Most fleet owners we talk to aren't worried about whether their trucks need detailing. They already know they do. What they're stuck on is the unknown - what's it going to look like when six guys are trying to get to job sites at 7 a.m. and a detail crew rolls into the lot?
Fair question. Here's exactly how it works, start to finish, with no marketing fog.
Step 1: The quote call (10 minutes, no pressure)
You call (412) 475-1960 or fill out our partnership form. We ask four things:
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How many vehicles, and what types? (Sedans, vans, box trucks, pickups - it all matters for time estimates.)
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Where are they parked overnight? (Lot, garage, scattered across job sites?)
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How dirty do they typically get? (Contractor pickups vs. sales reps' Camrys are different animals.)
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How often do you want service? (Weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly are the common cadences.)
That's it. We don't ask for a contract signature, a deposit, or a credit card. Within 24 hours you get a written quote with per-vehicle pricing, the volume discount applied, and a proposed schedule.
Step 2: The walk-through (optional but recommended)
For fleets of 5+ vehicles, we'll come out once before the first service to look at your lot. We're checking practical stuff: where we can park the van, whether there's a spigot (we don't need one, but it's nice), and what time your drivers actually leave so we don't get in their way.
This is also when we flag any vehicles that need a one-time deep clean before going on the recurring schedule. Sometimes a truck has two years of construction dust baked into the interior - it's cheaper for you if we reset it once and then maintain it, instead of charging a recurring rate that has to account for the worst-case vehicle every visit.
Step 3: Locking in the schedule
We pick a day and a window - say, every other Wednesday, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Predictability matters for both sides. Your drivers know which morning to grab their stuff out of the cab the night before. We know which lot we're at and what to load on the van.
You get a calendar invite. We send a text reminder the day before. If a vehicle is going to be out on a job and unavailable, you just reply to the text and we skip it (and don't charge for it).
Step 4: Service morning
We pull into the lot in a marked van with everything self-contained - water, power, products, vacuums. No spigot, no outlet, no runoff. This is important for two reasons:
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Winter. Pittsburgh winters kill traditional pressure-wash setups. Our rinseless wash method works in 20°F weather and inside warehouses without flooding the floor. It's why fleets that switched to us mid-winter usually never go back to a wash bay.
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Compliance. No runoff means no stormwater issues for your property. If you're in a leased lot or industrial park, your landlord will thank you.
We work the fleet in a logical order - usually starting with whatever leaves the lot earliest. If a driver shows up at 7:15 and his truck is mid-detail, we wrap it up and hand him the keys in under 10 minutes. Nobody waits an hour to get on the road.
Step 5: Per-vehicle time
Most exterior maintenance details take 30 to 45 minutes per vehicle. A full interior + exterior (which we usually only recommend monthly, not weekly) runs 60 to 90.
If you have a 6-truck fleet on bi-weekly exterior service, we're in and out in about 3 hours with a two-person crew. Your drivers see a clean truck waiting when they walk out with their coffee. That's the whole experience from their side.
Step 6: When a truck is really bad
Stuff happens. A drywall guy spills a five-gallon bucket. A landscaper tracks half a yard of mulch into the cab. A truck sits at a job site for three weeks and comes back looking like a Jeep ad.
We don't surprise-bill you for it. If a vehicle needs more than the agreed scope, we either:
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Do the standard service that day and flag the vehicle for a deeper clean next visit (with a quote first), or
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Call you on-site, explain what we're looking at, and get approval before adding time.
You never open an invoice and find a charge you didn't know about. Ever.
Step 7: The invoice + the monthly report
End of each month, you get one invoice covering all visits, with the volume discount already applied. Net 15 terms for established accounts.
You also get a short report: which vehicles were serviced on which dates, photos of any that needed extra attention, and a heads-up on anything we noticed (slow tire leak, taillight out, interior panel coming loose). We're not mechanics, but our crew sees these trucks more often than you do - it's useful information.
Step 8: Adjusting as you grow
Fleets change. You add a truck, you sell two, you pick up a new contract that means the vans are filthy by Thursday instead of staying clean through the week. Text us. We adjust the schedule, re-quote, and roll forward. No re-onboarding, no new contract, no friction.
What we don't do
Honest list, so there are no surprises:
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We don't do paint correction or ceramic coatings on fleet vehicles (it's not the right ROI for a work truck - happy to explain why on the call).
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We don't do engine bay steam cleaning.
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We don't service vehicles offsite. You bring us to the fleet, not the other way around.
The bottom line
Mobile fleet detailing should be the most boring line item on your monthly P&L - predictable, scheduled, no surprises, no driver downtime. That's what we built this around. If your current setup feels chaotic, or you're driving trucks to a wash bay one at a time on Saturdays, there's a better way.
Get a quote: steelcitydetailers.com/fleet-detailing-pittsburgh or call (412) 475-1960.
