Looking on the bright side of life!
Looking on the bright side of life!
Now here is a real feel-good story: Serco has completed and delivered a colourful order – two dropside vehicles (one pink, the other blue) … with a green unit in the pipeline.
The customer is Roy Tembe, co-owner of Gogo Transport in Ulundi in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
The deal follows Serco’s recent decision to grow the dry freight section of its business and offer customers the option of cargo van bodies, curtain siders and dropside vehicles as well as the refrigerated trailers and truck bodies for which the company is so well known.
Tembe says the pink dropsider is for his wife and daughter and the blue one for himself and his sons. “And the next one will be dusty green – we have already chosen the colour,” he adds with a broad smile.
The bulk of Gogo Transport’s trade involves the transport of bottled beverages around KwaZulu-Natal.
The purpose-built beverage distribution dropsiders are on UD-Eicher eight-ton vehicles supplied by the Thompson Motors Group.
Serco CEO Clinton Holcroft says the pandemic has accelerated the company’s efforts to expand its dry freight vehicle offerings and introduce new van bodies, curtain siders and dropside vehicles, to complement the insulated range.
Scheuerle launches K25 L
Internationally, there’s more and more emphasis on green energy. Accordingly, the energy industry is developing increasingly more powerful wind turbines. The increased dimensions and, in particular, the related high centre of gravity of the load require an extremely stable means of transport with an especially low loading area.
In order to address this need, German company Scheuerle has developed the modular K25 L series platform vehicles. The “L” indicates the particularly low platform height along with the use of larger tyres.
The track width of the K25 L is 2 100 mm and the external width is 3 000 mm. This is over 10% more than that of competitor products. Due to its large track width, the K25 L considerably reduces the risk of accidents caused by overturning when transporting wind tower segments with large diameters, and thus greatly enhances work safety levels.
The axle load is up to 23 tonnes or up to 13,9 tonnes at 80 km/h. In addition, larger and more robust tyres are used, namely the 285/70 R19.5. Despite the larger tyres, the lowered platform height is 875 mm (loaded) or 910 mm (unloaded), which facilitates easy driving under load.
The high axle compensation of 680 mm also makes driving on uneven surfaces very safe. Moreover, the maximum steering angle of +/- 60° ensures optimal manoeuvrability. Lifting and lowering are carried out with the help of a power pack unit from the Z19 series.
The K25 L has a 30% higher torsional stiffness compared to similar products, which guarantees safe cornering during transport. It fulfils the requirements of platform vehicles with two to six axles. The vehicles can be combined with goosenecks, drawbars, swivel bolsters, bridges and tower adapters, and they can be used in ambient temperatures reaching minus 25°C.
Schmitz Cargobull scores big
Europe’s leading trailer manufacturer has once again won the coveted title from VerkehrsRundschau – this time for both trailers and bodies.
Schmitz Cargobull claimed a double win in the important “Truck bodies” and “Trailers & semi-trailers” categories. The coveted Image Award from German trade magazine VerkehrsRundschau went to Schmitz Cargobull for the ninth time.
Schmitz Cargobull’s board chairman, Andreas Schmitz, accepted the trophies from Gerhard Grünig, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, at the award ceremony in Neuss. “Our customers have consistently given our products high ratings for many years,” says Schmitz.
“We owe this success with both the bodies and the trailers to the entire Schmitz Cargobull team. Thanks to our employees’ valuable dedication, our customers can be certain that we will maintain our quality, reliability and innovation for years to come. Working tirelessly to deliver and develop the best customer-oriented transport solutions is what drives us. This is the only way to maintain and expand our position at the forefront of the market.”
In a representative poll, the market research institute Interrogare asked 969 managers from German transport companies as well as fleet managers for their opinions concerning the image of commercial vehicle providers and those offering services in the sector. Market share and registration figures in Germany, a comprehensive nationwide presence as well as the brand’s reputation were the key factors among the decision-makers.
In South Africa, Schmitz Cargobull is represented by GRW Tankers and Trailers.
Thermo King makes a money-back promise
Thermo King has made an extremely bold promise to customers: the company will pay back the difference if the Advancer A-Series trailer refrigeration unit does not meet the 12-month fuel-saving target calculated with customers.
Thermo King A-Series units are said to be up to 30% more fuel-efficient than the market average and are the first in the industry to give complete transparency of fuel levels and fuel consumption. Customers can easily access the fuel consumption data of the unit, which is recorded, displayed and made available remotely via telematics.
“The total savings with Advancer depend on our customers’ individual operations. Fortunately, we can make a detailed calculation at our dealership, tailored to customers’ specific needs,” says Donal Cox, vice president of sales and commercial leader at Thermo King in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “By filling key information in the TK SmartSaver application, our dealers can calculate the exact savings the customers will achieve by using the Advancer unit. If the fuel saving amount isn’t reached in the given period, Thermo King will pay back the difference.”
Transporters interested in the Advancer fuel-saving guarantee should contact their nearest Thermo King dealer, where they can calculate their individual fuel-saving target. The target is based on a customer’s specific operating profile, taking into account running hours, the average ambient temperature and whether they transport mostly frozen or fresh goods.
Thermo King Advancer A-Series is available in three different versions, the A-360, A-400 and A-500, and includes unique features that comprehensively address a wide range of operational and financial challenges, including:
- Up to 40% quicker pull-down and up to 30% better fuel efficiency than the market average
- Fully variable airflow that can be regulated for each journey and cargo, and is independent of unit engine speed
- Unrivalled electrical and fuel efficiency contributing to lower CO2 footprint and engines with 50% fewer emissions than the maximum allowed by the latest NRMM Stage V emission standards
- Electronic engine speed control on the A-400 and A-500 units
- Lower maintenance costs and enhanced serviceability compared with the predecessor, thanks to sensors offering more insight into the engine, fuel, battery and the performance of other key components
- Future-ready power agnostic capabilities that can utilise diesel, axle generator or shore power sources with ease
- Fleet intelligence is standard, with Advancer being the first-ever unit to offer two years of full telematics connectivity in the purchase price.
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