Author:focus-on-transport
GAVIN MYERS finds out why Digistics exclusively chooses MAN When you’re the preferred transport operator for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies such as KFC and McDonald’s, speed and uptime are of utmost importance. These quick-service restaurants require a transport service that is “faster than FMCG”, says Pieter Steyn, managed freight business unit manager at Digistics. Having adopted a revised vehicle strategy in 2010, the company’s current fleet of 198 trucks is exclusively MAN – and Monique Marks, national facilities and […]
What happens with a vehicle’s warranty and service or maintenance contract when it is sold on? To begin with, it is important to distinguish between the concepts of warranty, service contracts and maintenance contracts. According to Theunis Eloff, director: aftermarket, Volvo Group Market Southern Africa, a warranty is “a promise given to the customer, which gives peace of mind that the manufacturer believes in its product and protects the customer against manufacturing defects in material or faulty workmanship”. “Service and […]
The agricultural sectors in South Africa and Zimbabwe are hot news items right now, but can South Africa learn from Zimbabwe’s mistakes, and how will new policies affect agricultural trade? Nkosini Ngwenya finds out. The South African agricultural sector has remained buoyant, despite the threat of expropriation of land without compensation. A number of key factors have boosted this wave of renewed optimism and agribusiness confidence, which has allowed the agricultural sector to continue to thrive. One of these has […]
As we hurry towards the second half of 2018, a total of 7 674 new trucks and buses have so far been sold this year. However, the South African commercial vehicle market has shown a decline in sales of 7,5 percent during April – compared to the same period last year. Further, April’s sales of 1 838 units was down by a significant 22,1 percent on March. Gert Swanepoel, MD of UD Trucks Southern Africa, has commented that April is […]
Volvo is taking road safety yet another step further by allowing individual vehicles from two of its business entities – Volvo Trucks and Volvo Cars – to talk to each other… The cloud-based service, called Connected Safety, allows Volvo trucks and Volvo cars to automatically alert each other to hazardous traffic situations. “Expanded cooperation between different players is one of the most important keys to improved road safety. If more vehicles can exchange real-time information about the traffic situation, it […]
With South Africa still in the grips of a three-week-long bus strike over salary increases, Arnoux Maré, MD of Innovative Staffing Solutions (ISS), suggests outsourcing could be the answer to avoiding labour action and its attendant detrimental impact on the economy: Strikes at a local level could be avoided if organisations opted to outsource their staff. ISS currently employs more than 8 000 staff members who are contracted out to various clients. Experience has shown that if you take care […]
Progressive and Power – two names buyers of Mercedes-Benz’s bakkie, the X-Class, will come to know well. For the brand, though, these model designations hint at its ambition … it’s progressive, “establishing a new segment” (as the company claims), and it’s doing so with a mighty show of power. “This is the first bakkie to convincingly combine the versatility of a double-cab with the luxury of a passenger car,” claims Nadia Trimmel, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Southern Africa. So what’s […]
Nampo Harvest Day 2018 is all set to be a knock-out show. Not a year goes by where the FOCUS team misses the annual Nampo Harvest Day, organised by Grain SA. In fact, the same could be said for all members of the transport industry – as the show routinely attracts truck and trailer manufacturers, component suppliers and transport operators in their droves. Not much has changed for 2018, except that we can all expect even more! Under the banner […]
Not the tulips, canals and amazing architecture, nor the red lights and abundance of coffee shops and nightspots, could compare to the main reason GAVIN MYERS recently visited Amsterdam, The Netherlands … which was to drive the all-new, undeniably impressive, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Of course, we weren’t supposed to be there – but an unforeseen road closure on our set route out of Amsterdam, programmed into the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) satnav, had us touring a tiny rural Dutch village in […]
GAVIN MYERS explores the transport of specialised, oversized and abnormal loads. In a world where trailers are designed to fulfil a dedicated role, it’s interesting to learn that more and more operators are interested in multi-use trailers… “Many clients want ‘Leatherman trailers’ – they come with some interesting requests for trailers that can do multiple jobs. Most of the time, with a bit of research and development, we can accommodate them and design the trailers accordingly,” comments York Zonneveld, owner […]
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