Clean That Truck!

          “A clean truck is a sign of bad miles.”

          Laugh, it’s a joke  😃

          Right before New Year’s, I walked into the shop to find Heather Dayton, our Manager of Corporate Communications, being horrified by a couple of mechanics sharing tales of disgusting trucks. I couldn’t help but laugh; she looked like she was going to forfeit her lunch at any moment.  She looked at me and said “I’ve got an idea for a blog post for you!”  I said “Oh yeah?”  She said, “How To Clean A Truck.”  Being the undiscovered comedian I am, I looked at another driver and said “how do you clean a truck?”

          I’m not going to tell you how to clean a truck.  Honestly, if you don’t know how to pick up after yourself by now… I’m not sure you can be taught.  We’re grown adults here, at least in theory.  If David Freymiller can trust you with a truck, trailer, and thousands upon thousands of dollars in freight, I’m going to assume you know how to pick up after yourself.  Instead, I want to talk about the importance of keeping a truck clean.  I don’t think it’s a lack of skill, but a lack of interest.

          Some drivers take the same level of responsibility for company trucks as renters do for rental houses.  We see the same problem in the company cars at the yard.  According to a search on truckpaper.com a new Kenworth T660 retails for about $159,500 and new Peterbilt 579’s run on average $152,000.  That would be the price if you or I went to go buy a new truck.  Freymiller, on the other hand is what could be called a “bulk shopper.”  I’m sure there are some pretty sweet deals when you’re buying 20 or more trucks at a time.  Even at a 30% discount, that’s a lot of money.  I haven’t asked, nor will I ask, how much Freymiller pays per truck because it’s not my money so it’s none of my business.  It doesn’t matter.  I’m going to treat David’s truck like I would want him to treat mine.

People just don’t care.  I can’t make you care.  I wish I could.  It’s disappointing to come to the yard and find out a driver has been terminated because of the condition of their truck.  As of this writing, we are not subjected to truck inspections.  There are companies where the drivers are subjected to truck inspections.  I hope we don’t get to the point where truck inspections become policy, but I wouldn’t blame David if it did.