Services
1962: The story begins
UK based United Transport Company was incorporated in South Africa and acquired the already established Thorntons Transport, a large freight company quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.In the same year, Greyhound Bus Lines, which operated a fleet of buses, was acquired.
1963 – 1967: Acquisitions
A number of freight transportation company acquisitions were made.1967: Expansion
One of the greatest single years of expansion of particularly in the passenger business.1968 – 1986: Freight and passenger growth
Significant growth of the business in both freight and passenger services.1987: Name change
The passenger business operating as Unitrans Passenger Transport was sold to Tollgate Holdings. United Freight Transport changed its name to Unitrans Limited, and the name of its subsidiaries was changed to incorporate the word Unitrans.In October Unitrans Limited was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
1993: New beginnings
The group returned to passenger transportation with the acquisition of Greyhound Coach Lines from the Tollgate Group. Unitrans Motors was established.1993: Unitrans Freight
Unitrans Freight and Alpha Cement (Pty) Ltd established a joint venture, Klipstone Transport.1994: Finance formed
Unitrans Leasing was formed to finance vehicle sales.1995: Bus and Coach
Matthysen Bus Transport was acquired and renamed Mega Bus and Coach.1998: New acquisitions
Unitrans acquired one of the three largest national distributors of motor vehicles, Malbak Motor Holdings, which was renamed Unitrans Motors.Unitrans Finance, a provider of consumer credit, was launched. Uinsure, the in-house insurance operation, was licensed.
It provides re-insurance for products sold by the motor division.
1999: UPS acquired
In March 1999 the group acquired all the shares in a company that is the authorised service provider for UPS (United Parcel Service, Inc.), the largest express delivery company in the world. The company has been renamed Unitrans Express Deliveries.1999: Acquisitions
Freight acquired Garden Route Carriers.2000: Acquisitions
Freight acquired Stoneshack and Grover Transport, and the Sugar division acquired J & B Harvesters.2000: Global Logistics
Unitrans Global Logistics, a fledgling logistics company, gave the group entry into the fourth party logistics arena, providing new opportunities and possibilities to further serve the group's existing customer base.2000: Roadway Logistics
Unitrans and Steinhoff Africa (Pty) Limited formed a joint venture company, Roadway Logistics. This joint venture entered into an agreement to purchase Roadway Transport's furniture and household goods' transport division. The joint venture provides transport and distribution services for the furniture and household goods industry.2000: Hertz Rent A Car
Motors acquired a 40% shareholding in Hertz Rent A Car's southern African operations. The other shareholder is New Africa Investments Limited, which has 60%. Hertz Rent A Car is a leading international car rental brand, and the fourth largest car rental in South Africa.2001: Acquisitions
Freight acquired: Prolog Transport, a company involved in road transportation of timber, silviculture and timber harvesting; Commercial division acquired Pivot Transport, a company that offers breakbulk transportation haulage and distribution;and a further acquisition was the non-household distribution and transport arm of Roadway Transport (Pty) Limited.
2002: BEE Mvelaphanda
Unitrans entered into agreements with Mvelaphanda, the leading black owned and managed investment company, in terms of which Mvelaphanda acquired a 25% stake in Fuel and Chemical (Pty) Limited, and a 25% stake in Unitrans Express Deliveries.2002: Unitrans Fuel and Chemical
Unitrans Fuel and Chemical acquired Gasfreight, a company transporting industrial gases for Total Fina Elf. It also acquired E&G Trucking, which is expanding the lubrication wholesale and distribution business.2002: Unitrans Freight
The Timber Haulage Trust was acquired by Freight and provides selected logistical services to sawmills in KwaZulu-Natal. MDS Couriers (Botswana), was also acquired building on the successful acquisition of the Pivot Transport business in breakbulk haulage.2002: Unitrans Motors
Seven dealerships were acquired from Senwes Limited by Unitrans Motors.2002: Roadway Logistics
Roadway Logistics, specialising in the provision of logistical services to the furniture and household industry, established the Retail Distribution Centre (RDC). The RDC is an innovative warehousing and distribution centre that delivers goods ordered from the retailer directly to the end user.2003: Freight acquisitions
Three "stump-to-mill" timber acquisitions were made during this year in KwaZulu-Natal. They have been successfully integrated into the existing operations.2003: Unitrans Fuel and Chemical
A long-term contract was signed with Shell for transport services valued at over R400 million over seven years and requiring the provision of over 50 fuel tankers.This division was presented with the Shell Southern Africa HSSE Awards 2003 Health.2003: Unitrans Passenger
Greyhound introduces a new economy service, Citiliner, aimed at the more cost conscious city-to-city traveller.2003: Unitrans Freight
Unitrans Freight contracted with African Explosives Limited to become its third party logistics service provider.2004: Unitrans Supply Chain
Unitrans acquired the 50% stake in UPS LG (SA) (Pty) Ltd previously held by UPSLG BV. The company has been renamed Unitrans Supply Chain. All existing contracts and staff were retained.2004: unitrans Fuel and chemical
Unitrans Fuel and Chemical received the Shell Batho Pele Award Road Transport HSSE 2004.2004: USCS
USCS received the following awards:Logistics Achiever Awards 2004: Gold Award - Unitrans/Gold Fields projects for 'excellence in logistics'.
Logistics Achiever Awards 2004: Silver Award - Unitrans/African Explosives for 'excellence in logistics'.
2004: Aramex
Unitrans acquired the Aramex licence to replace the UPS courier services franchise.2004: UniViron
A 50/50 joint venture was established between Unitrans Freight (Environmental Services) and Windworth Holdings. The JV, Univiron, provides admin and transport services to Re-Ethical Environment Re-Engineering, a waste disposal business.2004: Klipstone
Klipstone Transport has admitted a BEE partner, Magnificent Mile Trading 120, which has taken a 26% shareholding in that company. The restructured shareholding is now Unitrans Freight 64%, Holcim 10% and magnificent Mile 26%.2004: New Shareholding Structure
Steinhoff Africa to become Unitrans' major shareholder, subject to Competition Commission approval, following which it will hold a 60,8% shareholding.2004: NTI Contract
The NTI contract for commuter bus transport in the Rustenburg area, operated by Bojanala Bus (Pty) Ltd, commenced in October 2004. Unitrans Passenger (Pty) Ltd currently has an effective 49% shareholding.2004: Contract to the coal mining industry
Nomakanjani Logistics Company (Pty) Ltd commenced the provision of transport services under contract to the coal mining industry in South Africa on 1 July 2004.2004: Shares issue to Fundiswa
The allotment and issue of 11 600 000 shares for cash to Fundiswa Investments (Pty) Ltd, took place on 4 October 2004, at R25,04 per share.2005: Purchase of M&R stake in Unitrans
Unconditional approval was received from the Competition Authorities on 12 January 2005 for the purchase of M&R's shareholding in Unitrans by Steinhoff International Holdings Limited. Steinhoff now holds at 60,8% shareholding in the Unitrans group.2005: Forestry operations
The Forestry operations were transferred to Unitrans Sugar and Agriculture (now Unitrans Agriculture and Mining Services).2005: USCS
USCS received:Logistics Achiever Awards 2005: Silver Award - Unitrans/OPSI Systems/NPC project for 'excellence in distribution strategy';
and Holcim (now Afrisam) Transporter of the Year Award 2005 - to Klipstone Brakpan Depot
The Fuel & Chemical division received the BP Top 5 Best Performing Depot in Africa 2005: Walvis Bay Depot was ranked as one of the Top 5 in Africa.
2005: Hertz Rent a Car
Unitrans Motors (Pty) Ltd purchased New Africa Investments Limited’s 60% equity in Alisa Holdings (Pty) Ltd, trading as Hertz Rent a Car South Africa.2005: Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd
Unitrans acquired the entire shareholdings in Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd, formerly a 50/50 joint venture with Steinhoff Africa (Pty) Ltd.2005: Top Transport
Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd acquired a 60% shareholding in Top Transport, trading as MD Vervoer, a Cape Town based company.2005: Greyhound Coach Lines – 21 years
Greyhound Coach Lines celebrated 21 years of intercity long distance transport.2005: Unitrans Logistics UK Limited
Unitrans Logistics UK Limited acquired two specialist logistics businesses in the United Kingdom - Concorde Logistics Services Limited and TechXpress Limited. Concorde provides Field Service Logistics, Project Logistics and Specialist Transport. TechXpress is well known for its success in major IT roll-outs for financial institutions.Unitrans UK Limited, in which Unitrans has a 75% shareholding and Steinhoff Europe AG holds the balance of 25%, has a 60% equity in Unitrans Logistics UK
2006: Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions
The existing operations of Unitrans Freight, Fuel and Chemical, Sugar and Agriculture, and Roadway Logistics have been grouped together under a new division, Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions. A new function, Customer Solution Development, has also been formed and is included similarly in this new division.2006: USCS
The following awards were received:Focus on Excellence Awards – Best Transporter of the Year 2006.
Logistics Achiever Awards 2006: Gold Award – Unitrans and African Explosives Limited for 'excellence in distribution strategy'.
Logistics Achiever Awards 2006: Silver Award – Unitrans and Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation for 'outstanding achievement in materials management and optimisation'
Logistics Achiever Awards 2006: Bronze Award – Unitrans and Mittal Steel for 'value creation beyond outsourcing'.
Holcim (now Afrisam) Transporter of the Year Award and Corporate Identity Award 2006 – to Klipstone Roodepoort Depot.
Caltex: Unitrans Namibia: Award for Safest Carrier Africa/Pakistan Region 2006 was awarded to Unitrans Fuel and Chemical
2006: African Express (Proprietary) Limited
The group disposed of its 60% in Botswana registered company, African Express (Proprietary) Limited. This disposal was in line with the group's decision to exit from the express courier business.2007: Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd
On 19 February 2007, a newly incorporated subsidiary within the Steinhoff International Group (now known as Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd) made an offer to Unitrans Limited to acquire from Unitrans its entire business as a going concern. At that date, Steinhoff Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd held 60,76% of the issued share capital of Unitrans Limited.2007: Unitrans Limited general meeting
At a general meeting of shareholders of Unitrans Limited held on 13 April 2007 resolutions were passed relating to a) the disposal by the company of its entire business as a going concern to Steinhoff; b) a distribution of the Unitrans loan account claim arising as a result of the disposal, to Unitrans shareholders on 25 May 2007; c) the termination of the company's listing on the JSE Limited with effect from Tuesday 29 May 2007; and d) the voluntary winding up of the company. The group's operations now fall under Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd.2007: USCS
USCS received the following awards:Focus on Excellence Awards – Best Transporter of the Year 2007.
Logistics Achiever Awards 2007: Gold Award – Unitrans Sugar and Agriculture/Açurareira de Moçambique operation at Mafambisse in Mozambique.
Logistics Achiever Awards 2007: Silver Award – Unitrans/BP Contract in Durban at River Horse Valley for 'outstanding achievement in logistics in distribution network, management and optimisation'.
Road Freight Association Award: Operator with the Best Safety Programme 2007
Engen Depot Award presented to Unitrans Secunda Depot – Customer Service 2007.
Rainbow Chickens Awards presented to Unitrans Rustenburg Depot – Loyal Service Award 2007.
The BP Transcon HSSE (SHEQ) Award 2007 – for the innovative Blueprints concept at the Unitrans BP Durban Distribution Centre was awarded to Unitrans Fuel and Chemical.
2007: INDUNA TIPPERS
Unitrans entered into a joint venture with SPGIO for the haulage of almost two million tons of waste material arising from the construction phase of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. SPGIO is the business development arm of SPG, a BEE company, with a 25% stake in the Bombela Concession company. SPGIO has a 50,5% shareholding in Induna Tippers, the company set up to manage the load and haulage, and Unitrans has a 49,5% shareholding.2006 – 2008: CUSTOMER SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT/UNITRANS FREIGHT AND LOGISTICS
A number of successful contracts were secured and implemented over this period, and included BP, Castrol, De Beers, Dulux, Vector Logistics, Pioneer Foods, Hosaf, Anchor Yeast, Assmang and NPC Cimpor. In addition, the Gold Fields contract was renewed.2008: SETJHABA CARRIERS
Unitrans entered into a contract with the De Beers Group for the load and haul services at the De Beers Kimberley mine. Setjhaba Carriers, a BEE joint venture between Unitrans and Magnificent Mile Trading 120 (Pty) Ltd, was created to run the contract. Magnificent Mile has a 15% stake in Setjhaba Carriers.Unitrans employees working with Setjhaba will own 10% through a staff trust, and the Setjhaba Women's Trust will have a 5% shareholding. The balance of the shareholding will be held by Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions.
2008: UNITRANS FREIGHT AND LOGISTICS
Unitrans Freight and Logistics entered into a contract with Exxaro KZN Sands for load and haul services.2008: BUFFALO FREIGHT
Unitrans added this global freight management and logistics services company to its stable, complementing its existing range of supply chain services.2008: UNITRANS FUEL AND CHEMICAL
Unitrans secured significant contracts with BP and Chevron in Botswana. A warehousing and distribution solution was implemented for Shell Namibia in Walvis Bay.2008: USCS
USCS received the following awards:Focus on Excellence Awards - Best Transporter of the Year 2008
Logistics Achievers Awards 2008: Gold Award - Unitrans/Gold Fields Surface Logistics Optimisation
2009: USCS
Unitrans was presented with the Logistics Achievers Awards 2009: Gold Award – Klipstone Transport – Safety: My Choice.The Freight and Logistics contract with AEL is renewed for a further three years.
Unitrans forged partnership with retail giant Pick n Pay and undertakes the management and control of its distribution centre at Longmeadow in Johannesburg.
Unitrans entered into a joint venture, Unitmat Logistics, with Materauto, a company registered in Madagascar, and the joint venture is awarded a contract to handle the land based logistics service for Qit Madagascar Minerals, a Rio Tinto company.
2009: UNITRANS AUTOMOTIVE
Unitrans Automotive’s Audi franchise opened a dealership at Maponya Mall in Soweto.Unitrans Automotive’s VW dealer group acquired Auto Zelco, renamed West Cape Volkswagen, in the Western Cape.
Unitrans Automotive’s Toyota group scooped the ‘double’ Dealer of the Year, for the third time in a decade.
Unitrans Automotive’s United Motors Bethal dealership relocated its Passenger vehicle department to Secunda.
2010: USCS
Unitrans received the following awards:
- Logistics Achievers Awards 2010: Gold Award – Setjhaba Carriers – a Unitrans and De Beers partnership.
- Logistics Achievers Awards : Enviro Award 2010 – presented to Unitrans and Pick n Pay in recognition of the green initiatives implemented on Pick n Pay’s supply chain at Longmeadow Distribution Centre, Gauteng.
- Green Supply Chain Award: Best Project Award – over R10 million – presented to the Unitrans and Pick n Pay partnership.
- Focus on Excellence Awards – Best Transporter of the Year 2010
CSD/Freight and Logistics took over the operation and distribution of a 12 000 sq m. facility for Pick n Pay in Mahogany Ridge KZN.
A full warehousing and distribution solution was implemented by CSD/Freight and Logistics for Total SA Lubricant products in SA. Unitrans designed, built and took on the running of a new distribution centre in Durban.
Unitrans was chosen as strategic logistics partner to assist in the implementation and operation of Pick n Pay’s future logistics network.
Bravo Group Logistics, formerly Roadway Logistics, once again became part of Unitrans and is renamed Unitrans Household Goods Logistics.
Unitrans Fuel and Chemical Mosselbay depot was presented with the award for Shell Best Transport Contractor 2009.
Unitrans Sugar and Agriulture received the NOSA award for Most Improved Company 2009/2010.
2010: UNITRANS AUTOMOTIVE
Unitrans Toyota group once again wins Dealer of the Year for 2009. The presentation was made in 2010.Unitrans Automotive’s VW and Audi group is awarded Dealer Group of the Year.
2010: UNITRANS PASSENGER
Unitrans Passenger is awarded the contract to manage, operate and maintain the Gautrain fleet of 125 commuter buses.
2011: USCS
Unitrans Fuel and Chemical received the award for Shell Transporter of the Year award 2010.
2011 : UNITRANS AUTOMOTIVE
The Unitrans Toyota Group received the following awards: Hino Dealer of the Year 2010 - Hino Limpopo,
President’s Award: Mega Dealer - Monument Constantia
Vice-President’s Environmental Award - Unitrans Group
Unitrans Automotive was sold to the JD Group and Hertz Rent a Car became a division of Unitrans Passenger.