Happiness Is a Clean Truck

Is there a sorrier sight than faded paint and corroded chrome and aluminum? Sure. But at the moment, what you see on your rigs is not brightening your mood, especially as the weather turns sour and the road grime builds up. Company image and driver morale are among the reasons to keep trucks as clean as possible.

What makes paint and bright-metal trim go bad? Lousy products? Neglect? Rusted chrome, for instance, could be the result of a bad chroming job in the first place. More likely, it means no one’s been waxing and shining it. Who’s to blame?

Everyone knows that frequent washings protect paint and trim by removing grime and salt. However, a rig gets dirty fast, and long days and nights at the wheel don’t leave a driver with a lot of leftover energy to worry about a wash job.

That’s why there are washing services at truckstops and other places. They do the grunt work, but they tend to use cleaning products that expedite the process.

Slow down. Take time to find out how they do the job and what cleaning products they use. Do they wash the truck by hand and/or with mechanical brushes? Hand washing is the most gentle way and brushing removes grime better than spraying. But labor and machinery are expensive and the process takes time.

Do they spray on soaps and chemicals at high pressure? It’s a quick process, especially if the rinsing is thorough and windows and other items are wiped off.

But what soaps and chemicals do they use? Chances are it’s some type of detergent, along with a “brightener.” Detergent removes grime and even light grease and oil, but too much of a good thing is just that. If not properly rinsed, the detergent can leave streaks and a film on everything.

And brighteners, which remove more stubborn buildups, may contain acids. Unless thoroughly rinsed, brighteners can discolor bright metal trim and have been known to dull window glass.

The better way is to double-wash the rig with detergent and rinse it thoroughly after each wash. Avoid brighteners, especially at your own washing facilities (if you have them). Specify that contract services also wash your trucks exactly the way you want. Try to get each tractor and the trailer it’s pulling washed at least once a week. If you have your own facilities, set up a policy that the rig be washed each time it passes through a terminal, and/or returns from a run where it’s been subjected to road salt.

Your best and most prideful drivers will wax and polish bright metal, and maybe the paint, too. Reward them somehow, because it’ll make the trucks more valuable when you go to trade them in.