I wash my truck every night (where possible) and keep my wheels polished when I can , I do it on my time as its the way I like to keep my truck looking, am I crackers ,possibly! Does anybody else in our yard do it , a couple,are we expected to do it no , the bosses look at us like we’re mad , but we don’t do for them we do it for us , a bit of pride in the job , do we drive top of the range scanias, Volvo’s or dafs ,no! Is it clean work ,no! Do our trucks go off road ,yes and up to the axles in mud ,dirt and cow ■■■■! Look after your kit and it’ll probably look after you.
A clean truck is each down to there own opinion
Well you all know the phrase you cant polish a turd, but in the same respects you have to make the best of what you got…I’m a firm believer that a clean vehicle gives a good first impression with the with the customers, clients, etc. etc.
I’d be embarrassed to turn up with a dirty vehicle…
But what gets on my goat is turning up and having to clean out other ppls crap before going out…its the same when the other person hasn’t fuelled up coz there just lazy…
gickniff:
I wash my truck every night (where possible) and keep my wheels polished when I can , I do it on my time as its the way I like to keep my truck looking, am I crackers ,possibly! Does anybody else in our yard do it , a couple,are we expected to do it no , the bosses look at us like we’re mad , but we don’t do for them we do it for us , a bit of pride in the job , do we drive top of the range scanias, Volvo’s or dafs ,no! Is it clean work ,no! Do our trucks go off road ,yes and up to the axles in mud ,dirt and cow [zb]! Look after your kit and it’ll probably look after you.
Yes and yes, vehicles have souls, well kept motors always run better than neglected heaps.
There’s another bonus to keeping your motor clean, i make a special effort to steam clean the chassis thoroughly when its going in for service, might be wishful thinking but the service lads always do any little jobs i ask, disrespectful to expect mechanics to work in worse crap than necessary.
If I have a good week, mine gleams every day, but once I’m kicking 12 hours a day, the jet wash becomes out of bounds.
Where I might be going the following day bears some significance too. Won’t wash it if I’m going up the M62, or to Scotland. A run to London usually keeps her clean though.
NewLad:
For such a big company I was shocked we didn’t have a propper wash on site, just a jet wash.
My experience of those ‘proper’ drive in washes though is that half the time they aren’t working - either because it’s too cold or the roller has got stuck & it needs and engineer to sort it out. Maintaining the things must cost a bomb.
I don’t polish my motor but i do wash it as often as possible depending how busy I’ve been. I do keep the inside spotless though. Be careful cleaning trucks on break though as a saw vosa give a driver a fine in toddlington services last week for polishing his tank on break. He wasn’t a happy happy that’s for sure.
jimmi:
I don’t polish my motor but i do wash it as often as possible depending how busy I’ve been. I do keep the inside spotless though. Be careful cleaning trucks on break though as a saw vosa give a driver a fine in toddlington services last week for polishing his tank on break. He wasn’t a happy happy that’s for sure.
That’s a real jobsworth enforcement officer (sounds like someone the mafia would pay to knee cap the out of favour) there, probably the next big chief.
Hiya…i was told of a chap who got stopped for a roadside check a couple of years ago.
the vosa man said the trucks nice and clean…driver replied i live on my own so go in sunday
and clean the truck as i dodn,t have much to do… Vosa man said when did you have you time off.
driver said polishing isn’t work really its a pass time… vosa man didn’t agree.
Juddian:
jimmi:
I don’t polish my motor but i do wash it as often as possible depending how busy I’ve been. I do keep the inside spotless though. Be careful cleaning trucks on break though as a saw vosa give a driver a fine in toddlington services last week for polishing his tank on break. He wasn’t a happy happy that’s for sure.That’s a real jobsworth enforcement officer (sounds like someone the mafia would pay to knee cap the out of favour) there, probably the next big chief.
I’ve had them come over to me before and ask what I’m doing. Just don’t speak to them and they get bored. When my dad was training me for the work we do, we were polishing the wagon on a weekly rest and the foreign rossers even came over and complimented us on the wagon, never bothered about the tacho. Just shows how power gets to these egos inside our shorelines.
The wheels look great, good work there 
FH Hammy:
Is it just me that finds polishing wheels and fuel tanks very therapeutic? Spent a good couple of hours yesterday polishing just to go over to Immingham in the morning.Do any of you like the appearance of your wagon or do you not bother because it’s ‘not in your job description’
need a bit of air in tat tyre 
If you are not being paid to polish your lorry then VOSA cannot say a thing, on a break or rest period as long as you are free to dispose of your time in any way you want to, they have no power to say what you can or cannot do, there is no requirement to actually sleep during a rest period if you don’t want to, so VOSA should politely told to ■■■■ off and mind their own business 
What’s the best product to use for polishing as I’ve recently been given a new trailer,we’ll a hand down but it has a decent set of alcoa’s on that I’d like to get looking their best again, also have a fairly new unit with a brand new diesel/tipper tank which I’d like to keep looking smart.
I’ve never been into the whole polishing and cleaning lark but the firm I’m on for now are a family run business and most of their trucks are very well cared for and look the business. Don’t get me wrong there’s no pressure to do this but I’m very happy working here and in turn that gives you pride in your wagon.
Solvol or Peek.
You will find Peek reasonably cheap if you make a search on the net, say £13 to £15 for a 1 litre can.
Last tin i bought from chemiclean.co.uk/ and bought some other stuff at the same time to qualify for free postage, about the cheapest i’ve ever seen it.
Lots of elbow grease needed, if they’ve been neglected you may never get the pitting completely out, i find a fairly rough rag the best for rubbing the polish with, fairly damp rag too which helps make the polish go further, fine mesh rag such as an old shirt too soft and doesn’t cut so well, but obviously fine for buffing up.
Good for you taking a pride, too few left.
don’t use any old crap cleaner as many are too harsh and will take the shine away. Cheap option is warm water, fairy liquid and a soft brush.
If there is a bit of pitting then a good buffing with a brillo pad will sort that out, then you’re left with a lot of polishing, but you can get a mirror finish on all but the worst surfaces
Juddian:
Solvol or Peek.You will find Peek reasonably cheap if you make a search on the net, say £13 to £15 for a 1 litre can.
Last tin i bought from chemiclean.co.uk/ and bought some other stuff at the same time to qualify for free postage, about the cheapest i’ve ever seen it.Lots of elbow grease needed, if they’ve been neglected you may never get the pitting completely out, i find a fairly rough rag the best for rubbing the polish with, fairly damp rag too which helps make the polish go further, fine mesh rag such as an old shirt too soft and doesn’t cut so well, but obviously fine for buffing up.
Good for you taking a pride, too few left.
Cheers for that, going to try some autosol on them I think, there is a small amount of pitting so will have to see how they come up.
NewLad:
Edit - I saw one of Icelands driver of the year trucks in Kent the other week, driver was polishing away like no tomorrow, I didn’t want to upset him as he looked so happy but ffs it’s a Renault Premium has he not heard the term “you can’t polish a turd”?
You can polish a turd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI
NewLad:
Edit - I saw one of Icelands driver of the year trucks in Kent the other week, driver was polishing away like no tomorrow, I didn’t want to upset him as he looked so happy but ffs it’s a Renault Premium has he not heard the term “you can’t polish a turd”?
Mustn’t have been the same Iceland driver I spoke to last year. Said he’d have refused the wagon if he could have still taken the £500 prize money. Seriously, who really thinks someone wants to drive around in a motor with ‘Driver of the Year’ plastered all over it? Even if it was a shiny new FH750 or something i’d be reluctant. If there was ever motivation not to give a monkeys about your fuel economy, thats it.
White diamond is the best metal polish about IMO …depending on the state of them when ya start use auto sol first