Do your monkies polish their bananas?

[Mikey P]

Do you have techs that take pride in the money maker you provide?


Do they clean and spit shine their vehicle each day?


Are things well organized?


Can you install this in an employee or is it something they have to be born with?


Bribery?


Ultimatum?

 

[Mark Saiger]

Do you have techs that take pride in the money maker you provide?


Do they clean and spit shine their vehicle each day?


Are things well organized?


Can you install this in an employee or is it something they have to be born with?


Bribery?


Ultimatum?

This is always still a tough one as the places we clean, we are dragging dirt and mud a lot of days into our rigs....

Then our schedule kicks our butts....so one of the last things for our son in law, is to make him put in more overtime to clean it out right now...

But, my son in law will take enough pride to try and keep up to it.....

I would say, that I have had to lead by example, so to speak, with some of the people I have had....and want to say, my son in law did learn it was important from me....

We just talked about it yesterday between Aron and I after I spent 6 hours cleaning and reorganizing the vans on Sunday....

Asked him how well his van faired through out the day keeping clean....it was raining and snowing again, and our last job finished up at 6:30 pm, so the last thing we wanted to do was clean our vans some more....

That's the hard part....getting done at a decent time so we can keep up to our own things, but we typically do the clean up and organizing a bit in the morning when we get ready...

We feel a bit more fresh to do it then.

Still, there are just sometimes we need to pull them apart to clean them so much better on a slow day....if and when that happens

 

[rjwood]

Some have it and some don't. For many of those that don't, it can be dictated or taught. Some cannot identify and therefore will not embrace what's necessary for organization and cleanliness. Properly identifying the two can often be difficult. Observing how they dress, drive and behave toward loved ones can help sort them out.

Or you could do what corporate people do and see if they like to play golf.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Can you install this in an employee or is it something they have to be born with?

No few get it, it has to be in forced from the top. A check list helps but someone really needs to check that the list is being used and someone is making the responsible decision as to "readiness".

Here, the crew leader is responsible to make sure the vehicle is clean. When dirty, they have their assistant wash it. The supervisors make sure the crew leaders have clean vehicles. The problem is when the supervisors are too busy to pay attention.

 

[Mikey P]

So how clean is clean?

 

[Desk Jockey]

I don't want muddy tires and splashed dried dirt on them. Streaks from the morning dew in the dust need to be washed also. We don't do stoopid stuff and wash them everyday no matter if they need it or not. That's just dumbass and a total waste of resources. A crew leader should be responsible enough to know whether it can go another day or needs to be washed before they head out.

I'd take a picture of what is acceptable and what you consider unacceptable. This way they can see what you want.

Some of our vehicle may go a weeks without washing, but those are pulled inside and not even dust collects on them. Trucks that sit out I wanted washed even if just to remove bird poop. Carpet cleaning and estimating vehicles are a priority to me. I always want them tip top.

I just ran a dehumidifier out to a crew and sure enough the truck is dirty. Not horrible but needs washed. We had a storm come through but that was Saturday. It needed washed Monday. I texted the crew leader telling him to have his assistant wash it when they come back in.

Always something, it is never ending here! But if you don't work to get them back to towing the line of what you want, they just keep getting further from your expectations for how it should be.

 

[hogjowl]

Not even my son is clean enough for me.

It's not clean until I say it is.

So, I have to stay on him about it.

You do know, don't you, that being the boss requires some effort now and then, right?

 

[rjwood]

Appearing organized always looks cleaner, so It's possible to not be sparkling and still look good and presentable. Always stay organized and clean when you can. Organized people will usually be consistently clean anyway.

 

[Russ T.]

Agreed Bob. Organization helps with efficiency too. It can wear a guy out to be running a filthy, unorganized rig. I have my stretches in the Winter where I don't give it a lot of thought. I'll hose the outside off but inside usually waits for a nicer day. Those can be hard to come by in IA in January.

 

[Papa John]

We get calls about our vans being dirty and needing a cleaning sometimes-- the dispatcher tells the caller: "we know but we are in such high demand and are too busy to clean then vans- now when would you like your carpet cleaned?"-- haha

One of my vans Still has Wax on it from when the Super Bowl was on-- and I Still haven't wiped it off yet!!! I just couldn't finish it before the game started-- I did detail 2 other vans that day though.

My guys do clean and organize the inside of their vans--- They like to know where there "shit' is and hate it when I move things around.-- in this way they do take "ownership".

 

[Desk Jockey]

Ours are a wreck when we are busy and beautiful when we are slow. I guess I'd prefer they were kept somewhere in between.

Being a wreck really bothers me...but not so much I'd want to be slow.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Less than $20 per month, unlimited automatic carwash, free vacuums. I hit it two or three times a week.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We have a car wash here. Takes 3-minutes.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Ours, Finish Line, take about 5 minutes, and does WAY better than handwashing.

 

[Askal]

We allocate (try!) Time every Friday and have a van and equipment check off sheet. If not done then it gets moved to monday. Wands rx hoses air movers are spot checked.

 

[Papa John]

Less than $20 per month, unlimited automatic carwash, free vacuums. I hit it two or three times a week.

Hum? I wonder If our hi top sprinter vans will fit in the auto washers? - something to check into-- but doubt it.

 

[GeneMiller]

We clean the hoses every time we roll them up. I keep micros by the spool. Everything goes back in its place and we stay pretty organized. A couple times a year everything comes out and we sx-12 the floor. I hate the black rhino and wish I had gone with white. I'm always shocked at the rolling messes I see. i get plenty of comments about how clean and organized we are to know that people notice. we turn the machine on and blast the outside and wipe it down every couple of weeks. Pretty quick and painless.

Gene

 

[The Great Oz]

Our trucks stand out a bit with the chrome package and shiny wheels, and guys do want their trucks to look good. We try to make it easy though, with everything having a designated place and having a dedicated wash area to make it easier to keep things clean. Our local car wash chain just announced the unlimited wash program so we've signed on. Happy techs, no more griping about cleaning brake dust off the wheels.