School Bus Fleet Pricing

BrianD

New Member
I just got a request to provide pricing for weekly cleaning of a school bus fleet. There are 70 buses in the fleet. I have never done fleets before and do not know how to figure what pricing is fair. Can anybody give me some guidance on the best method, how long it should take per bus, and what to charge? Because of the circumstances, I believe that I have a pretty good shot at getting this work, so any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.........Brian
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
I recken all school buses look the same huh???

Is this going to be a one man team? or 2 or 3 helper?

Are you going to haveta recap the water?

Are they suppling the water?

How offen are washed?,every week,weeky two weeks?

All this will have a bearing on pricing.
 

flimmy

New Member
he says weekly.

Lets say 1 man with there water w/o recaping .

Thanks I'm still learning myself
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
OK,less say in learning.

They will be a few depends,like will you wash one and they move it for you to wash another one or will they be lined up where you can wash without moving any of them.And your gpm will be a big factor in the time it takes to wash one.Time wise with a 5 gpm I think 20min per bus but lets say 15min each,thats 4 per hour,10 hours equal 40 buses.If you need to make 100 dallors per hour to stay in business in your area it would work out to be 25 per bus.In real life fleet washing some would bid anywhere from 8/30 per bus b/c of their speed in gpm and employee's.Not knowing the pricing in your area it would hard to give a fair price from another state and city.My bid would run 15/20 per bus if no moving of bus,that would be either weekly or every two weeks.If done monthly it would depend on the cleaness of the bus,some still travel down gravel roads as to be dusty or mud-e.A one man team has to be carefull in his pricing to stay in business,some newbee's price themselfs out of business in fleetwashing.If you how never washed a over the road tractor it may be wise to wash one(bus) free to get a better ideal as to you hourly needs.
 

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flimmy

New Member
Larry thnaks for thr reply. It does help. I'm not really asking for X$amonut but what to look for , what equipment is needed , and what needs to be done so I can come up with a price. Now a price range is good to give me an idea what the low and high can be. Which you gave.

Thanks
 

BrianD

New Member
Larry,

Thanks for the info. The variables you mentioned are as follows:

- I can do it alone or I can get a helper. Either way is fine with me.
- I do not need to move the buses. They will be already lined up.
- They will be providing water on site
- I do not need to recap the water. They do that.
- My flow rate will be 5.6 gpm (I have a Mi-T-M HW machine w/5.6GPM capacity)
- I will be washing all buses weekly during school months

The gentleman who runs the school bus depot currently offers his drivers an extra hour of pay each week to wash their own bus. Not even half of them do it and he is not happy about that, so he is looking for an alternative. I figure that would pay over $3,000 per month for them to wash their own bus. Therefore, I am trying to assess whether or not I can do this for under that number. What do you think? It would be nice to have a steady account bringing in about that much cash, but, is this the type of account I should be going after or should I let it go?

Thanks again!
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
Ok,lets look elsewhere for price.

He paids his drivers one extra hour to wash them(what do they make an hour?)

Also the chemicals,brushes,buckets,washer that they use will be counted in what it will cost them to wash plus the hourly wage.This will give you a ideal what it will cost them to wash their own buses.So if you can wash three per hour maybe four by yourself it may be cheaper for them to pay you instead of paying 3 or 4 extra hours for the divers plus chemcals,ect....see where I'm coming from?

Here school is only open for 9 months out of 12 months,for 3 months they would not need washing.In that case I would want to wash them though the week and not on weekends,thats is unless I had other trades to count on for the 3 months off.

70 buses is alot to tackle for a one man crew if done every week,you can do it just letting you know no grass will have time to grow under your feet if done on weekends.

No I would not pass it up.

3000 per month hummmmm remember now you have to wash 280 school buses per month for that price...70 buses washed every week=280.Thats around 11 dallors per bus more or less,I can not wash that cheap for a one man crew.How many do you think you can do in a hour,I think it would take me atleast 20 min. per bus for a good job unless starving 10 mins tops lol.
 

BrianD

New Member
Larry,

Thanks for the continued commentary. I figured with a 2 man crew, I could go down to $11 or $12 per bus if we hustled. It doesn't matter though. Another crew came in and bid $7 per bus and told the bus garage manager that he might be able to go lower.

The garage manager told me he was expecting to pay about $12 per bus and can't believe that these guys can do it and stay in business at $7 per bus. He also asked me to send him info on my services and to call him back in June to see if everything was working out. The manager repeatedly said that he was very comfortable with paying the $12 per bus rate and is waiting for the other operation to go out of business. At that point, he would definitely be interested in my services. For now though, they seem to be doing a good enough job for him.

That just goes to show what can be lost by putting a lowball number on the table! I appreciate all of your help. I am comfortable with where my bid should be when the other operation prices itself out of business.

Take care........Brian
 

flimmy

New Member
Brian were in western PA are you ? I wonder if it was Fleetwash that bid it that low ? I have seen them in the area. They have white vans with NJ tags..
 
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rknight68

Guest
Good Readin'

I'm just starting up and when I picked the kids up the other day we counted the busses-I got them on the lookout for dirty stuff to wash. There are 31 biguns 6 shortbuses and I am going to talk to the transportaion mgr for the school regarding this same subject. This thread has been great for me, nice to know others are in the same place.

I only have 3.3 gpm, but it's hotwater and there are less busses here, spaced far enough apart that I could wash them where they sit. Rural area, lots of gravel roads, so more time and chems there maybe. Their water (long hose though). No storm drains in the lot they're parked in at the school, so there won't be any offisite drainage.

Tell me if you think this makes sense.

$12 a bus-$8 a shorty = $420 - $50 fuel/chemicals, 370 bucks "profit".
Start adding help and the BPH (busses per hour) goes up and even with labor so does your hourly rate.

1 man 3 BPH = @13 hours = $28.46 hour
2 man 5 BPH = @8 hours - $10hr helper($80) = 36.25 hour (me wash, helper brush, me rinse) I know Larry Brusing is bad
3 man 8 BHP = @5 hours - $20hr helpers($100) = 54.00 hour (me wash, helper1 brush, helper2 rinse w/ 2nd small PW)

I'm thinking the 3 man BHP is conservative and could work out closer to 12 BPH -- @3.5 hours - $70 helpers = $85.71 hour


I'd to take this on,does that sound right?

Rog
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
At 7 dallors a bus I would not walk but run from.


One needs to look at the big picture..

I can not stay in business at 28.00 per hour,I need more like 65 per hour,really need more than that.Over the years I have seen what seems like 100's of powerwashers going out of business or like I say dropping like flies b/c of low pricing.

Don't forget to count your tires,brakes,up keep on the main driving force to stay in business.You can not just count what it takes in chemicals and fuel for each wash job,repair bills,replace bills and ect. and ect.
 
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rknight68

Guest
Had a talk

with the Transportation Mgr at the school, board meeting on Thursday. He asked me to submit a bid. He'd be interested but has to get approval from School Superintendant, who just paid $28K at the body shop to improve the bus's appearance.

He also said that at Ft Zumwalt they contracted for once a month, 9 months a year, @200 buses $7 each. I'll submit for the $12 and see what happens, I shouldn't have any trouble recruiting a couple of helpers. Water supply is a long way from the parking spot. He mentioned breaking it up, I'd rather use longer hose and do them all at once.

There is a lot of flat work that needs to be done as well, but that's someone elses dept. Anyone going to paticipate in the PWNA Clean Across America?
 
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rknight68

Guest
I'm in warrenton, mo. no word on the bid yet, I'll send out a f/u letter next week.
 

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