An announcement prepared by Greiner’s family and colleagues explains that Karl Greiner passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on 3 August 2011, aged 71. The heavy haulage industry loses an important pioneer and forward thinker whose creativity and designs such a significant and lasting contribution to technical progress in heavy and abnormal load haulage.
Karl had been in the best of health and fully active. Until the end he was totally dedicated to the heavy haulage sector, and was still full of ideas and plans.
Karl Greiner was born on 24 December 1939, and after his education he first worked in aircraft construction. In 1966 he moved into the heavy haulage industry, where he played a major part in developing hydraulic platform trailers and modular vehicles, and where his influence can still be seen to this day.
Greiner Fahrzeugtechnik was started up by Karl and Margot Greiner in1980, originally as a design office. At first the founders had no intention of manufacturing products themselves at their company, yet while they were still in their first year of existence a meeting took place, which led to a contract that was to change everything.
August Alborn of Dortmund required a specially-designed industrial low-bed hydraulic platform trailer for his haulage company for abnormal loads, to be used for internal company relocations. The resulting heavy load trailer is still putting in good service today at Alborn, and over the years Greiner has supplied its “founding product” in many variants to countries all over the world and has constantly refined it.
Karl and his team went on to develop many other products, with the first loading platforms and self-propelled unloading bogies with payloads of up to 400t soon in production.
Karl’s pioneering spirit and technical nous were the creative forces behind many heavy haulage products. His most remarkable achievements include developing the first lifting system to European standards in 1999, the combination platform trailer with its incredibly low overall height of only 720mm, a lifting-lever boiler deck, the biggest in Europe at the time, which was expanded in 2010 to take a payload of almost 600 t, and the innovative hydraulic-mechanical bridge crossing system for Airbus. Until his death, Karl was fully involved in the development of the SEFIRO self-propelled industrial trailer.
The company’s production capacity and product portfolio had expanded steadily, and Karl was looking forward to an open day for business partners and friends to celebrate the opening of the new building planned for 2012.
As early as 2004 Karl ensured that the company would continue to run smoothly after he was gone by putting his son Michael in place as a chief executive. With his mother Margot and his sister Corinna, and backed by a highly motivated team of experts, Michael Greiner is continuing the life’s work of his father, and upholding all the values which so characterised it.
Away from his work, Karl enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, and going hunting. He leaves his wife Margot, his two children Michael and Corinna, and four grandchildren.
