Attention to detailing: How and why to keep your fleet's cabs clean
Messes happen—some obviously a lot worse than others, as evidenced by the literal pigsty fleet owner Jim Fraley had to clean up. But whatever the stain, spill, or scuff, fleets and drivers are responsible for ensuring their trucks are presentable inside and out in order to represent their company as best they can. It’s an essential part of maintaining the one thing you can’t fix with tools and replacement parts: your brand reputation.
While keeping the exterior clean is essential for protecting your reputation on the road, a fleet vehicle's interior should not be overlooked. As a manager, keeping your cabs tidy on the inside is just as critical when it comes to driver satisfaction, and cleanliness can absolutely be a factor for companies struggling with driver retention.
A pristine truck is a point of pride in this industry, and many drivers spend their downtime polishing and buffing their baby. But fleets should offer assistance where they can, such as enforcing high sanitary standards in slip-seat situations, and making sure when a driver gets in a truck for the first time, it feels and smells like new.
Chris Foley, detail manager at Fyda Freightliner in Columbus, Ohio, suggested giving the interior a deep clean every time drivers are changed out, ensuring each one gets a fresh start.
Emory A. Mills, senior vice president at FTC Transportation, noted the truck is a longhauler’s home away from home and sometimes their only residence. “To say the equipment they spend weeks at a time in affects their morale is an understatement,” Mills said.
FTC, which this year was inducted into the "Best Fleets to Drive For" Hall of Fame, asks new drivers why they left their last company, and “oftentimes we see that the previous company did not maintain their equipment, or the driver was assigned ‘junk,’” she added.
Jhonny Interian, detail shop manager at JLE Truckwash, agreed, saying, “When drivers feel that the company is looking out for their comfort by providing clean places to work, they are more likely to stay with that employer.”
And if you think your truck wash bill is too high, just compare it to your onboarding/hiring expenses.
“Drivers come to a company because of pay/benefits, but they stay because they are respected and are proud to represent said company,” Mills concluded.
Cab cleaning confidential
“Detailing of a unit should happen every three months for the owner-operator and roughly the same for fleet units that are not being slip-seated,” suggested Jhonny Interian, detail shop manager at JLE Truckwash in Washington. Some customers get wipedowns every few weeks to “keep their driver satisfaction at a high level,” he added.
Cleaning the cab is no different than any routine maintenance. The more frequently you do it, the less trouble it is. Trucks generate revenue on the road, though, so you can’t always get all the accumulated crumbs and dirt. Interian recommends using pressurized air to blow out dust and debris and follow up with a vacuum on a weekly basis.
Common cab messes and how to clean them
- Coffee on upholstery: Blot with a dry cloth, then dab with cold water and a bit of dish soap
- Foggy or smeared windshield: Wipe inside glass with glass cleaner and a clean microfiber
- Grease/oil on floor mat: Sprinkle baking soda or cornstarch on stain, then vacuum off
- Gum stuck to fabric: Freeze with an ice cube, then scrape off with a plastic knife
But the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be to clean. Fyda's Foley noted the importance of acting quickly.
“One common mistake we often see is spills that are not cleaned up quickly enough,” he noted. “Understandably, a driver can’t just stop at any time, but usually spills are left to dry up on their own. A couple of minutes cleaning up a spilled soda can save an hour or more later on.”
And when it comes to odor, sometimes the problem can be right above you instead of under your nose. Zeb Alford, owner of Clean Z’s Mobile Detailing in Raleigh, North Carolina, pointed out that cigarette smoke drifts upwards.
“One of the biggest forgotten things for nasty odors or smoke smells is giving the headliner a deep shampoo,” he said. “That’s where a lot of smells hang out. It’s a pain because you’re upside down, but the outcome is definitely worth it.”
Interian recalled a time a truck rolled into the shop after sitting for about 18 months.
“There was dog hair, rodent droppings, and mold inside the sleeper cab,” he said. “Our team suited up in Hazmat suits and masks to enter the cab.”
The team first used air to blow out debris, then vacuumed the interior and removed the mold.
“The dog hair was removed with painstaking detail using tools that are specifically designed for that purpose,” Interian added.
Considering hazmat suits were needed, the bunk mattress had to be replaced. To get rid of the lingering smell, JLE also ran an ozone machine in the cab for a few days. Ozone, or O3, breaks down smells through oxidation, essentially lending a spare molecule to the stink source to change its chemical makeup.
Interian said this is “the only truly effective way to remove the lingering smells that can build up in a cab. At times, it will need to run for a few days to remove everything, including smoke.”
Some highly rated versions go for as little as $70 on Amazon.
The bottom line is that, while a full detail is necessary every so often to make sure a vehicle gets a deep clean, taking care of an interior more regularly will keep its condition under control, even if it’s just a quick cleanup.
About the Author
Lucas Roberto
Lucas Roberto is an Associate Editor for Fleet Maintenance magazine. He has written and produced multimedia content over the past few years and is a newcomer to the commercial vehicle industry. He holds a bachelor's in media production and a master's in communication from High Point University in North Carolina.