Trucks keep rolling on schedule – in good and bad times

Weathering lean economic times requires hard management choices, but the curtailment of services should not be an option. “Volumes are definitely down this year. But the trucks still go out because that is the service we offer. Our customers have confidence that we will deliver those services,” said Daniel Singleton, general manager of M&B Transport Services. A consolidator with nearly 20 years’ experience sending breakbulk from SA to Lesotho, Swaziland and more recently Botswana, M&B Transport Services, based in Edanvale, is devoted to over-border consolidations. All types of general cargo except perishables are moved. Company trucks transport “anything and everything,” said Singleton, but in particular motor spares and consumer goods destined for neighbouring countries’ factories, stores and supermarkets. “It is generally the same driving time and distance from Gauteng to Maseru, Manzini or Gaborone. When it comes to dealing with customs, experience definitely helps. You have to know what you’re doing,” Singleton said. To avoid delays at the border, documents are prepared at the company headquarters. “It’s all electronic. All the paperwork is done in Jo’burg beforehand and submitted electronically so it’s there at the border when the truck arrives. Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland are not on this system yet, but once a truck is cleared on the South African side they usually let it through. We don’t usually have any problems,” said Singleton. M&B Transport Services clients rely on that experience, and the certainty that in bad economic times and not just good the trucks keep rolling on schedule.