Trucking milestones: 1975 – sugar from South Africa

Series: Trucking Milestones

The sugar tankers.

40 weeks working around the clock: five LP 1924 in continuous operation.

The sugar cane was bundled and taken from the fields to the collection and reloading sites.
The sugar cane was bundled and taken from the fields to the collection and reloading sites.
Two LP 1924 from Tongaat Sugar Ltd.
Two LP 1924 from Tongaat Sugar Ltd.
The trucks were unloaded on the factory premises using the HILO system.
The trucks were unloaded on the factory premises using the HILO system.

In 1975 a total of 25 two- and three-axle towing vehicles from Mercedes‑Benz were on the road for Tongaat Sugar Ltd. in South Africa. The sugar season lasted for 40 weeks – and during that time the trucks were almost never stationary. They transported the sugar cane harvest in HILO semitrailers from the collection and reloading sites in the producing regions to the factory. The drivers worked in 8-hour shifts. The central office maintained radio contact with them so that traffic jams didn’t develop at the collection points and reloading sites.


Tongaat personnel controlled truck operations with a planning tool specifically developed for this purpose.
Tongaat personnel controlled truck operations with a planning tool specifically developed for this purpose.
Thanks to the special trailers it took only three minutes to unload the 24 tonnes of cane sugar.
Thanks to the special trailers it took only three minutes to unload the 24 tonnes of cane sugar.
The “sugar terminal” in the port of Durban.
The “sugar terminal” in the port of Durban.

1100 tonnes daily.

Five LP 1924 were on the road for Tongaat Sugar Ltd. They operated around the clock as “sugar tankers”, driving from the factory to the central refinery or sugar terminal at the port of Durban. The trucks transported up to 1100 tonnes a day. 

Back then driver training was already very important to management. As a result the company had its own facility in which new drivers were trained and experienced drivers were able to refresh their skills to the latest standard.


Photos: Daimler AG

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