ice and snow removal during prepping at EE

[BBE]

What does everyone find as an acceptable level of snow and ice left on a vehicle and in the wheel wells when operating an EE with prep guys? I know many operators will put signs out that say we do not remove ice/snow etc.. How does this usually go over? How hard is it to convert customers who are accustomed to having it done every time? What do you say to them to try and explain why you do not remove all of the ice/snow from their vehicle? Any input on this would be great. Our unlimited wash program has increased our volume to a point where we can't spend 5 plus minutes on every vehicle jabbing the wand into the wheel wells and getting every piece of ice out, also these people will come back every single day looking exactly the same caked with ice and snow because they can wash as often as they want.

Also, to some degree I feel as if it hurts our self serve business a little bit as well. The vehicles that have mounds and mounds of ice and snow up in the wheel wells really belong in a self serve bay where the customer can spend the necessary time required to remove all of it. But why would they do that when they can come in the EE and pay a few bucks and have every piece of ice and snow removed for them??

 

[Earl Weiss]

It is difficult to re train customers. Anything other than nominal removal that doens't slow theprocess is too much The sign says "Car Wash" not "snow removal / de icer."

 

[Robert2181]

I agree with Earl. We don't slow the line down.

 

[robert roman]

“I know many operators will put signs out that say we do not remove ice/snow etc. How does this usually go over?”

If this was said to customers when I was washing cars for a living, we would have gone out of business.

“Our unlimited wash program has increased our volume to a point where we can't spend 5 plus minutes on every vehicle jabbing the wand into the wheel wells and getting every piece of ice out, also these people will come back every single day looking exactly the same caked with ice and snow because they can wash as often as they want.”

And you should expect nothing less because that is exactly what you sold them – unlimited washing, wash all you want, whenever we are open.

Maybe you should rename the program “unlimited washing up to a point.”

Sort of like a limited lifetime warranty.

When I was washing cars as a lad, ensuring the wheel wells of every car were clean was an SOP, every day, even on high volume days (600 to 700 cars).

You could also do the same. It just takes labor.

However, exterior express business model has no provision for this (or love bugs, etc.) - self-prep area, stay-in-car, self-serve vacuum, two people per shift, two 7-hour shifts.

If you want to clean wheel wells without slowing process down, you need more people.

That’s competitive advantage of full-service and flex-serve. There are people available to provide assisted-services.

You don’t have to say, no.

 

[Earl Weiss]

.

When I was washing cars as a lad, ensuring the wheel wells of every car were clean was an SOP, every day, even on high volume days (600 to 700 cars).

.

You mean like when the signs were written in hieroglyphics, and Fred and Wilma Flintstone were washing we should do the same?

 

[BBE]

“I know many operators will put signs out that say we do not remove ice/snow etc. How does this usually go over?”

If this was said to customers when I was washing cars for a living, we would have gone out of business.

“Our unlimited wash program has increased our volume to a point where we can't spend 5 plus minutes on every vehicle jabbing the wand into the wheel wells and getting every piece of ice out, also these people will come back every single day looking exactly the same caked with ice and snow because they can wash as often as they want.”

And you should expect nothing less because that is exactly what you sold them – unlimited washing, wash all you want, whenever we are open.

Maybe you should rename the program “unlimited washing up to a point.”

Sort of like a limited lifetime warranty.

When I was washing cars as a lad, ensuring the wheel wells of every car were clean was an SOP, every day, even on high volume days (600 to 700 cars).

You could also do the same. It just takes labor.

However, exterior express business model has no provision for this (or love bugs, etc.) - self-prep area, stay-in-car, self-serve vacuum, two people per shift, two 7-hour shifts.

If you want to clean wheel wells without slowing process down, you need more people.

That’s competitive advantage of full-service and flex-serve. There are people available to provide assisted-services.

You don’t have to say, no.

Your experience as a lad was in florida though no? Not Michigan. More people and more labor is not the solution that it sounds like it should be. It doesn't matter how many people you have washing a car, when you have ice build up in 10 degree weather on a carpeted wheel well it takes TIME to melt it with hot water and get it off. It's the same amount of TIME required whether I have 2 guys or 10 guys on staff. More guys don't melt ice faster...

 

[MEP001]

Robert has a point, but not the one in which adding labor and increasing your cost to combat a problem that's already increasing your cost/reducing your throughput, but in adding a disclaimer to the unlimited wash that it only covers cleaning the car and not removing snow and ice buildup.

 

[Washmee]

We are a car wash not a snow removal service. I would say 99% of our customers understand this(even the monthly's) so it is not a problem here in NE Ohio. Robert, please stick to offering advice on topics where you have some expertise. No amount of "extra people" is going to offset the basic physics of extreme cold and large amounts of caked ice.

 

[Robert2181]

Once in a while, we may have a someone question It. It's in the same group that ask if their locks will freeze.(10 degrees+wind chill)

 

[robert roman]

“Your experience as a lad was in florida though no? Not Michigan.”

No, it was western PA, near Pittsburgh.

My first job in carwash was removing chain hooks and hauling them in a wheel barrow from exit end of tunnel to start line.

I don’t remember muddy iced up wheel wells being that much of challenge because we used steam jenny.

In Georgia, I had to deal with frozen red clay in wheel wells, prep gun only. 700 cars a day, we cleaned every one, no extra charge, except for 4 X 4’s (hand wash).

It took two people.

If it’s that extreme (10 degree) and caked ice doesn’t come off in reasonable time, so be it.

That’s the point. You tried instead of just saying no.

I also understand it’s not practical and may be inadvisable to force caked ice from certain makes and models.

Of course, if customer wants something bad enough, give it to them, but charge them extra for the extra work.

How many express have monetized conveyor attendant function?

If you monetize it, you would have the people to remove ice and a lot more.

 

[Washmee]

Try cleaning off 75 of these an hour with 2 guys. You have 50 seconds each.

 

[Earl Weiss]

. It's in the same group that ask if their locks will freeze.(10 degrees+wind chill)

What is you response? Mine is "When was the last time you used a key to open your lock?" Luv the expression on their face when they realize the answer.

 

[Earl Weiss]

“Your experience as a lad was in florida though no? Not Michigan.”

No, it was western PA, near Pittsburgh.

My first job in carwash was removing chain hooks and hauling them in a wheel barrow from exit end of tunnel to start line.

I don’t remember muddy iced up wheel wells being that much of challenge because we used steam jenny.

I

Right, had to get the ice out of the wheel well / frame in order to access the point to hook up the chain.

Steam machines were great but a maintenance PITA as well as potential safety issues.

 

[BBE]

Try cleaning off 75 of these an hour with 2 guys. You have 50 seconds each.

This is exactly what all of our customers look like too

 

[hkim310]

We also do not slow down the line at all for ice/snow removal. Most of our customers expectations are in line with ours in that they expect the vehicle to be clean, not necessarily free of ice/snow. We do have a few customers just like every other operator that question why ice/snow was not removed. We politely inform them that the car wash is intended to clean a vehicle, not remove ice/snow. I would not recommend adding labor or a service to remove ice/snow within your tunnel which would in any way slow down the line speed.

 

[BBE]

Here's a picture of one sitting in our prep area of the tunnel this morning. When there was still snow left on the top of the vehicle he actually came back around and wanted us to send it back through again because there was still snow on the top. After I explained to him that this is beyond what we do at a carwash and that he should pull into one of our self serve bays to remove it he asked if he could just pull it back in the prep area and have us just spray it off and he would back out when we were done. I politely declined

 

[Earl Weiss]

I will run the thru a second time but not a third.

 

[washnshine]

Here's a picture of one sitting in our prep area of the tunnel this morning. When there was still snow left on the top of the vehicle he actually came back around and wanted us to send it back through again because there was still snow on the top. After I explained to him that this is beyond what we do at a carwash and that he should pull into one of our self serve bays to remove it he asked if he could just pull it back in the prep area and have us just spray it off and he would back out when we were done. I politely declined

I'd tell him to look at the way he cleared his hood, windshield and side window. He obviously did that for a reason, and that is how any vehicle should be cleared - if not for his own safety, than for the safety of others. Show some consideration to your fellow motorists.

 

[JimmyJaffa]

We do not remove any snow at all of our sites in Jacksonville, no one ever has complained about that yet.

 

[jfmoran]

Thanks, but no thanks

That car wouldn't even make it into our tunnel. As stated above we are in he car washing business, not in the ice and snow removal business. We turn away any customer that does not have what we consider an acceptable level of snow or ice on their car. We do zero prepping. You can't wash 140+ cars/hour removing snow and ice from customers cars.

Here's a picture of one sitting in our prep area of the tunnel this morning. When there was still snow left on the top of the vehicle he actually came back around and wanted us to send it back through again because there was still snow on the top. After I explained to him that this is beyond what we do at a carwash and that he should pull into one of our self serve bays to remove it he asked if he could just pull it back in the prep area and have us just spray it off and he would back out when we were done. I politely declined