| How do you wash a garbage truck or a refuse | | | | soaping. The first time you do them you are |
| truck? Well this job is pretty tough considering | | | | obviously going to have that ground in stuff and you |
| garbage trucks are built in such a way that they | | | | are going to have to hand soap the entire trash |
| have all these little boxes and holes where you are | | | | truck. It is going to take a lot of time and a lot of |
| going to end up spraying. The water is going to | | | | work. You are not going to make any money. You |
| come back in all different angles and soak you. So | | | | are going to spend it all on labor, if you do not have |
| any dirt on a garbage truck is going to be on you | | | | a good crew with you. A poorly run crew is going to |
| when you are done. They are really hard to soap | | | | eat up all your labor and never get the job done. |
| because you have to soap each individual square on | | | | What about city yards? Cities sometimes own trash |
| the side of the entire garbage truck. You need to | | | | trucks that they use for refuse collection. Sometimes |
| charge at least twenty dollars minimum to wash a | | | | they will have their own recycling trucks. You will |
| garbage truck. | | | | need to bid on a yearly contract with the purchasing |
| Chances are, they have a ton of them so twenty | | | | office. Most city contracts are from June to June |
| times a lot of trucks is a lot of money. If you are | | | | because that's their fiscal year. Most cities will |
| working for BFI, GreenTeam or a local municipality | | | | contract with BFI, Waste Management or one of |
| they'll have upwards of forty plus trucks. It is not | | | | those other large trash companies to do their city |
| going to be easy work but it is going to be good | | | | hauling. BFI and Waste Management will also have |
| money. These trucks have hydraulics in the front | | | | other trash contracts to pick up from city and |
| where all the hydraulic lifts are and it can be a fire | | | | county buildings with government agencies. |
| hazard if you do not clean all of that grease. The | | | | Some counties and cities will wash their own trash |
| mechanics usually over grease the hydraulic fittings. | | | | trucks because they may own the municipal yard |
| The drivers try to compact as much as they can into | | | | that has the dump. A county may also have recycling |
| these trash trucks so they can do fewer trips to the | | | | trucks that they own as part of a recycling program. |
| dump. Each time they go to the dump it costs the | | | | So there are government contracts cleaning trash |
| company or city money. | | | | trucks. If you have the government contract for |
| Image is surprising with the trash companies. | | | | cleaning the trash trucks you can probably get the |
| Considering that they are hauling trash they still want | | | | contract for cleaning the larger trash company trucks |
| to have such a good image and such clean vehicles. | | | | nearby. |
| Kind of sounds crazy, but that is what they are | | | | Sanitation Pump Trucks |
| looking for. They are looking for that good image | | | | How do you clean sanitation pump trucks? They are |
| just like Federal Express wants all of their vehicles to | | | | similar to garbage trucks. There are EPA laws |
| look clean. You are going to have to hand soap the | | | | covering trucks that pump out clarifiers and pick up all |
| handles on a garbage truck. You are not going to be | | | | of the sludge from car washes and septic tanks. |
| able to use brushes in between those little squares | | | | They have to be cleaned before they go back onto |
| and in between all the handles. You are going to have | | | | the highway after dumping their hazardous load. So |
| to hand soaped those parts. I do not know another | | | | how do you clean them? You clean them with high |
| way to do it unless you use a lot of chemical and | | | | pressure hot water and you have to make sure that |
| acid bleach them. | | | | the waste water goes into some kind of clarifier or |
| If you have done them good one week you can | | | | collection area. What you are washing off the vehicle |
| probably come by the next week and use the hot | | | | had to be hauled away in the first place. |
| water pressure washer on them. You better wear a | | | | Generally what is on the vehicle is more of the same |
| rain suit if you do not want to get wet, because you | | | | hazardous stuff that they carry away inside their |
| are going to get soaked doing trash trucks. Turco, | | | | tanks. Maybe not considered hazardous to you or I, |
| Bio-Kleen, and Simonize makes some really good | | | | but it would be considered Class II hazardous waste. |
| products. If you have a reclamation area or a triple | | | | You have to soap them and rinse. You wouldn't |
| trap clarify that you are able to work with in the | | | | necessarily want to dry a sewer truck. Maybe just |
| trash yard you may want to use Turco products. | | | | dry the mirrors, the windows and the cab, clean the |
| You can spray them on with the Hudson pump up | | | | rims real well and dry them out because you don't |
| sprayer and then come back with high pressure, hot | | | | want the water resting stagnant in them. Other then |
| water and pretty much clean them without the hand | | | | that I would not say to worry about drying them. |