School Busses

Bridget

New Member
Hi Everyone,

We're being asked to bid on washing a large fleet of school busses. They are looking for an exterior wash and an inside detail cleaning. Bidding the job itself isn't a problem. I am curious if any of you take into consideration the hot tempatures that you would contend with since they want the job done now.

I know many of you in the Southern States are used to working in 90+ degree weather. But for us "4 Seasoners" these busses are Africa HOT inside. :burn:

As I went inside a few of them today...I'm not so sure anyone could pay me enough to spend a day inside these ovens.

Any suggestions?

p.s. Hey Gordon...whatcha think...wanna work with us on this one. :D
 

Mark

Moderator / Sponsor
Ask if they will move the buses to an area with a canopy ? Try running fans in the buses also. At least if you keep the air moving it will not be as bad.

Good Luck!

Keep Cool:D
 

Scott Stone

New Member
It depends on how large a fleet it is to make this worthwhile. How about a small Air conditioning unit that you can use a flexible duct to cool them off. It will not kill all of the heat, but it will make it tolerable.
 

Bridget

New Member
There is approx 77 busses. The last time they had a wash crew on-site they had 3 bus drivers pulling the busses around for the washers. They have stated that they do not wish to go that route again. (I will inquire further as to why not...we only had a few minutes with them today)

There is a "wash area" behind the garage, where it appeared to be pretty shady today. That would require the busses to be moved.

I believe there would be outlets inside the garage that we could use to plug in some fans. Thats an idea that I hadn't considered.

Bridget
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
<b><font color=green>If you have to move them why not leave the AC on while washing,after washed move it to the detail area.
If you wash and detail the same bus before you park it,it shouldn't hurt their fuel bill by leaving the AC on.

The only thing I would be afraid of is the electic cords around alot of water if useing fans or small AC unit.I think if I went with the fan I would have it pulling the air out instead of pushing air in as to blow dust around.For the inside detailing check out the mico-towels for dusting and windows to speed the work inside.I've seen guys use blowers like the ones you blow the grass off sidewalks to blow out all the trash inside.With all the right tools it shouldn't take that long inside,,,,,,,drink alot of water or gatoraid to keep that sweat going,,,I figure'ing they are just wanting a wipe down and not a true detail inside.You may need to check with one of the detailing bbs as to speed the work inside.</b></f>
 

ron

New Member
Is the wash area well lit. Think about running a night crew. Also money fixes everthing Charge more,pay more. They dont want to move the buses because they dont want to pay there drivers to do it. One other thing there are a lot of cleaning services out there, sub out the interior work[pass the buck on the problem and still have a happy customer].
heres a good idea for you to make even more money[im just starting out and am ambitious as hell] put a water meter on the closest fire hydrent, set up a water curtain on either side of the bus, 2 guys driving ,2 guys washing [they stay in one spot while the driver slowly drives by] then they slowly drive by the water curtian as the rinse] basicly a portable drive thru bus wash
im working on a idea of a hollow plastic base [water fillable] to hold the rinse nozzles and a tree of 45 deg nozzles plumbed with pvc pipe I wish there was a place on this site for creative thinking on new ideas. i bet i could wash a bus in 5 min this way, maybe faster if i had 3 drivers and i would'nt waste a drop of soap. Shoot i could hook up 2 sets of water curtians one for rinse and one for wax once a month and id have that customer for life :)
 

ron

New Member
Wow just as i was thinking about the nozzle rinse tower it came to me! Im going to use the portable basketball towers. i see them in the garbage all the time, plastic,light weight,tall. Some pipe, nozzles,hose clamps,and a shut off ....
 

Bridget

New Member
Interesting you should mention that. That 'wash area" in fact is a wash area with a semi portable wash machine that looked as tho it went around the bus.

As for moving the busses, I am under the impression that they want them washed where they sit. Not so sure I want to get into moving them....the parking lot is rather small and they were parked pretty close. But they may change their mind after I have an opportunity to discuss it with them.

Bridget
 

Scott Stone

New Member
Moving the buses will be a pain. It always takes a lot more time than you anticipate. I have an account that I used to wash the trucks where they sit and have had to move them to wash them. It takes an extra guy and they take nearly twice as long, or half the productivity to move the trucks around. What really stinks is that I am the only one that has a CDL and any experience, so I have to be there.

As for the interiors, Bigboy is right. Micro fiber towels are the way to go. They are expensive and you will want to keep close track of them, but they save a ton of work on dusting jobs like this. A website at WWW.Autoint.com is having a pretty good special on them right now. Another thing that you can do is using quik detailer on the inside as a lubricant. It will work on the windows, walls and vinyl and make it look really shiney inside. You can buy the stuff by the gallon, and it is not Super expensive.

The reality of the situation is that your guys are probably not going to spend more than 10 minutes in a bus, and probably closer to 5. It would not be real efficient to have to move Fans around. I would just give them wet towels, and have them soak themselves down. Also you could get them a bandana and have them put it around their neck, wet. It will help to keep them a lot cooler. We can also get a bandana that you can soak in cold water that has beads that expand in it. They will stay cool for 2 or three hours. You just tie them around you neck and it cols down the blood as it flows to your head. It works really well.
 

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