Has any one been involved in or know of an retail automated truck wash? The automatic would be a touch free model sold by a major manufacturer with a POS with four 100' bays of self service. It is like a normal IBA/Self Service set up only larger to handle trucks.
Retail Automated Truck Wash
- Thread starter rph9168
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Waxman
Super Moderator
Saw one of these at the ICA show in San Antonio.
looked like a big, dual-arm, inverted L style touch free auto.
Maybe go to the show in Orlando and check them out!
looked like a big, dual-arm, inverted L style touch free auto.
Maybe go to the show in Orlando and check them out!
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
Ryko makes both a touch free and a brush truck wash. The touch free is called the "Atlantis" and will wash an entire semi with the trailer. You can even wash equipment (Bull dozers, backhoes, ect..) on a low boy flat bed at the same time as the semi. The Atlantis does require reclaim.
Maybe I should rephrase my question. Has anyone seen or been involved in a retail automatic truck wash operation? I have done some reasearch on the setup and available equipment but cannot find one that is in operation.
Eric H
Well-known member
I don't know if they have locations with autos but check out: www.bluebeacon.com
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
I only know of one truckwash I installed that is open to the public and advertises on a billboard along the freeway. Most of the others are private companies who wash their lease trucks or their own trucks along with some out of company trucks on contract. Right now we only have one touchless in the state and it falls into the last catagory mentioned. Many site are company trucks only and one site only washes trailers. I have installed around 20 of the three brush "R168"s in the past 17 years. It is one of the best machines Ryko ever built and everyone I have installed is still running today. When they used the omron C20 PLC you had to have each truck style wash program burned in the field by a specialist from the factory. The Mitsubishi style that has been built for the past 8 years can be programed by anyone with a regular Ryko hand held. The one site that is open to the public may be willing to talk/share with you since you are out of state.
I believe there is one in Las Vegas, near the interchange of I-15 and Blue Diamond offramp. It's on Dean Martin drive, across from the Flyers truck stop.
I will be in Vegas within about a month and will check it out.
I will be in Vegas within about a month and will check it out.
Rykopro,
How is the one retail location doing?
In doing my research many have cautioned against an automatic friction truck wash for retail use because of damage issues in washing a large variety of truck shapes and sizes in a retail setting creating damage issues. I have seen several commercial set ups and noticed that usually they know a lot about the trucks they are washing and wash only a few different sizes. I am a little gunshy about using one in a retail situation.
How is the one retail location doing?
In doing my research many have cautioned against an automatic friction truck wash for retail use because of damage issues in washing a large variety of truck shapes and sizes in a retail setting creating damage issues. I have seen several commercial set ups and noticed that usually they know a lot about the trucks they are washing and wash only a few different sizes. I am a little gunshy about using one in a retail situation.
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
He does very well and that is why he has declined having our salesman bringing potential customers by to check out his operation. He does not want local operators using his ideas. The R168 needs to have someone start the wash by pressing a preprogrammed button. He has a couple guys to prep the wheels and hard to reach places while the wash is going over the trailer. They also do hand detail/pressure washing in the next bay. The whole operation is done in one building with no dividing walls. I originally installed the wash using 18' aluminum columns (supplied by Ryko) to support the tag line since the wash does not have walls close enough to the wash. He later had someone make brackets to hang the tagline from the ceiling to keep the guys from getting their hoses tangled in the columns. The wash uses amp sensing on the top brush to follow the different truck combinations. All the bottons are programable and specify the combo: cab over, conventional, conventional with sleeper, daycab, box truck, trailer only, just to name a few. The top brush sensor is then allowed to control the rest of the washing based on the program selected. This designed has changed very little in the past 20 years. The few upgrades that have been incorporated over the years, have only made it work even better. If you have not noticed, it is one of my favorite machines.
RykoPro
Technician/Manager
We did install one of these before I came on board. It was also in a retail location. During the time we were still working on it, the wash required ALLOT of maintenance. I think this was an early version so they may have straightened some of this out by now, but it was so bad Belanger had to make special arraignments with the distributor and the owner to cover all the warranty issues. One thing I remember is it liked to break very hard to replace hoses (always took two guys on a manlift).
To be fair, the Ryko touchless (Atlantis) does require more maintenance than the R168. The one Atlantis we do have is being repaired by the owner himself with little help from us. He has done all the preventive maintenance himself for the past 8 years and only relies on us for parts and the occasional electrical troubleshooting help.
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Chuck Ivey
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About 1990 we installed two truck wash machines in a two bay building. One was friction and the other was an EARLY touchfree. The owners had a crew to prep the trucks and trailers in both bays. Since this was an early touchfree the chemicals weren't what they are today. Both machines got to be labor intensive. The friction machine wouldn't handle the contors of conventional tractors and the touchfree just didn't clean. The wash was located right next to a large truck stop. Now the building is all closed up. I'm not sure if the machines are still inside or not.
I think if retail truck washes worked you wouldn't have to be asking about them.
Footnote: The salesman brought a prospective customer in to see the wash before it was programmed. Yup, pulled the mirrors off and caved in both doors of the tractor.
They didn't buy one!! Trust me, it wasn't the machine's fault.
I think if retail truck washes worked you wouldn't have to be asking about them.
Footnote: The salesman brought a prospective customer in to see the wash before it was programmed. Yup, pulled the mirrors off and caved in both doors of the tractor.
They didn't buy one!! Trust me, it wasn't the machine's fault.
What we are looking at is a touch free truck IBA with 4 bays of self service truck bays. If the touch free does a decent job I think it could work in the location we are looking at. It is very visible with good ingress and egress. It is right off a busy off ramp from an interstate and on a highway that has a great deal of truck and RV traffic. There are several trucking companies in the area as well as a very large rail yard that loads off trailer containers. We are working on developing truck traffic counts and a pro forma to further examine the the feasibility. I believe there would have to be a lot of fleet selling to make it go so we may even survey some of the surrounding businesses with fleets as well as the trucking companies to find if there is any interest to use the facility if built. Without local business it would be difficult to turn a decent profit.
It is an ambitious project. At this point it might be one of a kind.
It is an ambitious project. At this point it might be one of a kind.
jshepard
New member
rph9168
Contact me if you would like; I designed & built one from the ground up.
Contact me if you would like; I designed & built one from the ground up.
Located 64 and 421, called the Wet Spot. It had troubles from the very start. Did not clean well. It was designed for a fleet operation and the owner thought he could do with an unattended operation and an ACW. It was history within a year or really doomed from the very start. The biggest attraction was the name and girls wanting pictures taken under the hugh sign.
