Shipment of non-operational 95-tonne mining trucks from Africa

Brief

To provide cost-effective door to door transportation of non-operational, 95-tonne, used mining trucks – 4 CAT785 chassis and 6 CAT785 dump bodies – from a coal mine in South Africa to customer yards in Australia.

Origin

Ex coal mine, Trichardt, South Africa

Destination

Pre-cleared, to door, Newcastle and Brisbane yards, Australia

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Job Specifics

Freightplus personnel and contractors travelled to the coal mine, some 4 hours north of Johannesburg.  The site was deep in mud, as was the equipment we were to clean to Australian quarantine standard, guaranteed against re-export.  Because the consignment consisted of 10 very large and heavy static pieces, Freightplus recommended AQIS offshore inspections to significantly reduce the number of crane lifts and transport sectors, once the cargo reached Australia. This eliminated at least 20 costly lifts and 10 additional transport sectors requiring pilots and escorts.

Cranes were used to lift the truck parts out of the mud and elevate them for cleaning.  Body channels and cavities were split and full of rock, coal, mud and nests. Extensive gas cutting, manipulating and flushing was required to gain sufficient access to clean thoroughly.

Once the attending Freightplus quarantine assessor determined there was no visible quarantine risk material evident, and all of the interior sections of the chassis and bodies flushed clean water, a pre-booked AQIS officer from Australia was brought to the mine, to conduct a stringent, week-long AQIS quarantine inspection.  By the end of that week, all ten pieces were signed off by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service as having achieved their required “as clean as new” standard.

The chassis and dump bodies were loaded onto a convoy of low-loaders and trucked to Durban.  Freightplus, in conjunction with our South African agency partners, completed South African export formalities and shipping documentation and the cargo was loaded on board our booked vessel.  2 chassis and 2 bodies were discharged at Newcastle and 2 chassis and 4 bodies were discharged at Brisbane.  Freightplus’ Sydney office cleared both consignments through Australian Customs prior to vessel arrival and, having been pre-cleared through quarantine channels, the trucks and bodies were loaded directly onto transport vehicles under ship’s hook and delivered directly to our customers’ yards, without the need for any further cleaning.

Outcome

The consignment was transported cost-efficiently and within the time frame required and this client remains a very important and valued Freightplus customer.