Zwartkop, Pretoria – In the African culture a man’s wealth is measured by the number of his cows. In the trucking industry however, a man’s wealth is measured by the number of his trucks.

Driven by the ever changing economic landscape, which includes a steadily growing construction and coal mining industry, the commercial vehicles market in South Africa is becoming a wealth creator for many truck owners such as Paul Buckley, the owner of Tutuka Transport – a trucking business based in Ermelo, the garden town of Mpumalanga.

Buckley unremittingly took advantage of a finance scheme opportunity offered by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS), a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s group of companies (MBSA), to emerging entrepreneurs by purchasing nine Freightliner trucks from De Wits Motors, one of MBSA’s dealerships in Mpumalanga.

The finance package scheme was developed by MBFS in 2007 after discovering that there was a funding gap for emerging transport entrepreneurs. “Many operators had a lack of working capital, inadequate skills and knowledge of transport and logistic issues and were unable to raise asset finance. Easier access to finance became a deciding factor when purchasing a vehicle,” says Tommy Rademeyer, MBFS regional manager of retail business.

He says although large companies try to close the gap with owner-driver schemes, there still remains a need to develop many entrepreneurs in the trucking sector.

The scheme is targeted at black emerging transport entrepreneurs who require trucks and buses as well as existing contractors who seek black economic empowerment partners and the benefit of that partnership. Other requirements and features of the scheme are as follows;

• The company must have 50 percent black shareholding and at least one shareholder must be actively involved in the day-to-day running of the business,
• It must have a bankable business contract direct from the principal (contract giver),
• A minimum of two vehicles must be financed through this package,
• A maximum of R30-million can be financed per transaction, and
• The finance period cannot exceed 60 months.

“This is the future broad-based black economic empowerment and business in South Africa, where enterprise development plays a more prominent role. This product offers blue chip companies an enterprise development solution aimed at their emerging transport and logistics service providers, thereby assisting them in optimising their BBBEE score card,” adds Rademeyer.

Buckley, originally from KwaZulu-Natal, purchased his Freightliner trucks at De Wits Motors through the MBFS BEE finance scheme. His nine Freightliners are an addition to his 69 other trucks. These trucks mainly transport coal for Eskom from Umcebo Mine and Graspan Mine near Ermelo.

With the electricity crisis that haemorrhaged the South African economy earlier this year, Eskom began contracting truck transporters with the right demographic profile, especially owner-driver organisations that were all start-up BEE operations, to transfer coal from mines in Mpumalanga to power stations such as Majuba near Ermelo. Having spent more than 7 years as a commercial vehicle salesman for Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles (Garden City Motors) in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, Buckley grasped the opportunity to start his own truck fleet in 2005 supplying coal to Eskom’s power stations that are within a radius of 200km in Ermelo.

“The Freightliner trucks were suited for the need to transport coal to Eskom’s power stations, because they are quite economical when it comes to fuel consumption,” says Buckley.

He says with an annual turnover of R40-million in his business, his monthly fuel consumption bill amounts to R11-million.

“All my Freightliner trucks are fitted with the Detroit 440 Engine, which also utilises hydraulic oil thereby helping to save fuel. I am very happy with the performance of the Detroit engine,” adds Buckley.

MBSA is still the only truck manufacturer to offer a full range of electronic engines from the three leading manufacturers, Cummins, Caterpillar and Detroit Diesel, coupled to the Smart Shift Eaton transmission, which is a standard feature across the range.

“The proof of success for Freightliner in South Africa is the increased visibility of its model range on national line-haul routes, which is enabling our customers such as Paul to run their businesses the smart way” adds Ian Riley, divisional manager of MBSA’s Freightliner, Mitsubishi FUSO and Western Star division.

With driver training being imperative in the industry, Buckley says that he does not compromise training his drivers. He offers his drivers incentives for looking after the trucks. “Last year in December one my drivers got an incentive of R25 000 for keeping his truck in a good condition.” Most of his drivers are from Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal and Ermelo and he usually encourages them to pursue advance driving courses, which cost him more than R200 000 a year. “The training pays off,” emphasises Buckley.

Furthermore, with HIV and AIDS seriously affecting truck drivers, Buckley also runs programmes in partnership with Eskom to educate his drivers about the effects of the pandemic.