Vehicle Cleanliness and Detail Checklist

Use a non-silicone interior cleaner — silicone shine on the steering wheel reduces grip and on the dash creates glare on the windshield at night. Pay attention to the ELD cradle, gear shift boot, and the cup holders where coffee residue collects.

Inside and outside of the windshield, both west-coast mirrors, hood-mounted convex mirrors, and the door-mounted spot mirrors. Streaks at sunrise/sunset are a real safety hazard, not a cosmetic issue.

Pull receipts, fuel slips, lumper receipts, and BOL copies before they go in the trash — turn paperwork in to dispatch or scan to the TMS. Loose items in the cab become projectiles in a hard brake.

Detail is the right time to verify the cab still carries: registration, COI, IRP cab card, current annual inspection certificate, post-accident kit (camera/disposable, witness cards, drug-test info card), and the carrier's emergency contact card. Replace anything missing before the truck leaves the yard.

Knock down road salt, bug splatter, and brake dust before soap. Pay attention to the front grille, bumper, and the trailer's lower rails where winter chemical buildup accelerates corrosion on aluminum and steel components.

Top-down: roof fairing, cab, sleeper, then trailer sides. Use a brush extension for the roof — climbing on the deck plate is the most common slip-and-fall in the wash bay.

Use an acid-free wheel cleaner on polished aluminum — acid pits the finish. Brake dust on steers is the worst; let cleaner dwell, then agitate with a wheel brush. Rinse fully so residue does not bake in on the next run.

Walk around with a microfiber and chamois. While drying, confirm headlights, marker lights, clearance lights, turn signals, brake lights, and ICC bumper reflectors are clean and unbroken — this is a free pre-trip win and prevents a CSA Vehicle Maintenance hit at roadside.

Per 49 CFR 390.21, the carrier name and USDOT number must be legible from 50 feet in daylight. Faded or grime-obscured numbers are an OOS-adjacent finding at roadside. Note any door decals that need replacement on the next yard visit.

Pull the filter (typically behind the glove box on Cascadia, under the hood on Peterbilt/Kenworth). If it is gray or matted with debris, replace rather than clean. Note the part number on the work order so the shop can stage the next replacement.

For team trucks and long-haul sleepers, run an HVAC odor bomb on recirculate with the engine idling. Skip aerosols in tank and food-grade hauling cabs — residue can flag at shipper inspections.

Cold pressure: 110 psi steers, 100 psi drives, 100 psi trailer (confirm against the carrier spec sheet — varies by tire size and load). A clean wash bay is the easiest place to spot a slow leak from a screw or sidewall cut.

FMCSA minimums: 4/32" on steers, 2/32" on drives and trailers. Carrier policy is typically tighter (5/32" steer pull point) to avoid roadside OOS. Record any tire below pull point so the shop can schedule a swap before the next dispatch.

Walk the unit looking for new dents, scrapes, cracked lenses, missing mud flaps, fairing damage, or fuel/air leaks. Photograph anything new with a date stamp — undocumented damage becomes a chargeback fight at lease return or insurance recovery.

Anything that affects safe operation — air leak, brake stroke out of adjustment, light out, tire below pull point, fluid leak — gets a work order in Fleetio (or your shop system) before the unit is released. Cosmetic items can be batched for the next PM.