The truck industry is taking extreme care in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since truckers are a huge part of keeping our country going during this challenging period, making time to properly clean and sanitize the equipment truckers use has never been more important.
With that in mind, here are some semi-truck interior cleaning tips that will help you keep yourself (and those you interact with) as safe and healthy as humanly possible.
Regularly Clean Your Truck’s Interior Surfaces
According to a report done by The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), COVID-19 can live on the following surfaces:
- Cardboard (for 24 hours)
- Copper (for 4-8 hours)
- Plastic (for up to 3 days)
- Stainless steel (for 2-3 days)
As you can imagine, this means that semi-truck interior cleaning should be done at the end of your day or shift. That way, whoever uses the truck next will have a clean and safe space to work in. However, you might want to consider cleaning some of the higher-contact areas (like gearshifts, selectors, door handles, steering wheels, etc.) more frequently.
If you’re driving with a partner, then make sure you’re communicating with them, so you’re both exercising the proper social distancing and safety practices whenever you’re outside of the truck (like the two Lily drivers example in the featured image above!). When your day is done, work together to wipe down and clean the cab’s entire interior thoroughly.
Use the Right Cleaning Materials
When you’re cleaning the inside of your cab, not just any rag will do. If you want to truly sanitize a surface, then you’ll need to work with the disinfectants the United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends for use against the virus.
The list from the EPA is a long one, but ultimately, it comes down to this: you need to use disinfectants, not simple cleaning supplies. As Trucking Info explains, disinfectants can kill the virus but, “common cleaning products may just transfer the virus from the surface to the rag or wipe.”
Cleaning trucks is important all the time, but since this virus is so unpredictable, it’s absolutely essential that you take the time to properly and thoroughly use truck cleaning supplies on all the surfaces you come into contact with. Wearing masks when outside the cab is important, too, but it’s not a substitute for proper truck interior cleaning practices.
Keep a Fully Stocked Truck Cleaning Kit
To keep your truck clean, you’re going to need to have the right supplies in your cleaning kit. Even if you know exactly how to sanitize the cab, running out of the right supplies will make it hard to put that knowledge to good use. So, always double-check your truck cleaning kit before hitting the road. Do you have your mask? Gloves if necessary? The right kind(s) of disinfectant?
There’s nothing more important than the continued health and safety of our truck drivers, which is why Lily is committed to making sure everyone on our team is continuously informed about any new policies and processes which can help us all stay safe.
