Car wash fleet programs are one of the most underrated, underdeveloped, and misunderstood revenue channels in our industry. Most operators want more fleet revenue - but they don’t want the administrative chaos, the invoicing fire drills, or the operational overhead that typically comes with it.

I get it.
Over the past five years, I’ve helped manage several large-scale fleet programs, one of which grew to over $1M in annual revenue, with one full-time admin running the entire program. And here’s the surprising truth:

Fleet programs don’t have to be complicated - if you structure them correctly from day one.

Below are the exact recommendations I give operators who want to grow fleet revenue without overwhelming their team. These best practices are built from real-world experience, operational testing, and the evolving capabilities of the Rinsed Fleet Plan system.

Keep Pricing Simple (Two Tiers Only)

The #1 reason fleet programs stall is over-complication. Too many tiers. Too many exceptions. Too much custom pricing.

The cure:
Two packages. That’s it.

My proven model:

• $20 Fleet Plan - designed for government agencies, municipalities, postal, and utility accounts.
  Up to 20% of your fleet audience has strict $20/month caps in budget. This makes them instantly qualified.

• $30 Fleet Plan - the most “universally sticky” option for non-government accounts, especially in the western U.S.

These two tiers cover nearly every use case, are easy to memorize, easy to communicate, and easy for admins to manage.

Launch With an 8–10 Vehicle Minimum

Minimums create:

• Better client quality

• Higher average ticket

• Less administrative burden

• Lower churn

In many of the programs we help support today, 8–10 vehicles is the sweet spot. Small enough not to scare new accounts. Large enough to avoid micromanaging tiny fleets that never scale. Businesses with 7 or fewer vehicles can simply sign up for a Family Plan (you'd better have those too, haha).

Once your program matures and you can accurately forecast scale, you may want to lower this to, say, 5 vehicles.

The fewer exceptions you allow, the cleaner your long-term growth becomes. Businesses always assume they are entitled to something special because it's a custom B2B deal, I'm telling you - that will make this whole process a pain in your neck really quick!

Start With Unlimited Plans Only

Unlimited-only keeps things simple. No tracking scans, no bucket-of-washes debate, no arguments over usage.

It also creates:

• Predictable billing

• Easier revenue forecasting

• Better operational flow

• Happier accounts (drivers love frictionless washing)

If you add other options later, do it after your base program is running smoothly.

Add Prepaid Wash Bundles Later (25/50/100 Packs)

At some point, you will want a prepaid corporate option for:

• Corporate gifts to employees

• Seasonal fleets
  
  
• Dealerships

My most effective breakdown:

• 25 washes → 20% discount

• 50 washes → 35% discount

• 100 washes → 50% discount

Print this on a fleet flyer that lives inside the car wash offices - directing all sales to occur online via Rinsed online checkouts. It gives the store employees something physical to hand out to any vehicle that asks or has a business name decal on the side of their vehicle. Headhunting obvious fleet vehicles in the driveway is the #1 lead generation tactic.

The result? A scalable system that operates cleanly.

The Admin Load Should Be Light - If You Use the Right System

In my largest fleet program:

• One admin

• 3,500+ vehicles

• $1M+ annual revenue

• 96% automated monthly billing

The reason?
Web-based fleet management > POS-based fleet management.

Rinsed’s Fleet system - with hundreds of car washes pressure-testing it - is already:

• Faster

• Easier for staff

• More intuitive

• Better for remote management

• Stronger on billing

• Better at tracking vehicles

• More flexible for future upgrades

POS systems weren’t built for fleet management at scale.
Rinsed is solving that.

And from my experience: it is the cleanest, most complete fleet admin system this industry has ever had.

Marketing Fleets Is Easy When You Don’t Oversell

Here’s the surprising part: you don’t need a big marketing budget.

Fleet growth will come from:

• Monthly email blasts

• QR codes on WindMaster signs

• A single gate-arm sign

• Printed flyers onsite

• Managers approaching branded vehicles

• Zero paid ads

And yet across the Rinsed location network:

• Each QR code to view fleet info averaged 120 scans per month per operator, capturing ~7 new accounts per month

• Fleet signups outpaced legacy onboarding capacity

The lesson?
Fleet customers are everywhere - you just need a clear offer and a simple path to sign up.

If you have not launched a Fleet Program yet, you have built up demand.

Know Your High-Value Fleet Segments

Across markets, certain fleet types consistently convert:

• Hospitals / large medical networks

• Home health agencies

• Trades / service vans

• Regional logistics companies

• Security companies

• Government agencies (MASSIVE ONE!)

• Corporate campuses

• Industrial parks

And for accounts with 50+ vehicles, consider special pricing or onboarding support (the one-time exception to special deals) - the LTV is massive, and the churn is nearly zero. Corporate budgets are superior to an unlimited member whose credit card declines every 4th recharge.

Keep It Operator-Friendly: No Contracts, Low Friction

Fleet customers don’t want:

• Multi-year contracts

• Complicated invoicing

• Tedious sign-up steps

Your program should offer:

• Month-to-month billing, but the ability for a manual invoice for government accounts that have to pre-pay 6-12 months during their budget season

• RFID or LPR-based access

• Self-service vehicle management (via Rinsed Customer Portal)

• Automatic itemized billing

• Fast onboarding

• One point of contact

Simple, friendly, clear, and scalable.

Final Takeaway: Fleet Programs Are One of the Industry’s Most Overlooked Growth Engines

I’ll say it plainly:

If you run a modern express wash and don’t have a structured fleet program, most operators are leaving six figures on the table.

When you simplify pricing, automate admin work, and make sign-up easy, fleet revenue becomes:

• Sticky

• Predictable

• High margin

• Easy to scale

• Surprisingly hands-off

And with the latest generation of fleet management tools - especially Rinsed’s web-based system - operators finally have the technology to run large-scale fleet accounts without the headaches.

Operators don’t need more complexity.
They need better structure.

Fleet Plans, done right, deliver exactly that.