Hino fleet owners are set to benefit from new programmes being introduced by Hino South Africa in conjunction with Standard Bank Fleet Management that aim to raise the bar in terms of customer service and maintenance plans.

“We, at Hino South Africa, are continuously looking at ways in which we can enhance the ownership experience for our customers, in line with Hino Motors Limited’s international strategy of Total Support for the operators of our products,” says Pieter Klerck, General Manager Hino SA.

“We first re-evaluated our pre-2018 service and maintenance programmes. Next, we conducted extensive investigations into the after-sales product offerings of our competitors and the expectations of our customers to ensure we ticked all the boxes with our new products. We believe Standard Bank Fleet, which is a digitally driven organisation, is the ideal partner for Hino.”

“Standard Bank Fleet has implemented a digital business platform that allows for significant customer and operational customisation and flexibility, with significant technological investment having taken place in the preceding three years,” says Head of OEM and Alliances Linda Khambule. “This allows for the introduction of innovative new services and solutions to cater for our clients evolving needs in these times of change.”

“The importance of efficient cost control is even more important nowadays as the hard-hit transport industry recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe our service and maintenance plans, together with the reliability, durability and competitive life costs of our vehicles will further enhance the appeal of the Hino product range in South Africa,” added Klerck.

The partners say an important factor in developing these new programme was to make them user friendly in all aspects, from preparing quotes and contracts to settling claims.

“For instance, the programmes can be bought up front by a customer and financed with the truck, or they can be based on a cost per kilometre covered each month. Another option is the customer can be billed for average distance covered, with the programmes being restructured if the distance is less or greater than the expected average,” explained Linda Khambule.

“Customers can also choose to negotiate the length of the contract in terms of either time (up to a maximum of 60 months) or a kilometre limit depending on the type of Hino truck being used,”

The new Hino programmes are all digitally managed in real-time. This includes the standard fitment of telematics to all participating trucks, with the benefits of monthly reporting and analytics on the vehicle and driver behaviour as well as vehicle tracking. Standard Bank works with all the major tracking companies and the system can interact with all telematics solutions.

Customers can make use of any franchised Hino dealer in South Africa and will have the peace of mind of knowing that only genuine parts will be fitted and that the work is undertaken by qualified technicians.

“From Hino’s side the new service and maintenance systems are fully integrated into the Toyota-One portal which connects our dealers and the Hino head office, making the operation seamless,” says Klerck.

Both Hino and Standard Bank Fleet Management have dedicated people working on the service and maintenance plans, while the bank’s technical team in its call centre have workbench experience and Hino truck knowledge so can make decisions when queries arise, such as brake linings wearing out before the end of expected life.

“Currently the programmes are available to buyers of new Hino trucks in South Africa and are being rolled out into neighbouring countries within the next few months. There are plans to extend the offering in the future to include used Hino trucks with a full-service history and will subsequently lead to a Hino-backed buy-back programme,” said Klerck.

“Our main aim is to further enhance the Hino ownership experience in South Africa and these service and maintenance plans will go a long way to cementing the bond that already exists between Hino and its customers,” says Klerck.