Retrofit a school bus wash system into a constrained space? “No problem” says Westmatic

Monroe School Transportation looks for creative solutions to wash a 300+ school bus fleet.

Westmatic, a manufacturer of environmentally-friendly large vehicle wash systems, works with schools and school transportation providers of all types and sizes across the United States. Faced with tight budgets, building and site constraints, fleet size and variety, school transportation departments are looking for workable and affordable solutions to their bus wash needs.

Prior to 2015, Monroe School Transportation, a locally owned transportation services company serving Rochester, New York schools, was washing their 300+ school bus fleet by hand. This was a challenging task in an area of the country that can average 84 inches of snow during the winter months.

Monroe asked Westmatic to retrofit a small, free-standing building on their property with an automatic bus wash system.

This photo, taken during the commissioning stage of the wash system, helps to illustrate the spatial challenges of the existing bay.

Westmatic’s designers got to work adapting a machine that would function consistently in that limited space, while ensuring that all vehicles using the wash system would receive a thorough and safe cleaning (The photo helps to illustrate the spatial challenges of the existing bay. The photo was taken during the commissioning stage of the wash system).

Westmatic’s 2-Brush Rollover was the perfect automatic wash system for this situation. This rollover/gantry system is ideally suited for school buses and provides a high-quality wash using two vertical side brushes. The overlapping brushes intelligently wash the front and sides of the bus and around mirrors and other vehicle protrusions such as stop arms and crossing arms. The brushes thoroughly clean the rear of the bus, eliminating the ‘skunk stripe’ that you often see on buses while keeping rear windows clean for added visibility and safety. A roof mop provides additional cleaning for the front of the bus and the roof. Monroe’s system design also included a chassis wash to clean away the dirt, oil, and corrosive materials that can build up under vehicles, especially those driven in winter conditions.

Westmatic’s 2-Brush rollover/gantry wash system features a wash cycle time of 5-10 minutes and reduces s driver error with a simple ‘pull in and park’ approach.