If your company employs a fleet of work trucks, you probably have a shop where techs take care of repairs and maintenance. Oil changes, tire rotations, and brake jobs might just be the tip of the automotive iceberg keeping your fleet afloat and humming along smoothly. Yet, while these tasks—and others—are necessary and important, they often leave grease, motor and transmission oils, brake fluids, anti-freeze, fuels, and more behind.
Below are tips for keeping your shop floor clean enough to eat off of. Well, you probably don’t want to eat off ANY shop floor⎯no matter how clean⎯but you will be able to brag about your clean floor, and cabinets, toolboxes, workbenches, etc.
In addition to the above-mentioned materials littering shop floors, dirt, mud, snow, salt, sand, and pollen often make their ways in on tires, shoes, and through the air. Airborne residues settle on elevated surfaces such as cabinets and workbenches, making the challenge of keeping your shop clean daunting. But I’m not telling you anything you don’t know!
CLEAR AWAY DEBRIS
First get rid of everything that isn’t used. Throw out trash, empty containers, used parts, spent boxes, etc. Check under shelves, on top of cabinets, and in corners. Create a blank slate with designated spaces for equipment and other items.
Next, sweep and wash the floors well. Whether using a broom, or even a leaf blower, do what it takes to remove loose debris from the floor, directing it outside into a pile to be disposed of later.
DEEP CLEANING
Pressure washer: Powers off surface contaminants, as well as fluids that have soaked into an unfinished concrete floor’s pores.
Auto floor scrubber: Scrubbing machines take less effort and are more thorough than a mop and bucket. A 20-inch scrubber can clean up to 23,000 square feet per hour. They come with a variety of attachments, including a squeegee.
Shop vacuum: A shop vac such as the OmniFlexTM AutoVacTM by Kaivac Cleaning Systems can be pushed upright to dispense liquid cleaners to the floor, scrub, then vacuum up soiled water. Comes with attachments such as hoses and brushes.
DEGREASERS APLENTY
From Krud Kutter®, to Goof Off®, to Zep Commercial® Industrial Purple Cleaner & Degreaser, one Google search brings up myriad degreaser options. Use these along with absorbent cloths to clean those elevated surfaces. It’s also hard to beat a mixture of borax powder and vinegar. Have a trash can nearby to dispose of spent cloths.
If you have any tips you’d like to share with fellow fleet owners, email them to alison@mwsmag.com. I’d love to pass them along. In the meantime, regardless of how clean your shop floor, if your employees need to sit down and eat, why not provide a table and chairs? We all know no one really wants to eat off a shop floor.
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MODERN WORKTRUCK SOLUTIONS: OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE
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