Jacques Baird, founder and owner of Ruah Transport, has so much confidence in Hino trucks that he only trades them in or sells them when they have clocked 1.2 million kilometres.

Jacques Baird, founder and owner of Ruah Transport, has so much confidence in Hino trucks that he only trades them in or sells them when they have clocked 1.2 million kilometres. He started his company in 2007 and bought his first Hino 500 the same year. He was so satisfied with the truck’s performance and reliability that he has continued buying Hino’s for the next 28 years.

He managed Ruah Transport operation by himself for the first 15 years and recently celebrated the purchase of his 50th Hino.

The first Hino was a 500 Series model 1324 with a GVM of 13 tons and a 240 hp engine. He bought a second Hino in 2008 and a third in 2020. The first truck was only sold in 2017 after it had covered 1.2 million kilometres in 10 years.

“I have bought only Hino trucks as I had substantial personal experience driving them as well as managing a fleet where I keep tabs on feedback running costs and downtime. I was so satisfied with the first Hino’s I bought that I have not purchased any other brand of truck since those early days,” explained Baird. “We are not only impressed with the overall reliability and durability of these trucks over many years. But are also very satisfied with the Hino after-sales service.”

The latest additions to the Ruah Transport fleet were five 500 Series 1627 freight carrier models with solid panel load boxes. The fleet includes 32 links with Hino 500 1627 freight carriers. All the other trucks are 8-ton freight carriers with solid side load boxes.

New trucks are bought from Hino Honeydew in Johannesburg even though the company’s head office is in Heidelberg while Hino Pomona services the trucks in the fleet.

The company transports goods throughout South Africa, as well as in the surrounding countries of Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia and Eswatini. Baird says there are several contracts with big customers, but the fleet is readily available whenever and wherever transport is required.

“We are very proud of the long-running relationship between Ruah Transport and Hino especially the positive comments about our dealers’ after sales service, which is an important pillar in Hino’s global Total Support strategy. We also extend our heartfelt congratulations to Ruah Transport on reaching the remarkable milestone of their 50^th Hino truck.” said Itumeleng Segage, General Manager of Hino SA.

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