necessary to determine your cost per vehicle of washing.

After determining the cost of water, you will have to capture the cost of labor, chemicals and supplies (brushes, cloths, etc.).  Now it is understandable why only 1% of companies don’t know the actual cost of washing a bus.

Overall, bus washing has much more of an impact than most operator’s take time to consider.  There is a major affect to both the environment and the bottom line of every company, city and municipality.  Take time to consider your footprint on the environment.

In today’s fiscally responsible world, it’s difficult to imagine a cost that is so variable and important to company image, employee satisfaction and the bottom line that goes unrealized.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be a minor cost compared to tires, engines and new vehicles, but some are shocked at the overall cost when we do the analysis with them.

Here are the questions to ask:

1. Do we have the proper methods to capture this cost?
2. Do we have all the ancillary costs captured in our budget or cost centers to analyze?
3. Do we know how much water we use with our current methods?
4. Are we charged for both water in and water out by the municipality?
5. How many hours do we spend washing?
6. Who is doing our washing?  Is it satisfactory to our image and employee satisfaction?

By having your CFO do a little research, you can figure out what the material costs of washing are yearly.  The easiest method is to call up the vendors that you  purchase these supplies from and find out what your spend was last year.  Step one complete.

Step two is how much water do you use?  That depends on the method you use.  If you have an automatic washing system, call your vendor and ask for the gallons per minute use of the machinery.  If you are using the old fashioned hand wash method, the water hose uses 17 gallons of water per minute while it is on.  Now determine the time of a wash cycle and how many washes per week/month.

Step three is using your current labor costs of the current method to wash.  How many hours do you have your staff washing per week/month?  Multiply hourly wages by hours spent washing.

Now adding all these together, you will come up with numbers that may shock you.  Or do you use a mobile spray company?  Many have a misnomer on this cost.  To truly find out what your cost is per vehicle, just add up your invoices from the mobile company for the year.  Yes, another shocker to most.

Money is literally going down the drain if you don’t find a method to determine this important part of business.  Or as others have told us, we just stopped washing!  As one truck executive told me, “Now we are paying for the bad decision of not washing, we are replacing equipment 5 years earlier than before.”

Either way, if you aren’t paying attention to your cleaning, you are letting money slip away, let alone the image, employee satisfaction and of course the DOT inspections you may see more frequently.

You can ask us how to help you.  Jack Jackson is President of Awash Systems Corp. and can be reached at 1 800 265 7405 or jjackson@awashsystems.com.  Visit us at www.awashsystems.com for more details.

According to a study by School Bus Fleet Magazine, June 2011 Edition 81% of respondents in the Maintenance Survey encountered salt on their roads.

Average bus retirement age:

Large Bus WITH SALT 14.1 years

Large Bus WITHOUT SALT 18.3 years

That is an average of almost 25% longer life for a bus!

What does that mean?  Well, for anyone washing and eliminating salt from their vehicles, we can do the same math and extend the life of your fleet by 25%.

I am unable to find data comparing bus companies that wash versus not washing at all.  We would have to believe there are companies that do wash will average more than 14 years life and the others that don’t wash will be less than 14 years of life on a bus.

Does anyone have any data to support washing versus not washing vehicles?

• Drivers – a satisfied, proud driver will be much more inclined to treat their “clean” equipment and their customers in a more professional manner over a dirty competitor.  Imagine coming to work in your office every day with a layer of dirt, dust and dead bugs on your desk?

• Driver retention and recruitment – surveys confirm drivers stay longer with image conscious companies that treat their equipment well.  Does that mean in the future as recruitment of “excellent” drivers, a clean truck can be an enticement to work for your company?

• Image – your vehicle is a traveling billboard of your business, how does it look?  Do you invest in your image?  After a survey of top executives of the Fortune 500 companies, not one could definitively state the method of washing and cleaning their vehicles.  However, many executives stated they were not completely satisfied with their vehicles when they see them on the road.

• Mother Nature washes – she does rinse, but she doesn’t scrub.  Oxidation, rust, grease and dirt film will build up over time resulting in equipment failure, leaks and rust.  Many small fleet owners state that money is the obstacle.  Do you think they will be paying more in the long term?

• More washing means less washing – the more times you wash, the less time it will take to wash in the future.  Dirt will not adhere as quickly to a smooth clean surface.

• DOT inspections – no data available, but every common sense conversation points to a less likelihood of a clean, shiny vehicle being pulled over for inspection.  Make sense?

• Soap Cleans – yes, but too much soap and the wrong type hinders your cleaning and finish.
  • By leaving soap residue, your graphics and paint will dull
  • By using a mild soap, your finish is not clean enough
  • By using a strong soap, your decals and paint will be harmed

• No Soap required – without lubricating and lifting the dirt away from the surface will result in scratching the paint when using cloths or brushes.

• Brushes scratch – today’s technology of cruciform and foam brushes eliminate that old myth.

• Handwashing is the least expensive washing technique – consistency, time and water costs must be measured against the other methods of automation available.

1.  Image – a clean truck is your traveling billboard.  Would you not be angry if your billboard sign was obscured by dirt, oxidation and fading graphics?

2.  Life of vehicle – there wasn’t one person surveyed who didn’t believe a truck will last longer.

3.  Cleaning a vehicle more often actually hinders dirt from collecting and is easier to clean ongoing.

4.  Vehicle Inspections -  a dirty truck and a clean truck traveling down a highway, who would be pulled over for an inspection first?  Unanimous decision on this one.

5.  Washing a truck without applying a brush will not totally clean what is required for a “great” image.  Pressure washers also damage electrical and graphics when not operated properly.

6.  Cleaning outside in the parking lot is not allowed?  Unanimous that this practice will be banned in the future as the sewer drains go directly to the streams and rivers (ultimately the lakes and oceans).  Can’t be good for the environment.

7.   Public washes are not cost effective for large fleets.  Too much time and money to travel back and forth with an inconsistent result.

8.  Rain water does not actually remove grease, oil, gasoline or oxidation.  In fact without soap and a brush cleaning, the streaks and rusting causes irrevocable damage resulting in leaks and failure of hardware.

9.  Employees are much more satisfied with their work driving a clean truck.  Both customers and drivers image is heightened with a clean, shiny truck arriving to their business.

So why do so many vehicles not get washed in today’s world?  Simply put, the consensus is cost.  Today’s economic times require budgetary restraints.  First item to go in the maintenance world is washing.

Take for example a truck company with 1,000 trailers to wash.  Simply put, if they were to wash once a month at a public wash for $40.00, the cost of maintaining a clean fleet would be $40,000/month ($500,000 a year).  This is an example of a company I met with and why they don’t wash their trailers any longer.  Will they pay in the long run?  There are ways to help this situation with minimal costs and the right attitude.

Today, we need to look for efficient ways to wash and invest for a clean fleet for the many reasons stated, or what is the cost in the future?  Pay now or pay later…you can determine what’s best for your business.

How do you feel about safety in your wash bay?  We have heard many complaints in the world of washing that the number of products available and required in today’s sophisticated world of washing, the hoses and handles are getting out of hand.

Does your wash bay look like the picture above?  Getting more complicated and crowded every day?  If not, would you like your wash bay to have a better sense of today’s chemicals and finishes to really help your vehicle shine?  Most of us do, so Awash Systems is searching the most efficient and economical means to meet all these demands.  Our Technicians and Engineers are listening to you.

Please pass on any other comments as we begin to embark on the challenge of helping the wash bay become a safe working environment, with “green” in mind and efficiencies at the top of the list.

Benefits of the proper soap will loosen up the dirt and grime for the Powerbrush to remove and shine your vehicle.  Too much soap causes a film to build over your paint or graphics, let alone your windows.  This causes a hazing, dull finish when you try to rinse your vehicle.

Benefits of no soap are not understood.  The soap actually cleans the brushes on the Powerbrush as well, so if you don’t use any, you are causing the brushes to accumulate dirt and grit.  This will cause possible scratching and marking on your vehicle as well as premature brush wear.

Here is a picture of a worn brush and a new brush.  If you brushes are wearing out, you will not get a prime wash either.  The ends of the brush that come to a point rather than a feather will cause streaking.

This is a new brush with feathered ends.

This brush is worn as evident of the pointed ends.

As for any tools, the proper maintenance and proper application will result in superior performance.