Anyone have experience with local Police accounts? Fire-truck?

[StumpyDetailing]

If anyone has personal experience with either Police car fleets, or Fire-truck fleets, please chime in I have some questions!

[Kevin Brown]

No experience with fleet work, but I have buffed out a few fire trucks.

Not all trucks are painted in Imron, but most are. FYI- Imron is H A R D paint. If you plan on polishing to remove defects, just letting you know to watch for this.

Once we had to polish two brand new fire trucks for the manufacturer's So-Cal distributor because the fire department refused delivery. Why? The trucks were a basecoat/clearcoat red, and there were so many wool pad swirls that the trucks looked PINK! Apparently, the manufacturer went away from Imron for a while, but started using it again. Unfortunately, whatever polishing combo someone was using at the factory worked well on the other paint system, but not on Imron.

We got them both fixed, but it took a lot of work. The manufacturer was happy because they finally delivered $860,000 worth of equipment to a happy purchaser!

Good luck with your account hunt!

[David Fermani]

We used to do the retired Police cars before they were handed down to the City officials. The weren't looking for perfection (thank God) and 99% of the cars had rubber floors. They didn't send a ton of work, but it usually created a little work flow/interest from the other employees in the building. Any time you can do work for your local City/Gov'nt it's a bonus. What specifically do you need to know?

[Shaun Carollo]

I did work for our town municipality. We did a firetruck once just for community service for a college scholarship. No paint correction just a wash and wax. The diamond plate could have used some serious work though. We also did 8 police cars 3 times a year. They are EASY. It would take less than 2 hours for us to do the whole interior (mostly 100% plastic) wash, solvent, clay if needed, and one step polish/wax. @ $150 a pop we were making $75 an hour so pretty good, easy money. They loved that we came to them. Now they can't afford it anymore. Damn you recession! Let me know if you have anymore specific questions.

[StumpyDetailing]

You guys already answered half my questions, I'll think about it today then chime in tonight and post again...

Main thing is how often are they done from your experiences? Once a year? More?

I completely agree with the $150/ea pricetag, did that include washing the outside too, ?

You know how happy they would be with tire shine, let alone wash and clay... (White cars always look GREAT after decontamination).

I realized how happy they would be if someone came to them, I think they drop the cars off at the local tunnelwash/detail shop currently... And I know I can do better, so why not go after it!

Might be a good time to use ONR to let them know you don't dump wastewater down the drains! Police would like that methinks, even though there is no law about here concerning washing cars.

[WAS]

While I would certainly not refuse business (and I'm not saying you should either), I would be extra careful if you take on a law enforcement vehicle. Let's just say there's been times where I've opted for good old Spray Nine instead of the traditional vinyl cleaner.... I've cleaned more blood from the back of police cruisers than I care to remember, and they don't generally put "nice" people back there, so make sure you're careful not to catch anything.

[mshu7]

I occasionally do work for our local police department, particularly in September right before inspections. I don't make much money on these cars. I do it more as a "giving back to the community" gesture. Plus, as David pointed out, it doesn't hurt to be in good with the Chief of Police and the rest of the police department.

As for doing the work, I basically just hit their cars with a 1-stepper like Poli-Seal or Meg's D151 and then OCW. On the inside, I give it a thorough vacuum, spot treat carpets, mats, and upholstery, and then clean all the plastic and vinyl. Glass, tires, wheels, and wheel wells are also taken care of.

[Superior__Shine]

Sounds like some here got lucky. My experience is that the pay is super low. Examples such as $5 cars washes and $60 details.

A lot of PDs here use persons in custody to maintain the police fleet.

[EcoAutoCT]

Originally Posted by Superior__Shine

Sounds like some here got lucky. My experience is that the pay is super low. Examples such as $5 cars washes and $60 details.

A lot of PDs here use persons in custody to maintain the police fleet.

+1, I've checked the state bid requests and they pay anywhere from $70-$120 for a full detail that 'includes compounding'; or $15 for a wash/vac/windows on government and municipal vehicles.

[WAS]

Originally Posted by Superior__Shine

A lot of PDs here use persons in custody to maintain the police fleet.

... Am I the only one that finds this practice strange ?!?!

[fallenauthority]

The local jail here uses inmates to wash the CO's personal vehicles, honestly id be scared to have a jailbird I had to watch for 8 hours a day touching my vehicle.

[DaGonz]

As a firefighter, I can answer your question from my FD's point of view..

Our rigs get washed regularly and waxed quarterly. Of course, most cities and towns will not pay for professional detailer to come in and do it, and they will buy OTC waxes (usually the cheapest!) and have the on duty personnel wax the rigs. When my group gets assigned apparatus to clean and wax, I bring in my own supplies, PC and microfibers and let my personnel go to town on the trucks.

At the State Fire Academy... inmates from the Middlesex County House of Correction wash and wax the Academy's apparatus twice a year... and the quality of their "work" shows.

As Kevin Brown stated, most fire apparatus are painted with either single or two stage Dupont Imron polyurethane paint... as hard as the proverbial rock! The one advantage to fire trucks is the fact that most of the surfaces are flat.