Trucking is a multi-facetted arena where no two operations are identical. That’s what makes the business of trucking so interesting – and challenging – and especially for suppliers who have to meet the various needs of their customers.
Take the case of Ko-Lay Home of Chickens, a newly-established eatery and take-away chain which was faced with the problem of getting products from its headquarters in Durban to outlets in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State efficiently, speedily and – for the frozen goods – at the right temperatures.
Ko-Lay first experimented by outsourcing its transport needs but soon found that was not the answer and discovered they needed to invest in their own delivery vehicles. But it couldn’t be just any old vehicle – it would have to be a top drawer truck able to transport fresh, frozen and dry goods and critically, that the cold chain would not be compromised in any way.
They turned to Serco for the answer. Sales representative Steve Davenport of the Durban office was called in and he quickly established that the key challenge was to manufacture a truck with multi-temperature compartments which would enable easy access to all compartments when drop-offs were done at the various branches. Another requirement was to make special provision for bins Ko-Lay uses to move its products.
Serco’s solution was a three-zone, multi-temperature refrigerated rigid truck body. The customer liked the concept and gave Serco the green light for production. The following features ensure that the vehicle met all expectations and coped adequately with the storage bin requirements:
- Moveable insulated partitions incorporating thermally rated cores from Serco’s partner Loadlok in Holland.
- Load lock rails with shoring bars for load securing.
- Side door access to the fresh and frozen goods zones.
- Double rear-door access to the dry goods zone.
- A scientifically calculated loading configuration for the truck capable of handling 125 storage bins.
It was the answer to Ko-Lay’s needs with the body fitted to a Hino 300 915, now doing deliveries to branches in Durban, Vryheid, Estcourt, Harrismith and Van Reenen.
Head of marketing at Ko-Lay, Kreeshan Reddy, says the vehicle is already proving its worth, handling deliveries to all the company’s branches. “Fully loaded, the vehicle can carry about 2 500 chickens and 3.6 tons of payload which is really good,” said Reddy.
Finding solutions to logistical problems encountered by customers as well as going the extra mile to ensure customers stay ahead in these challenging economic times is what it is all about. Serco certainly rose to the challenge.
