Cost of starting a drive through truck wash?

[georgecarwashington]

How much do the drive through systems cost? I already own the land and a building that should fit at least two systems.

 

[MEP001]

If you know enough that you know how many systems you have room for, how do you not have a rough cost? What information do you have so far? What sort of system are you looking at? You say "drive through systems," is this a fully automatic machine?

 

[Randy]

The last truck wash I was involved in came in at a little less that 1.4 million, that's when they decided to not go ahead with the project.

 

[Greg_T]

The last truck wash I was involved in came in at a little less that 1.4 million, that's when they decided to not go ahead with the project.

I can understand why.

 

[water guy]

Just checking if there is any company's that sell this equipment.

 

[Randy]

Just checking if there is any company's that sell this equipment.

There are a number of companies that sell truck washing equipment. These are just a couple
https://www.rossandwhite.com/truck-wash-systems/

Semi Truck Wash Systems

Semi-truck wash systems consisting of brush, touchless and combination options for guaranteed quality and cost-efficient cleaning for your fleet.

www.whitingsystems.com

 

[schnapdragron]

Take a look at the D&S iQ Max too

 

[water guy]

Looking at Whitting Equipment inquired about it .no response

 

[soonermajic]

I saw one on Carwashconsignment a while back. Think it was Belanger...

 

[opendorz]

Consider the IQ MAX Automatic Truck Wash System from D&S. Will wash any size vehicle in 15 minutes with no attendees necessary. https://dscarwash.com/iq-max-truck-wash/

 

[Blanco]

Had one. Not a IQ but a touchless truck wash. Dont waste time or money. A touchless will not clean the filth off of semis that haven't been washed in a month and carry road grime from several differant states and SOILS. Those guys go to the big truck stops that have 10 people that clean the rig with brushes in a half hour and it always looks good.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Had one. Not a IQ but a touchless truck wash. Dont waste time or money. A touchless will not clean the filth off of semis that haven't been washed in a month and carry road grime from several differant states and SOILS. Those guys go to the big truck stops that have 10 people that clean the rig with brushes in a half hour and it always looks good.

THIS

Truck washing is a thing and it's usually pros with way better equipment than you'd have washing trucks and fleets of trucks on site.

You're usually talking 30-50hp trailers with 10gpm pumps with a boiler putting out 200* water.

They're also likely using hydroflouric acid in mass quantities.

 

[opendorz]

Had one. Not a IQ but a touchless truck wash. Dont waste time or money. A touchless will not clean the filth off of semis that haven't been washed in a month and carry road grime from several differant states and SOILS. Those guys go to the big truck stops that have 10 people that clean the rig with brushes in a half hour and it always looks good.

The IQ and IQ MAX clean better than any other touch free system. Period. If the touchless truck wash you had was the typical drive through type, with one or two stationary arches, then yes, inferior wash. IQ MAX is a roll over with a 3D pre-wash scan of the vehicle that directs every wand and nozzle along every contour for a precision wash. In 2025, over 40 commercial truck washes will have installed an IQ MAX in just its second year on the market. No, it will not polish chrome and dress tires like a manual wash, but that labor intensive model is a dinosaur. Impossible to staff, cost prohibitive and grossly inefficient. Not ten guys, but five, not half hour but 90 minutes after a two hour wait, not $65 price but $150.

 

[CheetahExpress]

I was considering a truck/RV wash on the extra property we have on our site and my distributor actually talked me out of it. He said he'd love to sell me one, but the truck washes create such a huge amount of filth and grime in the bay that you need an attendant constantly on site to clean the bays. In addition, they have so many intricate attachments and wires on them that they are always getting damaged and the trucking companies love to file file claims. He said he had a customer who opened one and shut it down in a year.

 

[Waxman]

yes I tend to agree with these posts about the difficulty of truck washing for many reasons. I detailed big rigs on and off for years and I was never so happy to be out of a certain line of work as when I quit doing big rigs, campers, boats, etc. Anything specialized like that is way too costly and time-consuming to make any real money doing in my opinion. Let the niche operators handle these tough jobs. I'll keep running my little razor and detailing a few cars and selling some usedcars thank you very much.

 

[Blanco]

I was considering a truck/RV wash on the extra property we have on our site and my distributor actually talked me out of it. He said he'd love to sell me one, but the truck washes create such a huge amount of filth and grime in the bay that you need an attendant constantly on site to clean the bays. In addition, they have so many intricate attachments and wires on them that they are always getting damaged and the trucking companies love to file file claims. He said he had a customer who opened one and shut it down in a year.

Your distributor is honest and knows his stuff. I have a self serve location that has 14ft tall bays. I put clearance bars on 3 of the 5 bays limiting them to 8ft. The two bays that the trucks use are always covered in grime and grease. Every year I repaint all 5 bays but the two truck bays are always in way worst shape by far.

 

[Blanco]

The IQ and IQ MAX clean better than any other touch free system. Period.

Really? That’s a pretty big statement right there.

 

[water guy]

This particular truck wash would be going into An Electrical Coop where there is Bucket Trucks Etc.