UPTIME
Scania - built for uptime Juanita Pienaar spoke with Wesley Cloete, Managing Director of Cloete’s Sand and Stone, about operating in one of South Africa’s most demanding sectors and why Scania has become a key partner in maintaining uptime, efficiency, and resilience across the company’s fleet.
uptime is everything.”
Aftermarket service that keeps trucks moving While vehicle specification and fuel efficiency play an important role, Cloete is clear that Scania’s aftermarket support is the cornerstone of the relationship. “One of the biggest things for us is reducing running costs, and that’s been achieved through fuel efficiency and uptime,” he explains. “But where Scania really stands out is their aftersales service. If we report a breakdown to their Scania Assistance room, they are the quickest of all the OEMs we work with to get that vehicle back on the road.” He points to a recent incident that left a lasting impression. “We had a vehicle with a clutch failure and an engine mounting failure - not a small job by any means. We reported it around midday, and because Scania had the parts on hand, they worked through the night. That vehicle was released back to us at seven o’clock the next morning. That’s unheard of.” According to Cloete, Scania’s approach
Scania supports Cloete’s Sand and Stone in a high-pressure materials market Operating in the construction materials sector has never been easy, but in recent years, the pressure has intensified. Rising costs, tight margins, ageing infrastructure, and ongoing market uncertainty have forced operators to reassess how they run their fleets and where they place their trust. For Cloete’s Sand and Stone, uptime, reliability, and aftersales support have become non-negotiable - and this is where Scania has carved out a distinct role in the business. Based in Gauteng with a second
operation in the Western Cape, Cloete’s Sand and Stone supplies aggregates and materials to construction projects across its respective regions. The company operates a fleet of 82 trucks, of which 21 are Scania vehicles, deployed across demanding site conditions where downtime quickly translates into lost revenue. “There’s definitely been pressure on the construction industry over the last few years,” says Cloete. “If you’re running older fleets, your uptime is not where it needs to be. Guys end up having to run maybe a 25% bigger fleet than they actually need, simply because vehicles are down so often. For us,
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