Eastern Cape investment

By Colin Windell    

With an investment of R110-million, the new UD Trucks home at Billson Trucks in Port Elizabeth boasts the latest in technology and design.

The Billson Group, which was established in 1986, has been a UD Trucks franchised dealer since 2001.

"We developed this new dealership as we want to offer our customers world-class facilities and services," says Patrick Billson, Managing Director of Billson Trucks. "It has been specifically designed to improve vehicle flow and turnaround times, to ultimately give our customers as much uptime as possible."

The 6 000 sq metre facility boasts eleven 30 m-long services bays of which four also have service pits, a roadworthy test lane plus an additional eight repair bays. The roadworthy test lane also boasts a brake roller tester, chassis tester and wheel alignment equipment, which means that any brake repairs can be done onsite with a safety certificate issued afterwards.

"Everything we do is focussed on giving our customers superior levels of service and support. To achieve this level of service, we invested in recruiting the right people for the job, we then continue to invest in the ongoing development and training of our employees. This means our staff can offer our customers the best advice, support and service in the business," explained Billson.

UD Trucks Southern Africa's Managing Director, Gert Swanepoel, said the company is proud of the successful partnership with Billson Trucks over the past 17 years.

"The Billson team also share our vision of putting customers first," says Swanepoel. "We both believe in offering complete solutions that UD Trucks fleet owners can rely on to keep their trucks running. That is why our products and services are built on the principles of driveability, fuel efficiency, safety, productivity and uptime – all essentials in any transport business."

The new facility has been built according to stringent environmental-friendly requirements, including the installation of solar panels, insulation throughout to improve temperature control and to reduce energy consumption, double glazed reflective glass, LED lighting with motion sensors, as well as an advanced water harvesting and storage system for up to 120 000 litres of water. There is also an oil-separation system in the wash bays for water recycling purposes. This ensuring the facility has a very low carbon footprint.

A computer-controlled bulk oil supply system to the service bays to improve technician productivity.

"It is all about saving our customers time, and by getting their vehicles back on the road faster, fleet owners also save money and increase their profitability," says Billson. "Ultimately, our customers' success is our top priority."

Billson Trucks is one of UD Trucks 37 dealers in South Africa and 16 dealers in 14 other markets across southern and eastern Africa.

"Port Elizabeth is a key economic hub in the region, with large industrial developments drawing key players in the logistics and transport market. We are privilege to represented by a dealer team the calibre of Billson Trucks to provide ultimately dependable support to UD Trucks customers in the region," says Swanepoel. "We wish them every success!"