edd1974:
I clean the interior as it’s my 2nd home most of the week.
As for the exterior no. We have no jet wash etc. Company want pay for a truck wash.
1 of our drivers pays for a truck wash once a month out of his own pocket.
I won’t .
but if I’m at tebay j38 truckstop I don’t mind paying a few quid to use the jetwash. Or if im at other places with a jetwash I’ll put a couple of quid in
.but that’s as far as it goes for me
Id be perfectly happy with that but the lads in my place wont even clean the mirrors like, the lorrys we have are old, bare the 2 i drive (because they are autos) but the lads dont even bother cleaning them and theyd look fairly decent if they put them through a truck wash. Personally think first impression is major when it comes to a haulage company.
Nothing wrong with taking pride in your job. I am out all week in mine, so i keep the inside spotless, the outside i clean every friday when im back in the yard, if it gets bad then i bang it through a wash mid week and pay for it on snap. I just dont like a dirty looking lorry, im not a tank polisher by no means. I am obsessive over mirrors and windows tho
bristolrob:
Nothing wrong with taking pride in your job. I am out all week in mine, so i keep the inside spotless, the outside i clean every friday when im back in the yard, if it gets bad then i bang it through a wash mid week and pay for it on snap. I just dont like a dirty looking lorry, im not a tank polisher by no means. I am obsessive over mirrors and windows tho
I don have me car boot filled with cleaning gear. Bit of a side gig, so on the weekend when the cats are away and I finish up early bring it back to the yard and give the truck some TLC.
Well, the depot has a truck wash on site. So at the start of every shift, I run through it after coupling up. As in every day. If I have to take a rigid out and then an artic I’ll go through it twice in a day.
Rather than because I like a shiny truck I do this as just part of my pre leaving the yard routine. After the truck was the screen will be clean. And the mirrors will be nice and wet. So I hop out when its doing the trailer and give the mirrors a good rub with the blue paper in the office until they are perfect. Then when it’s a green light I drive out of the truck wash. As my unit and trailer is perfectly straight I make sure my mirrors are bang on just as I like them.
All this takes me about 10 mins total. And I wouldn’t care in the slightest if anyone gave me a funny look. I do what works for me. And I find it an awful lot easier to see from my mirrors when they are perfectly clean. I even have a bottle of spray glass cleaner in my bag - but rarely is this needed. My reversing is a big dodgy at the best of times - but getting the unit and trailer straight is easier for me if the mirrors are set up as I like. More experienced drivers probably don’t need to do this.
As far as cleaning the inside - if it’s minging it stays that way. But after the truck wash on the way out there is a big bin we can lob stuff in. So I throw out any litter whilst adjusting my mirrors.
jakethesnake:
Always kept my trucks spotless inside and out. Mind you the extra bonus was a good incentive with one company I worked for.
I don’t get a payment bonus for keeping it clean per se, but I am paid by the hour so I’m earning extra by doing it. Tbh I’d probably do it for free just out of personal pride as I hate to drive a dirty lorry the same as I hate my car being dirty.
One upshot of this imo is that I’ve not been pulled in by the authorities since the 1990’s, could be coincidence I admit, but I think that a clean vehicle doesn’t attract the “wrong” kind of attention.
The company vehicle I drive, tends to get washed less often this time of year, as its the start of the busy period.
Like to be home by 17.00 after a 07.30 start .
God bless job and knock.
Nope, after 13hrs driving I just want to go home(up the street) for supper ,wash ,some talk wae the family & sleep.Bossman washes motors at weekend wae his boys. The inside o the motor I drive is sparkling (do when in q at quarry )windows, mirrors/lights are cleaned so I did my part.
In my last job, I washed my truck nearly every morning before I went out on the road with it, or when I got back if it wasn’t too late.
But in my current job, been here almost 3 years now and I don’t have an allocated truck. So no need to have the pride I used to have in keeping a truck clean. Maybe if I eventually get my own truck, the pride will return, but right now I’m not really bothered what the truck I’m given each day looks like.
If we had wash facilities in my yard, I would give the unit i’m in a once over when i had a spare bit of time during the day. Wouldn’t come in early to do it though & certainly wouldn’t stay behind after i’ve been told i’m finished paid or not; as soon as they give me the green light to go home i’m gone in a flash before they can change their mind!
sammym:
Well, the depot has a truck wash on site. So at the start of every shift, I run through it after coupling up. As in every day. If I have to take a rigid out and then an artic I’ll go through it twice in a day.
Rather than because I like a shiny truck I do this as just part of my pre leaving the yard routine. After the truck was the screen will be clean. And the mirrors will be nice and wet. So I hop out when its doing the trailer and give the mirrors a good rub with the blue paper in the office until they are perfect. Then when it’s a green light I drive out of the truck wash. As my unit and trailer is perfectly straight I make sure my mirrors are bang on just as I like them.
All this takes me about 10 mins total. And I wouldn’t care in the slightest if anyone gave me a funny look. I do what works for me. And I find it an awful lot easier to see from my mirrors when they are perfectly clean. I even have a bottle of spray glass cleaner in my bag - but rarely is this needed. My reversing is a big dodgy at the best of times - but getting the unit and trailer straight is easier for me if the mirrors are set up as I like. More experienced drivers probably don’t need to do this.
As far as cleaning the inside - if it’s minging it stays that way. But after the truck wash on the way out there is a big bin we can lob stuff in. So I throw out any litter whilst adjusting my mirrors.
We had a couple of skips at our site, they were soon pulled away when drivers started arriving with household stuff, try explain a goodfellas pizza box or birdseye fishfingers [emoji23][emoji23]. Would like to have a pressure jet wash system on site but the neighbours played the " you cant have chemicals leaking into the yard" card. But yet theres 4 trucks off the road since I started a year ago.
rob22888:
If we had wash facilities in my yard, I would give the unit i’m in a once over when i had a spare bit of time during the day. Wouldn’t come in early to do it though & certainly wouldn’t stay behind after i’ve been told i’m finished paid or not; as soon as they give me the green light to go home i’m gone in a flash before they can change their mind!
I understand that and agree totally, but if you roled up on a wednesday and that was your day off (my 2 days off are mid week) and your told we dont have any work for you but your wagon is sitting up would you stay clocked in for a few hours to give it a clean or would you shoot off home.
wing-nut:
Wash mine after each trip, so twice per shift. Well the truckwash does, I just stand there with a coffee watching it. [emoji38] [emoji38]
Thats the best way i find it magically cleans itself with the little man in the orange hi vis whos soaked to the bone [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] while you stand there with a cuppa
wing-nut:
Wash mine after each trip, so twice per shift. Well the truckwash does, I just stand there with a coffee watching it. [emoji38] [emoji38]
Thats the best way i find it magically cleans itself with the little man in the orange hi vis whos soaked to the bone [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] while you stand there with a cuppa
No, it’s a drive through wash with the roller brushes, like a giant car wash. Gets washed so often its a wonder there’s any paint left on it.
