Capital Equipment News April 2018

ADR TRANSPORT

One of the reasons for opting for Scania was that most of Kulani’s business is cross border based, and Scania has the much-needed support footprint across southern Africa.

which had an existing Scania fleet. During his two years at this company, he purchased a total of 26 Scania trucks in two years. He then left to start Kulani’s transport business, which opened its doors in December 2017, where he has influenced the decision to buy nine Scania trucks out of the company’s initial 10 units. He explains some of the reasons why Scania is the supplier of choice. “Because I have dealt with Scania South Africa for many years, I have a good institutional knowledge of the company,” he says. “I know who to contact when I have any sort of problem, whether it’s an aftersales issue or a product query. Having the right contacts helps solve the problems immediately, considering that downtime is out of question in our line of business.” He also believes that Scania goes out of its way to help its customers. “For example, we ordered six G460s in December and they delivered one the very same month, with the other five due for delivery in January this year. At the beginning of January, they indicated that there was no stock available, which was a bit problematic for us as we had trailers standing. Scania went out of its way and gave us loan vehicles to run the trailers while waiting for our own stock. It’s hard to find any other manufacturer that goes that extra mile for its customer,” explains Heling. David Reynders, sales executive – Gauteng Region at Scania South Africa, says customers’ needs always come first at Scania. “We have built a very strong relationship with Stefan and his team at Kulani. We fully understand the nature of their busines and its needs, and downtime is out of question for Kulani,” says Reynders. “Understanding the customer’s business helps us respond to the specific needs

through proper fleet management practices, such as applying the right truck in a right application. For example, he says that the Scania fleet was specifically bought to operate in specified terrains. The G460, with its larger 460 hp, is deployed on mountainous routes because there is need for more power. The G410 range is deployed on flatter routes such as between Gauteng and Namibia. He explains that the G410 offers a 2 ℓ saving of fuel per 100 km on the Namibian route, while in mountainous terrain such as in Richards Bay, the G460 offers better fuel consumption than the G410 simply because the G410 has less power (410 hp) and works harder in such terrain. “For me, it’s all about horses for courses,” he explains. Footprint matters One of the other big reasons for opting for Scania was that most of Kulani’s business is cross border based. It delivers across southern Africa in countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia. “Scania has a footprint in all those countries,” says Heling. “Uptime is very important in our line of business and having immediate response to any problems is crucial to avoid downtime.” He explains that uptime has a very big effect on overall productivity, which in turn influences the bottom line. Heling reiterates that a transport company cannot afford to have a truck standing, which means that there is need to partner OEMs with a wide support network across areas of operation. He says, for example, a single truck earns in the region R8 500 a day. “If the truck stands for three to four days, you have lost between R25 500 and R34 000, and it is money that can’t recover,” concludes Heling. b

timely to ensure maximum uptime. We are looking forward to walking the journey with Kulani well into the future.” Details matter For Heling, fuel consumption is a very important factor in the success of any transport business, and he monitors it very closely. With Scania’s Fleet Management Services (FMS), he is able to get down to the specifics of every drop of fuel in each and every truck under his watch. He also finds the service very useful in inhibiting fuel theft. “Fuel consumption is very important to your total cost of operation. Bear in mind that, on average, fuel consumption constitutes about 20% of your total cost of operation,” he says. “If you can save at least 5 ℓ of fuel per 100 km per vehicle, that translates to about R8 000 per month per vehicle.” Heling finds Scania’s FMS of great help in that regard. Scania’s FMS is a set of services that connects your vehicles and drivers with your office. You will get vehicle data, fleet position and reviews of driving performance. And now it also has 2-way communication that includes Messaging, shared Address books and Routing. The result is more control over your business. “The data collected on board Scania trucks gives valuable insight into driving styles, productivity and economy. This level of tracking and diagnostics can bring significant benefits in increased uptime, improved safety and reduced operating costs,” he says, adding that it only takes minor adjustments of an experienced driver’s habits to realise fuel savings of up to 10%, and Scania’s telemetry systems enable that. Heling adds that it is very feasible to generate 10-15% savings improvement

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS APRIL 2018 8