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Truck, Trailer, Bus and Bakkie

Gauteng company signs agreement with Belgians for composite bodies

By: Irma Venter 31st March 2006 Manufacturer and designer of truck trailers Afrit has signed a trade agreement with a Belgium-based company, Composittrailer. →

Brazilian automotive comany impressed by SA technology

By: Keith Campbell 31st March 2006 A Brazilian automotive-sector company is hoping to develop partnerships with S A counterparts following the recent visit to this country by one of its top executives. →

Super Group introduces Chinese truck range

By: Irma Venter 24th March 2006 JSE-listed industrial transportation group Super Group has introduced the Firmaco Powerstar range of commercial vehicles into South Africa. →

SA shipping company steams ahead

By: Keith Campbell 24th March 2006 South African shipping group Grindrod has successfully plotted a course through the turbulent waters of the international shipping industry, becoming a player in the global market. →

Mixing it up

By: Irma Venter 10th March 2006 One segment of the South African truck market that has grown exponentially over the last few years has been cement mixers. →

Stagnant South African bus market geared for renaissance?

By: Irma Venter 3rd March 2006 The bus market has not grown in the last five years – remaining stable at around a thousand unit sales a year. →

SA commercial-vehicle market undergoing a makeover

By: Irma Venter 24th February 2006 The local truck market took off in 2004, but the traditional badges were unable to fully exploit this growth phase. →

SAAT set to begin first passenger-to-freighter conversion in March

By: Terence Creamer 24th February 2006 The technical division of South African Airways, South African Airways Technical (SAAT), concluded a technology agreement with international aerospace company Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) in December, which has positioned it as a new global hub for the conversion of passenger aircraft into... →

Transnet strike hits Western Cape

By: Liezel Hill 14th February 2006 Thousands of Transnet workers in the Western Cape are expected to down tools on Wednesday, as part of the ongoing dispute between the parastatal's management and key trade unions over the group's restructuring process. →

Transnet likely to seek higher local content in future tenders

By: Terence Creamer 13th February 2006 State-owned transport utility, Transnet, has insisted that half of the manufactured content, by value, of a newly-announced R3,5-billion locomotive-acquisition programme for the coal corridor from Mpumalanga to Kwazulu-Natal will be completed domestically. →

ASSEMBLY REKINDLED

By: Irma Venter 10th February 2006 Vehicle manufacturer DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) has restarted completely-knock-down bus-assembly, in a move driven by buoyant market demand, says Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles product manager buses Dr Harry Teifel. →

Utility tenders penalised local content

By: Terence Creamer 10th February 2006 Inconsistencies in the manner in which rules on local content and black economic-empowerment (BEE) have been applied in a slew of recent tenders released by State-owned Enterprises' Eskom and Transnet has the South African supplier community up in arms. →

Fixed investment boom to keep truck market boiling

By: Terence Creamer 3rd February 2006 A leading Japanese truck manufacturer believes that the widely anticipated rise in South Africa's gross fixed capital formation over the next couple of years will continue to drive the already heated truck-sales environment, which last year breached 27 000 units. →

Transnet-unions at odds over success of strike action

By: Liezel Hill 31st January 2006 Conflicting reports emerged yesterday as Transnet employees from four key unions began a strike in Kwazulu-Natal and the Free State, with labour pronouncing the action an overwhelming success, while Transnet claimed that it had minimised disruptions through contingency plans. →

Shifting roles

By: Terry Mackenzie-hoy 9th December 2005 South African Port Operations (Sapo) CEO Tau Morwe said at a recent media briefing that Port Elizabeth would probably lose container business to Coega to play an important role, specifically around the automotive sector. →

Cabinet comes out in support of Gautrain

By: Irma Venter 9th December 2005 At its final meeting for 2005, cabinet this week indicated its support for the Gautrain project. This follows as the parliamentary transport portfolio committee last month questioned, among other matters, the cost of the R20-billion-plus project, as well as what it viewed as a lack of planned... →

Breakthrough in tyre monitoring equipment

By: Matthew Hill 25th November 2005 Locally-developed system has potential to save money and lives →

Sustainability through skills development

By: Matthew Hill 25th November 2005 No finish line on firm's road to service excellence →

Putco celebrates 60th anniversary

By: Matthew Hill 25th November 2005 SA’s oldest bus operator enters a new era →

Trimming tare weights, boosting payloads

By: Matthew Hill 25th November 2005 South African engineering company Duncanmec has been an innovator in the dry-bulk-tanker, waste-collection equipment, and movable silo industries since 1988. →

Coming through with cargo volume, comfort and economy

25th November 2005 New Interstar panel van delivers with distinction →

Full speed ahead for Durban transport firm

25th November 2005 With fuel prices escalating, fuel consumption was a decisive issue for Warden Carthage to select a lighter-weight American truck for its fleet. ? →

Car manufacturer breaks into bus market

25th November 2005 Months after initially announcing its intention to go into the heavy-passenger bus market, Volkswagen South Africa will immediately start marketing and selling its first buses, the ‘Volksbus’. ? →

SA scraps Durban port concessioning plan

By: Liezel Hill 25th November 2005 South Africa has shelved plans to invite the private sector to manage the country's busy Durban container terminal in favour of a strategy to improve efficiency and reduce business costs, a top official said yesterday. →

New trucking company ready to hit the road

25th November 2005 Durban-based 3G Cargo has recently opened its doors and is ready to take to the road. →

Mobile container handling system launched for trucks

25th November 2005 Durban-based Big Lift Trucks, specialist in materials-handling equipment, has launched a new mobile container-handling system, designed to efficiently lift loads onto and off trucks and to safely carry containers around sites. →

Grindrod expects 2005 earnings to rise by up to 50%

By: Terence Creamer 24th November 2005 In line with JSE rules, shipping group Grindrod has advised that its headline earnings a share for the 12 months ended December 31, 2005, are expected to increase by between 45% and 50% over the 123,7 cents a share reported in 2004. →

Transport union calls for 'urgent review' of Gautrain

23rd November 2005 The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has called on government to “urgently” review its plans for the luxury passenger carrier, Gautrain, whose costs have escalated from an initial R7-billion estimate to R20 -illion over the past few months. →

Mombasa waterfront is on the cards

By: John Muchira 18th November 2005 Kenya Ports Authority calls for international bids →

Smart-card solution pondered

By: Irma Venter 11th November 2005 Transport department seeks innovative solution to integration challenge →

Spoornet-Sasol sets 1mt/y chemicals export target

By: Terence Creamer 10th November 2005 Railways utility Spoornet and petrochemicals group Sasol have signed-off on a collaborative supply-chain deal, which should see a doubling of railed tonnage of specialty chemicals over the next three years. →

Lawmakers question Gautrain costs, timing

By: Liezel Hill 9th November 2005 The controversial Gautrain rapid-rail link project was drawn further into the national spotlight yesterday, as project leader Jack van der Merwe answered probing questions from the parliamentary portfolio committee for transport. →

Giant's R&D stresses environment-friendly innovation

By: Helene Le Roux 4th November 2005 Judging from a full pipeline of research and development projects undertaken by the world’s largest commercial-vehicle manufacturer, DaimlerChrysler, there is an array of environment-friendly, cost-effective commercial-vehicle technologies to look forward to in the near future. →

NONSTOP INNOVATION

By: Helene Le Roux 28th October 2005 One of the pioneers of commercial vehicle production, automotive manufacturer DaimlerChrysler, is working on a number of new technologies that stand to revolutionise the industry. →

SA group leads Kenya win

By: John Muchira 28th October 2005 A consortium led by South Africa’s Sheltam Close Corporation has won the bid to operate and manage the Kenya’s and Uganda’s railways for the next 25 years. →

Taxi, please

By: Irma Venter 21st October 2005 Newcomer to the local bus and truck market, Volkswagen of South Africa (VWSA), has moved its first buses, branded the Volksbus, into dealerships countrywide. →

$92,5m facelift planned for Kenya airport

By: John Muchira 21st October 2005 Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has put out an international tender for the construction of a terminal passenger apron, taxiways, carparks and associated facilities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi. →