Large Vehicle Car Wash Preserves Trucks, Buses for PWD in Cumberland, Maine
- August 26, 2022
To provide a safer and more sustainable delivery of public services, the Town of Cumberland, Maine proposed an expansion of the existing Public Works maintenance garage. The leadership team considered both current and future needs when defining the design requirements and staff needs while responsibly managing the Town resources.
Financial Benefits of Vehicle Car Washes
Using a due diligence process and solid organization, the leadership team discovered a large vehicle wash bay for maintaining multiple public works vehicles would reap many financial benefits for the community. A new wash bay would meet DEP requirements and address numerous environmental concerns, enhance personnel safety, increase vehicle life expectancy, and improve the overall public image of the Town. A partnership and alignment with the needs of the school district’s fleet program further solidified the necessary approvals for development.
Through a proposal/bid process, Maintenance Tech., Inc. was selected as the preferred vendor for the project. The Town of Cumberland’s contractors, engineers and staff members recognized that the MTI fully automated and dynamic wash system could easily satisfy current demands and future expectations for maintaining the Town’ numerous vehicles regardless of the size and dimension of the vehicles.
Building a Quality Vehicle Car Wash for DPW
The stainless steel constructed, drive through style, wash system custom manufactured entirely by MTI at their Portland, Maine facility, delivers a quality wash system that is easy to operate and effective for maintaining a very diverse fleet of equipment including, school buses, tri-axle dump trucks, loaders, fire trucks, and passenger cars. The Town’s representatives were particularly pleased to learn that the MTI equipment would easily accommodate the snow removal equipment without the need to remove the forward plow or wing.
The low maintenance, stainless steel constructed, drive-through wash system features four unique wash events that include a dual high-impact under chassis flush with rotary wheel washers, an articulating heated detergent applicator and two high impact wash pedestals featuring rotary nozzles affixed to an independent articulating manifold that effectively targets the front, top, sides and rear of any vehicle. The final wash event includes a high pressure under chassis spray with rust fighter additive.
“The simplicity of the system is a big improvement in the quality of the vehicle and is boosting our team’s morale.” – Daniel Burr, Senior Operator
Building for the Future
Future design plans for the Cumberland, Maine facility, include the addition of a 90-horsepower blower system. As proposed, the system will minimize water track-off. The system will also be used independently from the wash event to remove snow efficiently and safely from the roofs of the school buses without manual intervention.
About Maintenance Tech., Inc.
For the past 30 years, Maintenance Tech., Inc. of Portland, Maine, has designed, constructed, installed, and serviced equipment supporting the large vehicle wash industry. Engineers, Architects, and designers continue to use MTI equipment and wash bay layouts as a basis for wash bay design throughout the Northeast, Atlantic Provinces and beyond. MTI’s “concept to completion”, approach, in-house engineering, fabrication, and fully staffed service department has positioned Maintenance Tech., Inc. as an ideal candidate for development of any wash bay opportunity.