Q. A vehicle arrives at the truck wash very heavily soiled (dust, snow, greasy hand prints, etc). How can you provide consistent wash results when these heavy soils are creating such a barrier?

A. The Truck Wash Technologies concept includes a wash function where loose solids are automatically removed from the vehicle prior to the main wash process to expose the more complex soils including road film. Additional manual cleaning is provided to spot clean and address areas of the vehicle that the automation cannot address satisfactorily. This wash function allows the vehicles to enter the main wash function at a level of dirtiness the automation can address consistently.

Q. No two vehicles are the same therefore can your system adapt to the varying size and shapes of today's vehicles?

A. Yes we can. Truck Wash Technologies designed the present commercial truck wash system with design criteria that eliminates just such concerns. We implemented this design criterion in every facet of the cleaning process. For example the sprays whether they are chemical, high-pressure or rinse all adapt to the height of the vehicle to minimize over spray, which simply wastes water and chemical, and can potentially hinder the vision of the driver. Additional features allow for sprays to adapt to the shape of the vehicle whether it has flat sides, cylindrical, rounded at top or the bottom to maximize cleaning. More importantly the system has the ability to disable any spray to protect sensitive areas of a vehicle such as an open top trailer. Our ability to adapt to vehicle size allows us to optimize the operating cost to wash a vehicle.

Q. How can you customize a wash for each vehicle?

A. Truck Wash Technologies has developed proprietary point of sale software that allows the cashier to enter customer data. If the customer is a regular we may have a pre-determined wash program for that fleet of trucks to meet the specific needs of the customer. If the vehicle is a first time customer the cashier can select the type of vehicle being washed (tanker, straight truck etc.), select brushes if requested, disable sprays to protect sensitive areas of the vehicle (open top trailer for example), select underbody if requested, wash prime mover only or trailer only and select a custom chemical concentration.

Q. What constitutes a commercial truck wash system?

A. Commercial or retail cleaning of any vehicle suggests you are providing a cleaning service for profit. A truck wash that washes commercially must be robust and capable of adapting to the various vehicle sizes and shapes. Since there are so many nooks and crannies on a commercial vehicle some labor is required to complement the automation to achieve satisfactory results. These features result in a more complex and expensive system compared to the fleet type truck wash systems sold by other vehicle wash manufacturers. The fleet type equipment being marketed is designed to wash limited types of vehicle with no labour. The main advantage of the new design is that it was designed for the commercial truck wash application. The needs of the customer vary as well and to have a successful truck wash operation you want to attract the largest cross section of the market and have a satisfied customer. Simply put there is truck wash equipment for fleets and now there is equipment for commercial truck washes and the two are not necessarily interchangeable.

Q. What are the environmental issues related to truck washing? How is Truck Wash Technologies addressing these issues?

A. The environmental issues related to truck washing are related to the wastewater produced from the cleaning operation. Vehicle cleaning is performed outdoors by mobile power washers or the owner of the vehicles. If not contained and disposed of properly the waste wash water typically leaches into the ground or flows into a parking lot storm sewer. This water is typically entering our waterways untreated or even potentially leaching into our aquifer. Washing indoors will contain the waste wash water and can be directed to sanitary sewer. However, the local municipality has regulations and limits to what can be discharged directly to the sanitary sewer. The wash process uses chemicals to clean the vehicle and the contaminants in the waste wash water typically contain hydrocarbons, metals and soils. The chemicals will also change the pH of the water that is also regulated by local authorities. It is the responsibility of the vehicle wash owner to insure that these regulatory limits are not exceeded by incorporating the necessary water treatment equipment. Therefore the benefits of vehicle wash facilities is that it diverts the waste wash water from contaminating the environment and studies indicate that vehicle washes use less water than washing manually and actually cause less damage to paint surfaces.

Truck Wash Technologies has worked with reputable water treatment consultants in developing an effective water management system. An effective water recycling system will reduce the amount of fresh water needed to wash a vehicle. We recycle all of the water used in the wash process with exception to carry out and evaporation. The amount of carry out and evaporation currently exceeds our use of fresh water thus we are not currently discharging to sewer. Nevertheless we have incorporated an effective water treatment system that is an integral part of our recycled water management system and it is designed to produce water that meets or exceeds sewer discharge regulations. Vehicle washing also produces a large waste stream from the dirt removed from the vehicles. The recycled water management produces different waste streams and we are currently conducting research to reduce this waste and insure that it is acceptable for disposal and also consider recycling options. We are working towards being recognized as an environmentally friendly service.

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