• 18 October 2024
• Category: Article

Since 1981, Payloads has been a well-known family-owned logistics business based in Krugersdorp owned by Daan Joubert Senior. Today, the business is run by father and sons, Daan Joubert Senior, Daan Joubert Junior and Riaan Joubert. Although their core business focuses on the short to medium haul transportation, they operate in short, medium and long-distance transportation. Being a family-owned business, they focus on carrying over their core values to their customers by always doing what they say, being honest and reliable.

Specializing in the transportation of chrome, manganese, and iron ore, their trucks cover approximately 600km per day across South Africa, but mostly in the Gauteng, North-West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal regions. Their fleet boasts over 50 trucks, predominantly Daimler Truck products, fitted with side tippers, back tippers, and tanker bodies. They are also involved in other businesses: Metal Line Africa, Strategic Rental and Leasing and Auto Commodities.

The Payloads relationship with Daimler Truck Southern Africa started back in 1981, when they acquired Payloads with Mercedes-Benz Trucks already in the fleet. Throughout the company’s history Daimler Truck products have always remained part of their fleet, particularly with the Mercedes-Benz Axor 3340. Following the discontinuation of the Mercedes-Benz Axor range, Payloads reassessed its product needs and explored various alternatives, but none met their requirements.

In 2019, they were over the moon to find the perfect match for their operation when FUSO South Africa launched the FUSO TV33-400S range. Having run the product in their fleet for almost 2 years, we visited Daan Joubert, Operations Director at Payloads to find out how the FUSO TV33-400S performs in their fleet.

Tell us more about Payloads relationship with FUSO?

Daan: Essentially, it is the same Daimler Truck experience. Initially we were a little sceptical about the FUSO brand, because we have traditionally run Mercedes-Benz Trucks within our fleet but are very pleased with the service and support provided by FUSO.

Why did Payloads purchase the FUSO TV33-400S?

Daan: Payloads was looking for a truck that could match the reliability and robustness of the Mercedes-Benz Axor 3340. After testing the FUSO TV33-400S it was obvious that the product would live up to our expectations and we have never looked back since. The FUSO TV33-400S also made sense from a pricing perspective as it is competitively priced.

How does the FUSO TV33-400S perform in your fleet?

Daan: Every operator has different requirements, but for us in the short to medium haul application this product is perfect. It is simple, robust and our drivers are giving a lot of positive feedback on the power of the truck.

How is the Total Cost of Ownership of the FUSO TV33-400S?

Daan: From a fuel consumption point of view, we are quite happy. We are achieving fairly good results on our short to medium runs, especially given the amount of start, stops and pull aways on these routes. On average we are achieving 1.9 – 2.1km/litre. We once tested a longer route to Richard’s Bay and even then, we are able to achieve 2.4km/l, which compares really well with other products on the market. From a service and maintenance point of view, we have recently become an accredited workshop for both Mercedes-Benz Trucks (we still run Mercedes-Benz Trucks in our fleet) and FUSO – this makes a lot of sense to us in terms of cost. We purchase our genuine parts from the dealers, but we are able to service our own trucks. Our maintenance cost has therefore decreased substantially. Furthermore, because of the FUSO TV33-400S’s simplicity it is extremely easy to maintain and fix the trucks. In addition we know that we have the after-sales backing from DTSA, which also gives us peace of mind.

What positive impact has running the FUSO TV33-400S have on your Payloads?

Daan: We ran other products for a while and we had many issues with product reliability, availability and breakdowns. This was mainly because the other products were not the right fit for our operations. This caused a lot of downtime and the need of more subcontractors to fill the gaps. This changed with the introduction of the FUSO TV33-400S into our fleet. Uptime and vehicle availability has definitely been the biggest positive impact on our business.

What feature of the FUSO TV33-400S do you appreciate the most?

Daan: The product is perfect for us because of its simplicity and reliability.

Ends