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A fourth Hino in the national SASKO Bakeries fleet recently clocked up more than one million kilometres covered in service. The truck is a 700 Series 2845 purchased in 2015 and based in the Eastern Cape. It is one of 183 Hino trucks in the SASKO fleet. The only major repair was a clutch replacement at 865 000 km, while “a few oil and water leaks” have also been repaired over the years.
“This Hino has been serviced at 40 000 km intervals, strictly to Hino’s schedule, with servicing split between Algoa Hino and Sasko’s workshop at its facility in Port Elizabeth,” explained Arno Lourens, Technical manager: Vehicles, who is responsible for the national fleet which services 13 bakeries countrywide
SASKO has been using Hino trucks in its mixed fleet since 1990. Lourens says the most impressive features of these trucks are their reliability and durability as well as the support from the countrywide Hino dealer network.
“Reliability is critical in terms of our operations which is mainly delivering bread countrywide while working around the clock. Bread is a staple food, so we strive to deliver it on time every time. We cannot afford unscheduled downtime with our trucks.
“We use dedicated drivers on our trucks, which we believe plays an important part in them running reliably for lengthy periods of time with only regular maintenance. We make our decisions on truck replacement based mainly on cost of ownership and don’t necessarily replace at certain kilometre readings. If they are still operating efficiently, we do not see the need to replace them. This is the case with these high kilometre Hino’s,” explained Lourens, who has worked for SASKO since 1992 when Hino’s were already part of the fleet.
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