Winter Fleet Maintenance Guide

Contents

    •  

    •  

    • What Can You Do For It?

    • Best Practices For The Season

      • Truck Parking

      • Wash After Every Event

      • Interior Care

    • What is Salts Gone™?

    • Worker Safety

    • Available Package sizes

    • Salts Gone™ Application

    • FAQs

    • Company Details

Maintaining a fleet of vehicles that is constantly exposed to extremely harsh and corrosive environments is a large challenge and undertaking.

Trucks, trailers, skid loaders, sprayers etc. have all increased tremendously in price, and equipment and parts have decreased in availability.

Proper maintenance and increasing the service life of equipment is more important now than ever.

Vehicle Price Increase

September 2019-August 2022

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statitics

Why Is Salt So Corrosive?

  • Salt is not an acid or a base; it is PH neutral.
  • When sodium and chlorine come together, they
    create a very strong desire for electrons. Electrons
    are what hold all metals together.
  • Salt draws electrons from the material it is sitting on.
    Overtime, this is what we visually see as
    corrosion/rust.
  • Heat drastically increases the reactivity of salt on
    metal (underside of vehicles get very hot)
  • Salt in the ocean is commonly 3%-5% salinity. Brine is
    a minimum of 23% salt and increases as the
    temperature drops.
  • Metal quality has decreased over time as steel,
    aluminum, stainless etc. have continued to be
    recycled.

What Can You Do About It?

Before The Season

  • Be sure to have paint, like Thixo-Trop, on all exposed surfaces. Wire wheel, sandblast or use a rust converter like Rusts Gone.
  • Undercoating: Lanolin oil based undercoating’s are a great layer of protection for winter fleets. Mechanics are never their biggest fan, but these undercoating’s provide a hydrophobic surface to help repel road salts.
  • It is important to clean the  surface prior to treatment ensures that no contaminants would be trapped under your protective coating.
  • Create a plan with employees that sets expectations foe what post snow event cleanup will look like.
  • Bring in product to have on hand in preparation of snow season. 

Best Practices During The Season

Truck Parking:

This one is non-negotiable for many organizations, however, know that if you are bringing your trucks into a heated building, it is the worst thing you can do for them when they are covered in salt. Heat increases the reactivity of the salt with metals. Although this is a great convenience for your drivers and makes practical sense, from a corrosion standpoint, it’s not ideal.

Most fleets have a designated wash area, but clearly getting 40 or more pieces of equipment through takes
time. We suggest at least treating the equipment with diluted Salts Gone using a pump sprayer. Rinsing
with Salts Gone accumulates less water than simply letting the snow melt, and it will instantly address the
issue at hand.

Wash After Every Event:

Salt draws electrons  whenever  it’s on a surface.  The easiest way to prevent corrosion  from salts is for them to not be on the surface. As many people have experienced, water alone is not enough to remove all of the salt, and traditional soaps are meant for dirt

and oils. Salts Gone™    has a very specific  purpose  to chelate salts and remove them instantly.  This is not

just for the open, easy-to-get-to areas of the equipment, but also the nooks and crannies.  Salts

Gone™    will aid in the removal  of dirt as well, however,  it does not break down oil. This means it’s perfect to use in conjunction with your oil-based undercoating products.

Interior Care with Salts Gone™: Tired of salt residue or stains on floor mats or pedals? Utilizing our Salts Gone™ wipes, pump sprayer, or hose end sprayer will effectively remove the salt.

What to do when corrosion has already started:

The last thing you want is for your vehicles and other assets to be eaten away by rust. If not caught, it racks up costs in replacements and repairs. We recommend using Rusts Gone as a rust inhibitor. Rusts Gone works by using tannic acid to turn ferrous oxide into ferric oxide. Sometimes, even extra protection is needed as a barrier over these compromised areas. Thixo-Trop is a thick coating that can be applied over rust. You can use it with the Rusts Gone, by itself, or you can add zinc powder for the ultimate protection.

What is Salts Gone™?

3 products in 1

1. Salt Removal Through Chelation

2 .Corrosion Inhibitors

3 .Surfactant (soap)

Salts Gone Chemical Reaction

Application

There are many different ways to apply Salts Gone™. For suggestions  based on your own fleet’s needs, please reach out to us directly:

sales@GlacierChainUSA.com       907 345-0116

Hose End Sprayer-  These will automatically  proportion product into a hose at 1:100 ratio

Battery Operated Sprayer   – This sprayer comes ready to use with batteries already installed.

Pressure Washer – Can be used with chemical syphon or from a premixed storage container

Wash Bays – Use your installed chemical proportioners

Pump Sprayer  – Most ideal for very low water consumption  situations

Salts Gone™ Wash Station – Wirelessly controlled and proportioned  system that can feed pressure washers or garden hoses

FAQ

Does Salts Gone™ work with mag-chloride?

Yes, absolutely.  It is “Salts”     Gone in the plural form, after all. Salts Gone™ addresses  all forms of chlorides, including sodium chloride, potassium  chloride, magnesium  chloride and calcium chloride.

Will it damage our vinyl wraps?

No, it will not. It is 100% safe to use over any vinyl wraps.

Will it strip wax?

No, Salts Gone™ will not strip wax or ceramic coatings.

Can I use it over our lanolin oil undercoating?

Yes, Salts Gone™ does not emulsify oil. This means it will not break down or remove any existing undercoating on the truck. This also means that if your facility has a waste water/oil separator,  it will not emulsify the oil and render that equipment  useless.

Do I need to use soap after?

Salts Gone™ contains premium surfactants  in it. This eliminates  the need for another step in washing. Salt removal does not require any brushing, scrubbing or pressure. For the removal of dirt, you will need some type of agitation with either a brush or pressure.

Can I use it in a foam cannon?

Yes, absolutely!

How much will I go through?

Salts Gone™ has a 1:100 mix ratio. This means each gallon will make

100 gallons of finished product.

Available Packaging Sizes:

32 oz. Hose End Sprayer
1 Gallon Jug
5 Gallon Pail
55 Gallon Drum
275 Gallon Tote 40 count wipes (cab interiors)

Other Product Packaging Sizes:

Rusts Gone Quart
Rusts Gone Gallon
Thixo-Trop Gallon
Thixo-Trop 5 Gallon
Thixo-Trop 55 Gallon Drum

Who Makes Salts Gone™ ?

Salts Gone™ is a product of Custom Chemicals and Coatings.

We are a Houston, TX based company. The original purpose of the product was related to the oil and gas industry. Offshore platforms and equipment needed a simple way to prevent corrosion on equipment that was exposed to harsh and corrosive environments.
Since then, Salts Gone™ has found a place in the transportation, aviation and marine industries as a simple, cost-effective, and safe product to extend the service life of equipment.