Do you clean your truck before handing it?

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by BillyBobFrank, Dec 9, 2024.

  1. BillyBobFrank

    BillyBobFrank Light Load Member

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    When you quit, do you first clean the truck? The company I'm leaving has people to clean and detail trucks before giving them to another driver, but I don't want to be an #######. One person I talked to said he was charged to have the truck cleaned when he left and another person said it went 'on his record' after he quit. I'm not sure either makes sense, but I wanted driver's opinions that have been through this before.
     
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  3. silverspur

    silverspur Road Train Member

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    "When you quit, should you first clean out the truck?"

    Shouldn't you have been cleaning it all along?

    When I was in my twenties I worked with an older guy in his late 40's. He was dating a woman and he told me that he showed up at her apartment unannounced one day because he wanted to see how she lived, if she had clean habits etc.

    After you move out of that truck , your style of living (and character) will be on display for the next person that steps foot in it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2024
  4. hope not dumb twucker

    hope not dumb twucker Road Train Member

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    Doesn’t take much to wipe it down once a week or two. I even keep swiffer dusters with in arms reach. Quick wipe to get loose dust. Same with meguires clean and shine wipes. Even smell like new vehicle scent. Spray Lysol on floors and seat before bed, help get rid of fart smell lol. Wipe windows as needed. Not hard or long at all. Quick and easy here and there. Or on a 34. Will make things faster and easier if you turn truck in. Oh and I keep a small vacumn to
     
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  5. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Are you a professional driver or a steering wheel-holding pig?

    I appreciate a driver who is leaving my employ to leave a clear truck, it reflects on the professionalism of the driver and the concern about how he cares for my truck as if it is his own.

    I too have a detailing company come in and clean it after the driver leaves but that is irrelevant because the driver should show professionalism in everything they do, even if it doesn't get recognized.
     
  6. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    Well that depends greatly on how you quit. In a "cram it with walnuts" scenario, probably not, but if you intend to use them as a reference, by all means. I wouldn't polish the tanks or anything, but shovel it out. It just looks good, and trust me, that goes a long ways.
     
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  7. hope not dumb twucker

    hope not dumb twucker Road Train Member

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    Just out of curiousity, if a driver cleans theirs stuff out, does a wipe down vacumn. What ever the case do you charge the driver for a detailing company to come in? Or do you consider it part of business?
     
  8. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    It is part of business, I don't charge the driver for things like routines that we normally do.

    However, I have had a couple of drivers lose their minds for one reason or another and trash the trucks to the point that they were unusable, one had to be towed to a company that specialized in cleaning up nasty things like crime scenes to the truck enough to put another driver in or sell. Those drivers were taken to court over the costs, it is right in the contract about it.
     
  9. hope not dumb twucker

    hope not dumb twucker Road Train Member

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    Well that makes sense. If a driver trashed it. If a driver left it in good condition but was still charged a cleaning fee, that I wouldn’t agree with. But thanks.
     
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  10. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    I know one also that did something similar. He'd go to the womans home and inspect the baseboards for cleanliness. I asked him, "Are you serious?" He said, "I can't help it; I know it sounds odd, but I've be obsessed with clean baseboards all my life." I called him from China one time just to find out how life is going. "What's up guy, I'm in China." He said he bought a home and his girlfriend moved in and right now she's cleaning the baseboards." Yeah, he kept his company truck spotless also.
     
  11. LoneRanger

    LoneRanger Road Train Member

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    Other than wear and tear it shows good character to leave your job cleaner than when you got there.

    in this case a truck.
     
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