Move it or Lose it.

Bridget

New Member
We are talking to a customer who wants us to wash another one of their locations. This location's wash day is on a day that no drivers are on shift.

The washer will be responsible for moving the step trucks from the warehouse, outside and then back again. The fleet is small (less than a dozen). They have another proposal that includes the moving of the units. We either move em' or lose em'.

We have accounts where we have occasionally moved their trucks, but as a whole our accounts don't require the trucks to be moved.

There is also the issue of Garage Keepers insurance, do many of you have it?

We have a couple washers who have their CDL and would be qualified to move them. That qualification along with the time and effort that goes into staging these trucks will definitely play a role in the pricing of this locations wash.

I am interested in knowing how you handle the issue of moving your customers trucks.

Thanks




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Bridget
United Mobile Power Wash
Our Power Is In Our
Performance
WWW.WeWashTrucks.com
 

Dan S

New Member
hey Bridget if you can move it -------well girl move it
it only takes a min or so and if your helpers already know how "to drive" let 'em play truck driver.....

on one of my accounts i have the key's to all the trk's
(0ne key fit's all) i dont get the chance to play "driver" much but when i do i really play the part
i lay on the ole air horn ......grab the cb and the hole 9 yards.....i even scratch my butt when i jump down.....i guess that"s the "driver in me comming out.

so if to re-pete your answer........move it or lose it.
MOVE IT GIRL MOVE IT.......
OR
YES YOU WILL LOSE IT..........

this is just my answer of-coarse.......
I cant waite till BIG BOY reads this.....he wishes he could drive like me.....poor sap he only cleans 'em..and can never climb out scratching his rear end...........but then again maybe he is always scratching his rear>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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Washing a truck can be challenging.Every truck in a fleet may require different treatment.Adapt the washing process to the challenges that you are dealing with.
 
J

Jim&Shirley

Guest
We would have them sign a release of Responsibilty or buy the garage insurance and then increase price to cover it. We know it does take time to move the trucks around. We have to do it all the time. Especially out of a ware house. We have found that the trucks are really tight in there and hard to get back in. We used to have to do this for RPS now FedEx Ground. We do have the keys to some of the trucks we wash, but we know the owners and have the agreement that we are not responsible. We have been knowing and doing work for these guys for 15 to 20 years and accidents will happen but we are not responsible. The same thing goes if we happen to fall off one of their trucks, their not responsible. We have had our share of accidents (not wrecking them)with breaking little things(today a mirror poped off while washing the other day slipped off top of motor and broke plastic piece that hold brain box and a couple of months ago stepped on bumper that was not reinforced and cracked it) We owned up to the accidents and the owners have always said not a problem and for us not to worry about it. They know that if we have to fix it or file a claim on our insurance then our prices will go way up. Or we just won't clean the tops. Just CYA always.

Sorry for the long post, sometimes I ramble on when I have been there and done that.

Shirley & Jim

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Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT COLOR="DarkGreen">HI Bridget

I do not have to move but do know of some p/w's that do and what they have told me.
On some they charge nothing just to get the account and some they charge 1.00 to move which they said is not enough to cover cost.As Shirley stated they also say its tigth getting them back in,, and in some cases the trucks will have damage then they put them in there for the night but they will think you done it when pulling out to wash.
The reason I'm posting is "not responsibilty",,they too had this agreement but one of the empolyees was moving one to a wash location which was a few miles down the hwy and he ran over a guy fixing a fat on the side of the road which killed him.The employee did not have CDL's,,,so their agreement wasn't not worth to much,,,,they have employee's with CDL's but it was one of those days when everybody was in a hurry.
We're responsible for everything we do when it gets down to the courts b/c your picking and chosing your responsidilty,,it needs to be on your business cards,on the side of your eqt or truck as to be not responsible but if it goes for enough in the courts its not enough to keep you out of trouble.

If you want the accounts get the garage keepers inc.,you'll sleep better at night or day.

For pricing ????,they say on some it takes longer to move the step trucks when it takes to wash them b/c they are in there tight and you have to do alot of twisting and turning to get them out and in.One location they do they can only get one out a time to wash b/c of space.Sorry cann't help on pricing for moving trucks.
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Hey Dan,I'm a good enuff driver with the big rigs I know what to do with the bottle when full
laughing.gif
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<FONT COLOR="orangeRed"><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">When answering Post If It Sounds As tho I'm Holding A Match To Ya "Fear Not" Its Only Lit On One End.</FONT c></FONT f><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT COLOR="Fuchsia">I'm No Doctor The Pill I Subscride Is For Me Only.They May Make You Jump Up and Down Or Crawl All Over The Ground.</FONT c></FONT f><FONT face="comic sans MS"><FONT COLOR="blue">Will Try To Help Sail Your Ship Even Tho Rocket Fuel Is The Tip.</FONT c></FONT f>

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L

Layman's P/W

Guest
Bridget,

I wash twenty trucks that have to be pulled out of the building one at a time, at first it was time consuming but after getting a little experience its a breeze. I can wash these trucks alone in about three hours.I don't have special insurance not to say it's not needed. Hope this helps.

Daren

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Mike Hughes

New Member
In my opinion, for only 12 trucks, I say LOSE IT. Why bother? It will make you too dependent on those employees that have their CDL's.

Make a couple more cold calls and find a different job that doesnt require you to get new insurance and have the added liability. Not worth it.

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Mike Hughes
Everclear
Souderton, PA
 

Dan S

New Member
well Mike you kinda sorta have a point&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

but&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

food for thought here.......on one of my accounts they only started out with 10 trks now they have 30.....and im still washing 'em.....and i believe there is @ least 3-4 more new ones ordered.........

i dont have my cdl nor do they require it at least where im at.....
i do have the ability to say hey guys i need one of your driver's here to move these things around ...and they will find somebody to work w/me..but i dont if i need one moved i hop in it and go .......10-4!! back door..............
but like anything else it is always dif. else where.

o- and by the way i have no special ins. for this....dont see a need for it but if you are uncomvertable without it by all means buy some.......

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YES I BELIEVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Scott Stone

New Member
I carry Garage Keepers. I am also glad that I do. I have one account that I have to move tractors at, and it is a royal pain in the gluteus maximus. I have even used my garage keepers. I backed into another trctor one day and did some pretty good damage to the tractor next to it. By the way, I do have a valid CDL, and also had a million plus miles in a semi without an accident. It can happen to anyone at anytime.
I have another acount that I used to move trucks at, and I had garage keepers then, as well. I never damaged any of their trucks in the three years that I moved them there. I hated that account. It turns out though that I have about $120,000 a year in additional business because of that account, because the fleet manager was willing to recommend us to someone else.
I guess that what you need to look at, is the cost benefit thing. Decide if the cost of the garage keepers and the hassle of moving the trucks is worth the effort and time taken for themoeny you are going to make. For me, I don't think that at this stage that 12 step vans would be worth it to me. However, if there were more posible vans in the picture, the benefit of it would increase dramatically and make it worth while for a smaller account like that.

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Any statement that I make about equipment, processes or your hair color is my own personal opinion. I usually base it on personal experience. If you disagree with me you are free to reply on both the BBS and by e-mail. If I am totally off base please explain why on the BBS so that we may all know why;)
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Bridget

New Member
I am going to check with our insurance rep to see what the costs are for Garage Keepers. The points that have been made regarding this insurance are good ones. It's good to have it, if it pays to keep it.

As for the CDL, these washers have them because of their previous profession or their day job. If I am not mistaken, as long as you don't drive the units off the property you don't need it to jump on in and take it for a spin.

P.S.
Hey...Bigboy, your kinda cute when you type your responses the way you did on this one.
wink.gif



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Bridget
United Mobile Power Wash
Our Power Is In Our
Performance
WWW.WeWashTrucks.com
 

Dave Olson

New Member
Hi Bridget,

Most of our fleet accounts are small. We have one with step vans (Bread Trucks). Years ago we had too take the units outside because they did not have floor drains inside the building. They moved to another location with drains. Now we do not move them unless they are real close together. We masked off any electrical on the walls.

We have Garage Keepers insurance. Keep in mind you do not need to get coverage to replace the vehicle. Any damage that you might do would probably be just small stuff and your liability insurance would cover anything major. You are right about the CDL. If you do not leave the customers property your people do not need to have a CDL.

We had another account that we had to drop and hook all of the trailers, sometimes move other equipment away from our wash area. We also were containing the waste water and putting it in the sanitary sewer. We charged this account an additional 30% to do all of this extra work.

Dave Olson

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Tidy Powerwash Service, Inc. P.O. Box 781, Catlin, Illinois 61817 Phone 217-427-5557, Fax 217-427-2632 We are a commercial cleaning contractor serving East-Central Illinois and West Central Indiana since 1984. http://www.tps-inc.com/preswash.htm
 
J

Jim&Shirley

Guest
No its not to bad having to move them out!!!!
The Trick is Putting them back in, and this does take time,if your trying to be carful not to tear anything up in the Process, done this for 3yrs at Rps-Fed-Ex ground VANS AND BOB Trucks, also drove a Swicher. and long haul Trucker for another company.


JIM & SHIRLEY


[This message has been edited by Jim&Shirley (edited March 19, 2001).]
 

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