Coal transport and plant hire in Mpumalanga
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Coal transport in Mpumalanga: side tippers on monthly contracts
Most of Eskom's coal-fired power stations and the mines that feed them are in Mpumalanga, and a large share of that coal moves by road. We put 34 t side tippers with drivers onto those routes by the month.
The CSIR's study of Eskom's coal logistics puts the split at roughly 60% by conveyor, 30% by road and 10% by rail, with road haulage at about 35.4 million tonnes in 2018/19 and an average road haul of about 97.5 km. Eskom's road logistics head said in 2015 that its coal trucks use about 3,200 km of Mpumalanga roads on 30 to 40 haulage routes, with a fleet of more than 2,000 trucks.
| What you hire | Basis | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 34 t side tipper, truck and interlink trailer | Per month with driver | R75,500–R92,000 |
| Truck tractor (horse) only | Per month with driver | R42,000–R63,000 |
| Side tipper trailer only | Per month, for your horse | R25,000–R29,500 |
| Horse only, short job | Per day with driver | about R6,300 |
Diesel (wet or dry), tolls, shifts and the minimum term are written on your quote before a truck is allocated. Eskom has paused coal haulage on the busiest holiday travel days before (24 to 27 December and 31 December to 1 January in 2018), so we agree up front how stoppage days on your contract are handled.
Get a coal transport price on WhatsApp34 ton side tipper trucks for hire in Mpumalanga
Every truck is a 6x4 horse pulling two side-tipping trailers on seven axles. The National Road Traffic Regulations cap the combination at 56,000 kg, and the CSIR measured an average payload of about 35 t on these 56 t coal trucks. The bins tip sideways, so a truck empties in minutes at a power station stockpile or a siding without reversing up a ramp.
Typical coal routes we run
| Loading area | Tipping point | Nearest centre for us |
|---|---|---|
| Collieries around eMalahleni, Ogies and Kriel | Eskom power stations on the Highveld, coal sidings | eMalahleni (Witbank) |
| Collieries around Middelburg | Power stations, washing plants, sidings | Middelburg |
| Mines around Secunda, Bethal and Ermelo | Power stations, the Secunda industrial area, rail loading points | eMalahleni or Middelburg |
| Chrome ore from the eastern Bushveld | Ports, through Mbombela on the N4 for Maputo | Mbombela (Nelspruit) |
Coal transport contracts in Mpumalanga: how many trucks?
Example only, to show the method. A colliery has to move 10,000 t a month to a tipping point 50 km away. The round trip is 100 km: about 2 hours on the road at 50 km/h, plus about an hour to load, weigh and tip. That's roughly 3 hours a cycle, so three loads in a long day shift.
- 3 loads × 34 t = 102 t a day per truck
- 102 t × 26 working days = about 2,650 t a month per truck
- 10,000 t ÷ 2,650 t = 3.8, so 4 trucks
- 4 trucks at R75,500–R92,000 = R302,000–R368,000 a month for trucks and drivers, before diesel and tolls
We redo this with your real route, queue times and shifts before quoting. A longer route like the CSIR's 97.5 km average roughly halves the loads per truck, so the truck count doubles. The full contract terms (drivers, tracking, breakdowns, deposit) are on 34 ton side tipper hire; the coalfield detail is on side tipper hire in Witbank.
Formal quotes for coal transport tenders
For a tender, a vendor pack or more than a few trucks, email info@basaltplanthire.co.za with the tonnes per month, loading and tipping points, start date and term. The formal quote comes back by email with diesel and toll terms, deposit and minimum term. Company documents on request. Or use the long-hire quote below.
Plant hire prices in Mpumalanga
Day rates for the machines Mpumalanga hires most, excluding VAT, each with an operator or driver unless it says machine only. eMalahleni, Middelburg and Mbombela are main centres for us, so machines start from inside the province.
| Machine | Rate | Price |
|---|---|---|
| TLB, standard 4x4 | Per day with operator | R3,900–R5,150 |
| Tipper, 10 cube | Per day with driver | R3,700–R5,250 |
| Tipper, 14–18 cube | Per day with driver | R3,300–R4,000 |
| Excavator, 20–25 t | Per day with operator | R3,500–R5,600 |
| Excavator, 36–55 t | Per day with operator | R6,500–R8,100 |
| ADT dump truck, 30 t | Per day with operator | R5,650–R5,900 |
| Front end loader, 966 class | Per day with operator | about R6,200 |
| Bulldozer, D6 class | Per day with operator | R5,000–R7,750 |
| Grader, 140 class | Per day with operator | R4,500–R6,000 |
| Water truck, 14,000–18,000 litre | Per day with driver | R2,400–R2,800 |
| Mobile crane, 20–25 t | Per day with operator | about R4,500 |
| Crane truck, 8–10 t | Per day with operator | R2,500–R5,200 |
Every size and the hourly and monthly rates are on plant hire rates. On mine contracts, yellow machines are usually priced per month on about 200 machine hours; see mining plant hire.
Mpumalanga ground, storms and site rules
Highveld coal country
The coal-bearing Karoo Basin runs under the Mpumalanga Highveld, which is why the triangle between eMalahleni, Secunda and Ermelo is lined with collieries and power stations. Around the older mining towns, ask your engineer or the municipality whether a stand sits over old underground workings before you plan deep trenches, heavy foundations or a crane set-up.
Acid water in the coalfields
Government lists various Mpumalanga coalfields among the problem areas for acid rock drainage, where sulphide minerals, oxygen and water react to form acidic water. Water that collects in a pit or trench on mine land shouldn't be pumped into a stream or onto a neighbour's land. Tell us on booking where pumped water must go.
The Lowveld and the escarpment
East of the escarpment the country drops to the Lowveld around Mbombela, with hills, steep slopes and rock close to the surface in places. On sloping sites, plan the access road and the machine's working bench before the booking date; a breaker TLB or an excavator with a breaker is often the right first machine. Detail on plant hire in Mbombela (Nelspruit).
Summer storms, October to March
Mpumalanga is a summer-rainfall province: the rain falls mostly between October and March, often as afternoon thunderstorms. Wet haul roads slow loaded trucks and open trenches flood, so book a grader and a water truck for haul roads, and ask about standing time on day-rate jobs when we quote.
Mine sites
The Mine Health and Safety Act counts anyone working at a mine as an employee and requires medical surveillance, starting with an initial medical examination, for employees exposed to health hazards, so expect a medical before the first shift. Our drivers and operators attend your medicals and induction before the first shift, and copies of their certificates come before the machines arrive, on request.
More machines for hire in Mpumalanga
10 cube tipper truck for hire in Mpumalanga
A 10 cube tipper with driver is R3,700–R5,250 a day with operator. It's the truck for building sand, G5 and G7 gravel to house and farm sites, and rubble off a stand. In the towns, one TLB and two tippers keep a foundation or driveway job moving. See 10 cube tipper truck hire.
Tipper trucks for hire in Mpumalanga
For bigger volumes, a 14–18 cube tipper is R3,300–R4,000 a day with operator, or about R42,000 a month on a long hire for plant areas and stockpile work at mines. Tippers drive to site; out-of-town travel is charged by the road distance from eMalahleni, Middelburg or Mbombela. See tipper truck hire.
Excavator hire in Mpumalanga
A 20–25 t excavator is R3,500–R5,600 a day with operator; a 36–55 t machine for loading ADTs and side tippers is R6,500–R8,100 a day with operator. Excavators travel on a lowbed, R6,000–R9,500 there and back inside eMalahleni, and by the kilometre further out. See excavator hire rates.
Dump truck for hire in Mpumalanga
Inside a pit or on rough haul roads, an ADT (articulated dump truck, Bell B30E or similar) does what a side tipper can't. A 30 t ADT is R5,650–R5,900 a day with operator, or about R158,000 a month (about 200 machine hours) dry on a monthly hire; a 40–45 t is R6,200–R7,100 a day with operator. See ADT dump truck hire.
Dozer for hire in Mpumalanga
Bulldozers push coal and overburden on stockpiles and dumps, rip hard ground and reshape land for rehabilitation. A D6-class dozer is R5,000–R7,750 a day with operator, a D8-class about R8,200 a day, and a D9-class R9,800–R11,000 a day, moved on a lowbed. See bulldozer hire.
Water bowser for hire in Mpumalanga
For haul road dust and compaction water: R2,400–R2,800 a day with operator for 14,000–18,000 litre and R4,000–R5,800 a day with operator for 23,000–25,000 litre. Mines usually hire these by the month with the grader. See water truck hire.
Plant hire in the Highveld coal towns
The three main centres have their own pages: plant hire in eMalahleni (Witbank), plant hire in Middelburg and plant hire in Mbombela (Nelspruit). The towns below are served from the nearest of them.
Secunda
Secunda is built around a large coal-to-fuel plant and the mines that feed it, so work here runs from long-hire water trucks, graders and excavators at the mines to TLBs for houses and businesses in town. Side tippers run coal between mines, sidings and the industrial area. Secunda is about 106 km from eMalahleni (Witbank) by road. Transport for a side tipper there and back usually comes to R9,120–R11,020, shown as its own line on your quote.
Kriel
Kriel is a power-station town in the coalfield: Eskom's Kriel station stands between Kriel and Ogies. Across Eskom about 60% of coal reaches the stations by conveyor from nearby mines, so around the belts the work is haul road maintenance, spillage clean-up along the belts, stockpile dozing and drainage. A 14,000–18,000 litre water truck is R2,400–R2,800 a day with operator. Kriel is about 52 km from eMalahleni (Witbank) by road. Transport for a water truck there and back usually comes to R4,480–R5,400, shown as its own line on your quote.
Ogies
Ogies is a coalfield town between eMalahleni and Delmas, close to Eskom's Kriel, Kendal and Kusile stations. Side tippers, excavators and ADTs on monthly hires are the main work, with TLBs for the town and the settlements around it. Ogies is about 27 km from eMalahleni (Witbank) by road, inside our normal delivery area. The side tipper drives to site, so travel is small and confirmed on WhatsApp with your price.
Delmas
Delmas is maize and farming country on the Gauteng side of the province, so TLBs dig water lines and shed foundations on farms, and graders keep farm roads. Ask about dolomite before deep digging here: Delmas lies in a dolomite area, which has long shaped its water supply, and on dolomite open trenches must not hold water. Delmas is about 50 km from Boksburg by road. Transport for a TLB there and back usually comes to R4,300–R5,200, shown as its own line on your quote.
Bethal
Bethal is a farming town on the southern side of the coalfield, about 43 km from Komati, the Eskom station that burned its last coal in 2022. TLBs and tippers do the farm and town work; graders keep the gravel roads between farms and mines open in the rain season. Bethal is about 80 km from Middelburg by road. Transport for a TLB there and back usually comes to R6,880–R8,320, shown as its own line on your quote.
Ermelo
Ermelo is a coalfield town on the roads to KwaZulu-Natal, with Eskom's Camden station about 15 km away. Side tippers haul from mines to power stations and rail loading points; TLBs and tippers do the town's building and service work. Ermelo is about 104 km from Middelburg by road. Transport for a side tipper there and back usually comes to R8,940–R10,820, shown as its own line on your quote.
Plant hire in the Lowveld and on the escarpment
Mpumalanga is the gateway to eSwatini and Mozambique, and the N4 through Mbombela carries trucks to the Maputo port. In 2022, when rail and port backlogs built up, chrome producers trucked ore from Johannesburg and Rustenburg to Maputo through Mbombela.
White River
White River is plots, small farms and new estates north of Mbombela. TLB jobs are house foundations, water lines from boreholes, and terracing on sloping stands; where the slope is steep or the plot tight, a mini excavator (R1,700–R3,000 a day with operator) works across the slope more safely. White River is about 20 km from Mbombela (Nelspruit) by road, inside our normal delivery area. The TLB drives to site, so travel is small and confirmed on WhatsApp with your price.
Barberton
Barberton, south of Mbombela, is an old gold-mining town (gold has been mined here for more than 120 years) at the foot of the steep Makhonjwa Mountains. Excavators with breakers, TLBs on farm and municipal work, and tippers for gravel are the usual hires. The excavator comes on a lowbed: Barberton is about 44 km from Mbombela (Nelspruit) by road. Transport for an excavator there and back usually comes to R6,000–R9,500, shown as its own line on your quote.
Lydenburg (Mashishing)
Mashishing lies north-west of Mbombela, on the way to the chrome and platinum mines of the eastern Bushveld around Steelpoort and Burgersfort. Earthworks go best in the dry months: outside the October to March rain season the ground is usually dry. Mashishing (Lydenburg) is about 99 km from Mbombela (Nelspruit) by road. Transport for a TLB there and back usually comes to R8,520–R10,300, shown as its own line on your quote. For the mines further north, see plant hire in Limpopo.
WhatsApp your Mpumalanga jobQuestions people ask
How much does coal transport cost in Mpumalanga?
A 34 t side tipper with a driver is R75,500–R92,000 a month, excluding VAT, with diesel and tolls agreed in writing. What that means per ton depends on your route: a truck doing three loads a day on a 50 km haul moves far more tonnes a month than one doing two loads on a 100 km haul. Send the tonnage, loading point and tipping point and we work out the rate per truck and per ton.
Do you take on coal transport contracts for Eskom power stations?
Yes. We supply side tippers with drivers by the month to coal transport contracts, including routes to Eskom power stations. The trucks run on your contract's route and rules, with weighbridge tickets for every load. Formal quotes and company documents for vendor registration go out by email at info@basaltplanthire.co.za.
How many tons does a side tipper carry on Mpumalanga roads?
About 34 t of coal. The law caps a standard interlink at 56,000 kg in total, and the CSIR's study of Eskom coal haulage puts the average payload of these 56 t trucks at about 35 t. Coal is light, so coal interlinks use big bins of 40–45 m³ to carry that mass.
Do your trucks and machines work at mines in Mpumalanga?
Yes. Our drivers and operators attend the mine's medicals and induction before the first shift, and work under the mine's health and safety rules. Copies of driver PrDPs and operator certificates come before the trucks arrive, on request. See mining plant hire in eMalahleni (Witbank).
Related
Sources we checked
- CSIR (de Saxe et al. 2021), A case for high capacity coal trucks to reduce costs and emissions at Eskom
- SAnews (19 December 2018), Caution: more coal trucks on the roads
- GCIS Pocket Guide to South Africa, Mineral resources (Karoo Basin coal, Bushveld Complex, acid rock drainage)
- National Road Traffic Regulations reg 236, permissible maximum vehicle mass
- Fastmarkets (September 2022), chrome ore routes to Maputo, Durban and Richards Bay
- Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996 (section 13, medical surveillance)
- South African Weather Service, What kind of droughts does South Africa experience? (summer rainfall season)
- Eskom, Coal-fired power stations (station locations: Kriel, Kendal, Kusile, Komati, Camden)
- Mining Weekly (18 March 2016), Uninterrupted Sasol coal deliveries assured (collieries feeding the Secunda fuel-from-coal plant)
- Nealer et al. (2011), Geohydrological issues of importance in the area governed by the Delmas local municipality (Delmas in a dolomite area)
- Bell et al. (2001), Environmental impacts associated with an abandoned mine in the Witbank Coalfield (old bord-and-pillar workings, subsidence)
- South African Tourism, Genesis of life: the Makhonjwa Mountains (Barberton gold mining)
- Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, section 13: employer to establish system of medical surveillance
Need a side tipper in eMalahleni (Witbank)?
WhatsApp us the job, the town and the dates. We confirm the machine, the start date and the price in writing before the machine moves.
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