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Steven Hanning has been in the trucking business for more than 30 years and has seen some downright filthy wheels in that time. Dirt, gravel, and road debris assault truck wheels constantlyscratching and dulling their fine finish, he says.
His desire to keep the wheels polished and shined on his fleet of trucks at Mercer Trucking Co. here led him to invest in a robotic wheel-polishing system and to open a separate business, called Bling for Trucks, that's seeking to provide that added service to truck, bus, and RV owners and operators.
The business occupies a previously unused 200-square-foot repair bay at Mercer Trucking's headquarters at 1414 N. Fancher, and is operated by two employees of the trucking company, who also do other things at Mercer, says Hanning.
The wheel-polishing machine, called a VIS-Polish system, is his secret weapon in the battle against dull and unsightly truck wheels. It's manufactured by VIS Service Automation, a subsidiary of Australian-based Nepean Group. Hanning bought the system two years ago for $125,000.
He says he decided to invest in the machine to help keep his employees busy and generate added revenue during slow periods at Mercer Trucking. He opted to pursue the wheel-polishing venture, he says, because he wanted to "have an income coming in on something that I am familiar with."
Hanning says he can take an unpolished aluminum wheel, or a polished aluminum wheel that has seen better days, and make them look like new, complete with a mirror finish. "If it's aluminum, brass, (or) stainless (steel), it can be polished," he says.
"It's important to me to have good-looking equipment," Hanning says, and he adds that the rising interest in his service from prospective customers suggests that others feel the same way. Hanning declines to disclose revenue figures, but says he was lucky to shine 10 wheels in a week when he first began operating Bling for Trucks. He says the business is routinely shining more than 30 wheels a week now, and he hopes to keep growing.
The polishing system puts each wheel through a series of sanding and buffing procedures that can take between 45 minutes and two hours depending on how corroded the wheel is.
The machine itself is about 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, or roughly the size of a photo booth that one would find at a busy mall. It displays remarkable engineering traits.
The wheel that is to be polished is bolted onto a spindle and spins while it is touched up with sanding brushes of various grits. Preparing a wheel to be polished is simple, and requires no heavy lifting since the spindle on which the wheel is polished can be lowered for loading.
Next, the operator places the desired sanding brush onto a robotic arm, enters the size and type of wheel into a computer keypad, and the machine takes over for the next eight minutes or so. It sands each wheel at least four times, beginning with the most abrasive sanding brush and progressing through brushes that produce a more polished finish. The machine does all of the work requiring only that the operator change out the sanding brushes after each interval.
After the wheel is sanded smooth, the operator replaces the brush with a buffing pad. The wheel is then buffed two to four times with different polishing compounds.
Throughout the entire process, the particles that are sanded or buffed off of the wheels are sucked out of the chamber through a vacuum system and stored in a separate container for later disposal, creating a much cleaner environment than if someone were to sand and polish a wheel by hand, says Hanning.
Hanning says the machine is able to shine wheels that are 19.5 inches to 24.5 inches in diameter, and can do so with the tires on or off of the wheel. The price for the service is $65 for a front wheel or $70 for a drive wheel, he says. Drive wheels cost more because they are concave and have a greater surface area compared with front wheels, which typically jut out from the tire just a bit.
Hanning believes that drivers of large rigs have several reasons to keep their wheels polished, foremost of which is the sense of pride that it shows. He says many big rig owners and operators enjoy having a pristine truck for customers to see when they pick up or drop off shipments. Although Bling for Trucks works in tandem with Mercer Trucking, competing trucking companies use the wheel-polishing service, Hanning says. Business so far has been split pretty evenly among commercial truckers and bus and RV users, and Hanning says the business is willing to take on fleet accounts.
Another compelling reason to keep wheels polished is for safety concerns, says Hanning. Dirty or corroded wheels make cracks difficult to spot, and driving on a damaged wheel can cause problems for someone operating a large truck or RV, he says.
Hanning also cites vehicle value as a reason to keep wheels in good condition, saying that truck dealers, and other sellers of used trucks, have a better chance of making a sale for the price they're seeking if their vehicles appear to be well-maintained.
Creating an overall shine
To increase business and provide customers with a one-stop shine shop, Hanning has leased an about 200-square-foot bay adjacent to the Bling for Trucks space to a buffing and shine business called Shorty Shine.
That business, which began operating there six months ago, is owned and operated by Jon Whitney and Blake Payne, and shines everything else on a truck, including fuel tanks, mirrors, tool boxes, platforms, and engine parts, and also can shine parts on other types of vehicles, and boats.
"When we first started we could only do wheels. Now, we can do anything on the truck that needs polish," says Hanning about the close relationship between the two businesses. He says customers have embraced the idea of being able to go to one place to get their entire vehicle spruced up.
Hanning says Bling for Trucks still is working toward profitability, but he believes he's created the right mix by working in tandem with the Shorty Shine business.
Hanning's main focus is Mercer Trucking, which employs 53 people here and operates throughout the northwestern U.S. and British Columbia. While the trucking company, which has been headquartered in Spokane since 1975, does require most of Hanning's attention, he says he's happy to have a smaller, niche business that provides a needed service.