Spring Truck Restoration

Always on my Mind (Salt trucks that is).

Salt trucks. Yeah, yeah I know what you’re thinking. It’s the middle of July why are we talking about salt trucks? Because us fleet technicians are already working hard to get them prepared for the next winter season!

 Our salt trucks do what they do best: spread salt. With that, a lot of the salt residue covers the truck and it is important that the trucks get cleaned properly so the salt doesn’t cause corrosion and limit the life of the truck. From about mid-April to about mid-November (depending on when snow stops in the springtime), our technicians are hard at work cleaning, sealing, and painting the trucks. This process takes about two to three weeks per truck, and the DPW has about 10 trucks.

A quick review of what we do: 1) power wash the entire truck, 2) run the truck through a salt neutralizer (also flush the brine tanks with the neutralizer), 3) apply an oil protectant on the salt spinner, 4) apply a lubricant to again neutralize salt, 5) re-paint the truck orange and the wheels white, and 6) wax and clean the interiors.

While everyone is splashing through sprinklers and enjoying the summer sun, don’t forget that your Auburn Hills fleet technicians are preparing our trucks to be in tip top shape for this upcoming winter. 

Jimmy Hanson, Lead Fleet Technician