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  1. #1
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    Washing Company Vans

    Hi Guys,

    I have a company van but not for personal use. I'm supposed to keep it clean but I'm never at the Office to clean it nor do they have the correct facilities to do so. I end up paying out of my pocket to get it washed.How many of ye guys are in the same situation ?

  2. #2
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    morning neddy, our gaff/asylum has a pressure washer for cleaning vans, but anyway, always a grey area van cleanliness as management want sparkly vans,will charge you private mileage to travel to get it washed, end of the day its a company vehicle,that gets dirty in works time, therefore, get it washed during the day,between jobs, get a vat receipt and claim it on ur expenses, dont go daft with full valets,as that really p***es em of. or stick it on the company credit card. last resort,do what i do, your white van full of stickers can only hold x amount of dirt, once dirty it aint gonna get dirtier, if u live in Manchester it rains most days so now your saving the enviroment

  3. #3
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    In my old firm the boss was a stickler for clean vans. One time the bosses wife did an inspection when we had a H&S meeting and 2 vans failed the test. They had to be cleaned after the meeting and the pair got 10 mins pay docked from their wages. Did wonders for staff morale. Shame the quality of the firms work didn't match the state of the van exteriors. Bosses stance was vans to be cleaned in our own time, no arguments. My stance was wash in my time, blag overtime on a quoted job. Revenge was mine, mworh ha ha!

    Wouldn't bother with paying to clean the van if you can avoid it. Used to wash the van when doing the car. Normally the night before the H&S meeting.

    Cheers,
    Andy.
    Health and safety first..........unless I'm in a hurry.

  4. #4
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    The last firm I worked at got funny about personal use of vans along with everything else. It got to the stage where the van didn't get washed for a year, and when they come to pick it up a few days before I actually left without my knowing. It was like a skip on wheels, and stank very badly as well, but was masked by an air freshener. They started to drag their heels reimbursing expenses, and making up excuses such as still waiting for a director to check it, so i asked who checked theirs? And just simply got a negative response.

    Anyway I put them on stop on a few occasions resulting in the van not being clean and refusing to pay for parking and giving them the option of paying for a parking ticket or not getting the job done. Amongst other things, and it was company policy to keep it clean. But they still didn't get the message, they continued to be stupid about it along everything else. When I used to get it washed, they pulled me up on tracker data classifying it as personal use. So again, another reason not to call to the car wash on a Sunday without being accused of using the van to buy a cappucino and a newspaper, or during the week and queuing up and waiting for it to be washed and be accused of tossing it off.

    Eventually I also refused to keep it on my drive and refused to take responsibility for it onced I had got home, one Friday evening I heard a speeding car drive past my house and then heard a loud clunk. I went outside to take look and the nearside mirror had been smashed off the van, I didn't do a thing until 08:30 Monday morning. Which was inform the office that the van had been damaged and I refused to drive it until they arranged to get it fixed as I didn't have enough all round vision, as there was a bulkhead fitted and no rear view.

    One of the engineers that left lives on a street with double yellows outside, when he finishes work he drives home, off loads his own tools. Then drives over a mile away to park it up, then either walks or catches the bus home, then repeats the process in the morning. After it had been damaged and broken into a couple of times, they asked him to move his own car further back up his drive or move it off to make room for theirs. Otherwise they would take it off him???

    If the firm you work at insist that your vehicle is cleaned, then they need to give you one less job or honour the overtime to have it cleaned without any nonsense. Otherwise when a company issues a van to engineers who are home based, and treats the vehicle like a lathe or milling machine in a work shop for company use in company time. Then that is exactly how that van should be treat.



    .
    Training may be finished but experience is never complete.

  5. #5
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    most company vehicles are leased nowadays- after 3 yr. and usually limited to 80k miles you have to return it, all they look at is seat wear, scratches on the dash, to squeeze money out ur boss, they also get charged for going over the mileage allowance- my van was getting near 3yr old, id clocked 120k mile and the buggers extended the lease for another 2 yr. and when it got serviced it lost 40k miles??? so I need to take scenic routes through big puddles to get the mileage back up. bosses also like to see the inside of ur van clean and tidy, that's only possible by a few engineers- usually the lazy ones, my van is like a tardis, everything slung into its rightfull place thus wedging in the vac pump to ensure it doesn't tip,and also stops gas bottles rolling about. its a uphill battle to stop the boss from moaning, chillywilly has the right idea about playing em at their own game

  6. #6
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    As much as I agree about playing them at their own game i just couldn't leave the van for so long, at the end of the day it's our office/workshop/break room etc... Also if everything is in its right place I don't loose anything. Fortunately we have a pressure washer at work and as soon as I'm in I can get it washed and sorted. ( whilst getting the p!ss taken out of me by the other lads.)

  7. #7
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    Good replies guys. I'm the same I hate when the van gets too dirty.It is our office/break room . I know of some places that are not allowed to wash vehicles at the office. I guess the chemicals have the potential to get into steams rivers etc so they have to go to proper car wash.

  8. #8
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    @ My last but one place the vans were 'limited personal use'. Ie, home to work & back again. I figure, no private use, no personal time spent on it. Was washing it @ the yard one day to be told I'd get into trouble and they were to be washed in our own time. Replied with my belief above. Never did get called out over it.
    Seems to me there's more & more take, less & less give.

  9. #9
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    I would adopt a positive approach.
    The company you work for is responsible for your bread and beer... in return you solve problems to customers.
    The van which you drive says somthing about your company as much as the cloths or uniform you wear.
    You will alway try to leave a good impression with your skills in finding and repairing units.
    If you have a problem with a dirty van [which you do] you should speak with managment and ask them of how to solve the problem and not on your expence. For example, they can make a contract with a car washing place to wash all company vans for a special price. It works for me and I got only one van but it is always clean and shiny, It does good for the customers too.

  10. #10
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    This became a fairly major issue at one company i worked for, we got a company in every Monday to wash vans and check tyres. As Chemi says, the van reflects the company image, dirty van, dirty mind eh IM

    alec
    Mostly found in the southern part of this green and pleasant land.

  11. #11
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    just protecting the company logo with a layer of dirt!!- dont get paid to advertise!!
    Quote Originally Posted by al View Post
    This became a fairly major issue at one company i worked for, we got a company in every Monday to wash vans and check tyres. As Chemi says, the van reflects the company image, dirty van, dirty mind eh IM

    alec

  12. #12
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    Time to wash the van, time for a new van!
    If a client wants a clean van, I just say do you want to pay for it, "no" is the normal answer, so i say "who do think is paying" one way or another it has to be client.
    If you have no private use, then cleaning time and cost is borne by the company.

  13. #13
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    at our small family owned company we allow our techs full personal use of company vehicles and they still treat them like ****e, brand new vehicles that never get washed, are full of rubbish and filth and interior and exterior get scratched, dented and beaten up.

    once in a blue moon they do wash their van/ute they make a big song and dance out of it on monday morning, like they should get some reward.

  14. #14
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    I used to wash and polish the van, would do all the bumpers and tyres with dressing too, it used to annoy the other engineer when i parked next to his dirty van! Sometimes on overtime, sometimes on mine.

    I don't like washing the merc i got now as every time all i do is find more rust.
    Mostly found in Oxfordshire, UK :)

  15. #15
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    Linde used to have a system where if you had your vehicle serviced at the weekend you could claim a small bonus. We had full private use of them, and of course paid the benefit in kind tax.
    I like Chemi's idea, it sounds like an excellent compromise.
    At the other multinational I worked for, we were expected to present a professional appearance - this included our vehicles. While we were in a tech's meeting or training, someone would be sent round the vehicles doing a milage & condition inspection (We bought all the fuel & claimed the work fuel in our expenses, so milage fraud could be an issue - was in one case) we knew this & just made sure our vehicles were schmick any time we had to go to the office. Again, we had full personal use. No real problem, you know what's expected of you when you sign the contract, don't you?
    As alluded to in my first post, I think there has to be a balance between the employer's expectations and the employee's. I think we are all prepared to do more for good employers than for those we dislike.

  16. #16
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    i jet washed the van in overtime at our depo, only because the neighbour jetwashed his drive on sunday and all the crap went down 1 side of me van, didnt use bubbles as i dont want to remove the previous film i had acquired on the van already

  17. #17
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    Re: Washing Company Vans

    I usually keep an immaculate van but the one I have at the company I'm with now I'm the third driver of this vehicle and while I keep the front tidy and wash it once a month or so my hearts just not in it as it has been before. This is down to the way the previous drivers have treated it, fag burns on the roof lining, drawing on the dashboard with marker pens, bits of the dash broken off. Just depresses me.
    This is the first time as well that I've had a van with vehicle washing on the fuel card and I don't want to use it!.
    @neilbrownNB12

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