Can I Run a One Man Mobile Oil Change Business From My Pick-Up Truck?

Not long ago, a gentleman from Virginia had contacted me as he wanted to start a mobile oil change business and operate it out of the back of his pickup truck. He was currently a contract hauler and truck driver, and he knew enough about preventative maintenance, and servicing truck fleets, that he thought he would make a go of it. He wanted my honest assessment on whether I thought this was feasible. Indeed I do, but let me explain.

You see, before retirement, I ran a franchising company which offered mobile oil change units, and we offered them in many states. As we were developing this business model, and I must say the concept was more or less an accident because we were in the fleet vehicle washing business, but we also realized through requests from fleet customers that they also needed oil change services. My theory in business is that if a customer wants something, and you can provide that service or product and still make money, you ought to consider it, so we did.

We originally set up our units in the back of vans, and on flatbed trucks. Later, we set up some units on trailers, but really it is not the platform that matters as much as the layout and design of the equipment for maximum efficiency. You see when you are changing the oil in fleets of vehicles the money is in the time, not necessarily in the price per unit or job. Yes, there are costs with regards to filters, oil, wiper blades and such things, but the biggest cost is labor, therefore you have to maximize your production just as you would in an assembly-line.

So to answer the gentleman's question; "can I run a one-man mobile oil change business from my pickup truck?" The answer is absolutely yes, if you do it right. You see, a pickup truck is a small platform, there is not necessarily a lot of space even in a long-bed pickup truck. If the equipment is clustered properly, and the fresh oil tanks, and the reclaim oil tanks are put at a low center of gravity, then it is possible to get everything into the back of the pickup truck and make it work; including the filling hoses, an E-Vac system, air compressor, and storage boxes for filters and such.

It is just a matter of layout, and the will to get it done - I suppose after that the only difficult remaining item is getting the customers to sign up for the service. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new series of eBooks on the mobile oil change business. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

By Lance Winslow