Mobile car detailing and fleet washing business

Hello all!

I am looking to get into auto detailing and the fleet washing business. I know what they are charging for a full detailing of automobiles (wash, wax, interior cleaning, carpet shampooing) What are the going rates for fleets? Tractors, trailors, busses, straight jobs ect. I currently have a powerwashing business and I am looking to bring it to a new level. I do all residential work right now (houses, decks, Sidewalks, guttercleaning, repairs, installations). I am using cold water pressure washers right now and looking to purchase a hot water unit. Any one know how to price out fleet work?

Dino

Going rates on fleets runs from or anywhere from 6 to 85,more per tractor/trailer,depends on the size of the fleet or fleets.

Do you need to re-a-range your Q'tion?

Yeah, what Bigboy said. Pricing is a black art. I have had fleets where I made a ton of money at $6 a tractor and other sthat I did not make a dime at $50. There are lalways special circumstances that you will have to deal with.

Scott Stone

Thanks for your responses. Could you get into a little more detail about the pricing. Are you guys going in there with a cold water pressure washer, applying soap, scrubbing down by hand, rinsing then drying for $6.00? $85.00 for doing the same as mentioned to tractor trailers? What about applying a wax to the surface? how much extra would that be? Do you recommend a hot water unit to do this work?

I think you mods are lazy

First off I do not do NO scrubbing and skeered of a brush plus I do spray on a wax free.I go in there with my hotwater pressure washer apply my chemicals and charge what is a fair price to me.I do not care what anybody else charges for their wash jobs but I do know what mine is worth and what it takes to stay in business.You'll go out of business trying to wash at another mans pricing,know what it cost you to do a job and charge according.

Hey cat,

You will get a quicker responce if you post in proper forum.

Welcome to the pwn.

I use heat, a good soap and lots of h20 ..... NO BRUSH

Most of the time we up-stream ... If there is h20 available.
If not then we Pre-spray to conserve H20

As far as price................... It varys from job to job ......State to State

How did you come up with your prices to do Houses,Decks,Gutters?

Find out what the going rate is in your area and then go from there.

Fleets can be very demanding at times............It is nothing like doing a house-deck-sidewalk. If you are lucky enough to get a account be prepared to work your hiny off.
In most cases EVERYWEEKEND. Soap is also a very big part of washing and having the proper tools.With 2 hot machines running with 2 guys we can pop out 10 -to - 12 Tractors an hour. It didnt come over night however.

I am about to quote my first fleet wash account. He's a guy I know from high school that ownes a landscaping business. we were talking about our businesses and I mentioned that I was getting into fleet washing. Right away he told me he is looking for someone to wash his fleet that consists of approx. 8-10 vehicles. (dump trucks, enclosed landscape trailers ect.) He told me that he asked a company in the area to give him a price and they said $15.00 per vehicle. Does that sound about right? He wants it done every two weeks because the vehicles are fairly new and wants to keep them that way. He doesn't want the interiors done. Now let me ask you, When you guys do a job, you go to a job site with your own water, apply a detergent (no scrubbing), then rinse. do you dry the surface as well or do you let it air dry? What about if the trucks are really muddy and powerwashing doesn't seem to get it clean enough. Do you charge extra if you have to scrub the trucks?what is the best soap to use? Do you charge extra for wax?Can I get away with using a cold water pressure washer? I know hot water is better, but right now I own 3 cold water units and would like to use them until I save enough money for a hot water unit. I am investing in a ford e350 extended van right now and putting in a 250 gallon tank with a generator. Moneys a little tight right now and I really need to focus on my new van setup.

This is a small fleet so be careful in your pricing,alot of depends on this type account.Will the fleet be easy gotten to and around while washing,will you have to recap the run off,will have to supply your own water,are you sure they will be 8/10 there every other week"usually not".

How big is the dump,is it a sinlge axle,double or tri-axle....if it was me I'd price each to its own,like pickups one price,trailer different price,dump different price and so on.Yes you can clean this type fleet with cold water,you can either prespray,downstream or upstream you chemicals on this type fleet...which ever is faster for you.

Wax does not cost that much per unit,just a few cents and you can apply it in your rinse water which I do at no extra cost.

10 units @ $15.00 is only 150.00

$50.00 for soap + / -
$30.00 for gas + / -
$40.00 for wear + / - ~Best case you make 60-70 bucks

YOu made $20.00 ....................... If money is tight then you need to consider staying away from pressure washing. Unless of course you love working for nothing.
You can wash his fleet with those cold washers- up-down-prespray ( as mentioned by Larry)

That $50 dollar soap must be killer!
$40 for wear? You must be rough on equipment.
$30 on gas? I know fuel is expensive right now but sheesh!

More like $10 soap, $10 gas, $10 wear.

$150-$30= $120

If your doing this by yourself and can knock it out it in one or two hours(which you should be able to) then it would be a good account to start out with. If the dump's were going to be filthy then I would add that in. But 10 enclosed landscape trailers would be easy money.

Depends on how you want to look at your overhead...

Will that $10.00 in gas cover the cost getting to the wash site and back,will the $10.00 cover the cost of tires,brakes,oil change,invoice,pens,rain gear,ect..........depends on how you want to look at your overhead.

Of course overhead is a factor, some of the guys doing huge fleets with crews and big 20' enclosed trailers can't afford to do a fleet like that. But a guy with a van and a cold water unit, who if he wasn't doing this fleet probably would have free time, its a good gig. The overhead is very different among the two.

Fleet Wash

I have a fleet owner in my town that is paying his current wash guy $35 to [puke] "BRUSH WASH" his tractor & trailers. I found this out when I dropped by and gave him my card. The receptionist acted as if they were looking for someone to replace their current washer. I got the impression from our conversation, the owner was not happy with their work. Normally, here the going price for a tractor alone is $40 to $50. That includes Aluma-Bright on wheels and tanks and Engine spray off. I think he may be getting a $35 wash and is unhappy about it! The owner has 150 tractor trailers rigs. Most times only 10 to 15 are in town at a time. Was I wrong to turn down the work from him at that price?? Would I loose higher paying jobs while washing his fleet at near cost?

Ed

Where do you guys get your soap and wax from?

Hi Ed

I know for a fact that fleet owner is paying 15 per truck for a acid wash,the old saying you get what you pay for pissed alot of the drivers off.The tractors that where polished are no longer polished,lol,anyway I wash several of those trucks at 40.The drivers pay me and the company pays the drivers back......hint.....they can get their trucks washed out on the road if they want to.

Cora and Darrell sold their part of the fleet,Darrell owns 4 pete's now and was polishing them out sunday which I washed.The company just bought 50 new KW's,100 new trailers.....as dirty as they let the trucks get before they wash them you know and I know at 15 the other guys isn't making any money.Hang lose the other guys want be washing long at that price.

yep! 30$ for gas (Travel and pressure washer)

50$ for soap ( if you use a good soap - unless you use nothing but the crap you buy at wal-mart)

and when you consider the wear on your trk. and washer you should always figure it to be a bit high. unless you get your parts for free.

Your soap if you break down the cost I think you will see that this is close to being higher then what you think.

(Would I loose higher paying jobs while washing his fleet at near cost?)


You can look at it this way Ed,you know and I know you cann't wash but so many trucks in a days time.Another way of looking is where you wash 10 to 20 trucks at a cheap price you'll only haveta wash 5 to 10 at the normal pricing in your area.

If you think you want to tackle the account at the price he is already paying (15)I'll talk to Sid for you.I think highly of Sid,I think the crew washing for him now is the second crew he has had after the other guy sold out last year.Running back and forth Supply your own water you'd be better off washing the higher dallor trucks.

I think our miscommunication is in the "trailers" being washed. CAT said they were enclosed landscape trailers, not the tractor-trailer type. So thats means, no alum brightening, no two steps, just regular old truck wash soap.

(miscommunication)


Yeah I know,if you'll notice Ed ask another Q'tion and I think I skeered him off for what I knew in his area lol