Nearly done but not completely dusted

They say that time flies when you’re having fun and, for Truck Test 2014, this certainly rings true. It seems as though the event has just begun, but we’re already on the final day.

To round off this year’s event, the nine participating vehicles needed to do a second trek to Belfast Engen, from Umfula One-Stop (Engen Hartbeespoort) and back again. This time completing the 511 km, open-road round trip a little bit lighter … as the 4×2 carriers, with a gross vehicles mass of between five and nine tonnes, went at it unladen.

(This is to simulate the empty trips that these vehicles so often undertake when going to pick-up a load or returning after it has been dropped off.)

The vehicles had all been offloaded at their own premises the previous night and, as with the first day, the participants rolled in at Engen Hartbeespoort to be topped up before heading along the N4 to Belfast once more.

Adrian van Tonder, from Barloworld Logistics – who helped to coordinate the inaugural Truck Test in 2012 and proved to be a great asset once again – was positioned at the Donkerhoek weighbridge, just east of Pretoria, to again ensure a smooth transit for the participants.  

As quickly as the final day had begun, so the test was over and the participants were on their way home.

But this week’s two newsletters are only a taste of what Truck Test 2014 offered. We’ll bring you an in-depth report back and the comprehensive results in the May edition of FOCUS.

Preparations for Truck Test 2015 are already underway, which might see the return of an industry favourite as the spotlight might fall on extra-heavies once more …

Watch this space! We’ll keep you posted.