Truck Bay

[ToFarGone20]

What does it cost to use your truck bay? Mine are $1.50 for 4.5 minutes and the price is going to go up. Too much work at this price...for sure gonna go up a quarter. Just wanted to get ideas....


Thank you for your comments.


A.J.

 

[Waxman]

my regular bays are $2/3.5 minutes.

your price sounds low but it's what your market will bear but you ought to know that.

 

[ToFarGone20]

I do feel low, and you are right about what the market will allow. If you travel in any direction prices are higher than here. Things are gonna change. I know once I raise my price every other wash in town will.... I put in a new automatic and made my bays longer AND raised prices...everyone else then raised prices. So I guess the time has come....

Most truckers are ok....actually the majority BUT it only takes one to sped 1.50 and leave me with a $20 mess.




Thanks

 

[Randy]

The truck bays here, those that still have them are $3 for 4 minutes. Most of the trucks bays have gone by the wayside because of the mess they leave. I know I'd never have one.

 

[Red Baron]

What did my truck/open bay cost me? It cost me stress, fewer good nights of sleep, increased blood pressure and frequent confrontation. In the end it cost me about $250,000, because that's what I spent to convert it to another IBA and put new equipment in the existing IBA.

I.B. will tell you he tried to tell me so, but he's just like that.

And although my answers have nothing to do with your question, really, I will add that converting my truck/open bay to an IBA was a great decision. Cars are still stacked to the highway, but now there's 2 rows of them.

 

[ToFarGone20]

We have had the truck bays (2) for about 29 years now....I think the reason it is so smooth is that we have been all over abusers right from the start. We have a lot of local guys who like having a clean place to wash and I know they will jump each other if they leave it a mess. Eventually that generation will be gone and my truck bays will start to become selfserve oil change/deer gutting station/ trash drop off.

I cut back one IBA last year (3 down to 2)...so I am not sure what I will add.

I bet it cost you more than 250,000 Red Baron...blood pressure medication is not cheap!!!!!!!!

 

[MEP001]

Have you considered charging more for the truck bays than your regular self-serve bays, or do you do that already? $1.50 for 4.5 minutes seems like a lot of time, especially for a truck bay. I've seen some operators give higher pressure to compensate for the reduced time, others who even have selectable regular/extra high pressure with timers that adjust for it.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Although my mud/grease/non-profit mess magnet is a distant memory (1973-1994), I'll chime in on this disaster of an idea. Here's what I did before I $h!tcanned it.

1 - Never installed foam brush or other LP systems. This kept most of the regular vehicles out of the mess left from previous backhoe/dump truck/18 wheeler/farm tractor or whatever.

2 - I eventually decided to charge more for that bay.

3 - I had a sign made up stating "This bay $1.25/3 minutes all other bays $1/4 minutes". #2 & 3 seemed to run the rest of the normal vehicles under roof.

4 - This was the most important and profitable one. I eliminated it, along with a large part of my time spent cleaning up the whole wash. I would guess that nearly cut clean-up time in half. Although this was poor performing wash eliminating the truck bay didn't seem to have an adverse effect on #s.

In the next few years a couple more washes were built and we finally put a bullet in it in 2001...R.I.P.

 

[mjc3333]

I have three truck bays, one at each wash for the past 21 years. It depends on how much truck traffic you get to make a decision about price. If the bay does not produce, charging more would only pay for the cleanup problems / mess. However, if the trk bay in your opinion does bring in extra revenue, charge more. I am currently $1.50/3min in all bays trk and car. My problem is the height of the car bays 11'6". It's great for the rec. vehicles, but it also attracts dumps, cabs overs, rollbacks etc., even though there is a trk bay at each location. The only way it would work for me to charge a different price, would be to somehow lower the car bay entrance/ exit. Until then, charging more will only lead the trks into the car bays for the lower price. If I lower the height, I would charge double for the truck bay, $3/3min or maybe even $5 for 5 or 6 min to start. That way I would at least get $5 for the mess.....

 

[MEP001]

Blocking down the entrance to the regular car bays is the way to go. The trucks will use the cheaper bays if they can get into them. I've even had a dumpster truck driver pull up alongside the exit of two bays to wash one side of his truck, then turn it around to wash the other side.

 

[mjc3333]

I still have that problem. Trucks trying to use the car bays at the entrance or exit of the bay. That is why charging more for a truck bay can get tricky.

 

[Waxman]

Just found out that the Big Garbage trucks fit in my SS Bays. Sweet!

 

[ToFarGone20]

I have a 72 year old father that I can let you borrow. He will make sure they don't cuase any problems....AND because he is old he can chew their ass and they will just chalk it up to a grouchy old fart and STILL COME BACK!!! No mess the next time either.