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In Bay vs Express exterior/Mini Tunnel

I know an operator in the Florida panhandle who schedules one employee if he anticipates less than 40 cars per hour. he does have an overlap at shift change for cleanup, etc.
 
rph9168 said:
[ I can't imagine an express site operating without 3 or possibly 4 employees during busy times.
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FWIW at 3 of the 4 locations we rarely operate with more than 2 at a time. We don't have auto tellers. The guide on man is typicaly the cashier. On busy days the other person, collects and marks the windshield with soap so there is no lag at the guide on area.
At the 4th we have gas and a c-store so there is typicaly more on site.
 
FWIW at 3 of the 4 locations we rarely operate with more than 2 at a time. We don't have auto tellers. The guide on man is typically the cashier. On busy days the other person, collects and marks the windshield with soap so there is no lag at the guide on area.
At the 4th we have gas and a c-store so there is typically more on site.

I think the issue with the wash I described was that the site prohibited him from using less people. In reality, two employees that I listed were there for traffic control. I could see using two employees during busy times and getting away with it as long as the site had a good traffic flow plan and nothing took them away from their job like an equipment issue or customer problem that took some time to resolve.

In our area where land can really get costly I see some operators squeezing an express on a piece of property that would have a hard time with and IBA. There have also been some full service conversions that turned out badly due to site restrictions.
 
Why would someone design a carwash in such a manner that additional labor would be needed to make it operate acceptably?

The 30 car hour mini-tunnel I mentioned is truly an unattended site. The gas and c-store are independently owned and operated.

As for longer mini-tunnels, say, 50’ or 60’ long building that are designed for a 45 or 50 car peak hour, I would consider an attendant for a number of reasons.

My best hour ever was 92. This was full-service, vacuum at starting line, then lock and load. The conveyor was 100’, don’t miss a roller. On the busiest of days during the peak season, we had long waiting lines, meaning we could have washed more cars an hour. We could have with “one person” if we had the benefit of stay-in-the-car, automated point-of-sale with smart technology, entrance gates, self-loading conveyor systems, signage and a high performance carwash system.

As for having more people around to towel dry, hand prep or whatever as a way of making some additional income, this strategy doesn’t seem consistent with the express business model; low-price, free vacuums and more automation.

Don’t believe that all this stuff isn’t important to the customer.

My wife occasionally visits one of the very few express washes in our county, nearly one million people. She complains every time.

The place can be hard to get in and out of. The vacuums are located before the entrance gates. There are not enough vacuums and the parking spaces are really tight. A truly low-priced wash is available during very limited hours of operation. Otherwise, a basic wash is $5.00. Quality is ok but really acceptable “clean and dry” means buying the top package. They towel dry, nice touch, but my wife doesn’t believe it is really necessary, nor do I, and that the guys are just “working” tips.

My wife finds the place increasingly hard to like. I don’t go there anymore because it’s a hassle, you can’t get any services and it is expensive to get quality.
 
Etowah
"Why would someone design a carwash in such a manner that additional labor would be needed to make it operate acceptably?"

I agree but in our area there are more than a few that have done it that way. They are built on under sized lots and often have lousy access and egress. I don't know if it is aggressive sales by distributors or lack of due diligence by the owners or a combination of both. Most of them have really struggled and several have changed hands not too long after opening. On the other hand some have been built on spacious lots in bad locations that struggle even more.

I guess the saying that history doesn't repeat itself - men just keep making the same mistakes over and over - rings true here.
 
robert roman said:
On the front cover of every carwash pro forma prepared by equipment manufacturers and their authorized representatives, is a statement that the customer should not expect to achieve any of the information produced with the financial projections the “company” has assisted the customer with.

Clearly, this statement of risk encourages the customer to develop their own evidence of commercial viability.

For example, banks don’t accept the estimated start-up expenses shown in pro forma prepared by carwash OEM’s. Instead, banks require the investor to obtain an appraisal from an independent third party.

Would it be wise to just cut OEM projections in half? In most cases, owners would normally choose to exercise the option to lease/sell at some level well above 50% of projections.

As for choosing a business model and type of equipment and process, owners often base their decisions on personal preference. In some cases, owners will combine personal preference with needs analysis to support their decisions. Experience has shown the more successful owners tend to follow the latter approach.

As for attendants, I have a friend in the Midwest who operates a mini-tunnel (40’ long building) all day with no attendant. He has done 30 plus car hours. I have another friend in the northeast that operates a high volume express with basically just himself and one other guy.

So, why does it take some owners 4 or more employees and a manager to operate a high volume express wash?
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Robert, would you be able to share the equipment your friend uses for the mini tunnel? What OEM? Thank you!
 
Dayead, do you realize this is a nine year old thread?

As far as tunnel equipment, its safe to look at the big players. Sonny's and McNeil would be the first lines I would look at.
 
OurTown said:
That's not what I heard and came from a pretty good source.
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You're probably right, I didn't realize that his profile and info is all removed. Usually a banned name will no longer even show as a link. In any case, many of the threads in which he involved himself degraded to name-calling.
 
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