Trust Logistics Ltd (TLL), an oil and gas bulk haulage and logistics firm has launched an ultramodern  Vehicle Inspection Bay with a view to boosting the operating capacity of vehicles and to reduce to the barest minimum the number of road accidents which have plagued the country.

Sited in the premises of TLL formerly STC yard near the Tema Oil Refinery, the over ¢700,000, SSNIT funded automated facility would give customers a world class vehicle maintenance and servicing experience.

Managing Director of TLL Mr Nii Lomoete Engmann said the launch of the facility is a culmination of a long process of planning and envisioning and the need to recapture market shares.

Chronicling the critical features that the new ultramodern bay would bring to customers, Mr. Engmann mentioned equipment to measure wheel alignment of vehicles, calibration gear, smoke analysers  and other pollution checking equipment, diagnostic garage equipment that will be able to detect even the microscopic faults in vehicles.

The ultimate objective of the inspection bay is to provide the most comprehensive servicing experience for all types of vehicles, in a timely and thoroughly relaxing environment for customers.

Mr Engmann told Myjoyonline.com at the sidelines of the launch that a well serviced and maintained vehicle is needed in the fight against avoidable road accidents. 

"We see ourselves as making a contribution as major stakeholders in making sure that vehicles are properly maintained at specified intervals and if there is any fault detected that we explain it to the owners of the vehicles so that they can rectify those faults..."

"...The connection between healthy maintenance of vehicles and the spate of accidents cannot be underestimated. I think that when people get away with not servicing their vehicles it is only a false respite because you will never know when you are going to be involved in a major road incident that may result in a fatality or serious injury." he said.

Mr Engmann assured prospective customers of the competitive prices for top notch services when the bay opens to business.

"Let the competition beware that TLL is back with a bang and will make an awful lot of difference in the business," he promised.

He said plans are far advanced to build similar facilities in other regions of the country.

The Bulk Haulage firm evolved from the State Transport Corporation in the 1960s until it was divested in 1999-2000.
It was bought by a group of entrepreneurs who eventually gave way in 2002 for SSNIT to take over as the sole shareholder. 

Mrs Akosua Nelson-Cofie, Portfolio Manager at SSNIT who was speaking on behalf of Mr Ernest Thompson, Director-General of SSNIT said the new inspection bay has been designed and built to satisfy the “stringent requirements of the National Petroleum Authority and Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency" as well as a "commitment to ensuring compliance with internationally recognised standards for vehicle maintenance service delivery."

While acknowledging the many challenges the company faced during its embryonic  stages, the Director-General was quick to commend the Management and Board of TLL for turning around the company - a move, he stated motivated SSNIT to invest more into TLL.

"In support, SSNIT agreed to recapitalise TLL, a move which led to the acquisition of a fleet of brand new IVECO trucks and tankers and other vehicles. This gave an immediate boost to the company's operating capacity in the bulk haulage business," he said.

The Director-General implored the management to operate the new facility with utmost efficiency in order to pay dividends to SSNIT.

Among guests at the launch including Dr. Kofi Mbiah, CEO of Ghana Shippers Authority, Managing Director of Tanink Ghana Ltd, Roger Klogo, representatives of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, GOIL, representatives from Burkina Faso Shippers Council and officials of the NPA as well as the DVLA were taken round the facility to see at first hand the ultramodern servicing equipment and how it works.

In his closing remarks, the Chairman for the occasion, Mr Lawrence Adu-Mante who is also Chairman of the TLL Board of Directors and a former Managing Director of Ghana Commercial Bank (now GCB), said: "the more successful we are with that [Vehicle Testing] department, the better we can cement our credentials as a transporter that is knowledgable about maintenance, that invests in the maintenance of its own vehicles, and that provides safety and security for the high value products that we distribute for our numerous customers. Not many transport companies perform this dual function or have this cross-expertise in-house."