Washouts are rarely evaluated based on how effective they are in cleaning and sanitizing food transport trailers. Cost and convenience are the primary factors in deciding which washout is best for drivers.
One of Healthy Trailer’s main jobs in the food transportation industry is helping stakeholders (trucking company drivers, dispatchers, and food industry members) understand their choices in how they transport food so that they can make informed decisions that make sense given their customers, cargo, and overall company mission and objectives.
We want to show:
Why washouts may matter to you.
Why we designed and built a different type of washout service.
How Healthy Trailer completes a sanitation service.
Where are you, Washout?
Frequently searched as ‘washouts near me,’ washouts conveniently located near fuel stations, food, or shipping facilities are an important part of the food safety supply chain.
A washout is commonly referred to as a quick cleaning procedure that makes a trailer visibly clean before picking up a load. Washouts are often priced according to market demand. We’ve heard that in port locations where meat cargo is a common delivery, prices can exceed $80 for a five to ten-minute washout service.
Washout costs are frequently managed by the safety or ‘on the road’ departments at trucking companies. This procedure is part of a company’s maintenance program. If a company has attended food safety training, or their customers have required specific food safety procedures, they may have a trained person in charge of overseeing trailer sanitation processes that happen out on the road.
Other than questions about Healthy Trailer’s hours or open location, the main question we get is about price.
But recently, we got a new one.
“Why do you charge $50 instead of $40 like they do in Salinas?”
Salinas is twenty minutes away from our Healthy Trailer site, and this driver let me know he was three minutes away. Since this was also a text conversation, I tried to give him correct but brief answers.
The driver started with the usual: “How much do you charge for a trailer washout?”
Me: “$50”
Driver: “And after wash give me a receipt??”
Me: “Yes, and a clean certificate and a service sticker inside your trailer. Everyone will know your trailer is clean and ready.”
Driver: “But in Salinas, they charge $40.”
Thinking to myself, hmmm, what’s the right answer? I really wanted the business, but I knew experiencing our service was the only way to show him the value of the extra $10.
ME: “I don’t know, that’s not our business. I can have our employee call you. Where are you loading?”
Driver: “I’m in Gonzales, three miles away.”
Me: “Got it. You will really like our service. The trailer will be very clean.”
Driver: “OK, thanks.”
We didn’t clean this trailer, and I don’t know if the driver chose the Salinas washout.
But what I do know is that for $10 less, this driver had to drive into major traffic congestion, squeeze into a little lot (we have that problem, too), and wait in line (the same as us sometimes). The worker assigned to cleaning the trailer would drag the pressure washer hose through a dirty puddle in the parking lot, climb up a ladder with dirty boots, and spray the debris and dirty spots he noticed in the trailer. It could take anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes (we’ve timed this washout) and will typically look and smell clean, even if some areas of the trailer were not washed.
If the driver wants to pay for sanitizing, a food-grade chemical treatment applied with a Home Depot weed sprayer may cost extra.
At some point, the driver will have to go inside the store and pay for the service.
If the driver had been served at Healthy Trailer after the three-minute drive to the site, his or her experience would have included:
A pre-clean inspection.
A pre-wash rinse if there was blood, produce, or other debris.
An automated wash with germicidal UV.
A Healthy Trailer Clean certificate and a receipt.
A Healthy Trailer Service sticker inside the trailer door.
Pay in the truck if the driver prefers.
Is this worth an extra $10?
Maybe, but maybe not.
We don’t know if the driver needed a manager’s approval, if he is a ‘regular’ in Salinas and prefers that service and its employees, or if Salinas is closer to the shipping facility. There are many reasons why the driver decided to go to Salinas.
This conversation is an example of the thought process of countless drivers and dispatchers who affect trailer sanitation decisions daily.
Should the Quality of the Washout Service Matter?
We can suggest four different considerations for washout decisions.
First, do your customers have preferences or expectations? Are these requirements specified terms in a written contract? What have they verbally expressed to you? How are you monitoring contract compliance?
Second, what type of drivers are transporting your food products? Do you know which members of your driver teams prefer a clean, sanitized, and documented trailer? There are more of these conscientious individuals than you may think. Supporting their decisions in how they prepare their trailers for food loads, particularly fresh produce, will influence their overall attitudes and willingness to appropriately present your company to your customers.
Third, a good washout service will note trailer conditions and be familiar with your cargo types so that the clean and sanitizing service is tailored to your company’s needs. We have trucking company customers who have asked us to take pictures of trailer damage so that they see what the driver may have missed or been unwilling to report.
Fourth, not all drivers understand their role in presenting your company in the best possible light to your customers and your customer’s customers. We’ve had drivers show up and ask us to hose out the back and not care about anything else. Dispatchers and driver managers may want to know about these circumstances so they can at least decide the overall effect this driver may have on their operations and customer relationships.
Evaluate your washout decisions alongside these considerations, and you may find that higher prize washout approval makes sense for your company.
Superior Washouts Serve and Support You
When we first imagined what a trailer sanitation service would look like, we started with the ‘typical’ service.
Workers washed out only what they saw and smelled.
Washouts that were completed in under ten minutes.
Hoses and other equipment sitting in dirty puddles from prior washed-out trailers.
Incorrect application of chemicals.
Vague documentation of the service.
In light of the above considerations about the quality of washouts, we knew that customer preferences and expectations could not be achieved or met with this type of service.
Even if there is confusion and doubt over the FDA’s Safe Transportation Rule or whether anyone cares about the transportation piece in the traceability requirements, there is no confusion about two big issues: How to mitigate dangerous environmental risks in trailers and the ability to show a customer that their expectations, written or not, are recognized and managed.
Resist the temptation to let common misperceptions about the realities of dirty, unsanitary trailers derail your pursuit of mitigating food safety risks. You may not be part of these conversations, but Healthy Trailer has become the resource for people who are nervous about the sanitary conditions of the equipment transporting their food products. We see and hear more than most industry members.
The question isn’t about cost. The question is, ‘What are the risks, and how can you help us reduce them?’
We designed and built a different method of cleaning trailers and documenting the sanitation process because people like you needed a better ‘best practice.’
If Healthy Trailer is not available where your drivers need a washout service, take the time to learn about the processes you are depending on to meet your customers' specifications. You don’t like to settle for inferior truck maintenance while out on the road. You want to pay for a good service that supports you and your company.
Your washout options should meet the same criteria.
The $10 Difference
We literally took the ‘bad’ out of the typical washouts. Everything that contributed to contamination risks in food transport trailers became a target for Healthy Trailer’s process improvement plan. How did we differentiate?
Science-backed protocols were a priority.
Nonchemical options, requested by trucking company owners, were analyzed.
Input from food safety experts was required.
Sanitary design was a non-negotiable feature.
Documented and traceable service information was critical.
The result?
Automated wash cycles that clean all the surfaces in the trailer with a focus on the bulkhead and threshold.
Hospital-grade germicidal UV light technology.
Ongoing validation and verification procedures.
Machine and environmental sanitary maintenance.
Pre-inspections that help preemptively mitigate cross-contamination.
Communication with customers about unique cargo concerns.
HT Clean certificate and sticker in the trailer for visible sanitation confirmation
Database that supports a carrier’s request for proof of cleaning if and when they need it.
Patent offices in the United States, Chile, Spain, and Mexico agreed with us and gave us patents for our process!
Cost or Control?
Washouts will become a greater concern and focus in the food supply chain because we want food to be safe as it moves from Farm to Fork.
Consumers become curious and ask questions, and we as an industry must provide honest, transparent information about the food’s journey.
Your customers will not settle for inattention to or ignorance about the environmental conditions of your trailers.
Our choice is always to keep the cost as the primary target, but we really need control—control over our reputations and control over our contractual commitments, both of which will help us direct our company’s long—and short-term survival and viability.
Commentaires