In 1901, when Julius P. Heil rented a small building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it was the beginning of the Heil Rail Joint Welding Co. The intention was to take advantage of a new technology called “welding” to work on street car rails; later Heil progressed to welding tanks and truck bodies. Eventually, welding technology made riveted construction obsolete.

Not only was Julius Heil a welding pioneer, his company was the first to weld both aluminum and stainless steel. Innovation continues: The Heil name is on more than 200 patents and the company employs more engineers than any other refuse collection vehicle manufacturer.

Heil’s first refuse collection bodies were built for the city of Milwaukee in the early 1900’s. By the 1930’s, Heil equipment could be found in hundreds of American cities. A major innovation came in 1945, when Joe Heil, Sr. designed the first packer body which compacted the refuse for better payloads.

Today, innovation continues. Toby Harris, marketing manager said that the latest improvement to refuse collection is the operate-at-idle system. Harris said, “While operate-at-idle has been standard on automated side loaders for years, Heil recently unveiled applications for most of our rear loaders, front loaders and manual side loaders as well.”

This system allows the truck to load and/or compact garbage at standard operating speeds while the vehicle is at idle. “As a result,” Harris said, “the vehicle’s engine constantly runs at a much lower RPM, which decreases fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.” An added benefit is that the operators don’t have to wait for the engine to get up to speed, so productivity is increased.

“We’ve come a long way since workers emptied metal cans into open truck beds.” Harris said. “Now the most sophisticated haulers use automated refuse collection vehicles to pick up carts without leaving the truck cab, while collecting on routes that have been plotted using sophisticated software.”

The company recently unveiled a new corporate tagline, “The Wheels Are Always Turning.” This tagline encompasses the notion that the customer’s vehicles work day after day as well as the company’s philosophy that Heil is always improving products, service and support. “The simple beauty of this tag line,” Michael Jobs, president of Heil Environmental stated, “is its multifaceted meaning.”

Harris said, “At Heil, our focus on continuous improvement means that we are always looking for new ways to do things better for our customers.” When a customer is launching a new fleet, Heil representatives, Harris said, “are on hand every step of the way, from helping specify vehicles to planning routes, from training operators to getting the trucks ready to roll.”

Recently, Heil launched Call Central, a customer care center, where customers can make a single call for technical support, parts ordering, warranty information, training requests or to check on a pending order.

Heil also trains customers’ vehicle operators and technicians at the customer locations. In addition, Harris explained, factory training is available at “the dedicated Joseph F. Heil Jr. Education Center, an element of the Heil Institute of Technology, next to our manufacturing facility in Fort Payne, Alabama.”

In 1993, Heil moved from family ownership and became an operating company within Dover Industries, a subsidiary of Dover Corporation. Along with the new corporate tag line and logo, Heil shortened its name from Heil Environmental Industries, LTD, to a more streamlined “Heil Environmental.” Heil Environmental includes the Heil Refuse Group, Truck Equipment Group, Parts Central and Bayne Premium Lift Systems. For more information, call 800-824-4345 or see www.heil.com.