Merger creates Namibian transport giant

One of the biggest transport companies in southern Africa has been created by the purchase of Walvis Bay-based Wesbank Transport by FP du Toit Transport. Wesbank will continue operating under its own brand, but as a division of FP du Toit Transport, according to Willie du Toit, managing director of FP du Toit Transport, which is based in Windhoek. He says the merger brings together more than a hundred years of transport experience as both companies were founded in the mid 1960s. Both companies have been family owned and managed since inception. Willie du Toit is now sole proprietor of the combined enterprises. The purchase of Wesbank allows the new group to offer the full range of transport services, he says. FP du Toit, which operates mostly enclosed trailers and rigs, will now be able to transport containers and abnormal cargo of up to 100 tons as well. Wesbank also owns the largest crane hire business in Namibia, with lifting capacity up to 220 tons. “It feels good to be getting back into the flatbed market,” says FP du Toit business development manager Ryno Badenhorst. The inclusion of flatbeds in the fleet will allow FP du Toit to offer additional services to its clients in neighbouring states. The combined f leets will have around a thousand staff, 400 vehicles and over 380 trailers. The FP du Toit f leet also includes medium and light delivery vehicles used for local and crossborder deliveries as part of the group’s Pro Parcel Distribution and JET.X Courier services. Wesbank operates from two sites in Walvis Bay and a depot in Windhoek FP du Toit is also taking over the Wesbank warehouses and transit facilities in Cape Town and Johannesburg. These will complement the ten FP du Toit depots across Namibia, as well as another three in neighbouring South Africa. “Customers will benefit from the great synergies between the two companies. We now cover all the main transport routes into and through Namibia and can offer customers transportation facilities ranging from a single envelope to conveying 100-ton abnormal loads,” says Badenhorst. The Wesbank operations will be included in the FP du Toit online freight management system, which allows customers to track the progress of their cargo in real time. “We have our own clearing staff in Johannesburg and Namibia. This enables us to clear goods ‘in-house’ more efficiently and timeously, even over weekends if necessary.” Management teams from both companies are working together to identify synergies in order to expand the range of transport and logistics services they offer, he says. CAPTION EP van Rooyen (left), the founder of Wesbank Transport, handing the keys of his “old faithful” 1972 Oshkosh R Series over to Willie du Toit standing in front of his fleet mascot, Tatekulu, a 1959 Mercedes Benz.