Truck drivers will soon find a beacon at the edge of Emporia.
According to the Blue Beacon’s Marketing Manager Marcia Stephenson, ground was broken in mid-January for the truck wash at 4245 West U.S. Highway 50.
She said Emporia was chosen as a location for the new truck wash because truck drivers called them, saying such a service was needed in this area.
“(They) will say, ‘Hey, you need a location here,’” Stephenson said. “We try to be as strategic as possible and figure out where they need us and so, obviously, that location is at the intersection of (Interstate) 35, I-335 and US-50, and so it made perfect sense that Emporia was going to be a great location.”
The wash itself will be similar to other Blue Beacon truck washes.
“We have the same color building in all locations, so drivers know what they’re looking for,” Stephenson said.
The Emporia truck wash will be a single-bay, though she said the site Blue Beacon has chosen to build on is large enough that it could be expanded to contain two more bays. If business at the truck wash is good enough, she said, it will be added on to.
A number of larger vehicles that can’t go through a typical car wash because of their size will be able to use the truck wash, Stephenson said, from larger construction vans to semis and tractor trailers. Trucks that carry food items can also use this service.
“Truck drivers can come and have their trailers washed out,” she said. “We do it consistently from one location to the next. So that’s a service that we’ll be offering there for refrigerated trucks, or just any truck carrying food stuff, it’s necessary that they wash out. We do that.”
This, she said, is in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act.
About 35 – 40 people will be employed by the truck wash, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Stephenson.
Blue Beacon is based out of Salina and has more than 110 locations across the country. The Emporia site will be the third in the state.
“We’re all very excited to have another Kansas location,” Stephenson said.
The truck wash is expected to be open for business by Sept. 1.
Source: http://www.emporiagazette.com/gaz/article_bb1f9714-3fae-11e9-acea-ef05880e6ed1.html