Flatbed Pricing?

garyg7133

garyg7133

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Hey all.

I just received a request for a detail on a flat bed tow truck. Having never even thought of this kind of work, I really hadn't thought about how to price it. I was thinking hourly rate plus travel time and fuel (it is outside my normal travel range). They are looking for full interior/exterior including the bed and rails. Awaiting photos to see whether or not I actually want to take the job. Thoughts?
 
Hourly probably minus whatever learning curve is involved because it's really not fair to charge somebody your hourly rate and then go there without a firm plan of attack because you've never done a job like that before.
 
Good point. Will absolutely take that into account. Pretty much the reason I need to see it first. The main variable for me is going to be what kind of shape the deck is in as well as any leaks or grease on the frame. Hopefully will be hearing back from them shortly.
 
having done a whole 1 tow truck I can tell you it's going to be a greasy job,,at least from the cab back,,every kind of automotive fluid you can think of has ran onto (and through)that deck.
I would go look at it walk around it and look it over top to bottom and under the bed.
If it's something you don't think you want to do hit it high on the estimate,real high if you don't want them to say OK,,lol.
 
I did a Hino 258 last week. These things are massive!

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Took me 9 hours to do an exterior wash, polishing of the cabin, polishing of the side of the flatbed, basic interior detail (no shampoo). And the result was not to my liking but the the client needed to leave so I had to cut it short. Could have spent an other 2 hours to bring it to the level I try to achive during details. I did not do anything to the side of the vinyl walls other than spraying them with foam and using a brush to wash them. As for the platform, I washed the splash guards thoroughly and did a detaill clean of both control panels for the platform but did not do anything to the platform itself nor the back of the truck.

So what ever you decide to do, think it will most likelly take you at least 12 hours to clean everything if you need to work on the platform. Unless you a not doing any polishing. Also, you will need step ladders and platforms and the like. These things are crazy high. I was unable to reach the roof and the top of the windshield using my platefom or stepping on the front tire and I am almost 6 feet tall. You will definatelly want some kind of brush on a pole for those areas.

Make sure you have enough product also. I ran out of degreaser during the detail (I had a full 32 ounce bottle when I started).
 
So glad you guys chimed in. The first thing that went through my head as far as what to bring was "ladders". What I wound up doing this morning was laying down a basic list as far as what I would normally do for an interior / exterior as a guide for the cab. Once I had that laid out I had to think about how to approach the deck and rails and what exactly I could do based on her photos. I gave her a list of exactly what I would be doing so there is zero room for confusion and if she wanted to add anything to what I sent, it would be discussed before I started the job. I also made sure to find out what her expectations were as the deck is kinda beat up as well as the rear step being completely mauled from likely backing into loading docks and the like. Her response was literally " one of my drivers made a mess of the cab and I just want a shiny truck".
 
Taking everything into account, I gave the customer a price and they promptly stopped answering my messages. My price was extremely reasonable and literally listed everything that would be done. Customer was hot and heavy to get it done by this weekend and I happened to have a cancellation on Sunday so I was going to get them in. Oh well....would have been an interesting project.
 
Not surprised ;) People think it's gonna cost 30$, when you give a price covering the effort needed to get these things clean they fall backwards LOL
 
Calendyr said:
Not surprised ;) People think it's gonna cost 30$, when you give a price covering the effort needed to get these things clean they fall backwards LOL
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Yeah, I was also thinking I may have just dodged a bullet. If my price was too high for them and they had gone for it I'm pretty sure they would have been standing over my shoulder the entire time.
 
Considering this a blessing in disguise. I wouldn’t touch anything out of my comfort zone (size wise), unless I was making top dollar.

If you don’t mind what price did you quote?
 
I had them at $460 for what was basically my base interior/exterior package for the cab and wheels, and cleaning the deck and rails. It also included a slight upcharge due to it being outside my normal travel range, but we had discussed that up front. I thought it was fair for both sides taking into consideration that this was my first vehicle of this type, but I guess not. This may turn me off to even considering that type of work in the future. I've been pretty busy with a HOA that I hooked up with but was trying to fill a cancellation spot.
 
At $460 you were more than fair price wise. I’d stick to where your customers are and where you are making the most money. HOA’s sound like a great place for mobile detailing. I saw a group of 10-12 nice luxury condominiums lining the gold course I played yesterday. Lawn care guys were there and I was instantly thinking a quick $60-100 wash and wax monthly would be an easy sell.
 
Yeah, once you get in with a HOA the calls start coming in like crazy. As soon as I see Nazareth on my phone or messenger I know within a couple of blocks exactly where I'm going .
 
LEDetailing said:
At $460 you were more than fair price wise. I’d stick to where your customers are and where you are making the most money. HOA’s sound like a great place for mobile detailing. I saw a group of 10-12 nice luxury condominiums lining the gold course I played yesterday. Lawn care guys were there and I was instantly thinking a quick $60-100 wash and wax monthly would be an easy sell.
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We go to a high end 55+ community (houses) on a golf course once a month. We went yesterday and we go basically every four weeks as three of the jobs are monthly maintenance and then we just add jobs on to those three to fill our schedule. We frequently go other times for big jobs, but at least the once a month for washes. That place is an absolute gold mine. We made almost $500 yesterday. Every car is parked in the garage. No kids. Very little miles driven. The cars take me like less than 5 minutes to vacuum. No goldfish or french fries everywhere. They all pay full price and they tip. Every time we're there, we probably give away another 10-20 business cards and end up booking a big job or two for the next week.
 
That's awesome. There is literally a 55+ community 1/2 mile from my house. I should swing by....
 
55+ is the age? Like semi retirement community?

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Jon TDS said:
55+ is the age? Like semi retirement community?

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Yes, although most of our customers are quite a bit older than that. The community we go to is just a regular gated housing community except that there's no kids or young people. Everybody is staying off everybody else's lawn.
 
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