U.S. Big-Rig Wash Technology Shines in UAE

"Let's face it, if you're an oil company, you want to have the cleanest trucks in town because public perception is everything," says Les Gale, Managing Director of InterClean Equipment, Inc., a maker of automatic truck and car washers, based in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Gale is bubbling over an agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), to supply truck-wash technology to a new facility in Umm Al Nar, near Abu Dhabi. The deal was struck following extensive advice and on-the-ground assistance from the U.S. Commercial Service in UAE and the U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEAC) in Ypsilanti, MI. The total package including building construction is about $250,000.

InterClean makes state-of-the-art wash equipment for buses, tanks, trucks, cars, trains, and well, just about everything that moves or so it seems. The fully automated, environmentally friendly system can wash up to 30 trucks an hour using continuously recycled water, thereby saving time, money, water, and labor in the process.

The United Arab Emirates is a prime market for pollution control and waste management equipment. It sits atop one-tenth of the world's proven oil reserves and accounts for nearly 10 percent of the world's oil production each year. Abu Dhabi is devoting more of the government budget to cleaning and protecting its environment each year.