Shacman (Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Import & Export Co.) is a Chinese truck manufacturer that has found a lot of success exporting to developing markets - outside of perhaps Sinotruk, I would contend that it has arguably been the most successful of the Chinese truck manufacturers in this effort. Shacman's can now be found all over the world, from Tanzania to Vietnam to Brazil. They are relatively recent arrivals in Jamaica, having come to the island amidst greater geo-political ties between Jamaica and China. These greater ties led to more Chinese investment in Jamaica, particularly through the work of the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).

CHEC built much of Jamaica's new highway system and has been responsible for many other projects on the island. CHEC imported many trucks from China for the purpose of going about this work - many of these vehicles were Shacmans, quite a few have remained on the island and continued to operate in various roles. Recently, a Jamaican company called Tank-Weld (well known in local construction and manufacturing circles) took notice of the Shacmans - Tank-Weld facilities were close to some of the facilities used by CHEC, and so they got a pretty close look at the trucks operating day to day. One big advantage of the Shacmans (and of other trucks like it) is their technology, or lack thereof. Shacmans, like many Chinese trucks, are built with older technology perfected by European and Japanese manufacturers decades ago, and then refined a little by the Chinese today. In the case of Shacman, this tech came from the German truck manufacturer MAN - the cab on this F2000 looks quite similar to the cabs used on MAN's 10-20 years ago for this reason. The Cummins engines utilized by these trucks are tested, durable, reliable, and easily maintained, and the other tech in the machine is straightforward as well.

This matters because newer trucks use more electronics and are significantly harder to maintain - they require more highly trained technicians, and take more effort to keep on the road (you need more computers and equipment - one smart guy with a toolkit can't get the job done). Jamaican companies have worked hard to train these technicians and have produced many of them, but this led them to another program: emigration. Jamaica is a land of emigrants, and every years tens of thousands of Jamaicans migrate to the USA, Canada, and the UK for work. Trained technicians are in high demand (especially in Canada), so the skilled Jamaicans who were trained to keep these new trucks running were pretty much leaving as soon as they became capable. This left Jamaican companies in a tough spot - they had purchased plenty of newer American trucks (in the case of Tank-Weld, a fleet of 114 Macks) but they had too few traind technicians to maintain them. This made it harder and harder to keep trucks on the road.

Thus, it can be said that technological advancement is not always a benefit. This is especially true in developing countries, where low cost and reliability are the most important things - high tech trucks can be a liability. This explains why so many older trucks (ex: the many Leylands found across the island) continue to run in Jamaica, and why trucks like this Shacman have some appeal to local consumers. The Shacman F2000 relies on technology perfect almost a quarter century ago, and is simple enough mechanically that its problems can be dealt with by relatively less heavily trained men with toolkits and without all of the computers. It is also much cheaper to buy new that even many used American trucks.