Displaying items by tag: Trucks

France: Petrol containers and burnt matches have been found under trucks at a LafargeHolcim site in Paris. Workers found the items underneath the vehicles on the morning of 5 October 2017, according to Agence France Presse. However, the incident is not thought to be terror related. Security camera footage shows the perpetrators trying to ignite the fuel on the night before. Investigators say that the ‘crude device’ had no chance of detonating. Lafarge France operates a number of concrete and aggregate units in the city.

The incident follows on-going anti-terrorism investigations in the city following the discovery of several gas canisters and a cell phone detonator earlier in October 2017. LafargeHolcim is also under investigation by the French judiciary for its conduct running a cement plant in Syria during the civil war.

Russia: Iskitimcement has expanded its fleet with the purchase of three Scania P Series trucks with Sespel bulk cement semi trailers for Euro557,000. The new 28.1t vehicles have been designed specifically for the Russian market. The trailers can transport up to 30t of cargo each. Vladimir Skakun, the general director of the cement producer, commented that its road shipments are growing and that it expects to deliver up to 24,000t/month of cement in the summer of 2017 from a fleet of 26 vehicles. The company has plans to increase its fleet further in the future.

UK: Tarmac has started using a small-scale liquid lime delivery vehicle to despatch Kalic and Kalic HS milk of lime consignments to smaller or harder-to-reach locations. The eight-wheeled vehicle can carry up to 18t of milk of lime and its shorter wheelbase makes it much more manoeuvrable than larger carriers. It also comes equipped with metering capabilities and adaptable nozzle to aid delivery. The vehicle will compliment Tarmac’s use of bulk tankers or 1t intermediate bulk containers (IBCs).

“Many of our smaller customers require small but regular deliveries of milk of lime as they often have limited storage available on site. Our new ‘milk round’ allows us to regularly deliver fresh top-ups in lower volume deliveries without customers being restricted to taking small deliveries in IBCs,’ said Tarmac Lime & Powders Logistics Manager Nick Thomas.

Ethiopia: Messebo Cement has purchased 200 trucks from Germany’s Man for US$30m. The cement producer has expanded its fleet to reduce its transportation costs, according to the Ethiopian Reporter newspaper. The trucks have been assembled locally by Mesfin Industrial Engineering, a sister company to Massebo, after shipping. 25 of the trucks are silo trucks for transporting bulk cement and 50 are dump trucks.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has launched an academy to train truck driver safety and fleet management. The launch event took place at the Ewekoro cement plant in Ogun state. The logistics academy is a follow-up project to a road safety project and drivers academy previously established by the cement producer to ensure sound safety culture, process efficiency and good performance among truck drivers, according to the Nigerian Guardian newspaper.

Ghana: Dangote Cement plans to recruit 5000 workers following its procurement of 1000 trucks to distribute its products. The cement producer has started recruiting drivers, truck driver assistants and loaders. The vehicles arrived in Ghana in early July 2016, according to the Lagos Guardian. The drive to build its distribution network complements the company’s on-going efforts to build a 1.5Mt/yr clinker grinding plant in Takoradi.

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has rolled out over 150 new trucks to ease the distribution and availability of cement across the country. The move also aims to help distributors service their customers, deliver products in a timely manner and also take distributors and businesses 'to the next level.'

The Group Chief Marketing Officer, Oare Ojeikere, explained that the trucks would be at no cost to distributors and that all that was required was for the distributors to reach a certain volume of sales in three years.

"This scheme is about empowering our partners and ensuring they have what they require to get their products to their customers. Currently, the exchange rate has more or less ballooned out of proportion, making it increasingly difficult for people to invest in new trucks. Our business is powered by the ability to get cement to the retailers and the end-users," said Ojeikere.

He pointed out that in the past nine months, the group has embarked on different initiatives to improve the profitability of its partners, noting that its partners who drove growth, bought more and were also very aggressive in distribution, were rewarded for their diligence. "We want to assure our partners that those who continue to drive growth will continuously get rewarded for their efforts. We have also made cement more affordable because our per capita cement consumption and the huge housing deficit of over 18 million, we believe that if we are able to bring down the price of cement, we can drive much greater velocity in the amount of cement consumed in the country," said Ojeikere.

Uganda: President Yoweri Museveni has been heckled at a road commissioning ceremony by residents of Tororo alleging that Tororo Cement (TCL) is employing more Indian nationals than local citizens. The cement producer denied any wrongdoing, stating that 'barely' 5% of its staff are Asian, according to local media. The president has promised to look into the matter.

"Out of 1000 employes we have, only 50 are Indians. The rest are Ugandans," said TCL chief executive officer Mohan Gagrani.

TCL has also faced claims that its trucks are damaging Uganada's new road networks through overloading. It has denied any responsibility due to its use of contracted vehicles.

UK: Hope Construction Materials is bolstering its 300-strong concrete mixer fleet with 36 new Mercedes-Benz trucks. The new Arocs 3236 8x4 B11 4-axle mixer trucks, each equipped with a McPhee mixer system, are Euro 6 compliant, built to the latest diesel engine emission legislation from the European Commission.

The vehicles feature a string of active safety measures, including a vulnerable road user package, as well as a lane control system, collision-avoidance and smart system which warns the driver if pedestrians or cyclists are too close to the vehicle. The system, which was developed by Cycle Safety Shield using Mobileye technology, works to mitigate the risk of collisions and road departure. The Cycle Safety Solution warns drivers when a cyclist or pedestrian is within danger zones, such as the nearside blind spot area. All of the trucks are fitted with TomTom satnavs, allowing the driver to consistently take the most efficient route and for customers to be informed of the exact location of their order at any given point.

"The purchase represents a significant commitment by Hope to providing our drivers with the best possible vehicles," said Mike Cowell, COO at Hope Construction Materials. "They are the most advanced trucks on British roads and will benefit our drivers, customers and other road users."

"This is the first fleet of 8x4 Euro VI Arocs mixers to enter service in the UK and Hope has demonstrated how both safety and sustainability work hand in hand," said James Colbourne, Head of Strategic Accounts (Trucks) at Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd.