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The addition of a new engine choice for its customers along with organisational changes designed around improving its service offerings has injected a new life-spirit into International Trucks South Africa writes
Patrick O'Leary.
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The International 7600 is now available with Caterpillar power.
Bob Jones, MD of International Trucks SA: "We have to have the right structures in place to support up-time."
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One could be forgiven for thinking that International Trucks SA has reacted to Freightliner's fitment of the Caterpillar C12 engine to its new Columbia 112 offering but Bob Jones, MD of International Trucks South Africa, assures
FleetWatch this is not the case.
We refer to the news that the International 7600 series 6x4 truck tractor is now offered with Caterpillar power whereas up to now it's been available only with Cummins in the local market. It was less than two months ago that Freightliner introduced the Columbia 112 with a single engine derivative, the Cat C12 410.1550 model.
Quizzed on this by FleetWatch at a recent press conference, Jones emphatically denied that International was following Freightliner - as did Tim Quinlan, regional vice president - Exports, International Truck and Engine Company (ITEC).
"On the contrary, we had the engine available prior to the Freightliner launch and, if anything, Freightliner has followed us," said Quinlan. Nice dig there but not quite accurate as Quinlan is referring to the USA market where the engine has been standard fitment on the International 7600 for the past four years. We're talking about the local market here.
"It was about a year ago that International Trucks South Africa took the decision to offer it as an option to South African operators on the 7600," says Jones. One of the reasons for the time lag between taking the decision and implementing it is the fact that it took some time for the systems and processes to be put in place for International Trucks to be approved by Barloworld Equipment Energy Power Systems, the official agent for Caterpillar in Southern Africa, as a Caterpillar Truck Engine Product Support (TEPS) dealer. This agreement was signed in March this year.
All this is good news for the local market especially when, as Jones states, "we can now offer customers the option of a gross combination mass (GCM) of 55 ton with a tri-axle semi-trailer compared to only 50 ton previously. We know what an asset we'll be selling."
In this application the turbocharged and aftercooled 12 litre CAT engine is offered at 380-430hp delivering 1450-1650lb.ft.torque. "Making the 7600 series available with Caterpillar's C12 engine also gives us a great option with CAT plant operators and provides fleet managers and owner-operators with a choice when they spec their trucks," says Jones.
As an accredited TEPS dealer, International Trucks SA is committed to ensuring the highest levels of backup support on Caterpillar engines in partnership with their principals International Truck & Engine Corporation. International Truck branches and dealers throughout South Africa and neighbouring states will be providing service and parts support on Caterpillar truck engines. We'll come back to this point later down this story.
Theo Jooste, truck engine sales manager at Barloworld Equipment Energy - Power Systems, is, of course, thrilled. "International is a premium quality truck that is well accepted in Southern Africa and we're proud to be associated with another American truck brand," he says. "We are also pleased to have added International Trucks to our TEPS dealer family. Local demand for CAT-powered trucks is increasing exponentially and we need to have a support infrastructure that enables operators to really go in for the long haul. With the addition of International Trucks, we now have 38 TEPS dealers, including one in Namibia and two in Botswana."
The heavy duty International 7600 series with a tri-axle semi-trailer is popular in construction, brick hauling and other utility services. It has a low tare weight, providing the operator with payload benefits and fuel savings. In the CAT-powered version, the driveline has seen the C12 engine mate with the well-proven Eaton-Fuller 10-speed manual or the autoshift transmission and Meritor RT 40-145 and RT 46-160 drive axles for maximum durability, economy and productivity.
Major change
Let's now go back to the service and back-up offered by International Trucks South Africa - and this is where major change is taking place. As is well known, the three brands of International, DAF and Renault which fall under the Imperial Group banner were brought together some 14 months ago under a holding organisation called Commercial Vehicle Holdings.
The idea was to create separate business units for each brand with each reporting into a line head-office, namely, Commercial Vehicle Holdings. Ironically, it was also intended as a means of creating a brand for the truck supply and servicing operations of the Imperial Group. The idea was to separate the brands in the field but to consolidate the 'back-room' operations such as parts and service through Tyco Truck Centres which would be responsible for the servicing of all three brands in facilities such as the massive Wadeville outlet.
It didn't quite work out that way and instead of creating a strong truck group brand under CVH, what actually happened is that the strength of the individual brands was dissipated.
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Barloworld Equipment
Energy,
Power Systems seal their new alliance with International Trucks SA: From left are Theo Jooste, truck engine sales manager at Barloworld Equipment Energy - Power Systems; Bob Jones, MD of International Trucks SA; Henk Maree, CEO of International Trucks SA; Muzi Kubeka, senior GM of Barloworld Equipment Energy - Power Systems; Ian Holiday, Caterpillar EAME on-highway product support manager and Frikkie Smit, service director at International Trucks SA. |
| The International Trucks SA
press conference could have been mistaken for an ERF reunion with former ERF South Africa MD Dai Davies (right) meeting up with his former colleagues John Barnett and Bob Jones. This was the team that put ERF on the map in the 'old' days. |
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A team
with renewed focus, from left: John Barnett, International Truck and Engine Company; Bob Jones, MD International Trucks SA and Tim Quinlan, regional vice president - Exports, International Truck and Engine Company |
Things came to a crunch last year when the five-year distribution agreement between CVH and International Truck and Engine Company came up for renewal and Quinlan needed some action plans put in place to improve the parts and service side of the business. Under the former structure, this area had suffered badly and customers were not happy with the way things were. Neither was ITEC.
It was then that the decision was taken to separate the brands and go it alone with separate facilities for each brand. "Parts and service is the most important part of what we sell. Not only is it important as a revenue stream for our business but for our customers, we just have to have the right structures in place to support up-time," says Jones.
The bottom line is that from hereon in, International, DAF and Renault will operate from separate facilities and will no longer be consolidated under common parts and service roofs for all three brands. International Trucks South Africa will have its main parts and service facilities situated in Wadeville, Durban and Cape Town while DAF and Renault will, in due course, open their own facilities as single brand entities.
"Away from the main areas we will have some accredited multi-franchise dealers but in the main centres, we will be separate," says Jones.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained but hindsight does teach a lesson here. FleetWatch has always contended that you cannot mix brands which, by the very nature of trucking, require dedicated focus and attention. Toyota tried it some years ago with Peterbilt and it was a dismal failure. CVH has now tried it with International, DAF and Renault and here too it has failed. Getting back to the basics is what this is all about and let this be a lesson for all who preach 'backroom' economies of scale when all the customer wants is focused and dedicated attention paid to his individual needs. That this is now going to happen is spelt out by Jones in a letter to customers announcing the changes.
"We believe that this significant move to be dedicated International sales, service and parts dealerships will offer customers improved service levels, both in terms of speed of response, quality, greater parts availability and improved contact between us and you (the customer). Our dealerships will become responsible for managing all aspects of the relationships with our customers on a day to day basis and their success will be measured by the level of your satisfaction with their services."
Now we're talking trucking!
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