By UsedHowoTrucks.com | March 31, 2026
Table of Contents
What Happened
On 2 March 2026, Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) signed a USD $20 million vendor-financed deal with Worldwide Rail and Mining Solutions (WWRMS) to fully overhaul, rebuild, and upgrade six GT-type diesel freight locomotives, each rated at 3,600 horsepower. The contract was announced from ZRL's headquarters in Lusaka and confirmed by the International Railway Journal and Ecofin Agency.
The locomotives will be overhauled at ZRL's main workshop in Kabwe in three phases: the first two units return to service between May and June 2026, two more in August, and the final pair in November and December. Each rehabilitated locomotive is targeted to haul at least 43,300 tonnes of freight per month. The deal is structured under a deferred payment model, with ZRL repaying the $20 million from revenues generated by the upgraded fleet — a sign the freight volumes to service that debt are already present and growing.
ZRL Managing Director Cuthbert Malindi stated the goal directly: restoring critical national assets, increasing freight volumes, and cutting reliance on hired locomotives across Zambia's key mining and agricultural corridors.
Why Rail Capacity Still Leaves Trucks in Charge
The $20 million deal is a response to a well-documented problem: ZRL has faced persistent locomotive shortages for years, forcing miners, agricultural exporters, and logistics operators to rely heavily on road transport to move bulk cargo — particularly on the routes linking the Copperbelt cities of Ndola, Kitwe, and Chingola to Lusaka and onward to border crossings into the DRC, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
Even with six locomotives overhauled, ZRL's total fleet remains modest relative to the freight volumes being generated. Zambia is the world's second-largest cobalt producer and a top-10 copper producer. The Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex in the DRC — the fastest-growing copper mine in the world — is targeting 380,000 to 420,000 tonnes of output in 2026 alone, much of it transiting Zambian territory. The TAZARA rehabilitation, backed by a USD $1.4 billion Chinese investment, only entered active implementation in early 2026 and will not reach its target freight capacity of 2.4 million tonnes per year for at least two to three more years.
The practical result: heavy trucks remain the dominant freight solution on Zambia's corridors for the foreseeable future. Mine access roads, last-mile haulage from rail heads to processing plants, cross-border feeder routes, and construction material supply chains all depend on road transport that rail cannot yet absorb. Qingdao Alston Motors Co., Ltd, which supplies used Howo trucks to Zambia and across Southern Africa, has seen consistent demand from Zambian fleet operators and mining subcontractors who need reliable road haulage capacity now — not in two years when rail upgrades mature.
What This Means for Used Truck Buyers in Zambia
For Zambian transport operators and mining logistics companies, the ZRL deal confirms two things simultaneously: freight volumes are high enough to justify a $20 million locomotive rehabilitation, and rail capacity will remain constrained through at least 2027. That gap is truck territory.
Specifically, the demand pressure falls on:
- Used Howo 6x4 and 8x4 dump trucks — for ore, aggregate, and construction material haulage on mine access roads and haul routes between the Copperbelt and logistics hubs.
- Used Howo tractor heads — for long-haul semi-trailer operations linking Lusaka to Dar es Salaam, Beira, Durban, and cross-border into the DRC.
- Used tipper trucks — for the road construction and infrastructure projects accompanying Zambia's broader transport investment surge, including the Livingstone–Ndola line rehabilitation and Nakonde border upgrade.
Trucks shipped CIF to Durban or Dar es Salaam and transported overland to Lusaka or the Copperbelt typically arrive within 35 to 45 days of order confirmation. Qingdao Alston Motors Co., Ltd handles the full export chain — pre-shipment inspection, documentation, and port routing — for buyers based in Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, and regional mining zones.
Check latest dump truck prices for Zambia. Contact our team at bruce@alstonmotors.com to discuss current stock and pricing.
Used Howo Trucks Available for Zambia
If the Zambia freight surge is relevant to your fleet planning, the following truck categories are available now for export to Zambia:
Email bruce@alstonmotors.com for availability, current pricing, and CIF shipping schedules to Durban or Dar es Salaam.
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