TANK-WELD Equipment is expanding its foothold in the provision of heavy-duty vehicles in Jamaica from China.

In celebrating its first full year as the sole distributor of the Chinese-manufactured Shacman trucks into the market, Tank-Weld will be introducing three new Chinese brands to the market, Shatui, T-King and Hangcha, while expanding the Shacman product line.

With the largest privately-owned fleet of heavy-duty trucks in Jamaica, Tank-Weld last Friday hosted a showcase of their new brand of heavy-duty vehicles at 1 A Oliver Road, Kingston 8. The well-attended function heard about Tank-Weld’s foray in Shacman trucks in 2017, culminating with the introduction of additional brands to the Jamaican market.

Consumers are given the opportunity to buy brand-new trucks through financing provided by Jamaica National. Managing director of Tank-Weld Equipment, John Ralston, explained that when the company introduced Shacman trucks in 2017, it had a sales target of 50 trucks but shattered that target and recorded over 300 units of sales in the first year alone.

Tank-Weld actually achieved sales of 400 trucks. According to Ralston, “We see the need for quality products and services across other industries in Jamaica so we have decided to expand our offering to include T-King light trucks, Shantui earth moving equipment and Hangcha warehouse equipment.”

Shacman general manager of America Department, Yan Xie, who also spoke at the function, declared, “Jamaica will be one of the benchmark markets for Shacman trucks all over the world and Tank Weld Equipment will be the superstar in Shacman factory in the next few years.”

He pointed out that his company is among the top three heavy-duty vehicles manufacturer in China with over 150,000 Shacman trucks operating all over the world.

”Shacman have a very large warehouse with 100 per cent spare parts availability, we have the professional and efficient after-sales service and maintenance capacity, I just want to say, the whole system is working absolutely extraordinary,” Yan said.

Guest speaker at the function, Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Audley Shaw welcomed the opportunity provided to the productive sector by Tank-Weld to buy brand-new heavy vehicles through a loan from its business partner, Jamaica National, at an interest rate of less than 10 per cent.

The minister recalled in the early 2000 when as a businessman he couldn’t afford to buy a new truck for his business in Christiana but had to settle for an old one which he bought at a very high interest rate.

He laughed remembering how often the vehicle would break down and encouraged businesses to invest in new vehicles to improve production and productivity in the workplace.