Truck wash pricing

[wash4me]

So, I think I'm going to convert a bay to a truck wash. How much per minute should I charge? I was thinking $1 per minute with 5 gpm at 1200 pounds and hotter water.

 

[Waxman]

There have been several discussions on this. Most operators who have implemented this idea said that any extra revenue generated by trucks was far outweighed by messes to clean up (grease etc).

'd stay away from a truck bay and instead make a 'super bay' for cars/light trucks with more psi, hotter water etc. maybe one of those new undercarriage washers and/or blowers for drying? Just my opinion, though. good luck!

 

[MEP001]

The truckers care less about what it costs (or how clean the bay is kept) than how well it works. You will definitely have a lot of mess from them in grease and mud/dirt, but they routinely spend $50 or more to wash. Three or four trucks a day in just one bay will make some nice income, and once they spread the word where there's a truck bay you'll probably have them lining up.

You'd do well to build the bay where the mud can be cleaned up easily from the floor and the pit.

 

[robert roman]

Near Bakken Shale deposit truckers are charged a $1.00 a minute to clean at self-service facility. Some spend as much as $200 to clean a rig.

Generally speaking, commercial truck wash facilities are usually few and far between.

So, if you happen to be located near transportation hub or have fleet operators nearby, truck washing (heavy duty vehicles) could be more profitable business than spray bay.

 

[Waxman]

Then you'd definitely want to outfit the bay with credit card swiper!

 

[6t7gto]

I'm considering converting my auto bay to a truck bay. Lots of big truck traffic in my area and the new washes built around me has dropped my auto bay sales to almost nothing. I have a tired hydro-spray and am wondering if I could use the same hydro-spray pump assembly for the truck bay. Instead of a Cat 310 like my other bays. Or is the hydo-spray overkill and too expensive to run for a SS truck bay?
I'm guessing it shouldn't be to hard to wire in a bay meter box to the hydro-spray assembly. Correct?
thanks,
david

 

[Reds]

I am in the heart of the Marcellus shale. My self serve bays are at $3 for 4 minutes and I am going to change that to $3 for 3 minutes, possibly $5 for 5 minutes. I can tell you this much - the volume of mud is horrendous. I use a tractor with loader to shovel the mud out of my bays. It is not unusual to get 100 gallons of thick mud in a day. I have seen mud 6" deep humped up around my grate. But the gas guys spend at least $20 washing their pickup trucks. And a lot of times they come in groups of 3 or 4 pickup trucks. More to wash the water trucks. The only problem I have had is the occasional one who washes heavy oil off in my bays. I caught one on video and had the company pump out my pit and they fired the driver. It's a lot of work but my s.s. sales are way up. Overall they are gentlemen who treat my wash with respect and some of them even wash any mud off the walls. The pipeliners were the nicest to deal with out of all of them. They also use my IBA's a lot.

 

[Mel(NC)]

I had an uncovered truck bay at my SS wash when I first bought it. The income was good but truckers would blow grease all across the parking lot. The truck bay was between the change machine and the vacs and customers would step in the grease and get it all over the carpet in their vehicles. I shut it down because it was just not worth the headache to me. I suppose it would not be as bad if you could isolate the truck bay.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I inherited a truck bay when I bought out my dad's partner back in 1985. After about a decade a cleaning up ten times the mess for a fraction of the money, I came up with the perfect placement for a truck bay...AT SOMEONE ELSE'S WASH! A bay for trucks is a huge mistake and I wouldn't have another one stuck up my "you know what" even if it felt good. I have never regretted for one minute, getting rid of that mess magnet...good riddance!