Car washes are expanding into Jacksonville, and so is the truck-washing business.
Blue Beacon Inc. wants to build a three-bay truck wash in Northwest Jacksonville at a cost of $4 million at 6680 Pritchard Road in Crossroads Distribution Center. There also is an office and lobby.
The Blue Beacon Truck Wash is planned on 7.15 undeveloped acres, according to a pending building permit. The site is at southeast Interstate 295 and Pritchard Road.
Blue Beacon International Inc. of Salina, Kansas, bought the property March 5, 2021, from Crossjax Distribution II LLC for $500,000.
Blue Beacon bought the property through CWW Enterprises LLC.
CWW Enterprises LLC applied to the Jacksonville Planning and Development Department for an administrative deviation from the zoning code to increase the number of parking spaces.
The deviation states that Blue Beacon truck washes are open 24 hours a day and the washing is done by hand in each of the wash bays.
It says general managers typically like to staff six employees per bay and four in the office.
The estimated staff size on-site at any given time would be 18-22 in the bays and four in the office.
The standard parking lot for a triple bay is 40 to accommodate the employees as well as spaces for staff changes. The deviation is to increase the maximum number of off-street parking spaces from 22 to 40.
The city issued a mobility fee calculation certificate for the truck wash on 5.88 acres.
The fee, which is calculated to mitigate the traffic impact, is $78,971.
The application states that Blue Beacon truck washes are not automatic or self-service.
Employees wash the exterior of the trucks, buses, vans and semitruck/trailers as well as complete washes of the interiors of semitrailers.
An average time for a truck wash is 20 minutes but that varies depending on services, vehicle type and the extent of the needed wash.
Bluebeacon.com says Blue Beacon has more than 110 locations in almost 40 states nationwide.
They operate near travel plazas such as Pilot Flying J, Love’s Travel Stops and other fueling facilities that cater to truckers and tractor-trailers.
A Pilot Travel Center operates at southwest I-295 and Pritchard Road.
The two Florida Blue Beacon locations are in Dade City and Fort Pierce.
“Blue Beacon Truck Wash locations are conveniently located and provide easy access for even the biggest rigs,” the site says.
Blue Beacon offers washes for tractors, tractor-trailers, trailers, and offers additional protectants like Rain-X and WeatherShield.
Standard wash prices range from almost $27 for a flat trailer to almost $85 for a tractor-large tanker.
Other services include engine washes as well as washing for RVs and motor homes, vans, camper trailers, cargo trailers, cars and pickups/vans.
It offers fleet accounts.
Founder Charlie Walker opened the first Blue Beacon in 1973 in Salina. The company now includes his children and grandchildren.
The truck wash comes to Jacksonville as many car wash companies, primarily express tunnel washes, are opening.