WashTec Cleaning Technology GmbH
Argonstraße 7
86153 Augsburg
Telephone +49 821 5584 0
WashTec Best Practice:
We opted for WashTec's modern car wash system because washing can be automated. Our drivers can use it independently from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Spedition Diebel is a trademark for punctual, efficient and reliable system transport in Europe. „Today, we have 1,600 of our own swap bodies and 300 towing vehicles in our fleet. They are all in the public eye during their deployment and are expected to fulfil more than 1,000 transport orders every day in a clean condition“, says Managing Director Michael Diebel with regard to the external appearance of his vehicle fleet. „This was also the reason for investing in our own commercial vehicle washing facility for the first time in 2000.“ Diebel knows exactly what is important when it comes to buying truck units that weigh several tonnes but have a lot of horsepower. However, he was understandably less aware of the technical features that are necessary in a modern truck wash to optimally clean semi-trailer trucks and articulated trucks. So he sought information from the major car wash manufacturers even before the 21st century began. In the end, he made a conscious decision in favour of the globally successful and innovative Augsburg-based company WashTec, because the system technology presented at that time convinced the Kassel-based haulage contractor Diebel without any ifs and buts. The fact that his decision at the time was a really sound one was confirmed by the continuous stream of high-quality cleaning results. In 15 years, the commercial gantry wash has been cleaning and maintaining the entire Diebel fleet extremely reliably around the clock.
Anyone who really knows Diebel knows that he counts himself among those entrepreneurs who take the standpoint: "Proven things stay once I've made up my mind." By this he meant WashTec as a reliable company and its state-of-the-art washing technology. What he needed for his Europe-wide system transports was "a highly automated washing facility that can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any disruptions. A system that can be operated very easily and independently by the drivers and staff. A facility that achieves a high level of cleaning of our vehicles and our truck bodies."
Those who know that Michael Diebel runs his business with confidence and determination were hardly surprised when, on 17 June 2015, WashTec fitters in turn begin to erect a MaxiWash Vario in the 25-metre-long, six-metre-high and six-metre-wide wash hall at the company's headquarters in Kassel. The WashTec specialists can start their installation work immediately because the old system has already been dismantled and scrapped by the company itself. It was also company employees who renovated the wash hall immediately before the system was installed. As the special truck heaves the parts of the almost five-metre-high portal into the hall with millimetre precision, the walls are coated with light-coloured, resistant epoxy resin. WashTec handed over the high-performance, robust and cost-effective commercial vehicle wash as early as 19 June 2015.
"We opted for WashTec's modern car wash system because it can be automated. Our drivers can use it independently from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.," says Michael Diebel, and explains more: "80 per cent of our fleet is on the road at night." He also says: "Due to the size of our fleet, the washing facility has to be very powerful and, above all, reliable in order to wash our 1,600 swap bodies really clean in particular." After all, it is all about a dignified appearance of the company in public road traffic. "I don't want to deny," says Diebel, "that we first have to gain experience with the new system. What is certain, however, is that failures at the old WashTec system were mainly operator errors. Due to the homogeneous fleet and the automation in the new car wash, we assume that these operating errors will no longer occur," explains Michael Diebel, looking to the future, and adds: "After one year of operation, we will be able to say with certainty whether what we came up with in 2015 was successful.
Michael Diebel deliberately decided against a maintenance contract. "After all, we decided for a good system," he says, assessing the desire for reliable system operation again in the coming years. He does not see any problems in maintaining the system himself. This is also because not only does the company have its own operating workshop at the Kassel site, but also an employee who is responsible for the entire in-house technology carries out daily care and maintenance activities in the hall and at the washing gantry in accordance with the regulations. This created a good environment for continuous operational readiness. In addition, the drivers monitor the proper washing operation during each wash. In addition, responsible persons check the washing hall and washing technology once a week. If something should unexpectedly happen, the drivers immediately press the emergency stop button. They are trained to put the gantry back into operation according to its checklist. Only if there is major damage, for whatever reason, the manufacturer WashTec is called in. But it will probably not come to that. Because the experienced Diebel rules out technical defects. "We assume permanent trouble-free operation in compliance with the manufacturer's maintenance instructions."
Managing Director Michael Diebel can certainly imagine the third generation of commercial vehicle washing from WashTec. Especially if the washing system technology is so innovative that it "washes the towing units and bridges in significantly less time, with significantly less energy input and yet with the best cleaning results."
