Bakers SA Limited chooses Serco vehicles for fleet refurbishment

One of the biggest private logistics companies in South Africa, Bakers S.A. Limited, has ordered 11 dry freight truck bodies and 11 trailers from Serco in an ongoing business partnership that spans more than 10 years.

The Protec steel Dryliners were built and delivered during April to August 2021.

Bakers, which employs more than 1600 people at 17 sites throughout South Africa, has a fleet of over 600 vehicles, all fitted with the latest in tracking and monitoring technology. The company provides linehaul, secondary distribution, final mile and warehousing services locally and into neighbouring territories.

Wear and tear on some of the vehicles in its existing fleet spurred Bakers into buying the Protec Dryliners which are a dry freight version of Serco’s high profile refrigerated Frostliner.

CEO of Serco Clinton Holcroft explained that the Dryliner truck bodies were manufactured on the company’s high tech panel press. “The units have coated steel facings and injected foam, but the panels are thinner than the refrigerated model giving the client the benefit of a unit that is lightweight and strong.

“Bakers have trialled the Dryliner in the past and they feel it works for them – it is durable and gives them low life cycle costs,” said Holcroft.

The trucks have a canti-lever tail lift which closes off the rear and eliminates the need for rear doors.

Included in this order were also two rebuilds for vehicles that had reached the end of their viable life span – using Serco’s single skin steel construction, known as a Van body which is lighter than the standard structure, thereby helping to significantly improve fuel efficiency and affordability.

With the Serco Dryliner and Van body, transporters have the option of a durable construction and a light weight, low-cost solution for transporting dry goods.