Whether it’s children who take the bus to school, or adults who use public transportation to commute to work, thousands of people ride the bus each day. These individuals, with lunches, drinks, and other substances in tow, run the constant risk of spilling their belongings throughout the trip—and many of them do. With countless people who ride public transportation on a daily basis, it’s only natural that these spaces are going to become riddled with dirt, germs, and whatever else your passengers bring on with them. This is why transportation companies have the obligation to not only clean their buses, but also practice the best ways to keep their school buses clean throughout the day.
The Importance of Regular Bus Cleanings
As mentioned, a lot of people ride the bus each day, and there’s no telling which individuals are currently sick or which ones are carriers. This puts everyone who will ride the bus that day into contact with germs that can, in turn, make them fall ill. In addition, the constant stop-and-go nature of the bus system makes it incredibly easy for those carrying food and drink items to spill them. When this happens, the overall bus environment begins to diminish, and the passengers themselves become less comfortable with your services. It’s for these reasons that bus drivers are responsible for not only ensuring their buses are clean, but for also taking the time every day to sanitize their surfaces. So while it might seem a bit tedious at times, regular cleanings are one of the best ways to ensure your passengers are happy and—most importantly—healthy.
Proper Cleaning Procedure and Helpful Tips
Because of how crucial overall cleanliness is to the success of a transportation business, many companies have established their own specific procedures for cleaning their own buses. However, these routines have many factors in common—such as the cleaning products they use or the way they go about wiping down surfaces. For starters, it’s standard protocol to unlatch all seats and flip them up before the cleaning begins to ensure they’re out of the way. Then, the driver is free to sweep down the bus from the very back to the front, getting in between the seats as they do so. After this is done, they’re then able to begin the real phase of cleaning. Following are a few tips to help your drivers through this process.
Keep WD-40 on Hand
Much to the average bus driver’s disdain, it’s common to find a sticky substance or two stuck to the interior of a bus after a long day. These materials can be incredibly difficult to remove and will often have you scraping at them for hours without even making a dent. This is why it’s highly recommended that drivers are equipped with a bottle of water-displacing spray to help them break up tough and dried-on spills.
Wash and Disinfect the Entire Bus
As tiring as it is to wash an entire bus from top to bottom, it’s essential to maintaining the vehicle’s sanitary environment for your passengers. Since there’s no telling what surfaces the passengers touched throughout the day or what germs they could’ve spread, it’s important that you play it safe. For maximum coverage during the sanitation process, make sure you properly scrub down the floors, walls, and even the ceiling.
Don’t Forget the Windows
While a bus’s windows probably only need to be washed once a week rather than every day, you must still maintain them because of the germs they can collect. Whether it’s greasy fingerprints, dust, or dirt, these things can build up on the window surfaces and not only make them unhygienic, but appear so as well. When wiping down the windows, make sure you’re using a disinfectant spray to break up any stains, following up with a streak-free window-washing product.
Bring a Toolkit and Plenty of Old Towels
Though bus cleaning might seem straightforward at first glance, you never know when you’ll need to break out a few heavier tools to get the job done. This is why it’s always encouraged for a driver to bring along a tool kit with a set of screwdrivers, razor knives, and putty knives to fix any small damages. It’s also recommended that you supply your drivers with a series of old towels to assist them in drying the bus once the cleaning is done.
Ways to Prevent Messes on Your Buses
Now that you know how to properly clean your buses, you can take the necessary steps to helping prevent some of these messes from happening in the first place. Though there will always be spills and germs to clean up on the bus, you can at least cut back on their severity with a few key strategies. These are a few of the best ways to keep your buses clean throughout the average workday.
Designate a Clear Cleanliness Policy
Something as simple as creating a detailed cleanliness policy for your bus system can go a long way in maintaining the space. Your passengers are more likely to be conscious of their personal items, and work harder to prevent spills and keep from spreading germs. You’ll still need to clean just as often, but the job itself will be significantly easier for your drivers.
Prohibit Open Containers on the Bus
As a part of your cleanliness policy, it’s important that you specify which items are and aren’t allowed on the buses—namely, food. This could go as far as to prohibit food and drink entirely or to just require that your passengers keep them in closed containers during the ride. With this rule in place, you’ll have the ability to enforce consequences for those who break it and keep your buses cleaner at the same time.
Use Cleaning Products that Protect
You can also cut back on the severity of the messes by cleaning your buses with products that also act as protectants. For instance, some seat cleaners, aside from just removing stains and grease, also have the secondary effect of forming a protective layer over the material. This keeps the spills that do happen from being as damaging as they could be and overall makes them a lot simpler to remove.
As the most reliable, reputable bus dealer in the Northwest, we at Schetky Bus and Van Sales make it our mission help you run your transportation services. Whether it’s by providing you with our quality school buses for sale in our inventory or the knowledge for how to properly care for each item, we want you to have the tools for success.
