IN THE DRIVING SEAT

Trailer service specialists but quintessential all-rounders: Kennedy T.T.S. based in the port city of Ghent.

Like a spider on its web’: That’s how Technical Manager Paul Zwitser characterises the advantages of being at the heart of the action. Ghent is the thirdlargest harbour in Belgium. So there’s certainly no shortage of goods traffic there. Kennedy T.T.S.’s spacious grounds are ringed by a number of enormous logistical warehouses. Moreover, cars and trucks roll out of a Volvo factory just a stone’s throw away. And the ArcelorMittal steelworks, which specialise in sheet steel for the automotive industry, are just around the corner. And yet for many years the port of Ghent was a wasteland when it came to trailer services. Kennedy T.T.S. founder Erik Eyskens had his eureka moment 16 years ago when he realised the port would be an ideal location for such a company. But he didn’t think just locally when he established the company which offers a complete service package for everything trailers and is renowned far beyond Ghent for its in-depth knowledge of ABS and EBS: the company’s domestic clientele come from all over and ‘people sometimes even make the 45-mile trip from Brussels to see us’, says Paul Zwitser. In terms of day-to-day work, ‘Haldex’s diagnostic software works very well and is remarkably easy to use’, says Paul Zwitser. ‘Even on the few occasions when we’re stuck’, chimes in Erik Eyskens, who is also the company’s commercial manager, ‘support from the Haldex Benelux team is exemplary.  Help is always quick and accurate’.  But domestic customers account for only half of Kennedy T.T.S.’s business. The rest is comprised of the large number of trailers from around the globe that, as expected, can be found at an international port like that of Ghent. Kennedy T.T.S.’s service is therefore all-round: Its seven-track workshop serves customers between 07:30 and 18:00 with round-the-clock breakdown service available from two of its 15-strong team of mechanics who rotate the responsibility about every seven weeks. Kennedy T.T.S. has two different repair vehicles on standby for emergencies — another high-demand service. The company is seldom at a loss for spare parts thanks to its ample 300-square-metre warehouse, which boasts an inventory of around 10,000 units. The stores must be well-organised because Kennedy T.T.S. services nearly all types of trailers from tank semis to the more common curtain-siders plus dump trucks, container chassis and special municipal superstructures. Maintenance and preparing vehicles for technical inspection are Kennedy T.T.S.’s bread and butter as are repairs of all kinds. As a member of European Trailer Care — a successful international association of workshops specialising in trailers — there are few limits on Kennedy T.T.S.’s versatility. Whether overhauling a ModulT disc brake with the corresponding Haldex repair kit or fixing a damaged superstructure, Kennedy T.T.S. is a jack-of-all-trades and has a successful track record when it comes to critical damage repair. And patients limp in not only from the motorways around Ghent – when the sea is choppy, trailers often sustain serious injury on roll-on/roll-off ships. Moreover, Kennedy T.T.S. understands creativity. This is evident not only in Erik Eyskens’s passion for art that is displayed on office walls on the upper level of the workshop, but also in the systems the company has developed for securing loads such as the Kennedy T.T.S. device for hook loaders that is now being fitted as standard equipment in vehicles operated by Sita, a large waste management company. And Kennedy T.T.S. has already applied for a global patent for its recently developed folding partition for tyre or paper transport.