Good neighbours
Page 36
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Feed The Children needed a fleet of 4x4s on a shoestring budget to distribute aid in Bosnia. Help was at hand in the shape of a neighbouring truck dealer—it located and refurbished four ex-Dutch army Dafs in record time.
Since the war in the former Yugoslavia began 50,000 babies have been orphaned and four million people have been made refugees, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Against this background of tragedy Reading-based charity Feed the Children transports aid by truck to the displaced children of Bosnia and its unfortunate neighbour, Albania.
But until last month the charity's vehicles were unsuitable for the mountain roads and dirt tracks that constitute most of the lifeline routes by which aid gets through. The punishing work tested conventional vehicles to destruction. What was needed was a replacement fleet of 4x4s.
Restricted
But how could the charity afford them on a very restricted budget? It was at this worrying point that 14TH Commercials, a Mercedes main dealer in Wokingham, Berkshire, came to the rescue by locating and refurbishing a fleet of six suitable vehicles, including one hulk transporter, for a little over £100,000.
HTH added no mark-up on the vehicles and they were customised at cost with a little help from its friends. With lives at stake, urgency was paramount—five of the six vehicles were ready to roll in four weeks.
Kevin Buchanan, used truck consultant for 11TH, was responsible for locating the vehicles and seeing the job through to delivery. He recognised the problem faced by Feed the Children. "Even Land Rovers only last six months in Bosnia—the main roads are dirt tracks. We had been supplying FTC with Mercedes 814s but there were no 4x4s in its price range."
However, if Buchanan didn't have any budget-priced 4x4s up his sleeve he knew a man who did. Over In Amsterdam dealer Van Vliet has a minimum of 2,000 vehicles in stock at any one time. The yard is so big that customers peruse their potential purchases by golf cart.
It was here that Buchanan found what he wanted—four exDutch army Daf 1800 4x4s: an American bull-nosed Scania T112H and a Toyota personnel carrier for use by FTC as a scout vehicle to target where the aid needs to go.
Initially the project was intended to take three months but it turned out that FTC needed the vehicles in a month. "I hardly got any sleep," recalls Buchanan who became so involved that he missed going out with the 1800s on their first trip because he was suffering from arc-eye as a result of continuous welding.
Work on the 1800s included adding extra fuel tanks, additional lights front and rear, general overhauling, painting of chassis and bodywork and signwriting. Cargo boards were added to turn them into dropside tilts and plates welded over openings to prevent pilfering.
Retailer John Lewis Partnership "saved hundreds" by fitting the tachos at cost—no mean job since the army vehicles had not previously required tachos. Electronic sender units were installed and the electrical systems rewired to give the tachos a separate feed.
The Department of Transport added the icing on the cake by dispensing with red tape and issuing immediate NloTs and type approval. Despite a two-month waiting list the vehicles went to the head of the queue and were rushed into Newbury Test Station one Saturday morning, with the tester working through his lunch break to complete the job.
Kevin Buchanan, used truck consultant for 11TH: "Even Land Rovers only last six months in Bosnia."
The 1800s left for Bosnia
last month carrying basic baby supplies food, nappies, disinfectant, soap. The Scania will join them once the job of stretching its chassis is complete. "We took the fifth wheel coupling off and moved the axle back to take a seven metre cargo body," explains Buchanan, "We've stretched it by about 12 feet to take a 20f-t container." Once in Bosnia the Scania will be employed trunking from FTC's warehouse in Split, trans-shipping to the Dafs for local delivery.
FTC is delighted with the outcome. "11TH helped us find vehicles that matched our budget, specification and urgent need, "says FTC fleet manager, Peter Halliwell. "They carried out the refurbishment in record time. And they saved us £25,000 in the process."
Readion
But what has the reaction been at the sharp end? FTC monitor Linda Storey is based in Bosnia: "The supplies could not have come at a better time," she says, "A hospital has been bombed, three babies are born every clay and people were having to cut up sheets for nappies" Storey says that a Muslim midwife delivering Croatian babies broke down in tears when she saw what was inside the boxes delivered by the newly refurbished Dafs. "Send as much as you can," said the midwife.
Ei by Patric Curmane • FTC appeals for money for "babybares" .00 fills one with about 30 items. Such gifts are magnified by the prevailing black market economy. "Out there the same items would cost six times as much." says FTC, "but it's unlikely they would be available anyway" Contact: Feed the Children. 82 C,aversham Road, Reading, Berks RGI SAE Tel(0734) 464444.