TRAILER MANUFACTURING: At the start of 2024, truck body and trailer building company Serco Industries expected business challenges. However, despite this onslaught, Serco focuses on delivering quality products by optimising its vehicles for better payloads, reduced running costs, and improved durability.
“Over the past year, our focus has been on diversifying our product range to grow our dry freight offerings, and we’ve seen positive growth there, but the refrigerated trailer side is feeling the pinch of the stagnant economy,” says Serco CEO Clinton Holcroft.
Holcroft mentions that Serco’s refrigerated body business was down 18% from December 2023 to February this year compared to the same period in 2022/23, and the trend looks likely to continue into March. This drop primarily reflected lower-than-expected refrigerated trailer sales.
Holcroft assesses that the most significant factors restricting economic growth in South Africa were corruption, load shedding, crime, and poor performance accountability. These factors contribute to excessive unemployment and headwinds to business growth for companies like Serco Industries.
Serco also faces competition in South Africa in the form of second-hand trailers. “We saw a flood of second-hand refrigerated trailers into the market last year as certain corporate fleets reduced unutilised trailers,” he says.
For customers purchasing these trailers, they do come with their own set of issues, primarily related to costs.
HEAVY-DUTY TRUCKS: The Volvo FH, FM and FMX truck upgrades are the latest in Volvo Trucks’ continuous engineering efforts to optimise its trucks.
The Volvo FH Electric – recently chosen as International Truck of the Year 2024 and available in South Africa since June 2023 – becomes even more energy-efficient. Also, the familiar face of the Volvo FH, FM and FMX range is getting a mild refresh with a bold Volvo Iron Mark – the biggest ever on a Volvo Truck in modern times.
The upgraded Volvo models will enter European production during the first half of the year and reach dealerships in mid-2024. Customers expect to see the new-look models in South Africa by quarter 4.
“The extra heavy Volvo trucks are icons in the industry and, with the latest upgrades, I am confident that we will further strengthen our position in this segment”, comments Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks.
“Our skilled engineers have done a tremendous job in fine-tuning our heavy-duty trucks for reduced CO 2 emissions, improved safety and even better productivity and customer satisfaction.”
Waldemar Christensen, MD of Volvo Trucks South Africa, reassures, “Regardless of which powertrain a customer chooses – electric, gas or diesel – all variants of Volvo’s extra heavy trucks will benefit from a high level of efficiency, safety and driving experience.”
EV INFRASTRUCTURE: Investing in electric trucks locally is becoming increasingly desirable, considering trucks now have access to specially adapted charging ports in the country. The initial six sites will be built on the significant N3 freight route between Durban and Johannesburg (see locations below). This 120-truck charging network will be an additional charge for 120 electric passenger vehicle off-grid charging sites currently built by Zero Carbon Charge.
This offering is in response to the growing shift by significant truck manufacturers to producing electric truck models. Many truck manufacturers have already committed to achieving a complete electric transition by 2040. “The shift to electric trucks offers a major opportunity for South Africa to meet its Green Transport Strategy goal of reducing transport-related CO2 emissions by 5% by 2050”, said Joubert Roux, co-founder of Zero Carbon Charge.
“Every day, 8,756 trucks travel on the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg, using over 658 million litres of fuel at an import cost of R8 billion, emitting 1,781,256,762 kg of CO2 emissions per year. Replacing these fuel-powered trucks with electric models will save 670 kg of CO2 emissions per truck per day, significantly reducing our country’s reliance on expensive, dirty fossil fuel imports,” Roux added.
It is estimated that the growth in electric trucks will create an increased energy demand: the electricity required to charge the 8,756 trucks using the N3 route daily totals an additional 2.3 billion kWh/year alone.
Carbon Logistics will build 120 truck charging stations across all national roads in South Africa. The first six sites on the N3 have started the permitting process, and we hope to be up and running by November 2027,” said Andries Malherbe, co-founder of Zero Carbon Charge.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION: Much of the production from the Mathe Group factory, which recycles approximately 1,000 radial truck tyres daily to produce 45 tons of rubber crumb, goes to bitumen product manufacturer Tosas.
The rubber is used to manufacture rubber-modified bitumen. The South Africa National Road Agency (SANRAL) is using this product for upgrades to the N1 in Gauteng and the N2 / N3 leading from the port of Durban.
Tosas approached Mathe Group in 2016 to supply rubber crumbs. This was shortly after Mathe Group moved from a small facility in New Germany to its present location in Hammarsdale in KwaZulu-Natal. Since then, it has significantly increased crumb production.
Deon Pagel, managing director of Tosas, explains that the company has been operating for over five decades and was originally jointly owned by Total and Sasol. The company became part of the JSE-listed Raubex Group and operated from seven locations: Wadeville, Bloemfontein, Worcester, East London, Durban, Gaborone in Botswana, and Tsumeb in Namibia.
He says Tosas became a leading bitumen-supplying company by constantly keeping abreast of the latest technological developments. The company has one of the best bitumen testing laboratories in Southern Africa and is a world leader in developing new bitumen products. According to Pagel, although people still refer to so-called blacktop roads as tarred roads, tar, extracted from coal and carcinogenic, has been discontinued and replaced with bitumen extracted from crude oil.
VEHICLE FINANCE OPTIONS: Well-established small to medium businesses with a solid financial track record can secure a range of Isuzu trucks through a rental agreement off their balance sheet.
The fleet ownership can effectively be written off as a monthly expense, not an asset on their books.
EasyGO is a novel financing approach to acquiring commercial vehicles for first-time trucking entrants, and Isuzu is cultivating the market. “Isuzu’s Ready To Work portfolio of commercial vehicles showcases pre-built trucks with their applications so business owners can generate revenue almost immediately.
Coupled with our unique rental offer, this represents a game-changing moment for small businesses’ access to the trucking economy,” says Craig Uren, Isuzu Senior Vice President of SACU Revenue Generation.
The EasyGO rental truck programme, formed in partnership with Isuzu Finance, provides peace of mind as ownership rests with the bank. Qualifying small businesses pay a monthly rental based on the selected truck, application, and rental period. Companies can choose between a minimum of 36 months and a maximum of 60 months.
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