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trailer world Issue Two 2014

Issue Two 2014 31 International For Matthew Ude, one loaded truck tour per day is realistic. He has been driving trucks in Nigeria, Western Africa, since 1978. Ude has seen many colleagues come and go, and has been able to get to know large parts of Nigeria through his work. For about two or three years now, however, he has only been driving in convoys and exclusively during the day. The danger of being flagged down by robbers at night has become too great. Together with up to twelve colleagues, he drives the two or three hour trip between a quarry in the jungle close to Ibadan and the “Great Wall in Lagos” – the vi- sionary “Eko Atlantic” project which is an artificial peninsula aris- ing from the sea. Matthew Ude is able to be part of this project. His truck moves enormous granite blocks intended to protect the new portion of the city jutting into the sea against damage by the waves. “It’s simply gigantic,” gushes Günter Schmidt. “It’s reminis- cent of the Palm Island in Dubai”, says the West Africa expert. Schmidt looks after this important market for the Munich-based tipper manufacturer, Meiller, which includes this “out of the or- dinary” project. “We have supplied 80 units so far,” says Schmidt. He is referring to tipping semitrailers. It is easy to explain how they differ from normal tippers: “A tipper is firmly mounted on a vehicle. They can often be seen on roads in Germany. A tipping semitrailer, on the other hand, can be unhitched and is pulled by a separate tractor vehicle,” in the specific project, these tractor ve- hicles are obtained from MAN or Volvo. Both of them are clients of Meiller. the waves A vision becomes reality: Off the coast of Nigeria, in Lagos, “Eko Atlantic” is rising from the sea. The project with a 9 billion US dollar price tag is a peninsula built on sand, and is intended to become Africa’s latest financial metropolis by 2016. In the thick of it: Meiller, the Munich-based tipper specialist. Photo:NickeJohansson

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