SA Road Tests

Roadshow: Things you might not know about the funeral industry

Final journeys: We attend a funeral industry roadshow

Things we had not known

Pic 1: New York Times
Pic 2: Alwyn Viljoen
Posted: June 18, 2019

Warning: Some of what follows could upset sensitive readers. Approach with caution.

It’s not a dying business: We attended a funeral industry roadshow, hosted by Funeralcar.co.za recently. The website provides industry news and information on new equipment, emerging trends and contact details for partners in the South African funeral contracting business.

It’s also a contact point for buyers and sellers of new and used hearses; for converters, insurance providers, driver trainers and rental companies. We’re talking about cars and SUVs for transporting mourners or for practitioners temporarily needing extra vehicles. Users say they appreciate the site for its unbiased approach with no axes ground or particular products promoted above others.

Here are some things we had not known before:
•    Chances of taking your final journey in a stretched limousine are slender; it is more likely to be in a converted SUV or panel van. Mercedes-Benz Viano or Vito, Volkswagen Caddy and Kia Grand Sedona are popular choices although almost anything goes.
•    Your first post-mortem trip, between home or hospital and the next stage of proceedings, will probably be in a comfortably appointed, plain white carrier politely known as a “first contact vehicle.”
•    Any intermediate transportation, between mortuary and funeral parlour for example, would be very low-key; possibly in a long-bodied pickup fitted with a windowless canopy.
•    Funeral contractors depend on specialised insurance brokerages to overcome coverage issues.

We spoke to Willie Roets who represents Bustruck, a Gauteng-based panel van conversion company with branches in  the Western Cape and East London. Apart from hearses the company creates ambulances; mobile banks, offices and workshops; luxury mini busses and specialised wheelchair carriers. He told us that they turned out 300 hearses in 2018 and have delivered 150 so far this year (early June 2019). A recent boost was an order from a major undertaking concern for 47 more.  Hearse conversions, he said, take about 10 working days and depending on specification, cost around R70 000 each.

Lower-cost service providers favour pre-owned vehicles, out of guarantee, for  conversion. Capital outlay and coverage concerns play major roles in this. There’s that insurance thing again. For which there’s an involved explanation: Conversions can mess with vehicles’ original specifications, rendering their SABS certificates invalid. That means they cannot be easily re-registered or subsequently insured via normal channels, leading to not a snowball’s chance in Hades of obtaining conventional finance to fund the purchase.

That’s where specialised brokerage services come in. Sam van der Merwe, who represents global broking house Umbrella Advisors, told us that he places most of his hearse insurance business with VAPS Funeral. This company offers coverage for hearses converted by reliable practitioners and bases rates on each client’s history and portfolio, rather than just the vehicle. Plans are underwritten by Renasa, an award-winning South African supplier with annual premium income exceeding R1.5-billion.

Getting back to the question of SABS certificates, there are exceptions to the general rule in the OE market. Kia and Mercedes-Benz representatives told us that Grand Sedona, and Vito nine-seaters, are homologated in South Africa for use as either passenger vehicles or hearses. The rationale is that removing some seats and installing a platform with coffin-rollers and securing wedges does not materially affect anything mechanical or electrical, so why not? You can order them via local dealerships.

We also learned in passing that creating a “stretch” requires that the chassis be cut; metal and glass fitted in between and the extension reinforced. The propeller shaft, in the case of rear-wheel drive vehicles must be cut, lengthened and rebalanced; the suspension and steering gear needs extensive modifying and all manner of braking and electrical kit must be lengthened and upgraded. It costs a fortune and would destroy any new car’s warranty.
That’s why this kind of thing is usually done on second hand vehicles or, possibly, a couple of wrecks.

Final quip from van der Merwe: “The economy may be in freefall but undertakers and funeral insurers aren’t going out of business yet!”

Nelson Mandela's final journey                                         

An Isuzu KB250 converted into a first contact vehicle. The lower compartment is for storing the collapsible dolly.

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