When Dragos Fusache turns the corner punctually with his skip handler, the workforce at the steelworks in Ibbenbüren can continue production with interruption. The Lohmann Recycling & Entsorgung GmbH driver delivers empty skip containers used to dispose of the iron filings created during the production process.

The 31-year-old simultaneously picks up filing skips with a capacity of 10 m³ which are filled to the brim, and these are emptied at the Lohmann depot in Emsdetten and readied for further use. This is an important task if delays are to be avoided at the customer’s production facility, along with preventing the storage location becoming too messy. The Arocs 1846, which is only a year old, is equipped with the MEILLER AK12 skip handler for this purpose. Dragos, who was born in Romania, is utterly convinced of the superiority of both the truck and superstructure.

In 7 to 9 stops each day, they reliably do their job over a distance totalling up to 350 km, frequently with trailers for other skips. Things have to move fast if he is to achieve his daily target, and the 338 kW engine under its belt and clever MEILLER features help here. In particular, the load-dependent high speed of the AK12 accelerates setting down and tipping.

The i.s.a.r.-control remote system is another fine touch and an element that Dragos would rather not do without. “It makes the skip handler easier to operate, and I can choose my position freely at all times. It really doesn’t get much better”, says the Lohmann driver. There were some minor teething problems in the beginning with a defective battery charger in the cab, but Fiege tec, a MEILLER authorised workshop in Greven, quickly arranged for its replacement. The tandem axle trailer, skip handler and remote control are now a well-coordinated team.

Oliver Aupke also finds MEILLER products more than easy to handle. The 51-year-old has been with Lohmann for 24 years and has just recently taken charge of his new articulated combination consisting of an Actros 2548 with a hooklift and container transport trailer from MEILLER. The qualified motor mechanic regularly transports steel scrap with the 40-tonne vehicle in 40 m³ roll-off containers from the company’s own recycling depot to the Osnabrück Hafen district or the steel works in Lingen.

Two other colleagues with similarly equipped articulated combinations provide him with support on the same circuits. At least three tours can be completed each day on the 50 to 60 km routes. But time is also money here. Oliver hates having to wait at the restricted entrance to the Benteler steel works, so the Westphalian usually begins very early in the morning to ensure that he is among the first at the plant entrance and can unload on time.

The scrap containers can be emptied in the Osnabrück Hafen district without needing to wait. There is an enormous storage location here for scrap metal which is later transported away by water or rail. 20 tonnes of steel scrap are unloaded from the vehicles and trailers within 20 minutes, and sometimes this is achieved even faster.

The 20-hectare premises of the Lohmann Group in Emsdetten has grown successively. The family business can now look back at a tradition stretching over 75 years and, with its around 200 employees, is now in the hands of three generations. The founders of the company, Anna and Rudolph Lohmann, are still active in the business. They head the family enterprise together with their son Johannes and grandson Johannes Junior.

The company has been a GmbH (limited liability company) since 1992, and the three pillars of the business are metal recycling, a container service and recycling of electrical scrap. The latter includes the Enviprotect subsidiary at the same location which recycles refrigerating appliances in one of the most modern plants in Europe.

Any transport assignments which arise are realised by a fleet which has grown in the last 30 years from a mere 10 vehicles to around 100 trucks and trailers today. Added to this are around 8,000 containers of differing designs and sizes. Waste from municipal authorities and both industrial and commercial customers is mainly transported by hooklifts and skip handlers, all of which have a superstructure from MEILLER.

“We tried other makes years ago, but we very soon had trouble with cracks in the steel structure. This doesn’t happen with MEILLER. High quality, durability and a perfect operating concept all ensure that we’ll remain faithful to the superstructure manufacturer”, reasons Johannes Lohmann Junior conclusively. He is responsible for sales in the company.