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trailer world issue One 2009

Issue One 2009 33 pany boss has to calculate right down to the last cent. He only buys newer vehicles with modern technology. He regularly renews his fleet – and also supports local suppliers such as Maru. The family company producing trailers of all kinds on the outskirts of Addis Ababa is a prime example of how to make the most of the chances offered by the cautious economic recovery. The clever junior boss Dayen Maru trained as an engineer in Paris. He knows that quality is the only way to cope with the stony path to success. Which is why he con- sistently uses European components for in- stallation in the various trailer types, from platform trailers via highly coveted four- chamber tank superstructures and container superstructures through to low-loaders and the company’s own refrigerated superstruc- ture design. Maru buys the steel for the chas- sis from Thyssen and uses drum brake-rein- forced BPW axles that are best able to stand up to the hard demands made of everyday operations on Ethiopia’s roads. Air suspension is more-or-less unknown here. The robust axles are suspended from extra-strength leaf suspension packages to withstand the bath-sized pot holes on the mainly unsurfaced tracks. Today Maru still mainly supplies trailers. When travelling empty across the thousands of kilometres in Ethiopia’s hinterland, the trailers are sim- ply carried piggyback on the platform of the truck to protect the trailer’s components and systems. Step by step, the trailers continue to gain increasing shares of the market. With an average output of 200 finished units, Maru with his 130 employees already comes in second place among all new “home- grown” vehicles registered in Ethiopia: the trailers are even exported to Arabian coun- tries. But the commitment shown by the 25- year old goes way beyond the pure financial aspects. Training here also plays a key role in the on-going development of the country and its society. Together with the German Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit GTZ (Cooperation for Technical Coopera- tion), he offers placements in his company to young people as a way of finding qualified employment. His employees thank him for giving them this chance of a lifetime by pro- viding excellent working discipline and a high standard of workmanship in producing the trailers. And so at least in and around Addis Ababa, the country is gradually moving away from hopeless poverty towards cautious optimism. The chances for escaping the vicious circle of hunger and poverty are literally waiting by the roadside. And the corresponding hopes of the whole country are being transported by peo- ple such as Laye and his truck. (owi)  Form of government: de- mocratic federal republic (since 1991)  Surface area: 1,134,181 km²  Capital city: Addis Ababa  Population: 82.5 million  Gross domestic product p.c.: approx. 700 US dol- lars p.a.  Language: Amharic is the official language, to- gether with more than 80 different languages and tribal dialects  Currency: 1 Birr = 0.152 Euro  Main exports: coffee, vegetables, flowers, gold, platinum, precious stones  Infrastructure: Road network covering 33,300 kilometres, including 29,300 unsurfaced; rail- way transport ceased operations during the '90s, is to be restored again with EU aid Information about Ethiopia Ethiopia Kenya Somalia Sudan Eritrea Yemen Djibouti Uganda Truck transport and economic recovery Truck stop at the Horn of Africa: only ten percent of all roads in Ethiopia have a tar surface. Quality offers good prospects International

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