Unique durian truck draws customers
Published on: Monday, August 19, 2019
By: R Gonzales
TUARAN: Jimis Ganggang, 40, of Kg Logkou Baru, Kiulu, would never have thought that he would one day be able to reap profits from his creative and carpentry skills.
The skills have enabled him to transform his old van into a unique durian truck to attract customers to buy durian he sells along Jalan Telipok-Logkou Baru, which connects the Kiulu sub-district.
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He started his durian business with his friend, Linus Lumandi, 40, with a “truck” since July 11, and their business received encouraging response from motorists from around Kiulu and Ranau plying the stretch.
Jimis said he used to work as a school bus driver, sending pupils from his village to SK Kebayau in Telipok. But he had to stop work after the rear portion of his Toyota Hiace van started to get into bad condition in 2017.
“I decided to cut the passenger compartment and replaced it with a board structure to make a ‘milo truck’ by selling soup noodles every week after Sunday Mass at a nearby chapel in my village.
“However, during this year’s durian season, I decided to use the ‘truck’ to sell durian by the roadside with the help from my friend from 10am to 8pm every Monday to Saturday, while on Sundays, we will sell after Sunday Mass,” he said. He said the vehicle is only used from the farm driveway to the sale site and to commute from his house in the village for safety reasons.
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“I know the vehicle does not follow the road safety specifications and violates the rules, that’s why I don’t use in on public roads,” he said.
“Every morning I will do business while my friend will go to the farm to collect the durian by walking two kilometres to the durian orchard located in Kg Logkou Lam, Kiulu. We will take turns to sell durian during the evenings. Sometimes he will run the business, while I go to the farm to collect durian,” he said.
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He said their business received encouraging response and related how recently a Chinese resident from Ranau stopped by to buy all their durian.
He said their 1.21-hectare durian orchard started 15 years ago and that there are over 20 types of durian trees, from durian kampung to D123, D24, D7, durian Sarawak and udang merah.
“We sell four Grade 2 durian fruits for RM10 and also sell it based on the weight, starting from RM5 to RM15, depending on the type,” he said.
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