question about fleetwash inc

[bevard]

hello guys and gals my name is ron i own a small fleet washing and detailing company in central california. i have been washing 300 water delivery trucks in california. i also have other accounts. I have 6 employees that travel for 2 days to wash all these trucks. they are hand brushing each one and putting armar all on all tires. i have had this account for 2 years and at every yard every one is happy. they say that finnaly someone is doing a good job. and there trucks look great. i pay my guys pretty well $200.00 a day. well just recently i recieved an email from the reginal fleet manager telling me that corparate is going to be using fleetwash to wash the trucks. they are giving me 1 month and then i am gone. i quess they are washing all nation wide. this is 65% of my bussiness. I started doing research on this company and i havent read anything about them. what do you guys think i should do? i think we all need to band together as small bussiness owners and take this damn monoply company down. it sounds like the owner is some italion mafai guy in ney york.lol. i am pretty upset over this. since i found this out i have put on the suit and hit the streets. hopefully i get some more contracts to make up for this. i am not trying to become a milllionare just trying to provide for my family and my employees family. thank you, ron bevard

 

[PressurePros]

The very fact that your company exists and that this message board exists for PW contractors means they are not a monopoly. Are they a sleazy, low balling, low quality work producing outfit? I dunno, I don't do fleets so I don't worry about them. I have heard stories though.

I am very sorry to hear about this misfortune. I wish you luck in bouncing back and moving on from this unpleasant endeavor.

 

[Larry L.]

The hearsay on the boards is not very good on fleetwash,cheap labor and crappy workmanship.

You and your employee's have atleast one month to work on getting the accounts back.It reads the accounts are pleased with your work and are happy someone is doing a good job.The accounts is your ticket in getting them back,they all can complain to the managers and the managers can complain to the re-manager.
Then again its not every offen a account will give someone one month before they change companys,it may not even happen.

 

[Dan S]

It will happen even though they gave you a month because fleet wash told them it will be a month before they can start.......... they call on pressure washing companies like your self and hire you to do it for less then half of what you were doing it for and then they pocket the rest. If theydont get you to do it they will hire sum "joe" and have them do it , And that joe will have no idea how to do it.

Regardless how they are doing it they are the ones with tons of contracts and they are the ones who is bringing in the $$.

The reason most bigger outfits go to fleet wash is mostly because those trucking companies wants to pay out to one company .....write one check. and have one contract........... they think it is easier for them to keep track of what is going on by dealing with one company....same with buying tires and parts and fuel .... You wont stop companies like fleetwash because of that..... they may loose a contract now and again but the reason they do is because of the type of wash they do ........and who they havetta hire.

If you really want to keep your account............. You have 30 days to burn `ya brain and do some heavy thinking ..............

Go to the mananger or who you deal with about your contract.......... take all info. to him that you can find about fleet wash.............. let them know that you will give them 30 days to try them out......... @ which point you will be back to see how things are going..........

another thing and it really sucks............... if you are paing your guys 200 a day........ talk to them tell them you have to drop there pay to 150.00 a day and pass that to them.

It all depands how much you really want this contract ............... and how much you are willing to give to keep it.

Based on your numbers of 6 guys @ 200 per day ......... thats 12oo.00 per day 2400.00 for both days you are biling them...plus your cost..........

I am olny guessing they are doing this to save money!! fleetwash offered them a better deal

Just , my thoughts !!!!!

 

[jetstream1]

.Fleet wash inc
They will work for half the price and do a crap job
give them the one finger wave

 

[Mike Gwas]

Run across them all of the time. They are the main reason I am still washing fleets. They have destroyed the profit margins in our world...... Don't give up... I have lost many accounts to them but have gotten everyone of them back. It may take a month or 6 however Dan S. called it....... I used to wash every Pepsi truck in the state of Michigan, Fleetwash stepped in and blew my price out of the market ( My price $17.00, Fleeetwash Price $6.00)...... How can you make a dime @ $6.00 a TRUCK ??????? I currently wash 9 out or the 13 facilites !!!!!! Hang in there !!!!!!

 

[Dan S]

Mike there is a guy in my area who wanted to have a fleet contract so bad that he washes fed-ex for 5~bucks a truck................. I cant understand it @ all .

guess he wants to be a hero 2 them er sum-thing !! LOL

 

[Mike Gwas]

Dan,
I have been doing this a long time and $5 for anything won't get me out of bed......
Truck Wash - $5
Gallon of gas - $2.85
Going Broke - Priceless

The guy that washes Fed Ex in Grand Rapids MI is doing it for $6.00/van, please !!!!! They could bring them to me and still couldn't make a living......
The last thing I need is the practice......lol

 

[Dan S]

LOL .....I hear that !!

 

[Larry L.]

With all do respect to all fleet washers I will always call a lowballer if the bid is under the 20-30 range on a 53 footer nomatter how big the fleet is.I look at fleet wash doing the same thing the bigger companys did in this trade years ago and now they are paying for something they started.I've always stayed the same price as the stand alone truck washes which I think is more than fair for a mobile wash.A mobile rig should get more per item then the stand alone truckwashes b/c it saves time and time is money.This trade will always have someone like fleetwash running around cutting lowballers prices in half and in cases one lowballer putting another lowballer out of business.Thats what I do,stay in bed if I cann't get the same prices or more as the stand alone truckwashes.If all fleetwashers charged the same as the truckwashes the trade would rise to its professionalism enstead of hacklism.Nomatter how you spell it in the end you usually get what you pay for,splash and nash.

 

[5 Star Johnny]

I assume you have a good relationship with the decision maker at the location you are currently servicing. If you haven't already, arrange a sit down to collect ALL the information surrounding the change. The obvious thing is cost per unit, but dig deep and ask exactly what parts of your quality & service they may have been dissapointed with, if any. Get them to reconfirm their satisfaction with your company. You may find out that there is something, no matter how small, that they're not completely satisfied with. At least then you can respond to that complaint, and take it with you for the future.

I used to deal with this exact situation in a different industry (wood packaging) that had a lot of small, start-ups. However, I was usually dealing with hundreds of thousands of $$$$ in annual business for my company. We had large local or regional clients that would get bought by a larger national or global company. Right away, they wanted to produce more profit and the purchasing department would be the first line of attack. Suddenly, pricing had to be cut and major re-bidding was under way. Even if they didn't make a switch, they got you to cut your pricing to keep the job. If I made the decision that it wasn't worth supplying our product for the pricing they were looking for, I cut the customer loose. Yes, it hurts losing a big account, but better than loosing profit just to turn $$$$.

What usually happens, and I think is pertinent in your case, is that when the company switched, the new vendor couldn't handle the account, or messed up something big. The customer comes knocking back on your door, but expects you to match the other guys pricing. If this happens, don't be too quick to give away the store. Sit down with the decision maker and find out EXACTLY why they're dissatisfied with the new guy, and why your service demands the price it does. You may have to make a small price concession, but don't give away the store. Normally, the corporate office never seems to figure out that certain purchases of goods or services need to stay controlled on the local levels. Certain things can't be bought at an "across the nation" price structure because the markets vary so much.

The one thing I would suggest you learn from here is that you have way too much business in one basket. That's a sure fire way to end up out of business. Business changes too fast today to believe that you'll keep a certain customer forever. Especially if it's a national, glogal or even regional "big boy" business. While I wouldn't discourage you from doing all you can to keep that client, or keep an eye on them to get back in if the other guy fails to satisfy them, I would encourage you to "beat feet" to spread out your client base. Good Luck!

 

[bevard]

fleet wash

Well i really appreciate all the comments you all posted. all of you had alot of helpfull things to say. I recently spoke with the fleet manager and he said that fleetwash was washing thier trucks for $8.00 a piece. also last time fleetwash worked for them they lasted a whole 3 months before they got fired. i just cant believe they are washing these trucks for 8.00 bucks. i am washing them for 20.00 i did the math i pay my employees a total of 2,300 for labor, for 2 days of work to wash these trucks + gas+hotel+workman comp+soap+armarall, etc ,etc. Fleetwash is grossing 2,400 for washing all trucks. HOW IN THE HELL CAN THEY DO THAT. Well i will keep you all posted to what happens.

 

[MPW]

I have some purse swinging whore in my area trying to under-cut me on one of my fleets. If he gets the job, I'll be sure to meet him.

 

[Lunatic]

I work for a Hospital in the Maintenance dept. and we see this all the time.

The reasons for the Company leaving you to get someone else can be several reason and a few may not have anything to do with you or your quality of work.

We have lost contractors due to bad paper work on thier end or lack of follow up from them. Or better yet we have lost some because there was a new superviser somewhere in teh line that has a nephew that does that you do, or they just have someone that have worked with in the past they trust and have a history with.

Im trying to use all the mistakes i see a lot of the contractors we use, and use them to my advantage by learning from someone elses mistakes and hopfully making the right corrections before i get in that same situation.

But it all boils down to communication, You might not have done anything at all wrong ,but it does pay to find out for future use.

 

[johnny]

Ron,

Just a suggestion: since you stand to lose a considerable sum, become pro-active. Get yourself a digital camera and take plenty of photos of your guys washing and doing their thing, plus nice before and afters, do some videos as well. Then find out when FW is starting and do the same for them - take before and afters and durings along with a video. Show the customer what they are geting from you and not from FW. Consider putting a presention book together, showing FW price versus your value. Good luck.

 

[AWS]

Dan,
I have been doing this a long time and $5 for anything won't get me out of bed......
Truck Wash - $5
Gallon of gas - $2.85
Going Broke - Priceless

The guy that washes Fed Ex in Grand Rapids MI is doing it for $6.00/van, please !!!!! They could bring them to me and still couldn't make a living......
The last thing I need is the practice......lol

Mike,

I'll tell you how they do it.....

Now we're talking about FedEx Express, not Ground, Freight, or Home Delivery.

Most FedEx locations have 50+ W300/W700's or Sprinters, actual size is not that important.

50 units at $6ea = $300

3 employees all making around $10 hour.

Employee #1 Applies Soap Downstream

Employee #2 Follows behind #1 at a breakneck pace with an 18" Brush covering every inch of the unit. Typically a young, physically fit individual.

Employee #3 Rinses with a high volume washer (6-10gpm)


Each employee passes over each unit only once, there is no backtracking BS. With a system like this they can crank out 50+ units an hour. I don't know anyone here that can say $300/hr gross is bad money.

So let's say you service 5 FedEx locations in one day. They are all typically about 20-30 minutes from each other. You have 5 hours @ $300/hr = $1500 gross for the day. 3.5 hours of drive time not producing revenue.

Employee #1 = $10/hour (soap applicator)
Employee #2 = $8-9/hour (the brush guy)
Employee #3 = $12/hour (rinser and quality control)

Before tax labor cost is $263.50 for the day.
Fuel cost probably $125 for the day. (2 burners, 1gph ea., 17 gallons of $3.00/gallon fuel, same for gasoline + $50 fuel for the service truck)
Chemical cost at most $20 for the day.

So you have $408.50 in costs. Leaving a $1091.50 margin to pay for insurance, unemployment, taxes.....

If you can't Survive on almost $1100 washing FedEx trucks for $6 you are doing something very wrong.

Even if you only work 5 days a week.... $5500/week, $22000/month, $286000/annually <----- After costs!!!!


With this approach you have well paid employees for no brainer work, happy customers with the best looking trucks in town, and pretty full pockets yourself. [hello] Hello, McFly? It's all about the volume!

 

[Dan S]

still wont do it ............. had the chance @ several locations............ but .....Nah................ maybe im burnt out .......

Guess Im a George McFly !!

 

[Fox-Ind]

I know that I am small fries here...

I just got word from a new customer that Fleet Wash was in there and I got the account. Our rates were a little higher, but they were just fed up. I know that they do the customer across the street, and I am a little happy to know that they are going to be watching me.

Quality services and word of mouth!!!

 

[jetstream1]

How they work..Lets see first they come in and low ball the price
take you out of biz.Then have you work for them at there price
then they set up the water system scrub a truck or two then get the client to sign for a year deal.But in the paper work it says look clean from 50 feet away.Oh and never set up water set up again thats how they get it done so fast and cheap..Any thing looks good 50 feet away

 

[biodude]

Congratulations Josh! Fact of the matter is is that there will always be individuals base getting their truck washed on price and these guys will keep wash companies like Fleetwash around indefinitely. However, I have seen first hand what is the result of this by looking at the cheapo wash guys equipment. They can NEVER afford to upgrade and improve, and they assure themselves of a JOB but never a BUSINESS. They also are in such a hurry that they cannot afford to properly train the employees they do have, and so their level of quality never improves, which again is why they charge the low price 'cause no one would pay more for it! All-in-all it is a vicious cycle. I will readily admit that in most cases we're not the cheapest, but we give a quality wash and are still able to do what the cheapo companies cannot do.