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On the right Trakker

13th March 2008, Page 43
13th March 2008
Page 43
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Page 43, 13th March 2008 — On the right Trakker
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In 2004 the devastation caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami stunned the world.

Work to rebuild the affected countries is still going on and in Sri Lanka, a donated lveco EuroTrakker is proving invaluable.

Words / Images; Giles Harwood The Jackfruit is not your everyday fruit — unless, that is, you live in Sri Lanka. Being the largest tree-borne fruit in the world it can weigh up to 36kg. And, it was one of these that nearly prevented Commercial Motor from joining the largest vehicle run by Sarvodaya, the Sri Lankan charity to observe it on a typical day's operation.

We had travelled more than 5,000 miles to Moratuwa just south of Colombo, the Indian island's capital, at the invitation of Transaid to report on the work the truck had been doing since it entered service just over two years ago. During that time, it has been working non-stop, travelling throughout the country, hut particularly in the south and east. These regions took the brunt of the country's worst natural disaster, the tsunami which struck on Boxing Day 2004. It left 13 districts and 226 villages in tatters and the lives of coastal dwellers in ruins.

The disaster killed more than 31,000 people, injured a further 23,000 and displaced more than half a million. Donors were generous in their response to appeals for all the countries affected, hut it was the special relationship forged with UK transport development agency Transaid which made a significant difference to the Sarvodaya reconstruction operations.

When CM arrived on the scene, Dr Vinya Ariyaratne, executive director at Sarvodaya, was quick to apologise for the damaged screen on the EuroTrakker; he hoped it would not affect our visit. "The vehicle has never gone wrong in the two years of demanding operation," he said. "It was parked outside the company's workshop when a Jackfruit fell off a tree and smashed the screen.

"We have tried to source a replacement locally but without success. Iveco supplied a very comprehensive range of routine service items when the vehicle was delivered and the maintenance has worked well, but of course a spare screen wasn't included in the consignment!"

Seeing a way to help, we e-mailed Nigel Emms of Iveco UK who had originally helped arrange delivery of the vehicle to Sri Lanka. He promised to organise shipment of a replacement without delay.

New tyres

During a close inspection of the vehicle we had also noticed the tyres were shot and so another e-mail went out this time to Chris Bloor, commercial director of Michelin and a supporter of Transaid. He soon secured a new set of rubber.

"The country had not been one of Transaid's main areas of operation," explained Dr Ariyaratne. "However, after the disaster the charity sent two of its supporters logistics experts from Wincanton to do a needs assessment, looking at procurement systems and specifically on the supply problems with raw materials for reconstruction. After spending two weeks on the island, they made recommendations on the types of vehicles required, and provided invaluable advice on how to maximise supply chain efficiencies. A report published later stated Sarvodaya had been able to cut transport costs by $300,000 (£152,000) in only months enough to pay for 60 more homes.

In addition to sourcing a bowser to aid water supply to the stricken communities it was also agreed that a large tipper would best serve needs. Local transport contractors simply did not have the capacity to meet the massive and widespread demand.

Iveco is a pan-European supporter of Transaid, as well as one of its founder members. The Turin company quickly agreed to donate a EuroTrakker as part of a Elm (£767,000) donation to the general tsunami relief fund. The MP380E37H 6x4 day-cab tipper is powered by a 13,8-litre turbocharged engine developing 370hp at 1,900rpm and 1,720Nm of torque at 1,100rpm. With a 16speed synchromesh gearbox driving a hub reduction tandem bogie, it has a design weight of 33,000kg.

"When the vehicle arrived, customs officials were stunned by its complexity, but it was quickly put to use after on-site driver and maintenance training had been given by Iveco. We adopted a routine maintenance programme. bringing the vehicle into our workshop every month and included it in a three-monthly full maintenance reporting system. This monitors in detail all running costs and kilometres travelled to provide a total efficiency comparison on all 85 vehicles based at the headquarters."

When CM visited, the vehicle had just come out of the workshop and negotiating the exit was no mean feat. It is Sri Lankan policy to ensure all heavy vehicle movements include a 'helper' for the driver and, after spending the day with the EuroTrakker. it was obvious why. Many of the access points to sites included travelling miles offroad to quarries up narrow, rough tracks which, even in our following Nissan Micra, seemed a squeeze.

Working together

We were accompanied by Mr Perera, a transport consultant based at the company's headquarters. He was quick to point out the benefits of working with organisations such as Transaid which can liaise directly with OEM suppliers like Iveco to secure the supply of appropriate hardware, "In some cases, companies simply hand over materials or products and while it is always very much appreciated, it is far better if you can work together with that organisation to ensure they send something that will really do the job," he said. As we travelled, it soon became clear that any smaller vehicle would simply have been unable to operate in these conditions. The Iveco easily devoured a load of sand until it was virtually overflowing, yet still managed to clear the exit from a quarry buried deep in the interior.

Driving more than 300Iun on Sri Lankan roads, having a helper proved essential. Forget any rules about overtaking, priority to traffic on the right, or even not crossing a double white line: while it's not what you might call aggressive driving, it seems the vehicle behind always wants to get in front. Traffic lights are frequently ignored, as are one-way signs. The winner of every journey, however, is arguably the local bus which manages to clear a path through dense traffic with piercing blasts of its siren.

Army checkpoints are all over the island since the ceasefire ended at the beginning of this year, but even they don't seem to have any calming effect on the pace of the traffic, or how it behaves.

In addition to hauling sand, cement and other raw materials for construction work, the EuroTrakker is involved in a second high-profile project: the Bush/ Clinton Tsunami Fund and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Tsunami Fund schemes. These donated money over the course of a year to build 85 playgrounds, as well as provide school equipment and a rapid-response medical unit. The EuroTrakker was used to transport state-of-the-art playground equipment nationwide.

As the reconstruction work comes to an end. Sarvodaya is liaising with Transaid to determine the future of the vehicle. Options include selling it into the private sector, or leasing it to other contractors. But, in many ways, one can't help feeling that the charity would rather like to keep the vehicle nearby — especially as there have been subsequent tsunami scares and in view of the fact that, as yet, there is still no early-warning system. •


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