Truck Washing - Chemicals?
Truck Wash Chemical Testing
After a lot of years in the truck wash business in the Chicago area in the 1980's and 1990's we thought we knew what the word "dirty" meant. We had done both fleets and custom washes. We had done 53 ft. vans by the thousands, owner-operator rigs in our truck stop locations, tanker fleets galore, garbage trucks every single week, and some industrial degreasing work for some fleet liquidators.
None of those jobs ever posed a particularly imposing challenge upon us, as we had the chemicals that were required to get the job done efficiently and to stand head and shoulders above the competition.
It is great to have confidence in your abilities, and our line of truck washing chemicals delivered for us in spades every day. Then one day the phone rang. It was U.S. Steel. They had become dissatisfied with their power washing contractor and had heard of our reputation. We were invited in for a test wash.
It does not take thirty seconds in U.S. Steel Gary Works to realize that this is one of the places on earth that can give a new definition to the word "dirty!" Even before we pulled up to the gate, we saw vehicles coming out there that looked like they had been dipped in wet powdered coal. With many of these vehicles, it was somewhere between difficult and impossible to tell what color those trucks were under the massive layer of crud.
Fortunately, my experience in the mobile washing, truck wash and fleet washing business told me that every rule, method and standard had just gone out the window. My injector ran 8:1 wide open and that is where I set it. I knew that if the wind ever blew my Aluminum Brightener back in my face at this level of strength, my reaction would not be a pretty sight to see. I also knew that I had to immediately change from a 25 to a 15 degree tip. I did not own a turbo-nozzle, but I would have given my kingdom for one that afternoon along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
When the first 25 ton Euclid pulled up with its 10 foot tires, I told myself that somewhere under this glued-on black plate of nasty crud was some yellow paint. One thing for sure, you had to look long and hard to get your eyes to confirm what your brain was trying to get you to believe.
The AB-40 Aluminum Brightener (forerunner of our AB-55) shot out of the dual-tip wand. I knew it was working when the surface of that truck looked liked somebody had poured heavy cream on it. The reaction was so strong I thought I may have been able to hear a hiss if I could get up closer.
I lathered up one side and flipped onto high pressure. In the first pass of the wand on rinse, I knew I had just hit the ball out of the park and maybe into the next county. The foreman of the Main Garage could easily be heard over the noise of the 14 hp Kohler. (We built all our own pressure washers back then): "HOLY #@%^^ ING S#@T!!!!!!
We got the job.
Jerry D. Kaifetz
Truck Wash
Omega Chemical
After a lot of years in the truck wash business in the Chicago area in the 1980's and 1990's we thought we knew what the word "dirty" meant. We had done both fleets and custom washes. We had done 53 ft. vans by the thousands, owner-operator rigs in our truck stop locations, tanker fleets galore, garbage trucks every single week, and some industrial degreasing work for some fleet liquidators.
None of those jobs ever posed a particularly imposing challenge upon us, as we had the chemicals that were required to get the job done efficiently and to stand head and shoulders above the competition.
It is great to have confidence in your abilities, and our line of truck washing chemicals delivered for us in spades every day. Then one day the phone rang. It was U.S. Steel. They had become dissatisfied with their power washing contractor and had heard of our reputation. We were invited in for a test wash.
It does not take thirty seconds in U.S. Steel Gary Works to realize that this is one of the places on earth that can give a new definition to the word "dirty!" Even before we pulled up to the gate, we saw vehicles coming out there that looked like they had been dipped in wet powdered coal. With many of these vehicles, it was somewhere between difficult and impossible to tell what color those trucks were under the massive layer of crud.
Fortunately, my experience in the mobile washing, truck wash and fleet washing business told me that every rule, method and standard had just gone out the window. My injector ran 8:1 wide open and that is where I set it. I knew that if the wind ever blew my Aluminum Brightener back in my face at this level of strength, my reaction would not be a pretty sight to see. I also knew that I had to immediately change from a 25 to a 15 degree tip. I did not own a turbo-nozzle, but I would have given my kingdom for one that afternoon along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
When the first 25 ton Euclid pulled up with its 10 foot tires, I told myself that somewhere under this glued-on black plate of nasty crud was some yellow paint. One thing for sure, you had to look long and hard to get your eyes to confirm what your brain was trying to get you to believe.
The AB-40 Aluminum Brightener (forerunner of our AB-55) shot out of the dual-tip wand. I knew it was working when the surface of that truck looked liked somebody had poured heavy cream on it. The reaction was so strong I thought I may have been able to hear a hiss if I could get up closer.
I lathered up one side and flipped onto high pressure. In the first pass of the wand on rinse, I knew I had just hit the ball out of the park and maybe into the next county. The foreman of the Main Garage could easily be heard over the noise of the 14 hp Kohler. (We built all our own pressure washers back then): "HOLY #@%^^ ING S#@T!!!!!!
We got the job.
Jerry D. Kaifetz
Truck Wash
Omega Chemical