DOI’s “Yellow Fleet” Replacement Programme

Building efficiency and internal capacity is important to the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure (DOI). Over the last five years, DOI has established a replacement plan to steadily replace its fleet of road maintenance vehicles. The results speak for themselves: the average age of the yellow fleet has been reduced by 20 years or more. The age of the oldest grader in the fleet has been reduced from 40 years (in 2020) to 18 years (in 2024). The current replacement value of the fleet is R2.8 billion.

“The term ‘yellow fleet’ refers to earth-moving equipment such as graders, excavators and other heavy-duty machinery used in the construction of roads, as well as tip trucks, water trucks and people carriers,” said Jandré Bakker, DOI Director Operational Support. “These vehicles are painted in golden yellow, which identifies them as part of the provincial fleet, and makes them as visible as possible. DOI is one of the few provincial departments engaged in building and maintaining roads that still maintains its own fleet of vehicles and equipment. There are 11 workshops at locations across the province,” he added.

The department has a radio network that enables uninterrupted communication between “yellow fleet” vehicles across the province, even where there is no cell phone reception. The radio network and towers use solar power to ensure communication always remains possible, even at 7 000m above sea level where there is no Eskom power.

“Over the past three financial years, we have invested in excess of R320 million in modernising and improving our fleet,” said Bakker. All new equipment purchased by DOI is fitted with remote monitoring systems. These systems identify possible problems with the machinery by monitoring engine power usage. The department also has an oil monitoring system, through which oil samples are drawn at each service and analysed to enable early identification of potential failures of key components. This enables us to launch remedial action before breakdown which allows almost uninterrupted service,” said Bakker.

Key machines that are in line for replacement are graders, tractor-loader-backhoes (TLBs), water trucks, and small machinery like nylon cutters, chain saws and high cutters. This proactive approach to managing the age of essential machinery has played a key role in optimising DOI’s in-house road construction and maintenance programme, despite financial constraints.

“DOI stays abreast of new technology in its fleet replacement programme,” said Tertuis Simmers, Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure. “Examples of this include acquiring electric forklifts, installing radio monitoring networks with solar panels, and replacing the old Malgas Pont hand-drawn ferry with a motorised alternative,” Minister Simmers added.

While the purpose of the fleet is for road construction and maintenance, DOI is more than willing to make its equipment available to assist during emergencies and disasters. During the floods that took place in 2023 and 2024, the department purchased excavators to help reopen roads and to ensure public safety.

Looking after DOI staff is also a priority. The department has introduced a people carrier to safely transport its staff to wherever they are needed. It has also brought in new equipment to support greater team productivity such as inline crushers and skid steers.

“When the public sees our iconic “yellow fleet”, they can see their tax money hard at work. Doing work with inhouse capacity and skills at lower costs means we can do more with less. As with our investment in a rigorous routine maintenance programme for road infrastructure, so too does the proactive management of our fleet ensure efficient and effective maintenance of those roads,” Minister Simmers continued.