UPS Shifts To Dry-Washing Trucks In Georgia
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.14.07
UPS does not want a dirty Southern fleet, in spite of Level-4 water restrictions in the Georgia drought. Hence, they have found a waterless cleaning method using, of all things, a commercial grade furniture polish.
The UPS Roswell [Georgia] facility used to be where 225 vehicles were washed every few days, but not anymore. The hoses are now idle because of the level four watering restrictions.But the fleet hasn't lost its luster. Big Brown has gone green with waterless washing.
“It’s a dry mopping method. We use a mop, and we put a solution on it and it kind of like leaves a little bit of film, almost a wax,” explained area automotive manager Philip Aiello...He said the product is called Shine-Up but it’s actually just furniture polish, and it repels dirt.
Background for inquiring minds:- Pledge Shine-Up is a commercial cleaning product distributed by JohnsonDiversey. The MSDS for the original Shine-Up indicates that the product formulation includes the following: Triethanolamine; Poly (dimethylsiloxane)/Silicone fluid; and, Solvent Naphtha (petroleum) Medium aliphatic/Mineral Spirits. That last one is quite clearly a volatile organic carbon (VOC) so there is a small trade-off here (increased ground level ozone formation potential for reduced water use).
We shouldn't sweat the small stuff. In the context of a Level-4 drought, congratulations to UPS for a creative fix; and, we hope SC Johnson enjoys the extra profit, and UPS a lower water bill. Maybe SC Johnson can use the new market to research a low-VOC substitute for Naptha.
Via::11 Alive, Drought Watch, "Big Brown Trucks Going Green" Image credit:: 11 Alive Drought Watch coverage.
Note: as reported here; "JohnsonDiversey is one of the four separate companies controlled by the Johnson Family, all of which are headquartered in Racine, Wisconsin."
I used to work for the company back in the late 80's and early 90's. They started at that time dry washing the package cars as they are called. They would determine each day if the truck needed a wet wash or could be cleaned with a soft mop without any solution on it. Seemed to work well, but I wasn't the one that tracked it. Oh and that was in Florida.