Cost
What does fleet washing cost?
Nobody publishes fleet washing prices, which makes it hard to budget for. Here are the ranges most of our units fall in, what moves the number, and how a mobile route compares with running your own wash bay.
Fleet washing is priced per unit, by unit type and by how often the wash happens, which is why quotes vary and why nobody publishes a price list. We quote after looking at a yard. But a fleet manager building a budget deserves a range to start from, so here is what our own rate book looks like across the fleets we wash in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The headline: most units on a regular route cost between $40 and $75 per wash. Half of all the unit rates we carry sit between those two numbers; the middle of the range is in the high fifties.
Typical ranges by unit type
These are exterior-wash prices on a regular route, per wash. One-off washes and first washes of neglected units run higher.
| Unit | Typical range per wash | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 53-foot trailer, dry van or reefer | Low end | Big flat surfaces wash fast; the back doors take the time |
| Day cab tractor | Middle | More detail per square foot: grille, mirrors, tanks, steps |
| Sleeper tractor | Middle to upper | More surface than a day cab |
| Straight truck or box truck | Middle | Cab plus box, one unit |
| Cargo van or pickup | Low end | Often washed as part of a larger yard |
| Refuse packer | Upper | Hopper and body degrease are part of the job |
| School bus | Middle | Long sides, lots of glass |
| Tanker trailer | Middle to upper | Chemistry depends on the barrel finish |
| Loader, excavator, haul truck | Per machine or hourly | Depends entirely on condition |
What the add-ons cost
- Undercarriage wash: a per-unit price on top of the wash, with a lower recurring price once the unit is on a winter cycle. Typically a quarter to half the price of the exterior wash.
- Aluminum brightening: per piece. A few dollars per rim, more per tank, per stack and per headache rack, with a recurring price for pieces on a monthly cycle.
- Trailer washout: per unit, depending on what it carried and whether a sanitising rinse is needed.
- Interior cab, windows, tire shine: small per-unit prices, usually added on a few units rather than the whole fleet.
- Degreasing an engine bay or a machine: per unit or hourly.
What moves the price
- Frequency. The biggest lever. A unit washed weekly takes a fraction of the time of one washed monthly, so the per-wash price is lowest on a weekly cycle. Stretching a cycle to save money rarely does.
- Condition at the first wash. A fleet that has not been washed since spring is priced as a restoration the first time and a maintenance wash after that. We will tell you both numbers.
- Unit count and yard density. Forty trailers in one yard are cheaper per unit than four, because the set-up and travel are spread.
- Site requirements. Water reclaim, aluminum-safe chemistry on a polished fleet, badge access and escort rules each add time. Reclaim in particular is usually a per-visit charge.
- Location. Yards on an existing route pay per unit only. A one-off visit outside the routes carries a visit charge.
Mobile route vs. your own wash bay
Fleets of a certain size always run the numbers on washing in-house, and they should. The honest comparison has to include everything a wash bay costs:
- The bay itself, or the pad, with an oil-water separator and a permit for the discharge
- A hot-water pressure washer and its maintenance, chemicals and storage
- Labor: a wash takes a trained person 20 to 45 minutes per unit, and that person is a mechanic or a driver you are paying anyway, or a hire
- Water and heating
- The management: someone has to make sure it happens every week, and it is always the first job dropped when the shop is busy
For most fleets under about 150 units, a route costs less than the labor alone, and the wash actually happens. Above that, an in-house bay can pencil out for the exterior wash, and fleets often keep a route for the undercarriage, brightening and the yards without a bay.
What you should expect from a quote
A per-unit price for each unit type at the frequency you asked for, the add-on prices, any per-visit charges named up front, the route day, and no contract term. If a quote is a flat monthly number with no unit prices, ask how it changes when trucks are out or the fleet grows. Get ours.
Why don't you just publish a price list?
Because the same trailer costs a different amount weekly in a 40-trailer yard than monthly in a 4-trailer yard, and a list that ignored that would be wrong for most people. The ranges above are what we can say honestly without seeing the yard.
Do you charge for trucks that were out when you came?
No. The crew log the units they wash, and the invoice is built from the log. You pay for what was washed.