UD Trucks

A true story about UD Telematics Services

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

It started out as a normal day for Weideman Voere – an animal feed company based in Kimberly, South Africa.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

A Weideman Voere driver was returning to the depot after a day of deliveries driving his UD Quester.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

When he made a stop, four thieves suddenly surrounded him.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

The thieves removed the antenna to prevent further tracking.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

Meanwhile, the driver was bundled into a van and driven far away …

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

… where he was ditched by the side of the road.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

He started walking …

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

After a five-hour walk, the driver finally found a garage.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

He made a call to his boss, but the truck was already long gone and untraceable.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

Or was it? The UD Telematics Services was still emitting a faint signal.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

Within half an hour, with the help of UD Telematics Services, the truck was located.

UD Trucks South Africa UD Telematics Services

UD Telematics Services saved my truck!


Who is Weideman Voere?

Deep in rural South Africa, 40km from the nearest town of Kimberly, the countryside is wide, flat and vast. Green vegetation spreads all the way to the horizon. This is the land of Weideman Voere, an animal feed producer run by Charl Weideman and his two sons.

The production line is busy rolling off bright green pellets of feed. This lucerne-based feed is the main product of Weideman’s factory, and a recipe that has proved very popular.
The Weideman family has been sheep farming since 1857. The feed recipes were all developed on their own farm and tested and proven with their livestock. Their animals grew so well that they were a walking advertisement for the feed pellets, attracting interest from butcheries and auctions. When Weideman finally got approval from the Department of Agriculture to sell his pellets, he had to expand three times in five years to meet demand. In 2015 he bought a pill-manufacturing machine from China, and again tripled their capacity.
Weideman now makes thousands of tons of pellets every month, and delivers them with his own truck to animal farms across Free State, Northern Cape and Gauteng. Four months after buying his Quester, Weideman had no regrets on the purchase. Just as the person who recommended the UD Quester to him said, it is perfect for his business. “It is fuel-efficient and it can load a lot of bags,” Weideman says. 

And from now on, whenever Weideman talks about Quester, he adds: “It has a telematics system that doesn’t cost extra money, and it saved my truck.”