The average Australian articulated truck covers about 78,000km a year, according to ABS figures, a distance equivalent to twice around the world. Some drivers cover three, four and five times that figure, over terrain including some of the roughest, dustiest, muddiest, and loneliest on Earth.
So it is not surprising that the drivers over these epic distances like to carry with them creature comforts to make the job just a little easier, cleaner, and more comfortable as they traverse the nation supplying mines, farms, remote communities, and businesses of all types needing their vital services.
One highly experienced truck electrical specialist supplying a mobile facility relished by road-worn truckies is DMG Truck Electrics of North Albury, where Owner Dave Guerin custom-tailors hot shower and hose head installations to maintain hygiene and comfort standards even out in the middle of nowhere.
Dave – who has more than 35 years’ experience meeting the needs of truckies at his company’s comprehensive workshops in North Albury – says both individual and fleet owners want to maximise time on the road by using their showers, while minimising potential hygiene, illness, delay and downtime hazards that may arise from shared facilities.
Neat, professional and accessible Duoetto shower and shower head installation behind the truck cab, engineered by DMG Truck Electrics
The move to onboard showers in trucks started back with Covid, with drivers anxious to avoid the possibility of cross-contamination occurring in shared shower facilities. “Individual truckies and fleet owners were very quick to understand the downtime, disruption, and risks of getting sick out on the road,” said Dave.
“And demand for mobile showers has snowballed since then, because the need for hygiene has grown even stronger. Plus, the comfort of a hot shower of your own, anywhere, after a day out on the road, is a real bonus,” says Dave, who tailors mobile hot water showers installations for big rigs including Kenworth, Mack, Mercedes, and Volvo, among many brands of trucks, buses, and heavy earthmoving equipment.
The core of Dave’s mobile showers is provided by the rugged, internationally exported Aus J Duoetto 12V/mains switchable 10-litre water heater, complemented by the same company’s water-saving EZY RV shower outlets. The EZY RV combines readily with Aus J’s clean, green electric water heaters, which are plumbed in to complement trucks’ existing electrics, avoiding the need to provide separate gas reticulation.
Compact, durable and professional installation
These heavy duty, long-life products – used by OEM’s and RV owners across Australasia, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, the UK, Scandinavia, and Russia – are crafted by DMG into unobtrusive space-conserving installations tailored to each vehicle and owner’s preferences. The heaters fit conveniently into available spots including under sleeping box beds, adjacent to toolboxes, behind cabs or streamlining, operating in exterior locations offering privacy and shelter around the hose and shower head.
“More and more truckies and fleet owners are inquiring about them, because of the hygiene and uptime issues,” says Dave. “Plus, with all these floods, there is a lot of dirty work keeping a big rig on the road And the comfort of a hot shower is a big factor when you are miles from base,” says Dave, who has dealt with Aus J Hot Water Solutions Managing Director Jay King for more than five years, because of the quality of his products, service, and practical backup and knowledge.
“Jay not only engineers these great water heaters and shower heads, but he has personally constructed RVs and 4wds to test them, over extended times and distances, so there isn’t much that he doesn’t know.
“This is a great help and big time-saver when you are pressed by deadlines from busy heavy vehicle customers and need answers about the best way to get top performance,” says Dave.
Components of the EZY RV boxed set, left, and the large shower head for better feel and greater water coverage with water economy three or four times greater than the average shower. The EZY RV shower has a low flow of just 4 litres of water per minute, but with higher coverage for a better feel. The shower head’s oblong jet pattern and big soft raindrop pattern rather than continuous water flow are designed to provide a softer and more luxurious bathing sensation, with a wide umbrella coverage, rather than narrowly focused sharp jets of water. A normal unrestricted showerhead (average size or more for the larger rain style) or a WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) shower with the flow control removed uses between 18 to 22 litres of water per minute (LPM). Even restricted shower heads often use approximately 9 litres per minute.
Jay says the Duoetto water heater used by Dave is a rugged, quality product, from a range of which more than 30,000 have been sold globally. The system’s economical use of energy and water, plus its user-friendliness, appeal to owner-operators and fleet owners alike.
“Mobile showers and mobile hot water make perfect sense for people whose job depends on staying on the road. It is also a totally reasonable and cost-efficient addition for fleet operators, none of whom want staff sick, off work, and potentially spreading illness among their co-workers.
“Truckies and fleet owners installing the DMG product are bolstering supply chain resilience by responsibly minimising any risks in their personal space in remote spaces,” says Jay, whose 12V/240V Duoetto water heaters and dual voltage and mono-voltage water heaters are used by RV, work vehicle, 4wd and boating OEM and DIY markets.
“Dave has found a real gap in the market for professionally installed showers that achieve the high standards he insists upon across a whole spectrum of electrical installations extending over decades,” he says.
DMG Truck Electrics, established in 2004 by David and Jacinta Guerin, has full B-double access and driver amenities with a fully stocked showroom of all the latest in lighting, communication, batteries, and stainless steel truck accessories.