There's a coca-cola bottling plant in the town where I'm from. Most of my work is out of shreveport-bossier and this one would be nice as it is a few miles from the house. They have right at 20 trucks and do not have anyone washing and the drivers have told me they never have but a few shop hands when they're sitting still. What would be the best way to approach them and explain to them why they need to start paying for someone to wash their trucks?
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- Thread starter James S
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Dan S said:I knew a guy who did coke ......... He only got 8- to - 12 per trk.
Not worth the bother if `ya ask me
maybe a different area is different
I don't know what other washers charge in the local region for coke and other beverage delivery places, but I know I won't even think about getting out of bed for that. I refuse to undercut myself just so I can say I worked that day.
north coast
New Member
Lets say you get around $10.00 a truck and they have 20 trucks, thats $200.00. Should take no longer than 2 hours, tops to wash 20 units, which is $100.00/hour, huh thats good money in my book. I'd get out of bed for that and stay out all night for that.
north coast
New Member
knock your socks off ............
hmmmm..............travel,soap,ins,wear, ..set up time
check, check, check and check. Not going to make a mortgage payment on every job. If your in the truck wash business your making money in volume and being productive. In the "dream world" yeah sure would love to get $35 a truck like the beacon, but this is a competitive market, lots of hacks working out of their house with little investment in equipment. We have to compete with them so you have to make things run as efficiently as possible and yes you can make good money on an $8.00 tractor wash.
hmmmm..............travel,soap,ins,wear, ..set up time
check, check, check and check. Not going to make a mortgage payment on every job. If your in the truck wash business your making money in volume and being productive. In the "dream world" yeah sure would love to get $35 a truck like the beacon, but this is a competitive market, lots of hacks working out of their house with little investment in equipment. We have to compete with them so you have to make things run as efficiently as possible and yes you can make good money on an $8.00 tractor wash.
nothing wrong with working outta your house......been doing it for almost 14years.... you dont need a fancy office to "run" to .....and im not afraid of any competition
I do however have and maintain up to date equipment and the newest "gizmo's" to make it go eaiser and faster.
It's just is a pain in the bottom to set up and clean somewhere for small chump change when you can be doing something better and make more $$
I do however have and maintain up to date equipment and the newest "gizmo's" to make it go eaiser and faster.
It's just is a pain in the bottom to set up and clean somewhere for small chump change when you can be doing something better and make more $$
I agree with Dan S...I would much rather be working somewhere else for more money than doing something quick for a little bit. If I were to get that account and they wouldn't give me the money I was looking for, there's always better work out there...you just have to find it. I know what my time is worth, my ins, FUEL, wear, and all that are worth....I will sit happily with money in the bank before I go somewhere to break even. To be honest, I think I would laugh at someone if they wanted me to work for 8$ a truck. And to clarify something, I asked the question in general as well as for that account.
Larry L.
PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
Lets say you get around $10.00 a truck and they have 20 trucks, thats $200.00. Should take no longer than 2 hours, tops to wash 20 units, which is $100.00/hour, huh thats good money in my book. and yes you can make good money on an $8.00 tractor wash.
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2 hours tops= 120 minutes,20 trucks=0ne truck every 6 minutes,wow you'd haveta be half superman and spiderman or a blow and go joe.Learning how to be a beacon and worry about volume in money not a 6 or 10 minutes truck wash is productive in my book.
James depending on the coke truck whether it be a bob truck or trailer rig I'd want 20/30 per unit,maybe 15/25 if I really wanted the account.I think one of my appoachs would be the driver will take better care of a clean truck and the public will notice the cleaness of coke products.
Even if they supplied the water and chemicals and had hunderds lined up to be washed I still wouldn't wash a coke truck for 8 or 10 dallors a truck.I do not look at how many I can do in a hours time to set my prices.O.T.R. trackors with sleeper my prices run 30/45 per unit,I try to stay in line with the stand alone truckwashes.Do not get tired down in the cheapo prices as you will work your hindend off and no time for family life.
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2 hours tops= 120 minutes,20 trucks=0ne truck every 6 minutes,wow you'd haveta be half superman and spiderman or a blow and go joe.Learning how to be a beacon and worry about volume in money not a 6 or 10 minutes truck wash is productive in my book.
James depending on the coke truck whether it be a bob truck or trailer rig I'd want 20/30 per unit,maybe 15/25 if I really wanted the account.I think one of my appoachs would be the driver will take better care of a clean truck and the public will notice the cleaness of coke products.
Even if they supplied the water and chemicals and had hunderds lined up to be washed I still wouldn't wash a coke truck for 8 or 10 dallors a truck.I do not look at how many I can do in a hours time to set my prices.O.T.R. trackors with sleeper my prices run 30/45 per unit,I try to stay in line with the stand alone truckwashes.Do not get tired down in the cheapo prices as you will work your hindend off and no time for family life.
north coast
New Member
Wow if $200 is cheap go ahead and send me the money if it is chump change to you. We just got another beverage distributor a month ago (that makes more beverage companies than you can count on both your hands) the guy doing them before had a cold water cart pressure washer so they had to move them so he could wash them, used their water, didn't brush them, used ZEP soap from Home Depot and charged more than us. I don't think we will be loosing them back to the other guy any time soon. We give a good service at a good price. To each his own maybe we are set up a little different than others there is no set up time we pull in flip a lever and wash no garden hose to drag around, no putting gas in a little gas tank, most of our fleets can be washed with the truck parked in one spot and not be moved.
Larry L.
PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
Funny,you say he want get the account back anyway soon b/c of his setup and chemicals used but yet YOU under cut his price to getem.On some of the fleets I've done in the past I'd have to have another truck just to carry enough hoses if the work truck sayed in one spot.Life is funny isn't it,what one cann't do another can 
north coast said:
That's too funny.... The other guy did a crappy job and charged more than you doing an excellent job. Doesn't make much sense to me. I always thought that if you do a better job, you should get paid more for it.
The Company should also be willing to at least pay the same as they were paying the hack if not MORE for a better service.
This is precisely why I stick to residential high margin work vs the high volume/low margin work. So easy to lose an account even when you are doing a great job, someone else comes in thinking that if they can do 1000's of trucks they can charge less. Such a price driven industry. Walmart.
Ya'll have at those fleets. I can certainly admire those of you for being able to hold onto accounts in an industry full of guys cold calling and claiming to do a better job than the current contractor and for less.
north coast
New Member
I did not know his prices when we submitted our bid, just our normal prices, and the owner said lets do it is a couple of dollars less per unit, the guy also went MIA during the winter, if I had known his price before I could have matched it and still probably gotten the work. My point about not moving the truck to wash a fleet is just an example of things that eat up time (time=$), you have to cut down on those things. Dan S mentioned "travel,soap,ins,wear, ..set up time" those are all factors that can be looked at to cut operating cost and improve profit. Profit=why we all do this.
Hmmmm i guess if you had all automatic reels you could sped up time, and instead of garden hoses you could have a 4" pump automaticlly fill `ya as you use that h20.And Coke trks where for the most part they are done in a building or a lot where they are tight ly close 2gether .you could just sit in one spot and wash all day...... well 2 hours anyways
Everybody does it different I reakon... sum folks think that they havetta to have several small penny ass accounts instead of one good one....0r they have a couple workers and they need to get several accounts like coke to keep them busy........ Just turning money over...........
I like
K.I.S.S >> Keep It Simple Stupid !!
either way `ya do it as long as your having FUN !!
Yeah right !!
Everybody does it different I reakon... sum folks think that they havetta to have several small penny ass accounts instead of one good one....0r they have a couple workers and they need to get several accounts like coke to keep them busy........ Just turning money over...........
I like
K.I.S.S >> Keep It Simple Stupid !!
either way `ya do it as long as your having FUN !!
Yeah right !!
jetstream1
New Member
I have a new fleet and I out bid the old wash guy and got more money for my work.10 for cab 20 for trailer the old wash crew was 7 / 15
I wash this co/ every 3 weeks all food grade tanks like the milk trucks
and yes 300-400 is not all that much but evey 3 wks wash is sweet
I wash this co/ every 3 weeks all food grade tanks like the milk trucks
and yes 300-400 is not all that much but evey 3 wks wash is sweet
Larry L.
PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
I get 60 for a daycab tanker,35 for the tank and 25 for the daycab,however I do understand your bid.But I no longer work for peanuts b/c they are to many accounts out there willing to pay for a dependable professional.Most fleet managers looks at the price instead of the total wash job done,if it looks clean 20 feet away is all they care about.