Heavy haul for Monpe

Ghanaian heavy haulage specialist Monpe Heavy Haulage used its Faymonville ModulMax trailers to transport six CAT engines each weighing 219 tonnes a distance of 1,285 km across Africa, from Ghana to Niger. To transport the engines Monpe used two ten-axle combinations of twin-tyre gooseneck trailers. This meant that, in total, Monpe made three trips to move all six engines. The turnkey organisation of the project was handled by German logistics company DB Schenker.

Monpe collected the engines from the Ghanaian ports of Tema and Takoradi, where they arrived from Germany. Initially, Monpe was planning to take the fastest and most direct route through Burkina Faso into Niger. Changing security conditions, however, meant that this became an unsafe route, so Monpe determined a new route via Togo, Benin and then into Niger.

As well as crossing boarders, the ten-man Monpe convoy encountered multiple obstacles including: floods, bridge structures; narrow, rough roads; tough climatic conditions. The crew also had to meet multiple Covid-19 requirements. Street furniture and electric lines had to be removed along the route.

According to Faymonville, the journeys took an average of just 23 days. Monpe owner Peter Everet partly attributed the fast, safe transportation of the engines to the ModulMax trailers’ pendle-axles. “The 650 mm stroke of the pendle-axles managed to cross very rough road segments with huge potholes and even some flooded areas while still ensuring the stability of the convoy and cargo at all times,” he said. “The necessary transport safety was guaranteed thanks to permanent optimal ground contact.”