VendingKeith Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Just started researching bulk vending a few weeks ago. I'm wondering whats the most locations any of you have serviced in 1 day? I'm trying to figure out (ball-park) how many locations I could possibly service in 1 day if they were in the same town. So, anyone want to throw out some numbers? Can a route of 100 be a single day job? More, less? Whats your record? Whats your average? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Coast Vend LLC Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 You will get a lot of different answers for this question. It really depends on what equipment is in each account, if you are counting quarters and paying out commission to each account, if you have to refill the machines and clean them. If you are saying that you need to do that many in a day, it's going to be almost impossible to do 100 accounts. I figure about a half hour per account. That includes travel and all the things I listed above. If I work 10 hours straight, I can do about 20-22 accounts per day. I have decreased my time per account by using a counting scale, which takes only a second. You can probably do more if you you just throw the quarters in a bag, don't have to fill any machines, don't have to clean machines and the accounts are in a mall or on just a couple of streets. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKeith Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Thanks for the reply Gary. Really I was hoping that in a 10 hour day I could do at least 40 charity sites with gum/candy machines if they were in locations fairly close together. Run in and refill heads, empty money, wipe down machine, say hello to any employees around, and get out. But I really have no idea how long it takes so I figured I should ask to keep my goals realistic. Who else has some numbers or thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mage Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I am trying to get mine down to 4 an hour right now. I have a small route that is spread out though. And my goal is to get more locations, and split the route in half to make it more efficient. Realize when you first start doing it, it is going to take a lot longer then after you have things figured out. And it doesn't hurt to budget extra time to allow for the unexpected. My goal is to get to an average of 6 an hour. A number I believe is possible, once my route is consolidated into smaller, more efficient areas, and as long as I am only servicing the route normally. If I am changing out a machine, or making repairs, then it will obviously take longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkboy Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Gary is spot on. When I started vending a year and a half ago, I was hopeful that I could do four locations an hour, but figured three would be easy. I've spent considerable time, energy, and money streamlining the process as much as possible, but two per hour is it ( I have 81 triple-head locations). As Gary pointed out there are a lot of variables. Two of the biggest, I believe, are coin counting and machine cleaning. The 1800 machines have a three compartment tray and it took me a long time to figure out how to remove and count the coins from each compartment independently and quickly. Cleaning is another issue. Judging by the competition, many vendors really skimp on the cleaning aspect, I believe. I'm on my hands and knees at every location cleaning the bases and giving special attention to the coin mechs where dirty hands take their toll. Just last Wednesday, as matter of fact, the manager of a 50's diner asked me if I'd clean the whole store. She said I was the only one (read vendor) who knew how to clean (there are three other machines there). Driving time is the biggest time consumer, but it's one that you can't do much about. Connecting dots efficiently is pretty cut-and-dried. I learned a long time ago that everything in life takes longer and costs more than you plan on. : ) Good luck on your new venture! Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T BIRD Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I have a goal each day of servicing 15 locations. These are locations with racks and toys and gum mostly that get a commission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mage Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Racks are definitely more work, and more income. Only 2 of my locations are commission, and all candy. I do focus on cleaning, but I attempt to keep my OCD in check. I have been trading out machines, bringing them home, and giving them a thorough cleaning. When I bought this route, I found that it looked like the previous vendor had never cleaned under the flap. (Ring around the chute.) My first go through was the most work cleaning, but after that they have generally been easy to clean. If I see anything on the machine, it is cleaned off. But I do try to get the cleaning, and everything done asap. By the way, bulkboy, what product(s) do you use to clean the machines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPVendCo. Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I have one route that I do 55 in a 9 hour day, ( no lunch) I also have a route were it takes me 7 hours or so to do 25. i take lunch that day.... I have mostly vendstars, so if a canister is messed up, or any other part, mostly chute doors, i just swap it out and keep rolling. i guess it just depends... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurtsman Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 55 in 9 hours is sick. I'm working on being able to do 25 in a day, by getting machines into almost every store in the mall, then working on a servicing method where I can transport enough candy for refills. One of my focuses for the coming year is product control, and that means keeping less candy on location and adding new candy 10-20 ounces at a time instead of 50. At first I tried putting more candy in, but the employees did not understand that it was their job to try to eat all the candy before I returned...I'm also in the gym working on my weight lifting for carrying bags with more product so I can hop out and service 8 machines before going back to reload. I expect to be able to do my route in one week per month with 200 locations, because many will be on a two month cycle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulkboy Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hi Mage, In the field, I just use water. I don't want cleaning solutions to come into contact with product. However, I do carry a small bottle of Goo Gone with me because every once in a while I get a really greasy base (particularly in the back end of restaurants). But like you, I completely disassemble newly acquired machines and give a thorough cleaning using the usual array of household cleaners...409 etc. But the chutes and doors are always wiped with water to remove any cleaning residue. One last thing I discovered a while back. The canisters of the 1800 machines clean up well in the dishwasher. But the saving grace is Jet Dry! Use it and you can let them air dry without getting water spots. That stuff is amazing. Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPVendCo. Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 .I'm also in the gym working on my weight lifting for carrying bags with more product so I can hop out and service 8 machines before going back to reload. you need to come up with something so that you can do the entire mall without going back to the vehicle. a hand truck with totes that are stackable might work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetstop Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I would do between 20 and 25 in a 8-9 hour day but did my counting at home that night. They were vendstars and that included a cleaning wipe down and adding candy as needed. I never did any counting on the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPVendCo. Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Friday I serviced 18 in 6 hours & I take pride in making sure they are clean. My areas are more rural , no city driving so maybe that makes a difference. Also the majority of my locations are single head and probably half has to be counted on location. buy a scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKeith Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Wow. Thanks a lot for all the info guys. Sounds like it would take a really good situation to be able to do any more than 25 in a single day. Going to have to run more numbers. I guess I could take the appoach that I'll only take as many locations as I can service in a day. Would just have to keep throwing out the lowest earners every month and hunt for better ones until I was making enough off my single day route to be happy with it. Another option would be to grow to 50 and pay someone to do 25 while I do 25, could rotate locations with the guy so I would know what should be earned where and discourage him from stealing too much. I would be interested in knowing more about the 55 locations in a day situation, that seems crazy-good. Are a lot of them in the same building complex or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPVendCo. Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 there are 3 fair sized citys crammed next to each other. I have 55 locations all within probably 20 miles of eachother. I have almost all vendstars, which I have added a flap to the coindrop area so i dont waste even a single moment sweeping coins. I am OCD organized about this as well. I know what I need when I pull in. I have swapped out anything that might slow me down. all the keys in the tops turn the same way and every machine on this route takes the same keys. ( except for the few oddball NW i have in this route) I used streets and trips to plan the route out in the most efficient manner possible. -JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VendingKeith Posted December 8, 2009 Author Share Posted December 8, 2009 Wow, very impressive JP! A well oiled machine. I was expecting you to say it's 35 machines in a mall,10 machines in a factory, and 10 in a strip mall all 3 locations within 2 blocks of each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPVendCo. Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 35 in mall would be awesome! but no that 55 different locations, some of them have 2 machines as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebob051977 Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I have found that the more time I take to prepare for servicing my route, the faster I can do it. If I organize my cooler and have a game plan for going into each location and doing the 3 C's (coin/candy/clean) I can do more locations in an hour. The few extra minutes I take to prepare are well worth it. I can do 4 machines/hr and each machine is no closer than 2 miles apart. It just takes one stop to slow me down a lot (someone wants to chit chat, or a machine had issues). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mage Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I always do the candy first. Even though I never touch the candy, I still don't want them seeing me touch the coins before I do anything with the candy. I use screw on Ziploc containers with measurements on the side. (4 cup) I put the expiration date from the candy on a post it note on the lid, and place them all into a large tote. Then I have one of the Hot Tamale boxes I use as my service box. I keep a spray bottle, clean rags, coin collecting scoop, and keys in this box. Then I simply grab the 3 containers I need for the location, and put them into the box right before I go in. Usually I only need to switch 1 or 2 of the containers. Monday I did 12 locations in a little more then 3 hours, and that was a 50 mile trip, from first to last machine. Distance is my biggest problem right now, but that was better then 3.5 an hour. This also included changing out 1 machine, which took longer then a regular service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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