What more can a truck manufacturer wish for than a customer who not only sings the praises of its brand and its after sales support, but also claims that for their own operation there is “only one truck that works in Africa”?

Buks van Rensburg, Managing Director of Buks Haulage Limited (BHL), who primarily uses these FAW units in his 130-vehicle fleet, has given this exceptional accolade to the FAW 28.380FT (commonly called the J5).

Van Rensburg’s claim is no mere lip service. To bear out this claim, he has literally put his bucks on the table by ordering a further 100 FAW vehicles to complement the 99 units he already has – all of them the robust FAW 28.380FT.

“I decided in October last year that all my future replacement vehicles will be the same FAW 28.380 truck-tractor…”

“I decided in October last year that all my future replacement vehicles will be the same FAW 28.380 truck-tractor. We use it in two configurations – one with a side-tipper trailer supplied by Afrit and the other with a flat deck.”

BHL has been running 70 of the FAW 28.380FT side-tippers, transporting copper concentrate from the mines in Zambia to the country’s smelters. Thereafter the robust 29 FAW flat decks transport the beneficiated material from the smelter, over 2 400km from Ndola, Zambia, to Walvis Bay, Namibia, for export to China.

“Treacherous roads with the worst conditions ever seen – dirt tracks, potholes, sludge, sand and rubble. Hard on any truck and driver, and capable of virtually breaking the camel’s back the vehicle’s and the driver’s – in very quick succession,” explains van Rensburg.