Company Uniforms
and Laundering Service
Saves You Money

One of the employee benefits that some professional truck drivers get is company uniforms and laundering service. When Mike got a local truck driving job, he was provided not only with company shirts (with his name and the name of his trucking company on them), but pants and shoes as well. To make matters ever so much nicer, his company is paying to have his uniforms cleaned!

Up until having uniform pants, Mike had been wearing blue jeans on the job. Of course, denim is a heavy, bulky material. Depending on the washing machine used, we could wash anywhere from 3 to 6 pairs of jeans at a time (or even more in an oversized laundromat washer). The drying took the longest since the material is thick.

Here, Mike poses for the camera while wearing his trucking company uniform and shoes. Both the shirt and the pants are 65% polyester, 35% cotton. As of this writing, a comparable shirt costs about $20 and a comparable pair of pants costs about $28. The uniform shirt bears his name on the left panel and the company's name on the right panel. Both the company shirt and company pants are laundered at company expense.

These are the new shoes that were issued to Mike by his trucking company. The non-slip soles serve him very well in his work. A similar pair of slip resistant shoes costs about $50.00.

The savings that a driver would derive from having company uniforms comes in two parts: the cost of the clothes themselves and the laundering process.

Cost of Company Uniforms

Mike was issued 11 shirts and 11 pairs of pants. At the comparable costs listed above, the employee benefit of his having company uniforms is:

We have been blessed to find non-company work shirts on sale at a thrift store for as little as $1 apiece. While that same thrift store sells every garment for $1 apiece, Mike doesn't waste his time looking for pants there because he requires a size that can be difficult to find even in retail stores. 

In the past, he has purchased Wrangler relaxed fit jeans at Wal-Mart for under $20 a pair. Other stores (even Amazon.com) sell them for more.

For 11 shirts at $1 each ($11) and 11 pairs of jeans at $17 each ($187), that would be $198 (plus tax, if applicable). This assumes, of course, that one needs to have this many garments between laundry sessions. Mike was generally able to wear an outside shirt and pair of jeans for a couple of days between truck stop showers on the road. This reduced the amount of laundry being done. So, figuring just 6 changes of clothes, the monetary outlay would be just $99 for us.

Of course, in his local job, he is able to shower every day.

Laundry costs

Assuming that six pairs of jeans can be washed at a time, let's look at some potential weekly laundry costs:

Of course, these costs have to be multiplied by 52 weeks a year, for as long as you wear these clothes.

Calculating the Yearly Savings

Using the 6-garment figure for company shirts and pants (and hard usage that requires replacing both pants and shirts every year), let's calculate the savings we could realize on the road each year (you will want to substitute your own costs):

• 6 shirts * $1/shirt = $6
• 6 pants * $17/pant = $102
• 52 weeks * ($4.75/week * 2 loads) = $494
• Total = $6 + $102 + $494 = $602 per year
  

Multiply the yearly cost by every year you're in trucking and using company uniforms to calculate the extent of this benefit.

Money saving tip: Not only can company uniforms save you the cost of buying outer work clothes, but company paid laundering services can save you the cost of washing and drying the uniforms every week. Drivers who work local truck driving jobs may be more prone to getting a full set of uniforms although some trucking companies allow drivers to purchase custom logo shirts with the company's logo on them.  When Mike worked for Epes Transport, they originally had a program that allowed drivers to obtain 4 company shirts per some time period we can't recall (because when the economy took a downward turn, they removed the program). Ask your company if they provide company shirts and pants -- and whether or not you have to pay extra for them. We personally think that even if a driver cannot obtain laundering services, he/she will look so much more professional wearing a uniform than non-uniform clothing. We think that it also presents a better company image.