NZ Truck & Driver June 2020

NZ TRUCK & DRIVER

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| June 2020

June 2020 $8.50 incl. GST

FLEET FOCUS BIG TEST Just like the cheese | FLEET FOCUS The third dynasty | FEATURE Super-Low little bro’ FUSO

The third dynasty

FEATURE Super-Low little bro’ FUSO

Issue 235

Just like the cheese

The Official Magazine of the

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CONTENTS Issue 235 – June 2020 2 Aeolus News

The latest in the world of transport, including….positives AND disappointments in huge COVID-19 recovery Budget; Toll Group hit again by cyber attackers; surprise fuel cell JV for Daimler and Volvo

20 Giti Tyres Big Test

The load of Taranaki cheese being hauled by the Sinotruk C7H tractor unit brings to mind that old tv ad for Mainland cheese – the one about good things taking time…. and the thought that, just like the cheese, these Chinese trucks might just take a little while before you truly appreciate them

Latest news from the Road Transport Forum NZ, including…..getting the Government to understand how to free up the movement of freight was a major challenge during the COVID-19 lockdown; operator survey shows high level of support for an industry cadetship; there’s never been a better time to build roads

44 Teletrac Navman Fleet Focus

Osborne’s Transport is a family business alright. It just happens to have had not one but three families own it over its near-on 70 years. Oh…and its DNA also entwines another two families – hundreds of kilometres removed from its Te Awamutu home

Publisher

Trevor Woolston 027 492 5600 trevor@trucker.co.nz

Advertising

Trevor Woolston 027 492 5600 trevor@trucker.co.nz Hayden Woolston 027 448 8768 hayden@trucker.co.nz

EDITORIAL Editor

Wayne Munro 021 955 099 waynemunro@xtra.co.nz

Editorial office Phone

PO Box 48 074 AUCKLAND 09 826 0494

Associate Editor

Brian Cowan

REGULARS

60 It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future

72 Truck Shop

One of American baseball legend Yogi Berra’s mangled quotable quotes sums up the quandary of businesses, governments and economists alike around the world in trying to figure out how best to get over the COVID-19 emergency…and how long it’s going to take

CONTRIBUTORS

New products and services for the road transport industry

80/ PPG Transport Imaging 81 Awards

Recognising NZ’s best-looking truck fleets….including a giant pullout poster of this month’s finalist

69 Super-Low little bro’ FUSO

87 Recently Registered

New FUSO Shoguns with a smaller engine and lower load-height are launched in NZ

New truck and trailer registrations for April

COLUMNS

75 Arctic Actros

37 Transport Forum

MANAGEMENT

FEATURE

The new MirrorCam Mercedes-Benz Actros is one standard-spec truck that meets Finnish high-productivity truck regs. That’s made it the perfect candidate for a daily run into the Arctic Circle

79 Castrol Truck Driver Hero

Shane Preston thought he’d seen it all during two or three years driving fulltime…. until he saw the van in his rear-view mirrors, veering towards oncoming traffic.

He knew he had to intervene

81 National Road Carriers Association

The road transport sector has made the industry and the country proud by standing up in a time of coronavirus trouble

83 Road Transport Association NZ Taking a moment to reflect on how well NZ has done, in the face of the COVID-19 virus

85 NZ Heavy Haulage Association

The heavy haulage industry accepted the COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown – with only a few oversize jobs considered essential during the height of the emergency

Gerald Shacklock Dave McLeod Rod Simmonds Olivia Beauchamp

ART DEPARTMENT Design & Production Luca Bempensante

Zarko Mihic EQUIPMENT GUIDE AUCKLAND, NORTHLAND, BOP, WAIKATO, CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND Advertising Trudy Woolston

027 233 0090

trudy@trucker.co.nz AUCKLAND, LOWER NORTH ISLAND, SOUTH ISLAND Advertising Hayden Woolston

027 448 8768

hayden@trucker.co.nz

Dion Rout

027 491 1110

dion@trucker.co.nz

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Truck & Driver | 1

NEWS Toll has not disclosed whether the data stolen involves any of its New Zealand business

Toll hit by cyber attack….again TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS GIANT TOLL GROUP has suffered its second ransomware attack this year – confirming last month that data had been stolen in the latest cyber attack.

The Australian-based company revealed the second breach of its IT system’s security this year in a statement on May 5 – but said then that security experts had found no evidence at that point “to suggest that any data has been extracted from our network.”

However, a week later, it confirmed that the attackers had accessed “at least one specific corporate server” in its IT system – and had “downloaded some data stored…”

Adding that the company was “in the process of identifying the specific nature of that information.

“This server contains information relating to some past and present Toll employees, and details of commercial agreements with some of our current and former enterprise customers.”

Toll said it had “refused from the outset to engage with the attacker’s ransom demands, which is consistent with the advice of cyber security experts and government authorities.”

The company reportedly suffered disruption to its IT operations for more than a month after a late January cyber attack, said to have been the work of Russian hackers.

In last month’s cyber attack,Toll said that “a relatively new form of ransomware known as Nefilim” was used and added: “This is unrelated to the ransomware incident we experienced earlier this year.”

2 | Truck & Driver

Toll said that the May attacker “is known to publish stolen data to the ‘dark web.’ This means that, to our knowledge, information is not readily accessible through conventional online platforms. Toll is not aware at this time of any information from the server in question having been published.”

It’s not known whether any of the stolen data involves Toll Group’s customers or staff in New Zealand, but the company said it is working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on the latest hack.

Toll Group managing director Thomas Knudsen described the most recent attack as “an unscrupulous act.”

And he added that cyber crime poses “an existential threat for organisations of all sizes, making it more important than ever for business, regulators and government to adopt a united effort in combating the very real risk it presents the wider community.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the actions of the perpetrators.

This is a serious and regrettable situation and we apologise unreservedly to those affected. I can assure our customers and employees that we’re doing all we can to get to the bottom of the situation and put in place the actions to rectify it,” he said.

Toll said that, given the technical and detailed nature of the analysis in progress, it expects that it will “take a number of weeks to determine more details.

“We have begun contacting people we believe may be impacted and we are implementing measures to support individual online security arrangements.” T&D

NEWS

The Budget for trucking: Positives... and disappointments THE GOVERNMENT’S HUGE $50BILLION COVID-19 recovery budget has positives and disappointments alike for New Zealand’s trucking industry, in Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett’s opinion.

And he sees two aspects of the Budget’s job creation measures that are interesting: “The industry will be very pleased to read about significantly more support to trades training and a greater infrastructure spend.”

Prior to the Budget, Leggett had been calling for a big commitment to spending on much-needed roading projects as part of the Government’s economic recovery plan.

In his reaction to the Budget, he says: “Infrastructure is a tried and true lever to create jobs – both as an economic stimulant and to enhance capacity for greater productivity over the long term.

“So it is not surprising to see a further $3billion to fund infrastructure projects. This comes from the $50billion the Government has set aside in this Budget to recover from COVID-19.

“This infrastructure spend is in addition to the previously announced $12billion NZ Upgrade Programme. The Government’s Infrastructure Industry Reference Group is giving advice to Ministers on which projects should progress.

“As always, we advocate for spending on roads, to ensure freight can move efficiently and more safely around NZ to the ports and airports that take it to our export markets. Exports will be a massive contributor to our economic recovery.”

His overall take on the infrastructure element of the Budget? “We support the infrastructure spend but we want to be sure it is more than big announcements.

“We want confidence that there is the capability and capacity in NZ to pull off these big projects in a timely fashion and within budget.”

On the other hand, says Leggett: “We are disappointed to see NZ First grab more money for rail projects that don’t stack up – to the tune of $4.6billion.”

The week prior to the Budget, he points out, two rail lines were ruled out

by KiwiRail as uneconomic: “The Gisborne to Wairoa freight line didn’t stack up. And $250,000 was spent to find the obvious – that a passenger line from Hokitika to Westport on the South Island’s West Coast came at an unrealistic price of $92million. That would leave passengers paying $400 for the return trip on a train.

And, he adds: “Now, more than ever, the economic benefits of infrastructure projects must stack up so they aid our nation’s recovery.”

Leggett says that “quite rightly”, the Budget focused on jobs – “as we look at about 1000 people a day joining the unemployment queue. Many of these are people who have never been unemployed, and have not previously experienced poverty.”

He is pleased too to see an extension of the wage subsidy – “although the threshold for the further eight weeks of wage subsidy is a 50% year-

Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett on-year reduction in the business’s income, as opposed to the original 30% reduction. For businesses in that situation, you have to wonder about their viability going forward.”

Leggett sees a potential win for trucking in the Budget’s goal “to create jobs at a time many NZers are facing unemployment. We support training and re-training as one path to employment and we believe road freight transport can make a strong contribution to this.

“As the RTF hopes to embark on a road freight transport-specific training scheme later this year – Pathway to Success – we hope the Budget allocation to trades training ($1.6billion for a Trades and Apprenticeships Training Package to help workplaces retain their trainees) will have some capacity for our industry.

“We have after all, demonstrated ourselves as a critical industry to our country’s economy, particularly in the minds of the public.” T&D Truck & Driver | 3

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NEWS

Photo Nicola Topping

The Budget’s big investment in infrastructure is a longterm win for the country – and will provide work for those who’ve lost jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic

Happy contractors, Kiwirail reckon Budget is good for NZ THE BUDGET’S BIG INVESTMENT IN infrastructure is “a win for everyday Kiwis” as well as contractors, Civil Contractors New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock believes.

It will enable the civil construction industry “to create jobs and take a lead role in NZ’s economic recovery” – enabling the upgrade of community infrastructure such as roads and water networks.

Silcock says that the extra infrastructure spending will also allow the industry “to catch up on the country’s deferred maintenance and upgrade existing infrastructure to be fit for purpose in the present day.

“Upgrading NZ’s infrastructure will serve the country well in the long term. It will also enable the civil construction industry to provide meaningful employment for those who may have lost their jobs, as well as retaining the skills in our current workforce.”

Helping people upskill will require close attention to enable people to transition smoothly, with skills such as abseiling or driving heavy vehicles readily transferable, while some others will need “considerable re-training.” The industry welcomes opportunities to work closely with Government and the broader training and education sector.

Silcock says that, “to be truly effective” the Budget’s investment will need to extend to the regions and the many small to medium employers in the industry, who work on regional works as well as subcontracting on big-ticket projects like the Manawatu Gorge Replacement, the Christchurch Northern Corridor or Auckland’s City Rail Link.

“While it’s important to give the economy a boost, this needs to be sustainable. The last thing we want to do is create a boom/bust situation. To create sustainable employment and better community outcomes, investment needs to be well-planned and phased over time.”

Silcock says that the NZ Infrastructure Commission was established to help take a planned approach and manage the infrastructure work pipeline, and

dialogue between Government and industry has been vastly improved since the creation of the Construction Sector Accord.

Says Silcock: “Infrastructure investment is not just about building roads. It’s about building better public infrastructure for liveable communities. It’s about improving water and wastewater networks to make sure rivers and lakes aren’t polluted – and about making our roads safer.”

He raises one potential problem created by the severe limitations on international travel to contain the spread of COVID-19 – the availability of specialist civil construction experts like geotechnical engineers and project managers.

“In the past a high proportion of these people were recruited from offshore on a permanent, semi-permanent or fly-in, fly-out basis,” he explains.

The Budget’s $1.2billion investment in rail will help KiwiRail attract more customers and get more freight on rail, group chief executive Greg Miller says.

It follows a $1bn contribution in Budget 2019 and will earmark $400m for replacement of the ageing Interislander ferries and $421m to continue a locomotive replacement programme.

Another $246m – plus a $148m National Land Transport Fund “top-up” – go towards ensuring that the rail network, which includes more than 3000km of track, over 1000 bridges and nearly 100 tunnels, “is reliable and resilient.”

Miller says that the investment sends customers “a clear signal that rail has a big future and gives them the confidence to get on board.

“Our customers want to make greater use of rail and we’re seeing more road operators reach out for our support as their networks contract. We’re here to help them.

“This funding recognises that rail has a greater role to play in NZ’s transport sector, and that it can make a valuable contribution towards lowering our transport emissions, reducing road congestion and saving in road maintenance costs – which benefits our nation as a whole.” T&D Truck & Driver | 5

NEWS TR Group has added 10 high-productivity A-double trailer sets, built by Vawdrey, to its TR Semi Skel Hire operation in Australia, as it begins to expand the business

TR’s Oz biz gears up for expansion TR GROUP’S AUSTR ALIAN business is gearing up for expansion beyond its initial Victorian base – moving into high productivity trailers for the first time.

In stage one of offering trailers that enjoy 15-20% higher productivity under Australia’s Performance-Based Standards scheme, TR Semi Skel Hire has bought 10 PBS-approved A-double trailers.

The purchase, which meets an increasing demand for PBS vehicles, marks an ongoing association with trailermaker Vawdrey – tapping that company’s expertise in the PBS environment, as TR Semi Skel Hire’s Victoria state manager Kim Kelly explains.

“Obtaining PBS approvals is a complicated process and various transport companies are hiring people specifically to help them with it.

“Vawdrey Australia is a pioneer in the PBS field and we plan to continue working with

them for all of our PBS requirements. At the moment, PBS-approved A-doubles are highly called for, but regulations and specifications change all the time, so with the help of Vawdrey, we’ll be keeping right up with any changes and moving along with them.”

The Australian hire operation has also introduced prime-mover hire, so customers can hire a full PBS-approved tractor unit and trailer combination.

Along with the recent delivery of the Vawdrey PBS-approved A-doubles, TR Semi Skel Hire has also ordered a number of B-double flatdecks to meet an increase in demand.

TR Group bought the 25-year-old Melbourne business – one of the largest trailer rental operations in Victoria, with a hire fleet of over 1200 trailers – in mid-2019.

It indicated that the purchase gave it a longsought foothold in Australia – and now Kim

Kelly, says that the company (in which her father, company founder Geoff Kelly, continues an involvement as a consultant and her brother David is the fleet and operations manager), is poised for expansion.

“The acquisition (of the company by TR) has opened up opportunities to begin opening up depots Australia-wide, as well as giving us the ability to purchase more equipment across more categories, including PBS and trailers for the construction sector.”

TR Group, she says, “is bringing its values over to us and we are hoping to replicate its success in Australia.”

TR Semi Skel Hire is currently working to establish a new depot in Brisbane – to be operational before the end of this year.

The next step, she says, will be further expansion down Australia’s eastern seaboard…. “before heading west.” T&D

Cannabis law a threat too COVID-19 IS NOT THE ONLY HEALTH RISK WE should be focused on, Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett believes – raising concerns that cannabis legalisation laws will slip through unnoticed with so much focus on the coronavirus pandemic.

Leggett wants people – particularly those in the road transport industry – to recognise the potential threat to safety on the roads and in the workplace raised by the Government’s proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill.

Voters in the general election on September 19 will be asked whether they do or do not support the proposed Bill….which, Leggett is at pains to point out, is about legalising marijuana for recreational use, not merely 6 | Truck & Driver

medicinal.

Leggett says the proposal gives “no consideration for workplace and road safety, in a country where the number of people being killed on the roads by drug-impaired drivers is higher than those killed by drivers above the legal alcohol limit.

“We have a drug problem in NZ. Road freight transport companies know that and have drug testing regimes to ensure safety within their companies.

“But if this legislation passes, there will be no guarantees for those professional drivers going out onto the road, where there are other road users who are legally high.” T&D

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– middle + Unique crane + Unique + Unique folds – accommodate middle –into middle – accommodate middle chassis crane crane crane to folds into into chassis chassis chassis to to to accommodate afolds single afolds single ainto single 40’ 40’ 40’ accommodate a single accommodate accommodate accommodate 40’ a single a single a single 40’40’40’ + Joiners – handle two containers + Sliding simultaneously withwith joiners + Sliding + Sliding – for – for –maximum for maximum maximum payload payload payload with with a single a single a single 20’20’20’ – for maximum + Sliding + Sliding + Sliding payload – for – for with – maximum for maximum a maximum single payload 20’ payload payload with with a single a single a single 20’20’20’ + Light + Light + Light – only – only – only 7.57.5 tonne 7.5 tonne tonne tare tare tare with – only 7.5 + Light + tonne Light + Light tare – only – only – only 7.5 7.5 tonne 7.5 tonne tonne tare tare tare + Strong + Strong + Strong – 16-tonne – 16-tonne – 16-tonne Safe Safe Safe Working Working Working Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) – 16-tonne + + Strong + Working 16-tonne 16-tonne 16-tonne Load Safe (SWL) Safe Working Working Working Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) + Strong Stable + Safe Stable + Strong Stable –– legs –– legs –– legs extend extend extend forSafe for firm for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer – legs extend + Stable + Stable + Stable for firm – legs – base legs – legs extend and extend extend transfer for for firm for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer + Reach + Reach + Reach– long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes – long outreach + Reach + Reach + Reach cranes – long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes + Ease + Ease + Ease – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design – crane/stabiliser + + + –– crane/stabiliser –– crane/stabiliser –– crane/stabiliser design side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design + Ease SDS + Ease SDS + Ease SDS side-by-side Hammar Hammar Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System – Hammar + SDS + Soft-Drive SDS + SDS – Hammar – System Hammar – Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System + Flex + Flex + Flex – Trailer – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted – Trailer Truckmounted – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted + or Flex + Flex + Flex – Trailer

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NEWS

Above: A German assembly line for fuel cell drive units

Below: Daimler Truck boss Martin Daum (left) and Volvo Group president and CEO Martin Lundstedt

Trucking giants in fuel cell JV IN A SURPRISE MOVE, RIVAL TRUCK manufacturers the Volvo Group and Daimler Truck have joined forces to develop large-scale production of fuel cells.

They will be 50/50 partners in the joint venture, which will operate as an independent and autonomous entity – with both “continuing to be competitors in all other areas of business,” they say in announcing the unusual collaboration.

Joining forces, they explain, “will decrease development costs for both companies and accelerate the market introduction of fuel cell systems in products used for heavy-duty transport and demanding long-haul applications.

“The common goal is for both companies to offer heavy-duty vehicles with fuel cells for demanding long-haul applications in series production in the second half of the decade.”

The two trucking giants add: “In the context of the current economic downturn, co-operation has become even more necessary in order to meet the Green Deal objectives (which call for sustainable transport and a carbon neutral Europe by 2050) within a feasible timeframe.

They say that the JV is founded by their shared vision for sustainable transport – and a belief that “successful commercialisation of fuel cell technology is a key area to achieve CO2-neutral transport.”

The two companies signed a preliminary nonbinding agreement to establish the JV – Daimler adding that it will consolidate all its current fuel cell activities into the partnership.

The Volvo Group will contribute the equivalent of around $NZ1billion for its 50% share in the JV. Daimler Truck board of management chairman Martin Daum says of the deal – a “milestone” in bringing fuel cell-powered trucks and buses onto our roads: “Transport and logistics keep the world moving, and the need for transport will continue to grow.

“Truly CO2-neutral transport can be accomplished through electric drivetrains with energy coming either from batteries or by converting hydrogen on board into electricity.

For trucks to cope with heavy loads and long distances, fuel cells are one important answer and a technology where Daimler has built up

significant expertise through its Mercedes-Benz fuel cell unit over the last two decades.”

Volvo Group president and CEO Martin Lundstedt says: “Electrification of road transport is a key element in delivering the so-called Green Deal, a carbon-neutral Europe and ultimately a carbon-neutral world.

“Using hydrogen as a carrier of green electricity to power electric trucks in long-haul operations is one important part of the puzzle, and a complement to battery electric vehicles and renewable fuels.

“Combining the Volvo Group and Daimler’s experience in this area to accelerate the rate of development is good, both for our customers and for society as a whole. By forming this joint venture, we are clearly showing that we believe in hydrogen fuel cells for commercial vehicles.

But for this vision to become reality, other companies and institutions also need to support and contribute to this development – not least in order to establish the fuel infrastructure needed.”

A final agreement on the JV is expected by the end of the third quarter. T&D Truck & Driver | 9

NEWS

Trucks take to Silk

Convoys of European trucks have been driving the 10,000km Silk Road to China, carrying freight each way that would normally go by air

R

k

Road THE HISTORIC SILK ROAD OVERLAND TRADE route between Europe and China has been revived as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

A European digital freight-forwarding agency, which has been in business four years – taking online bookings for door to door truck transport and offering them to the 12,000 Continental carriers on its books – has seized the opportunity presented by the pandemic.

The airline industry’s virtual shutdown because of the COVID-19 emergency left an estimated $US222billion annual two-way trade between China and Germany reduced to a trickle.

With German companies desperate for electronics components sourced from China, InstaFreight was approached to explore a new supply chain.

InstaFreight discovered that a trucking route from China, through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland, was a viable option – even though it’s 10,000-kilometres each way, across the Eurasian Steppes.

That’s a trip that will take around three weeks, including time allowed for freight to be transferred to/from Chinese trucks at the Chinese border.

It tested the market in early April – a time when the death toll from COVID-19 was still rising across parts of Europe.

It began offering consignments between China and Germany – European truck owners bidding for the loads in online auctions.

Hundreds of operators with trucks capable of carrying 40 tonnes all-up responded within days.

Company co-founder Philipp Ortwein says that since then scores of trucks have made the huge trans-continental run – with “hundreds more” about to embark on the Silk Road experience.

“Digitalisation is emerging as a survive-and-thrive tool in the crisis and is credibly poised to shake down key economic sectors post-COVID,” says Ortwein.

The going rate for a 20t truckload of freight from China to Europe is reckoned to be around 15,000 Euros (approximately $NZ26,700), compared to one million Euros ($NZ1.78million) for a chartered aircraft capable of carrying 100t of freight. Thus the road freight cost is less than 10% of the cost of airfreight.

Normally, over half of Germany’s airfreight travels on passenger flights, which have been severely cut back in the COVID-19 crisis.

And according to InstaFreight, the backlog of airfreight at Chinese airports is such that the 20 to 22-day truck trip (depending on the pickup and unloading locations in Europe), is on a par with COVID-19-era airfreight delivery times.

Two-driver teams, offered at a surcharge, can take several days off the truck trip.

Germany was China’s biggest export market in Europe last year – importing mobile phones, computers, electronic components and household electronics. On the other hand, China was Germany’s biggest market for its machinery, cars, car parts, chemicals and electronic goods.

Says Ortwein: “As a freight forwarder it is our role in such times to be pragmatic and to find solutions to problems such as the current stagnant flow of goods from China to Europe.

“Our digital product as well as the agile structures help us realise such solutions with an adequate promptness. For systemically relevant goods, every day counts.” T&D

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NEWS

Scania adds finance business in NZ SWEDISH TRUCKMAKER SCANIA is growing its business in New Zealand, with the addition of a finance operation.

Scania Finance NZ was announced last month as part of Scania NZ’s goal of providing “total solutions to all our customers.

“As the Scania business continues to grow and develop across NZ, this offering of a tailored financing opportunity to our clients felt like an obvious and timely extension of that service,” the company says.

Scania NZ sales director Deon Stephens (left) says the addition of the finance operation is part of the commitment to providing customers “total solutions”

Scania NZ sales director Deon Stephens says it is “an exciting development as we look to grow our customers’ businesses together.

“It represents much more than just offering finance on a truck – it’s about being a trusted adviser to our customers.

“It’s also about knowing we have the tools in the toolbox to support our customers within the transport industry and offering them solutions to help their businesses remain profitable and unlock their potential.”

Wayne Thomason, national sales manager for Scania Finance Australia and NZ, says that opening the finance business here “means being able to help finance more Kiwi drivers into the seat of their next Scania.”

Two business development managers will work for Scania Finance, in Auckland and Christchurch, working closely with the Scania sales team – “working directly with our customers to help fund their new Scania, plus the trailer that runs with that vehicle.” T&D

On-demand FWD for Euro DAFs AN AUTOMATICALLY-ENGAGED PART-TIME front-wheel-drive system is now being offered in Europe on DAF CF and XF 4x2 tractor units.

DAF Trucks will also add the switchable front-drive to other chassis configurations in Europe later this year.

It says that the hydraulic front-wheel-drive system is designed for “trucks that clock up most of their mileage on the road, but are sometimes required to drive offroad or in slippery conditions.”

The new PXP (Paul Extra Power) drive has been developed in league with German special vehicle conversion operation Paul Nutzfahrzeuge. It’s available in Europe on DAF tractor units powered by either the PACCAR MX-11 or MX-13 engines.

DAF points out that permanent all-wheel-drive for only occasional use “means a considerable cost in terms of acquisition, maintenance and fuel consumption.

“However, it is sometimes very important to have extra traction to tackle ditches, sandy roads, unpaved tip-sites and steep inclines.”

A switch on the dashboard puts the switchable drive on standby in potentially tricky situations. If the vehicle then experiences slip from the powered wheels, PXP is automatically activated. The greater the amount of rear-wheel slip, the more traction the front wheels provide.

The system is available in the first four forward gears and the first and second reverse gears. At speeds above 20km/h (and/or in 5th gear or higher) PXP switches back to standby mode. The system activates itself again at lower speeds and whenever use is required.

To make the switchable FWD possible, each front axle wheel hub is equipped with a hydraulic motor, producing torque of 6435Nm or more at 12 | Truck & Driver

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A unique feature is that the motors are driven by a hydraulic pump fitted directly onto the engine PTO, saving both weight and space. The hydraulic pump can also drive components like cranes, hook arms, stabilisers or skip loader systems for maximum efficiency. This means that only one hydraulic tank is required, which also results in less weight and more space.

The PXP system demonstrates DAF’s ability to provide optimal solutions for every transport requirement, it says. T&D The front-wheel-drive automatically engages when any rear wheel slippage is detected

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NEWS

Trump & truckers: Is it really love?

JUST A MONTH AFTER UNITED States President Donald Trump honoured a handful of truckers at the White House, there was another Trump/truckers interaction in Washington.

And for the second time, there was a degree of confusion about what it was all about – Trump putting his own spin on both.

On the first occasion, the mystery involved what (if any) significance the keys he presented to four drivers carried. They were simply referred to as “ceremonial keys.”

Still, the sentiment expressed was welcome, the President saying he’d called the truckers to the White House because he wanted to celebrate “some of the heroes of our nation’s great struggle against the coronavirus: Our brave, bold, and incredible truckers.

“At a time of widespread shutdowns, truck drivers form the lifeblood of our economy…..the absolute lifeblood.

“In the war against the virus, American truckers are the foot soldiers who are really carrying us to victory.”

A month on, a Trump press conference on a COVID-19 vaccine was interrupted by the sound of truck horns blasting – generated by hundreds of truckers whose rigs had lined Constitution Avenue

outside the White House for a few weeks.

They were protesting the crippling, rock-bottom freight rates that they’ve been offered by freight brokers since the initial flurry of pre-lockdown work dried up.

The moment attracted a huge amount of media attention….mostly because the President reckoned that the drivers’ protest was in fact a “sign of love.

Do you hear that outside, that beautiful sound?”

Trump reportedly said.

“Those are truckers that are with us all the way.

They’re protesting in favour of President Trump, as opposed to against him.

“Hundreds of trucks out there. And that’s the sign of love, not the sign of your typical protest.

So I want to thank our great truckers. They like me, and I like them. We’re working on something together.”

He’d said something similar the previous day, when truck horns interrupted a tv interview. Trump insisted: “Well, they’re not protesters. They’re supporters of me because we are getting things for the truckers – and all those great truckers that are all over the country. They’re honking and they’re really very thankful that I’m President, frankly.”

US news media clarified that the long lines of parked-up trucks were really there as a truckers’ protest – demanding government intervention to

correct spot-market rates that were down 54% on April last year.

Some drivers also complained that the $US2trillion economic stimulus bill that Trump approved at the end of March did not provide them with any support.

One protester told US media that the rate to haul a truckload of freight from North Carolina to Los Angeles had dived from $US4700 two months earlier, to $US2700.

“We don’t need memes and news conferences saying ‘We support truckers,’ ” he said: “We need fuel to stay low, rates to go up, and some type of financial assistance until we recover.”

Media reports say that 350,000 to 400,000 of the almost two million truck drivers in the US are owner/drivers – and many others work for small companies that are in desperate need of financial assistance.

Trump said in one tv interview that truckers were being “price gouged” by brokers and said he was “going to take care of them.”

But one Washington protest trucker, Charles Claburn, warned others on Facebook: “You’re a political toy! Placated and being used.

“You leave that street (and) it’s over. We need more trucks. They see us, now they need to hear us!” T&D

All pictures: Facebook posts show that the hundreds of truckers parked-up outside the White House, are there to demand US Government support....and intervention to put a stop to freight brokers slashing spotmarket freight rates to crippling lows

Truck & Driver | 15

NEWS Mining giant SUEK is adding 360-degree cameras to some of its dumptruck fleet

Russian dumptrucks go high-tech EXTENSIVE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT STOP short of driverless operation are being introduced by Russian coalmining giant SUEK – including a 360-degree camera system for dumptrucks.

The full-surround-view cameras installed on its 130-tonne dumptrucks are the latest innovation SUEK is introducing to improve safety and efficiency at its Primorye mining operations.

The company’s suite of digital systems includes video monitoring by shift supervisers of mining areas, production unit managers and company directors, to control the operation of machinery.

Automated video and weight control systems manage remote loading of railway wagons.

All dumptrucks at one of its sites have been equipped with an automated control system which supplies realtime monitoring of location, the machine’s daily work rate, load weights at loading and unloading and fuel consumption.

It also recognises dangerous operation, including speeding, vehicle

downtime and evaluates the performance of drivers for entire shifts.

Dispatchers, shift and section supervisers and managers receive the data in realtime.

Yet another high-tech system installed on the dumptrucks remotely monitors the condition of the haul roads and access roads in the company’s open-pit mines.

The trucks’ onboard equipment eliminates the need for personnel to be physically present in the mines and SUEK says it increases the service life of its machinery, thanks to the prompt elimination of bumps and the restoration of the road surfaces. It also reduces the risk of emergencies caused by poor road conditions and increases the service life of dumptruck tyres.

SUEK’s Andrey Kukarenko says that together the digital technologies provide big benefits, including a 5-10% fuel cost saving, a 5-15% improvement in carrying out complex technical tasks, up to an 8% reduction in equipment operating costs and a dramatic decrease (up to 80%) in nonprocessing-related downtime. T&D

Truckstops Napier wins Volvo service comp A TEAM OF SERVICE TECHNICIANS FROM Truckstops Napier has beaten 29 other teams from around the country in the New Zealand leg of the Volvo International Service Training Award (VISTA) 2019/’20 competition.

The competition began last October, pitching teams from Truckstops branches nationwide and the Volvo authorised dealer network, against each other.

The Napier team, comprising team leader Ben Treagus, Luke Ross and Shannan Smith, “put in a huge effort to come out on top of what was an extremely challenging competition,” says Volvo Trucks NZ. Bruce Harris, technical services manager for MTD Trucks, says: “There are many components to the technical, parts and warranty systems which personnel learn through this experience.

“That makes VISTA so important to Volvo Trucks’ success in NZ – and, most critically, the success of our customers. To win you have to be consistent and that was the key to Truckstops Napier’s success.”

VISTA, which is open to all service professionals within the Volvo Trucks and Volvo Buses global service network, is reckoned to be the world’s largest competition of its kind. T&D 16 | Truck & Driver

The winning Truckstops Napier team – (from left), Ben Treagus, Luke Ross and Shannan Smith

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NEWS

An Inceptio/Dongfeng tractor unit has successfully completed trials, running semi-autonomously.....with a driver “still required”

Chinese self-driving startup is on track A CHINESE STARTUP AIMING TO CREATE A nationwide freight network of self-driving trucks, says it has achieved two milestones – raising $US100million backing and carrying out successful semi-autonomous trials.

Inceptio Technology tested its autonomous driving operations in association with Dongfeng Trucks – its systems monitoring the surrounding environment and making “some decisions”… but with a human driver “still required.”

It terms the trials “a key milestone” and “a solid step” towards volume production of Level 3 (semi-autonomous) trucks, which it intends to start manufacturing by the end of 2021.

It has an end-to-end business model, which sees it planning to begin operating a trucking network using its self-driving technology in 2022.

Inceptio CFO Jielong Zhang says the company is on schedule with its plans, “despite unprecedented difficulties” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The world is experiencing changes brought on by disruptive technology in the scale never seen before, whilst the world is also facing challenges on multiple fronts.”

Last year it added an R&D centre in California to its Chinese operations and began joint development projects with a number of Chinese truckmakers – Inceptio developing a full suite of autonomous software and the onboard computing platform, while the OEMs focused on engineering the platform for its self-driving system.

The testing of the Inceptio/Dongfeng truck began in March this year and the truckmaker’s deputy GM Wei Wang says the JV will “provide highly reliable and efficient smart logistics solutions to our customers.”

Inceptio founder and CEO Julian Ma says the company will “continue to pursue relentlessly the integration and innovation in autonomous driving and automotive engineering.

“We are confident to be the first to mass-produce autonomous trucks and commercialise the autonomous driving technologies in China.” T&D

Toughest-ever US truck emissions laws proposed TOUGH NEW LAWS AIMED AT reducing air pollution in California – the state with America’s worst air quality – call for manufacturers to dramatically increase the number of zero-emissions trucks sold there within the next 15 years.

Proposed regulations that will be the toughest in the United States if adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) this month, call for at least 40% of all heavy commercial tractor units sold in the state by 2035 to have zero emissions.

Tougher still is the requirement for light commercials: Three in every four light delivery trucks and vans sold will have to be emissionsfree by the same deadline. And 55% of all pickup

trucks sold will have to be zero emissions.

If adopted, the regulations will mean that by 2035, an estimated 20% of all trucks on Californian roads will have zero emissions.

The proposal was dramatically beefed-up last month from the truck emissions measures CARB had been considering, which would have resulted in an estimated 4% of all trucks being emissions free.

Environmental groups, who protested that the lower emissions-free vehicle targets were not tough enough, say the proposed new standards will be “transformative.”

Until now truck manufacturers have avoided regulations setting emissions-free vehicle ratios

– even though California has imposed them on cars and SUVs. They have argued successfully that truck operators must be able to run vehicles profitably – and the added cost of electric trucks make that difficult.

The California Trucking Association, while not officially opposing the rule (since it applies to manufacturers), says it is “disheartening to see regulations get stricter when the economy is in freefall and businesses are in survival mode.”

Two of the world’s biggest ports are located in Los Angeles and nearby Long Beach and are serviced by thousands of trucks, running freight to and from the so-called Inland Empire – the sprawling metropolitan area east of LA. T&D Truck & Driver | 17

NEWS The 24 Volvo 4x2s were used by McLaren to carry cars and equipment to each of the European GPs in 2018 and 2019

F1 Volvos for sale TRUCKIES WITH A LOVE OF FORMULA ONE ARE being offered the opportunity to buy a Volvo tractor unit and get involved with an F1 team. Well…kind of.

Twenty-four Volvo FH 4x2s previously run by the McLaren Racing F1 team (which, of course, has a huge Kiwi history, having been founded by our own Bruce McLaren) are up for sale in the United Kingdom.

The 2018 model Globetrotter XL left-hand-drive tractor units were used in 2018 and 2019 to transport the team’s racing cars and equipment to the European rounds of the championship.

The metallic silver trucks, which were part of a major sponsorship deal with Volvo Trucks, were built to “a flagship specification” and each come with an official certificate of authenticity plus McLaren Racing merchandise, including a cap signed by current McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

The trucks also come with a carbon fibre McLaren keyring and have a “discreet” McLaren Racing badge on the cabs.

The FHs have Volvo D13K engines producing 540 horsepower and 2600Nm of peak torque and I-Shift automated transmissions with I-See predictive cruise control. They have clocked-up between 30,000 and 60,000 kilometres.

Volvo Used Trucks national sales and brand manager Carl White says they are “very special vehicles and we’re expecting a lot of interest from ownerdrivers and fleets, doing mostly Continental work.

“So far as specifications go, they’ve got pretty much every option on them – factory fitted, including refrigerators, microwaves and luxury leather interiors.

What’s more, they have been maintained in showroom condition by McLaren Racing.” T&D

Leyland gets a gong from the Queen LEYLAND TRUCKS – THE HISTORIC BRITISH BR ANCH of the PACCAR group – has won a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade 2020.

The Queen’s Award was in recognition of the operation increasing exports by almost 50% over the last three years.

Leyland Trucks builds DAF XF, CF and LF models for the UK, Europe, North America, South America, Asia and (excluding the LF) New Zealand.

Its Preston, Lancashire, factory last year delivered almost 20,000 trucks, while also enhancing its vehicle quality and manufacturing efficiency.

The operation generates the equivalent of $NZ2billion in annual revenue in the UK, where DAFs have enjoyed 25 years of commercial vehicle market leadership – claiming a 30.5% UK market share in the 6-40-tonne sector last year.

Leyland Trucks MD Brennan Gourdie says the Queen’s Award is “outstanding recognition for our dedicated employees, who design and build the highest quality commercial vehicles in the marketplace, and a positive reflection of the excellent DAF sales and service dealer network.”

PACCAR executive chairman Mark Pigott says that PACCAR has made “the UK’s highest-quality commercial vehicles for 40 years.

“The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is a wonderful honour for our employees, customers, dealers and suppliers.” T&D 18 | Truck & Driver

DAF LF, CF and XF models lined up outside the Leyland Trucks factory

Just like the cheese

Story Dave McLeod Photos Tez Mercer

The Sinotruk, at around 44.2 tonnes all-up, hauls up the western side of the Kaimai Ranges, taking its load of Taranaki export cheese to the port at Tauranga

20 | Truck & Driver

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Truck & Driver | 21

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The Hickman Sinotruk has clockedup 36,000kms in a couple of months

T

HERE’S A LOAD OF TARANAKI CHEESE IN THE container behind this Chinese-built Sinotruk C7H 8x4 tractor unit and it gets me thinking about that old cheese ad that used to be on the tv.

You know, the one about good things taking time – time to mature. I wonder if it could be the same story with the Sinotruks: Not so much that they take time to mature – moreso that it maybe takes time for you to get used to them, appreciate them.

After all, following an unimpressive start in the Kiwi market a few years back, they now seem to be gaining quite a foothold on the New Zealand trucking scene – with over 100 of them sold here last year.

To gain some insight into why transport operators have been warming to the Sinotruk is why we’re here – at a layby at the southern end of the tiny King Country township of Piopio at 6am. The sun hasn’t even had the courtesy to raise itself from its slumber. How rude!

We’ve been on the road from Auckland since around 3am, which is apparently not far off the time that the 29,175-kilogram, 25-metre container loaded with export cheese was going onto the Mills-Tui skeletal quad trailer that’s behind this JD Hickman tractor unit, back in New Plymouth.

Driver Chris Jones has spent the past couple of months at the wheel of this Chinese 8x4 – so surely he can give us an idea of whether, like that Mainland cheese, it really is a good thing….something many more will come to appreciate, in time.

Chris is heading for Sulphur Point, Tauranga – a good few hours’ drive away yet…over a route that includes the Kaimai Ranges. So, should be a good test. One final big yawn…

before it’s time to get to work.

The Hickman unit comes with an overall tare weight of 15,020kg (9960kg for the tractor and 5060kg the trailer).

The twin-steer, sleeper cab tractor comes with a bit of safety tech – ABS, EBS and ASR, for example. There’s a 12-speed automated manual transmission and a Sinotruk MC13.54-50 engine that produces a useful 540 horsepower/397 kilowatts of peak power and up to 2500 Newton metres/1843 lb ft of maximum torque.

NZ Truck & Driver’s Hayden Woolston takes the first drive out of Piopio, to head north to Te Kuiti, (his view is included in The Pirelli Trevor Test), I climb inside at the BP service station in Te Kuiti, to join Chris.

Even in the murkiness of dawn, the Sinotruk cab is easy to get into. The three steps up are well placed, although the bottom one is a little recessed. There are grabhandles front and rear and the door opens wide, to around 90-degrees.

We start off in auto mode and third gear – the Sinotruk’s AMT smoothly shifting up with a single or a skip shift.

Chris is chirpy for this time of the morning as he explains: “It’s up to the truck and up to the acceleration. She’ll go up to 1800 revs – and then drop down to 1000 when she skipchanges.”

Heading north out of town towards Otorohanga, it doesn’t take long before we’re in 10th gear, doing 50km/h at 1300 revs. Chris is happy: “That’s what it’ll do through towns.”

He’s still young, but he’s also already a veteran driver. With JD Hickman for just over a year now, he’s been driving trucks since he was 18 – having started out before that, “loading Fodens and ERFs. Then I moved to driving a Mack and a Volvo. I was doing linehaul for a while, driving Isuzus, Mitsis and Ivecos.”

Truck & Driver | 23

Left: It’s still dark when we meet up with the Sinotruk in Piopio

Above: Career truck driver Chris Jones is more than happy with his Chinese ride

Right: It’s a tough old run that the C7H has been put to work on, with plenty of big hills en route

Since then he’s driven a “Ford/Sterling, Freightliners….pretty much them all over the years. That’s another reason why I was keen to drive one of these – because it’s a different truck to drive.”

He came out of a 2002 Kenworth conventional to take over this brand-new Sinotruk just before Christmas. In a couple of months he’s put 36,000 kilometres on the clock and seems comfortable with the newcomer. In fact, the Sinotruk’s comfort – both the driver-friendliness of its interior and its easy driveability – were the first things he noticed, Chris reckons.

“The cabin is pretty quiet. Wind my window up and all you can hear is the turbo and the fan. It’s quite easy when you’re talking on the phone to get into the conversation because it’s so quiet and easy to drive. You get in the mode and you think ‘wow, I must have passed Otorohanga….but I don’t remember it.’

“As a driver, I’ve driven a lot of old trucks and wow….you can’t beat this, I love it.

“This is more spacious: I can breathe in here and the driver’s seat is way more comfortable than the old Kenworth – even though it had an air seat. You’ve got more legroom. It was only a day cab Kenworth – but the difference is huge.”

Looking around, there does appear to be a tonne of space inside the cab, thanks to the high-roof sleeper configuration.

There’s also plenty of cubbyholes for logbooks and virtually anything else a driver would need.

I look behind at the sleeper, and Chris says: “I have slept in it already. I ran out of hours in Hamilton, so I went to our depot there and stayed the night in it. There’s a lot of room – can’t complain about that – but the mattress could be a lot 24 | Truck & Driver

thicker. It’s a bit thin. I like comfort. Lucky I’m only a little guy, so it didn’t affect me too much.”

Clear of Te Kuiti, the 12.4-litre Sinotruk engine gets into its work. The 540hp/397kW of peak power is available at 1900rpm, while the 2500Nm /1843 lb ft of maximum torque introduces itself from 1050-1350rpm.

We’re in 11th gear, the speed gradually increasing to 80km/h. It revs out to 1700 before the 12-speed AMT upshifts into top.

Through an 85k corner at the posted speed, Chris engages the Sinotruk’s cruise control and lets the truck run at 90km/h, the engine spinning at 1500rpm: “I’ll sit here all day if I can,” he says as he relaxes into his seat and starts to talk about the truck itself.

“Visibility is good – the side windows are nice and big and clear. They’re bigger than the Kenworth’s – not so squashed in. The mirrors are okay – you’ve got a good view out of them, but…they’ve still got that curve on them where it looks like the trailer’s a couple of k behind you.

“Once you get used to it, they’re ok. But to me it’s a bit annoying because you go past a truck going up the Kaimais and you really have to double look before you get back in.”

Then again, he adds, once you understand that, “you’re good to go. It took a couple of weeks to get used to them.”

The instrument cluster and dials all seem pretty clear and Chris agrees: “The layout of the dash is really good, everything is visible and, depending on how you set your steering wheel (tilt and extend, courtesy of a foot button down by the door), the dials are easy to see.

“They’re just standard: You’ve got speedo, fuel, temperature, battery, turbo boost and revs – all analogue and

easy to read. And there’s a digital bit with oil pressure, air pressure, Adblue, trip and gearing.”

Controls-wise, he adds: “Everything is easy to reach and driver-friendly.”

To slow down for a roundabout, Chris first uses the 4th stage of the Voith VR115CT hydraulic driveline retarder, which disengages the cruise control, and then goes to the exhaust brake – without touching the footbrake. Fifth stage is next and the Sinotruk skipshifts down the box.

With no traffic to stop us, we negotiate the island and pick up speed in 8th, the AMT making upshifts between 1600 and 1800, picking up again around 1400rpm each time.

He rates the truck’s stopping power: “To slow down I’ll use (stage) four normally – in five she’s pretty hardcore: It’ll actually change down the gears when you’re in auto.

“It’s very rare that I do touch the footbrake – I read the road ahead. But the stopping power of my exhaust brake and my retarder is just phenomenal….really impressive.

“I’ve driven a V8 Scania and comparing that to this I would say they’re on a good par. This can get quite vicious when it’s empty, which is good because you know it’s definitely gonna pull you up!

“I drove the old Kenworth last week – it just had the Jakes…. The retarder is a big difference.”

Chris is a fan too for coasting along, whenever possible, on downhill running: “I let it do its thing…let it coast. It gives me better fuel economy. I’ve noticed that since I’ve hit 31,000km I’m using less and less fuel.”

The first hill we reach of any notable mention is the climb past the Big Apple Café, which Chris takes with the AMT left in auto mode just for my benefit: Normally he’d go to manual

mode.

“By driving it in manual you can use those extra revs, making it gruntier up the hill.”

There is a kickdown option too, although Chris doesn’t use it that often: “I don’t think it works as well as the Volvo’s and there’s plenty of play in the accelerator not to bother.

“Now and then, depending on my mood and if ‘I want to get up that hill,’ I’ll put my foot down and hit it – and it doesn’t do anything ‘cos you’re doing it anyway!

“I think it’s got power enough not to use the kickdown, especially when you’re really concentrating and actually driving it – when you ‘drive it like you stole it,’ as they say.”

As we pass the café the AMT drops down to 11th, then 10th, at 55-60km/h….which is as low and slow as we get. As we crest the climb the engine is revving at 1700rpm and the AMT shifts up to 11th, with 70km/h on the speedo.

“I’ve done nothing but put my foot on the accelerator,” Chris says happily.

Underpinning this truck is a trapezium frame with MCY13 disc-braked drive axles on eight-airbag suspension, with an HF7 front axle on three-leaf parabolic springs. It has disc brakes all around.

The steering setup is recirculating ball power, which seems to be just fine for Chris: “The steering is light – compared to the Kenworth, very light. It’s a little bit loose, but that’s because of the second steer (axle). You go over a bump and hit it with the first tyre – the second tyre is going to put it out. The two wheels together are always going to make it a bit bumpy – all second-steer eight-wheelers are like it.

“It’s a little bit bouncy, but once again, that’s due to the eight-wheeler. If it was a three-axle tractor unit you wouldn’t Truck & Driver | 25

All pictures: The 12.4-litre MC13.54.50 engine is said to be MAN based – the result of an 11-year-old joint-venture between the German and Chinese makes...which was beefed-up in 2018 by their owners, the TRATON and CNHTC groups

have so much of the bounce.”

Coming into Otorohanga, the retarder, on its fifth stage, slows us down pretty quick. In 10th, Chris knocks the Voith back to its first stage, then the second. He lets the Sinotruk slow down to 50km/h and then turns the retarder off – cruising into town at 50km/h, the engine at 1300rpm.

“Once you get to know it, it’s really easy to drive and pretty basic. You don’t have to touch too many things – you don’t have to keep changing down gears. You’ve got the option….you can put it into manual and drive it like a Kenworth and certainly get more grunt out of it.”

Moving from a sought-after brand like Kenworth and into the so-far-little-known Sinotruk could seem like a comedown to some….but not Chris.

“Well it hasn’t really occurred to me about it being Chinese, because it’s a truck at the end of the day – and if it’s gonna perform much as what you want out of a truck, it doesn’t matter.

“A Sinotruk….I think it’s only just a name. The performance has out-proven the name. Ok, it’s a Chinese truck – who wants to drive that! But most of the running gear is MAN and I work on that: I’m driving a MAN, because it operates like a MAN. As far as I’m concerned, the Chinese have just put their symbol on it.”

Sinotruk or MAN….Chris is definitely a fan: “I’m happy-as.

26 | Truck & Driver

It’d be quite hard to get me out of this now, I’m so used to it. I drove the Kenworth the other day and it was like ‘wow!

Really! I used to take this to Tauranga?’ ” The Sinotruk is, he reaffirms, “definitely performing better than I expected it to – 100%. I didn’t think it would go that well, being European/Chinese. I’ve driven Volvos and they haven’t got the power that I’m used to in the Kenworth. But this thing – I’d drive one of these over the Volvos.”

Is there anything he doesn’t like about it? “Just the mirrors really – everything else I’m happy with. I did ask if the motors came in a 600, but like our mechanic says: ‘Every truck driver wants more horsepower.’ ” So does it lack engine performance? “It doesn’t lack it – there’s just a difference between the CAT power and the MAN/ European motors. You’ll always get that bit of a lag with the European than you do with a CAT. The CAT’s got more oomph, more pull.

“You’re only talking a smidgin, but the CAT’s running a bit hotter at 1000 revs – the CATs will torque more. And when you drive to the seat like I do – I feel everything through my body, just having that feeling from your butt up to your head – you still can’t beat that pulling power from a CAT.” Chris hasn’t had the chance to test it yet, but he’s been told that he can’t put the diff crosslocks in on the move: “You’ve actually got to come to your problem and be

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All pictures: The Sinotruk interior is not state of the art, but Chris is happy with its space, comfort and the user-friendliness of its controls and dash.

Trevor Woolston finds it awkward to use two feet on the throttle and brake pedals

stationary before putting them in. Where, in the Kenworth, you put them in the minute you started losing traction – like up the Kaimais on a rainy day, empty.

“You start losing traction and, as long as you were straight, you could button off on the accelerator, hit your power divider, your crosslocks and it would automatically lock in.

And then you start putting your accelerator down and it would grip. In saying that, I haven’t experienced a situation (in the Sinotruk) where I needed to put them in at a low speed.”

We’ve heard talk that the Sinotruk HW25712XA AMT isn’t as good as it could be, but again Chris expresses a different view: “It’s a very smooth gearbox. I haven’t had it jolt on me yet. Some autos really jump and you can feel it.”

He does concede though that there are some places where you just need to drive it in Manual mode: “When we first got it, it caught me out twice – on Mount Messenger of all places!

I left it in Auto to see what it’s got. I kicked the kickdown and planted-it up the hill…and she just laboured too much for the steepness of the hill.

“It couldn’t keep up with the revs or what it wanted to do and it just didn’t work – it wanted to stop. And we did stop.

So I had to start off again. It went right down to first gear.

“It didn’t do it itself: Once it got to fourth gear, by then I

was stopped – so I actually had to put my foot on the brake to tell it to stop doing stuff. That was quite hard, because you’ve got to start off again in a real low, crawling gear and crawl up to get your momentum up again. The second time, it did exactly the same.

“But since then, they’ve changed the gearstick and the brain – about a month ago (20,000kms)….for NZ roads. It’s way better. I still haven’t done that hill in auto, ‘cos I don’t want to stop again. But what I have found in the tests I’ve done since, I have got more revs in the new setup. I’m thinking it’s about 100rpm.”

He adds: “One thing the people that service these (trucks) in Hamilton told me – that the trucks do not look at the hills like we do. So you’ve got to tell the truck that it’s a hill or it’s a downhill gradient.

“That’s the joy of being a NZ driver – we’ve got these challenges. Over there, where this truck comes from, it’s just flat roads.”

Our next challenge is up the hill out of Otorohanga. For this, Chris puts the AMT into its power setting, and in Manual mode – pointing out the Power, Economy, Auto, Manual and Crawler buttons beside the gearshift knob.

“I’ve hit 70km/h, I’ve gone into Manual, I’ve gone into Power. I’m in 11th gear at 1500rpm.”

Truck & Driver | 29

“Whereas, driving this all day, at the end of the week, your body’s not tired” He downshifts one gear and we climb the hill at 55-65kmh.

At the top, the revs at 1700, he hits the Auto button again.

“Now she’ll just do her thing. It’ll come up to 11th gear – 70k, 1500rpm.”

It’s all quite fluid. Chris clearly knows the road well: “I do this trip every day – Monday to Friday. It’s about 400 and something Ks one way – so about 800kms round trip.

And it varies from a 10 to 14-hour day, depending on traffic, roadworks and what happens at my destination.”

He seems very relaxed about it all: “You should be relaxed in your workplace – that’s the way I look at it. If you’re doing long hours in a vehicle, you really need the comfort, ‘cos at the end of the day, it’s your body that’s gonna pay for it.

“I’ve had the days of sore backs, where the boss has had to pull me out of the truck because of the constant banging of the truck (like in the Isuzus). Your back soon gives out.

You’re only human.

“Whereas, driving this all day, at the end of the week,

your body’s not tired. My body’s certainly thanking me for being in this truck.”

The Sinotruk will return to Taranaki unloaded so, as he puts it, “I bounce home empty. I don’t need a great deal of horsepower and hence I’ve gone for the comfort. You can have all the horsepower in the world but when you get out, you’re still gonna feel like you’ve been through a wringer.

“Each to their own. The ease of driving the truck – you haven’t got too many gadgets to play with. You just obey the rules and drive. It’s cool.”

We stop at the Mobil in Karapiro for NZ Truck & Driver publisher and tester Trevor Woolston to get behind the wheel for the next stretch – across the Hinuera straights and over the Kaimai Hill to Tauriko.

The best part of this test is, of course, the Kaimais climb and descent. Trevor has the Sinotruk AMT in Manual mode, with the Power setting selected.

The first part of the hill is tackled as he works down, one gear at a time, to 8th, where we sit, at around 40km/h and 1800rpm.

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We get to the port in Tauranga ahead of the Sinotruk’s scheduled check-in time, but Chris is happy with the wait...and the easygoing nature of this container run

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Above, left: Good grabhandles both sides and three well-placed steps make getting in and out of the tractor unit easy

Above, centre: The mirrors are among the few negatives Chris has about the Sinotruk. He reckons that the convex mirror makes it hard to judge where the rear end of the trailer is

Negotiating the first right-hand bend the revs start to fall and we’re overtaken by two buses. He’s hard on the throttle pedal through a couple of bends but we stay in 8th and the Sinotruk’s engine/transmission combo feels unstressed.

When the engine revs drop to 1500, he grabs 7th, at 30km/h.

It holds this – revving out to 2000rpm at times – till a tight corner within the last K of the climb, when we slow to 25km/h, at 1500rpm.

By the scenic lookout, we’ve edged back up to 28k and he actually eases off the throttle pedal to avoid needing an upshift, keeping the revs around 1700-1800.

He’s able to pick up a gear at the lookout and the revs drop to 1100, at 30km/h. This increases to 50k before he manages another upshift as the two-lane road narrows to one. We’re in 10th as we crest the hill and begin our descent – the engine at 2000 revs, but holding 80km/h with the exhaust brake only.

As we begin to drop, the retarder is engaged – progressively, up from first to third. The revs stay around 1600, the speed at 60km/h. When the road widens to two lanes, in 10th, Woolston alternates between the second and fourth stages on the retarder.

Heading down Cannonball hill, we’re in 10th at 1100rpm and 60km/h – on the fourth stage of the retarder. We pull into the slow lane to let the traffic go by, just as the rain starts. Back in the traffic flow, Trevor skip-shifts up to top gear as we head into the 100km/h zone. Just one more hill to go.

Up towards the school and into the passing lane territory, the AMT downshifts to 11th – slowly. It takes fully four seconds to make the change.

But it’s just before we start up the Tauriko hill that things come a little bit of a cropper. Forced to a full stop in heavy 32 | Truck & Driver

roadworks traffic at the foot of the hill there’s a long delay in pulling away again. In stop/start traffic, on the slope, we end up stalling several times.

When we stop at Tauriko for Chris to get back behind the wheel, our hiccup on the hill is quickly explained: “Engaging the parking brake gives you a three or four second delay as you gain revs before it releases. It’s a sort of hill start assist function.”

He reckons that, with this Sinotruk, it’s a matter of man and machine working together – rather than man relying on the machine to make all the decisions: “You need to tell the truck what road or gradient you’re on – it’s all about getting your speed and the revs correct to stop the delay from being so long. It’s just experience with the truck, you have to think for the gearbox.

“You’ve got to know your truck to see what performance it’s working at, at a certain speed to a certain revs. It’s like a European truck – where the gearing is a lot slower than a full 18-speed manual Kenworth. They have got the one-second delays in all the gearboxes I find anyway.

“When coming up to steeper hills I would keep it up in 1500-1600 revs until I get my pull gear (say 7th), then I’ll be away.”

We arrive at the port ahead of the truck’s assigned arrival time. Chris seems happy enough to wait – and I take it as a reinforcement of my ‘good things take time’ mantra.

He picks up on the theme: “It’s not a race out there. I’m getting paid to drive a truck. I call it a semi-retired job – I’ve only got four little twistlocks to undo and do up every day.

“The machine does the job for me – I just need to operate it sensibly.” T&D

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Trevor Test

Trevor Woolston

I

T’S AN EARLY MORNING START AS WE head down to Piopio to meet up with JD Hickman’s new Sinotruk C7H 8x4 tractor unit, pulling a skeletal trailer with a 40 foot box of Taranaki cheese to Tauranga for export.

It’s still dark when we meet Chris at the Piopio sale yards to join him on his run – north through the Waikato and then over the Kaimais.

My son Hayden jumps behind the wheel in Piopio and takes it through to Te Kuiti and I get behind the wheel at the Mobil Karapiro to drive the next stretch across the Hinuera straights and over the hill to Tauriko.

Access up into the cab is by way of three well-spaced steps, with grabhandles front and back of the door. The bottom step is hinged and is set forward and recessed back a bit compared to the ones above it….which makes it a little unnatural when you first encounter it. The door opening is good and wide however, so it makes for a generally easy cab access.

Inside the cab there is plenty of seat adjustment for the tallest driver and good steering wheel adjustment to help you get

34 | Truck & Driver

Hayden Woolston

comfortable. Dash layout is very traditional with speedo and tachometer, along with fuel, temperature and air pressure gauges and a digital display.

On the centre dash is a touchscreen audio system, traction controls and climate controls. Other functions are on the columnmounted stalks, with wipers and indicators on the left and retarder on the right. There’s also an exhaust brake switch on the left of the central dash.

There is a gear selector on the floor to the left of the driver’s seat which has buttons for manual or auto, and economy or power mode…and for a crawler gear. It’s a 12 speed AMT box hooked up to a 540hp engine developing maximum horsepower at 1900rpm and 2500Nm of torque at 1050 to 1350rpm.

Hayden leaves the AMT in auto for the climbs into Te Kuiti and finds the box drops to 5th gear, where probably – with manual shifting – he could have maintained 7th gear for these climbs.

As I head out across the Hinuera straights the truck picks up revs quickly but I do

notice on the few small climbs we encounter that the auto mode downshifts are quite slow and this will have a bearing on our climb up the Kaimais. Chris has warned us that he manually downshifts at 1500rpm on these climbs to avoid bogging down.

There is quite a bit of road bumping coming up through the cab across here and I do find that the steering seems to have a bit of play in it that requires regular correction. Despite this I can hold a good position on the road – it just takes a bit more concentration.

Noise levels in the cab are low, with very little engine noise coming through. And with the windows up conversation across the cab is easy at normal voice levels.

Forward vision is good with a deep, wide screen. The dash does however rise up quite high, which blocks the vision of what’s immediately in front.

There are two very big mirror shrouds that house a very large flat mirror and a large lower convex mirror. Together they do create a blind spot when you’re approaching intersections and they tend to vibrate in

• SPECIFICATIONS • SINOTRUK C7H 8x4

Engine: Sinotruk MC13.54-50 Capacity: 12.4 litres Maximum power: 397kW (540hp) @ 1900rpm Maximum torque: 2500Nm (1843 lb ft) @ 1050-1350rpm Fuel capacity: 400 litres Transmission: Sinotruk HW25712XA 12-speed AMT Ratios: 1st – 15.01 2nd – 11.66 3rd – 9.03 4th – 7.14 5th – 5.56 6th – 4.37 7th – 3.43 normal operation, which can be annoying. There is also a large circular mirror on the upper front left corner of the cab to show the offside front corner.

The mirrors work well for me but Chris does find that the convex mirror seems to push his trailer vision further back than he prefers. He’d prefer one with less distortion.

Once into the Kaimai climb I select Manual mode and the Power setting and start making downshifts at 1500rpm. We climb up past the Rotorua/Putaruru turnoff in 11th gear and progressively drop down to 8th for most of the climb, with a final drop to 7th just a few hundred metres before the top and we hold this to the summit.

As we approach the first downhill, I’m in 10th gear and I hold this for the descent – using the exhaust brake and the retarder, in its fourth stage. I maintain these settings for each of the descents.

Hayden also used 10th gear for the downhill run into Te Kuiti and also found that it coped well, with no over-running and with only minor brake applications required.

As we get to the foot of the Tauriko hill we

encounter a traffic jam and have to crawl up this final climb, stopping and starting repeatedly.

This does highlight one issue: How difficult it is to operate both the brake and throttle pedals using two feet. Both pedals are to the right of the steering column and there’s not a lot of room for a two-foot operation. Also I have to bend my left leg around the column to get to the brake pedal. I do manage it however and it makes it much easier to control the stopping and starting.

I do notice a lengthy delay in the brakes releasing as I drop them to lift off on the hill and it does in fact stall the engine. This could well be intended, as it does give greater control once you’re used to it for hill starting.

Chris is very happy with his ride. This is his regular run and the Sinotruk handles it easily and with no dramas.

Once you get used to driving it, it performs well and makes good time over the ground. It’s not a 600hp-plus giant, but over these roads – which do present plenty of challenges – it handles things comfortably and without stress for Chris. He certainly has no major issues with his Chinese ride. T&D

8th – 2.66 9th – 2.06 10th – 1.63 11th – 1.27 12th – 1.00 Front axles: Sinotruk HF7discbraked, each rated at 6500kg Rear axles: Sinotruk MCY13 discbraked, rated at 18,000kg Auxiliary brakes: Sinotruk EVB exhaust brake, Voith VR115CT hydraulic retarder Front suspension: Three-leaf parabolic springs Rear suspension: ECAS eight airbag GVW: 31,000kg GCM: 55,000kg

Truck & Driver | 35

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

1 1 ed ed

n n re re

r, r, ng ng

U. U.

1 N1 ed ged

n en re ere re

The supply chain only works if all the links in the chain remain intact

Freeing up freight critical to recovery T

r, der, ng ting ;

U. OU.

by Nick Leggett Chief Executive Road Transport Forum NZ

HE COVID-19 CRISIS HAS PRESENTED the Road Transport Forum with some substantial challenges over the past two to three months.

None of these, of course, can compete with the challenges faced by our members and those within the wider industry that have been struggling to keep transport businesses going in a period of significantly reduced demand.

One of our biggest tasks has been convincing the Government to take a pragmatic approach to the treatment of non-essential freight. Initially a confusing matrix of advice meant that businesses were told they could receive and unpack non-essential goods….then they were told they couldn’t. And

finally it was confirmed that they could.

This created a huge amount of uncertainty right across the economy and it was frustrating to have to go through the process of explaining to Government officials and ministers just how difficult it was from our industry’s point of view to operate just with essential freight.

The supply chain, we argued, only works if all the links of that chain remain intact: Try to remove non-essential freight and the whole supply chain will break down, creating bottlenecks that will inevitably lead to essential freight being held up also. Keeping the supply chain intact also meant that businesses who received that freight were in a much better Truck & Driver | 37

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

position to open to customers as we moved down through the alert levels.

RTF also undertook an extensive amount of work with New Zealand Transport Agency officials on gaining relief for operators around compliance and technical issues. We are particularly pleased that trucks and trailers that are in a safe condition will be able to operate without a valid CoF and won’t be subject to CoF inspection until October 10, 2020.

However, we do advise operators to have their CoF inspections carried out at their earliest opportunity to avoid the high demand for inspections as inspectors deal with the anticipated backlog.

Where we didn’t have so much success was in requesting the Government reduce RUCs during the Level 4 and Level 3 lockdowns. We strongly made the point that this was an overhead that, if alleviated, could be very beneficial to many operators during what are very tough times.

However, Minister of Transport Phil Twyford cited the other forms of assistance being provided to businesses and the loss of RUC revenue to the National Land Transport Fund as reasons why the Government did not support this proposal.

I must say, through this crisis I have been pretty disappointed with many in our news media and commentariat who have prevented much-needed debate over the Government’s response to COVID-19.

We can be thankful that in many respects our Government

was quick to act and when it did it made some decisive decisions that may well have saved NZ from the fate of some of the more badly-affected countries around the world. However, that does not mean that they have got everything right – and nor would one expect them to.

Opposition and dissension are actually extremely important parts of the democratic process and can play a very constructive role in highlighting areas of neglect and parts of the Government’s response that need improvement.

Unfortunately, we have developed a mainstream culture so sycophantic to the current administration that opposition to decisions has, more often than not, been shouted-down and in many cases ridiculed.

The fact is there are important questions that need answering, and you can be sure when it comes to the freight task and the future of our economy, that RTF will keep asking them.

Finally, I just want to promote an innovative programme recently developed by NZ Trade and Enterprise. It is an online marketplace for NZ businesses to match offers and requests for resources – for instance, those who have no work can get in touch with those who do….but are short of the workers to necessarily do it.

It’s a good idea and covers the freight sector, so if you think that could be useful to you, go to nz-marketplace.nzte.govt. nz T&D

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

RTF has been working with Janet Lane’s team at MITO to develop the Road Freight Traineeship

PLAN FOR INDUSTRY CADETSHIP

H

UNDREDS OF OPERATORS AROUND THE country have contributed to an extremely important workforce survey recently carried out by RTF. “The survey was begun just before the COVID-19 lockdown and, while the timing was not exactly ideal, it was really important that we pushed through and completed the process,” says RTF’s Nick Leggett.

“I really want to thank those operators who, in an extremely stressful period, took some time out of their day to complete the survey and contribute such valuable information.

“The data is being used to demonstrate to Government the extent of the workforce issues within our sector and will help guide solutions that the industry looks to put in place and any assistance we may get from Government to do this.”

RTF is encouraged that a high proportion of survey respondents declared an interest in participating in an industry cadetship. Over the last couple of months quite a bit of work has been done with MITO on the design of the proposed scheme.

“The objective is for the cadetship to be flexible, so that it is relevant to the variety of career pathways employees may seek to follow in our industry,” says Leggett.

“This includes having multiple entry and exit points within the scheme.”

The cadetship will broadly comprise three stages: Foundation skills, technical skills and business skills. The Level 3 Commercial Road Transport Skills programme is seen as a foundation entry qualification for most people to enter the cadetship scheme.

Says Leggett: “We are looking at holding one or two application rounds to enter the scheme each year. This will include an online application form to be completed by the trainee applicants and their managers.

“Applicants will then be shortlisted, with an interview conducted by

RTF and MITO personnel. Successful applicants will be inducted into the traineeship at a series of regional functions.”

The training itself will be mostly facilitated in the workplace, with MITOapproved company assessors providing the on-job practical training, overseeing the theory learning and setting the training standard.

Theory work, including videos, interactive simulations and online theory assessments, will be completed via eLearning. Realtime results and progress reports will be available, through MITO’s online portal, to both the workplace superviser and the trainee.

“Importantly, trainees will be guaranteed a minimum of 40 hours per week of work, at or above the living wage,” says Leggett.

“The intention is also to set up a system of mentors who can support the trainee through the programme and complement the on-job learning support that the learner already receives.”

Experienced industry mentor advisers will help learners through technical components of the programme that they are struggling with. Company mentors will provide trainees with a senior company person to turn to for advice and support. This could be their superviser, workplace assessor or another senior employee.

Iwi mentors will be available in some regions to work alongside the company mentors and industry mentor advisers, to provide additional pastoral support with an iwi focus.

“While it can be difficult in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis to focus too far into the future, it is important that we take proactive steps to mitigate the serious longterm workforce issues in our sector,” says Leggett.

“This scheme, I believe, can play its part in doing that, but it will be up to operators to get on board.”

More information on the road freight cadetship will be made available to industry in due course. T&D Truck & Driver | 39

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

Roads are the critical arteries of our economy

There’s never been a better time to build roads

N

EW ZEALAND TRUCK & DRIVER READERS will know by now that the Road Transport Forum is not shy in expressing its opinion that NZ requires a far better roading network than what we have currently.

RTF chief executive Nick Leggett and former leaders Ken Shirley and Tony Friedlander have been beating this drum for years.

And while there have been a few notable successes, such as the Waterview project in Auckland and the Waikato and Kapiti Expressways, RTF has largely been disappointed at the lack of priority given to roading infrastructure.

Says Leggett: “Frankly, governments of both stripes have a lot to answer for when it comes to the parlous state of our roading infrastructure.

“The Clark-led Labour Government spent a whole lot of money needlessly, buying back the failed KiwiRail – while the last National administration talked up a big game with the Roads of National Significance….but didn’t actually get many of them done.”

The recovery from COVID-19, however, presents this Government with an unprecedented opportunity to make up some of this infrastructure deficit by investing in critical highway projects, Leggett believes.

“The Government has asked a group of industry leaders to seek out infrastructure projects that are ready to start as soon as the construction industry returns to normal.

“RTF has proposed that the Petone-Grenada Link in Wellington, the

East-West Link between Onehunga and Mt Wellington in Auckland, and the Selwyn to Timaru highway updates in Canterbury should all be on this group’s agenda – to boost economic recovery from the hit of COVID19.

“We have also asked the group to recommend that legislation be used to fast-track both these and other projects to avoid unnecessary holdups and consenting. These projects have had significant investigation, design and planning to date and both their construction and resulting opening would stimulate productivity through better movement of people and freight.

“It is just so important that NZ invests appropriately for the recovery period we have ahead. Infrastructure projects provide an immediate economic stimulus, but the Government needs to carefully select projects that build and sustain increased economic activity and reduce reliance on the Government itself as the longterm salvation.

“A better roading network will allow us to play to our natural economic advantages as a food producer, by making it easier to get our exports to market. This must be the priority.”

As NZ considers its options, it is worth reflecting on the success that then President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal infrastructure programme had in the United States – not only in pulling the country out of the Great Depression, but as a key ingredient in American economic success for the next 60 or 70 years.

Truck & Driver | 41

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

Road Transport Forum was established in 1997 to represent the combined interest of all members as a single organisation at a national level.

Members of Road Transport Forum’s regionally focussed member associations are automatically affiliated to the Forum.

The suffering created by the Great Depression and the success of Roosevelt’s New Deal have been immortalised in the likes of this bread line memorial. Photo by Sonder Quest on Unsplash

Says Leggett: “According to statistics I have seen, the US built over a million kilometres of road and 78,000 bridges during that period – along with tens of thousands of schools, utilities and public buildings.

“This meant unemployed Americans were put back to work. And then, as the economy picked up, it was supercharged by a roading network that allowed for the efficient movement of people and freight.”

There is no great secret to the success of road building as an economic stimulus either, he adds: In fact it is a wellworn script that has been applied, not only in recovery situations, but to assist developing countries all over the world to kick-start their economies.

“The problem roading advocates find is that every time new roads are proposed we are met with derisory opposition from rail advocates and environmental pressure groups, arguing that roads are a fast-track to environmental ruin.

“Even during the COVID-19 lockdown we had the Greens coming out advocating for high-spec, high-speed regional rail commuter services from places like Ashburton to Christchurch. Despite history telling us that this initiative would end up being a hugely expensive whiteelephant, such is the determination to force people and freight off the roads that somehow the Green’s proposal is seen as credible.

“Maybe I am missing something, but where is it mandated that the vehicles and traffic that travel on our roads in the future will have carbon-producing diesel and petrol-powered internal combustion engines?

“The reality is that the roads built as part of an infrastructure investment programme today will spend the majority of their 50 to 60-year existence carrying electric, hydrogen or other new-technology vehicles that are just as environmentally-friendly as electrified rail and are a lot more practical for NZ’s economic purposes,” says Leggett.

“So, let’s not allow our recovery to get caught up in the day-to-day politics that have driven us into this infrastructure deficit. Let’s instead get NZ back to work by investing in the kind of infrastructure that will keep paying it forward many decades into the future.” T&D 42 | Truck & Driver

Road Transport Forum NZ PO Box 1778, Wellington 04 472 3877 forum@rtf.nz www.rtfnz.co.nz Nick Leggett, Chief Executive 04 472 3877 021 248 2175 nick@rtf.nz National Road Carriers (NRC) PO Box 12-100, Penrose, Auckland 0800 686 777 09 622 2529 (Fax) enquiries@natroad.nz www.natroad.co.nz David Aitken, Chief Executive 09 636 2951 021 771 911 david.aitken@natroad.nz Paula Rogers, Commercial Transport Specialistr 09 636 2957 021 771 951 paula.rogers@natroad.nz Jason Heather, Commercial Transport Specialist 09 636 2950 021 771 946 jason.heather@natroad.nz Richie Arber, Commercial Transport Specialist 021 193 3555 richie.arber@natroad.nz Road Transport Association of NZ (RTANZ) National Office, PO Box 7392, Christchurch 8240 0800 367 782 03 366 9853 (Fax) admin@rtanz.co.nz www.rtanz.co.nz Area Executives Northland/Auckland/Waikato/ Thames-Coromandel/Bay of Plenty/ North Taupo/King Country Scott Asplet 0800 367 782 (Option 2) 027 445 5785 sasplet@rtanz.co.nz

South Taupo/Turangi/Gisborne/ Taranaki/Manawatu/Horowhenua/ Wellington Sandy Walker 0800 367 782 (Option 3) 027 485 6038 swalker@rtanz.co.nz Northern West Coast/Nelson/ Marlborough/North Canterbury John Bond 0800 367 782 (Option 4) 027 444 8136 jbond@rtanz.co.nz Southern West Coast/Christchurch/ Mid-Canterbury/South Canterbury Simon Carson 0800 367 782 (Option 5) 027 556 6099 scarson@rtanz.co.nz Otago/Southland Alan Cooper 0800 367 782 (Option 6) 027 315 5895 acooper@rtanz.co.nz NZ Trucking Association (NZTA) PO Box 16905, Hornby, Christchurch 8441 0800 338 338 03 349 0135 (Fax) info@nztruckingassn.co.nz www.nztruckingassn.co.nz David Boyce, Chief Executive 03 344 6257 021 754 137 dave.boyce@nztruckingassn.co.nz Carol McGeady, Executive Officer 03 349 8070 021 252 7252 carol.mcgeady@nztruckingassn.co.nz Women in Road Transport (WiRT) www.rtfnz.co.nz/ womeninroadtransport wirtnz@gmail.com

Story Dave McLeod Photos Gerald Shacklock & Rod Simmonds

The third

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George Powell in the boss’ chair. The operation was deliberately downsized, from 23 trucks to 12, over a couple of years after the death of one of the four partners in the business

I

T’S COMPLICATED. FOR SURE, OSBORNE’S TRANSPORT IS A real family business….has been for pretty much all of its nearon 70 years.

But, unlike most Kiwi trucking dynasties, we’re not talking just the one family here – not the traditional father/son/grandson line of succession that so often is the way with longtime family businesses. Well, not so far anyway.

It’d help to have some grounding in genealogy to fully appreciate the twists, turns and intricacies of the DNA that’s created this once big and bullish, now modest (and happy with it) Te Awamutu trucking company.

Essentially, three families – in amongst 12 different coowners – have run the show. But also entwined in Osborne’s Transport’s DNA are another two trucking families from hundreds of kilometres away…

And a whole bunch of other transport operations that are also part of its family tree (thanks to them having been wholly or partially absorbed by Osborne’s) – most of them from around the Waikato….but also one from Taranaki.

The third dynasty to make Osborne’s Transport its family business are the Powells – with George running the show… although he reckons that wife Denise, looking after the office, is really “the boss.”

Then there are three of George and Denise’s children working in the business with them – Sophia in dispatch, her sister Chrissi Morton driving (she was the company’s first female driver, in fact)….and, also driving, brother Alex…. when he’s not off working in Australia.

And the company’s ownership takes in extended family –

George co-owning the business with Denise’s father, John Buckley senior, and brother, John junior. Denise’s uncle, Markus Buckley, works in the workshop and drives when needed. John Buckley senior and junior, who are, by the way, from yet another trucking family – in the Wairarapa – no longer work at Osborne’s.

Unsurprisingly, the business started out with the Osborne family – brothers Eric and Les leaving behind the family farm in the King Country to purchase RA Marsh Transport in Te Awamutu in 1952. The business came with three trucks, doing a cream run and general cartage.

In 1954, more family members joined the business: Brother Ernie and his brother-in-law Bill McGuire had earlier purchased another local carrier, MA Clark.

And now the four created a combined business initially called Clark and Osborne – but soon renamed Osborne Te Awamutu Ltd. The fleet grew to five trucks, with the addition of livestock cartage to the workload.

Ernie left the business three years later, and when McGuire also bowed-out, in 1962, Ian Knight and Trevor Wolfsbauer became Eric and Les’ new business partners.

For the next two decades, the company grew dramatically – partly driven by a string of acquisitions. It took over part of Albie Wilson’s Kihikihi trucking operation and Arthur de Lucas Transport, both in 1964.

A buyout of Pirongia operator Bruce Ellis and part of Ohaupo’s Neil Mitchell followed – plus a joint-venture share in Supreme Lime at Te Pahu.

Then they bought BJ Cronin’s livestock business, the stock side of Taranaki’s Clark & Rogers and took over BJ Miles in Kihikihi.

Truck & Driver | 47

Main picture, below: The 12-strong lineup includes three nine-axle HPMV units

Right: One of a number of Leyland Leaders run by the company in the 1980s. This 8x4 is pictured at Bayview, Hawke’s Bay, in ‘87 Opposite page, right: George reckons that wife Denise, who runs the admin side of the business, is really “the boss”

So, by 1981, the Osborne’s fleet was up to 27 trucks – doing livestock and general cartage.

George Powell’s involvement didn’t come till 1987, when he started work with Osborne’s as a driver.

George’s own trucking story had long since started elsewhere – in another family business, another time, another place: Early last century, his grandfather George Caleb Powell had a general store in Makuri – a township in the Wairarapa, southeast of Pahiatua – and used a horse and dray to do local grocery deliveries.

George’s father, George Hayes Powell, followed suit in the early 1940s – buying a transport licence and one truck from a local operator, along with a general cartage run.

Says George (the current one!): “It was 1942 when the Old Man bought his licence. The chap he bought it off had three new trucks and the Army wanted to commandeer them. The guy got

48 | Truck & Driver

the pip with them and he decided he’d prefer to sell them. He offered the Old Man one and he took it.

“The business was doing general cartage, metal, fertiliser and livestock. Goats and sheep in the morning – taking them to Masterton. Then come back and cart some metal somewhere – to do a farm track – and then go and load some fertiliser. Shovel it on and shovel it off. It was pretty varied.”

“GH Powell used to run Internationals – KB6s – and then a couple of (Leyland) Comets. It was a small business with George Hayes driving himself for quite a while, before his brother-in-law, Ian Whitta, began driving for him, from the age of 18. Ian Whitta went on to become a partner in the business.”

GH Powell ran four trucks “most of the time – but the Old Man had stopped driving by the time I left school. He had bad arthritis,” says George.

Driving was all George had ever wanted to do: “Right from little, we were always hanging around trucks. Everyone wanted to be a truck driver in those days,” he says.

So it’s no surprise that he got behind the wheel of a GH Powell truck before he was 17 – a dispensation from the Minister of Transport allowing him to drive for the family business before he reached the regulated age of 18.

“My first truck was an old International – an AB180. There were three other drivers. My brother drove a bit for a while too. He was at university, so he drove on their time off.”

George worked for the family business for 20 years….right up to the time when his Dad abruptly sold the company in 1981 to Pahiatua-based Gleeson Transport.

Says George now: “I think that selling was always his retirement plan – but we had a dispute over something and he

said: ‘I might sell it.’ And I said, ‘perhaps you should then.’ And he did. That was that.”

Far from ending there though – the Powell family connections within trucking actually grew!

George’s Uncle Alan (Sandy) Powell had also been running his own trucking business in the Wairarapa – taking in business partner Doug Gunn, a returned serviceman, at the end of World War 2, to form Powell & Gunn.

Their company took over Murphy’s Transport….and then they in turn were bought out by Hawke’s Bay Farmers Transport in the mid-1970s – “when they were trying to cover the East Coast and drive everyone else out….but that didn’t work,” says George.

But wait.…there’s more familial twists and turns yet! Gleeson Transport, which had been established in 1932 by Eric Gleeson, was in acquisition mode during the 1980s under the direction of

Truck & Driver | 49

A 1982 Mitsubishi FV315NR from Osborne’s Transport’s heyday, in the early ‘80s – when the fleet boasted 27 trucks

his sons Maurice and Paul.

And not only did they buy out GH Powell….they also took over Powell and Gunn, Hukanui operator Moss Shultz AND Buckley’s Transport in Pahiatua.

Yep, that was the company that Osborne’s Transport current co-owner John Buckley senior had formerly owned (as Buckley Bros), with brother Alan. John had sold out to Alan….who in turn sold the business to the Gleesons.

Says George: “There was a year’s difference: They bought Buckleys and then they bought us (GH Powell) from my father.

They must have had a bit of a splurge because they bought some other operators in the area as well. They scooped up all of them.”

After the sale of GH Powell, George carried on in Makuri, driving for Gleesons for the next eight years.

They were, he says, “a pretty good company to work for.” In fact, his Uncle Sandy also worked with them, in sales. When he was there, Gleesons had 28 trucks and drivers – and, on top of that, Powell & Gunn had 26.

But in the mid-1980s, George felt that the time had come to consider his future....and to get out of Makuri.

How come the move to Te Awamutu? For no better reason, he reckons, than “it seemed like a nice little town – very central, handy to everything. I thought there’d be more job opportunities than where I was.”

Osborne’s was the first trucking company he called – because it was “a pretty old and established company, and in those days they looked like they were carting all over the North Island. They were everywhere. And truck drivers like driving.

“I rang them (Osbornes) off the cuff and asked them if they had any jobs going.” He didn’t need to look any further: They said yes. Easy as that.

He drove for the company for six years, until 1993, when he “moved into the office and dispatch.”

50 | Truck & Driver

That same year the Osbornes exited the business, with Knight briefly taking full control…before selling the operation to Marty and Ivy Greaves in ‘94.

For someone like George, who’d grown up with trucks – who loved the things – getting involved in helping to run a trucking company for the first time, rather than simply driving, was “hard work” for the first 12 months: “You know a lot of roads, but when you’ve got to think where hundreds or more are because you’ve got trucks on all different roads – and hundreds more people, of course.”

But yes, he concedes, “I was pretty excited about it, yeah. A new challenge is always quite exciting isn’t it.”

He’s happy to report that he took to it reasonably readily: “I would say it was pretty natural. Once you know the ins and outs of transport the rest of it comes pretty easily. It’s just learning the geography of the district mainly.”

The toughest challenge of filling the dispatcher role? “Dotting the i-s and crossing the t-s – making sure you’ve got it right….. sending people to the right places at the right times. Delivery times are still pretty critical in the industry: Nobody likes standing around for three or four hours waiting for a truck.

“And if something has gone wrong, try and notify people….

Things can go wrong.”

Clearly there were challenges – but he insists: “I don’t think there was a ‘worst part’ of it. Depends on what you make of it – there’s a reasonable amount of fun in it. There was a good team of staff. You need that.”

He focused on the “general efficiency” of the operation – “more than anything: Try and get things done when people wanted them done.”

George continues the Osborne’s history timeline: In 1999, “Marty (Greaves) ran into difficulty” and Powell joined forces with his in-laws – John Buckley senior and his sons, John junior and

Opposite page, left: George and Denise’s daughter Sophia works in dispatch

Opposite page, right: Drivers have to like working with livestock – it’s all the company carries

Robert – to buy the historic business.

“Back then we had a fleet of five trucks. But in 2000 we bought Crown Transport which was two trucks and a little truck.

We kept on growing. In our heyday we got up to 19 trucks and trailers. That was around 2010. Plus we had four owner/drivers as well.”

Then the unexpected death of Robert Buckley in 2014 prompted a new approach to the business: George Powell and the two John Buckleys continued as equal shareholders – but, with only George involved in the day to day running of the company, the 23-strong fleet simply wasn’t manageable….so downsizing became inevitable.

Says George: “When you’ve got 12 trucks you hardly ever get away. But when you’ve got 23….you’re here almost 24-hours.

“There was no-one else here wanting to do it: We tried a couple of people and that didn’t last – so we decided we’d have a sort-through and try to whittle some of the work down. Get rid of the stuff that wasn’t any good to us.”

Over several years, Powell reduced the workload and by 2016 Osborne’s was back to a more manageable fleet of 12, all Isuzus.

“We’ve got two four-wheelers, one Isuzu six-wheeler and we have three four-axle trucks with five-axle trailers. All the rest of them are four and fours (four-axle trucks, four-axle trailers).

“Generally we buy new trucks and our main supplier would be Deakin Motors in Hastings. Some of the trucks in the fleet are getting up there in age: One is 10 years old, another nine, an eight and a seven. Then the other ones are newer than that.

While there’s consistency with the truck make, the choice of trailers and stock crates isn’t so clearcut: “Trailer wise, we’ve got a couple of Dometts, two Total Transport Engineers, five Jacksons.” Similarly, there are six Total stock crate units, six Nationwides and two Deltas.

George: “No special reason for the mix. It depends on what crates you like….more than anything. A lot of the guys like the Nationwide and some like the Deltas. But also it’s driver led: Drivers have an input on what they want – certainly on some of the crates.”

Powell has a “great team” of drivers currently, but also has mixed feelings about the industry’s driver shortage: “I just think it’s all the new rules and regulations – with things like back rub, everyone blames the drivers for it.

“It’s not entirely their fault. And when things get tight, people tell the young fellas off for things that they probably didn’t deserve to get told off for.

“And the younger set of people don’t like getting up early any more – they reckon they don’t have to start at four or five o’clock

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Top: George’s father had his own trucking company in the Wairarapa for 39 years, running Internationals and Leylands. This is Ian Whitta loading a bulldozer onto a company International AACO 180 at Makuri, back in the 1960s Above, left: At the yard in 1996, a company Foden 4035 and a Scammell S26 400 Above, right: Another of the handful of Leyland Leaders, pictured in the late ‘80s in the morning, which they probably don’t. But if they want to be a truck driver…they do!

“Youths today play around on their bloody gadget things half the night in bed and then they can’t get up in the morning. I’ve got six grandsons and three granddaughters: Three of them (two boys and one of the girls) want to be truck drivers – but I’ll be waiting a while for two of them.”

Powell has mixed feelings about how tough the livestock industry is too: “It’s as tough as you want to make it. I started when I was pretty young and there weren’t the rules and regulations. There wasn’t a logbook really. You know, the rest time and 24 hours off was already there, because I got asked the question when I sat my licence …..but they never enforced it.”

If a driver doesn’t want to be in livestock, then Osborne’s is 54 | Truck & Driver

clearly not the company for them: “We don’t do anything other than livestock. There are sales every day of the week around this part of the Waikato. Monday – Otorohanga and Matamata.

Tuesday, Cambridge, Wednesday’s Frankton and Te Kuiti, Thursday is Te Awamutu and often Morrinsville – and Friday is Morrinsville…and Te Kuiti too.

“We have customers that use all those sales yards. We’re transporting stock to and from sales every day of the week, so we do that first and then do the freezing works stuff and the paddock stuff afterwards. So if somebody buys 200 lambs and they need to go to another farm, we move them.”

The livestock business is not without its fair share of certifications, restrictions and compliance – all of which can be challenging: “The certificate of fitness is the worst one, because

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now you’ve got to wash the trucks underneath before taking them into the station.

“If they’re dirty underneath they can’t see if there’s any cracks or anything on the chassis. And the stations are not very consistent in some of the things they do.

“They’ll say it’s ‘worn.’ Often manufacturers’ specifications are different to what they say you can have, so you’ll get a fail anyway and you have to replace it.

“Whereas the older vehicle testing technicians – most of them had been heavy truck mechanics in their time and they knew what was what.”

George is of the opinion that health and safety regulations are taking away the opportunity for people to use plain, simple, common sense: “The health and safety side of things has got everyone running scared – more so than the jumping through the hoops for compliance.

“Everyone’s got to be told everything – they’ve deleted think for yourself, or common sense, from the equation.

“When we were pretty young we were always around trucks – they were always moving. No-one seemed to worry much about it – we always seemed to get out of the road.”

Being in any type of business for seven decades takes spirit and ingenuity and the livestock industry is no different. To stay on top of things, Powell ensures he watches the figures, has a good working relationship with others in the business and enjoys a fair share of loyalty.

“We have a pretty good working relationship with Otorohanga Transport – we work together. And Progress Transport – they 56 | Truck & Driver

work with me too.

“I work with them or we cart stuff to each other and meet halfway. It’s better than two guys running with six each. We can’t all be enemies can we? You’ve got to have friends in the business too.”

Powell says the company enjoys good support from farmers too: “I think it’s a good thing because with most things loyalty only goes as far as a chequebook: How much it’s going to cost you.

“Price is always a challenge. You know if you’ve been beaten on a job – they tell you. That’s life, it happens.”

George reckons he keeps a pretty tight financial control on the business: “We watch our pennies pretty closely, which I think all transport operators do….

“But it’s easy when things get real busy and things are going here, there and everywhere, to think everyone’s making a lot of money, you think you need a new truck, you’ve got the work so you buy one.

“The industry is over-serviced with stock trucks and loads of debt. In all the time I’ve been here, we’ve never run at a loss at any stage of the year. But sometimes the profit hasn’t been terribly high either.

“Probably the biggest saviour for how the economy is going to be is that I’ve got bugger-all debt loading. We’re in a pretty strong position compared to some of the other guys around here, a few with several million-dollar Kenworths in their yards.

“When we had 18 or 19 trucks here the debt loading would have been up near $3million, which is a lot of money.”

Opposite page, top left: GH Powell AACO on livestock duties

Opposite page, bottom left: A company Mitsi at a stock sale 20-odd years back

Opposite page, right: Fourth-generation Powell truckie Chrissi Morton was Osborne’s Transport’s first woman driver

Above: This 1981 Kenworth K144 was originally owned by Paul Tootle and was sold to Osborne’s in 1985. It was eventually traded for an ERF in ‘98

This takes on a new importance when something like the unprecedented COVID-19 health emergency comes along: NZ is in the midst of the Level 4 lockdown when George is interviewed for this story – by phone. The photos were taken just before the first lockdown began.

Osborne’s Transport is among those regarded as critical to keeping the country ticking over – even under lockdown. That seems entirely appropriate, since those two words – “essential service” – have been pivotal to this company’s success, George believes: Alongside its good name and trucking family lineage, it’s been the way that it’s looked after its local (and loyal) customers that’s been essential to Osborne’s survival and success these past 70 years.

He puts it this way: “I think service is a key point – that and punctuality. It’s not always easy to keep the time – but make the time, keep it and be on time.”

You may think that at least that – punctuality – would be one thing that’s easier to achieve under the Level 4 scenario….due to the roads being clearer.

However, as George points out, the virus has, of course, brought its own set of logistical issues with it: “Anyone who moves livestock is classed as ‘essential services’ because farmers all have buyers in different areas and they use local carriers. But we still had to notify MPI to be registered.”

And along with the registration came a raft of additional measures and responsibilities that the Powells needed to put into place to keep their staff safe.

“Right now we’ve got extra rules and regulations that we have

to enforce. Things like not having too many staff on site and trying (wherever possible) to work from home…. No visitors to the office without an appointment.

“So for us, there’s no more than five staff on-site at any one time….and they have to keep their distance – and only one person in the office at a time. And not to have them hanging around smoko rooms talking and chatting and doing things.”

Powell reckons that the rules or guidelines are not that hard to enforce though: “Especially for us, with the likes of livestock.

Dispatching wakes up early – people come in at seven and go do their job. The early ones we do over the phone, or text them….or some guys use tablets these days.

“And if we’ve got two or three pickups, I’ll have one person here at eight-thirty and the next one comes in at nine. So they’re not all here together. We’ve taken away the need to talk to each other face to face: Staff like to have a chat.”

Overall, Powell says that his nine drivers seem pretty happy with the way it’s running: “I just remind them every day to keep the two-metre social distance and make sure the farmers put their vendor forms in the box – not keep them in their pockets and give it to them at the end of the day. So they’re not getting the hand-to-hand contact. It’s those little things that can catch us out.

“We’ve provided our staff with extras – soap, wipes, gloves and masks...and there’s sanitiser at both entrances.”

The drivers fuel up at the Osborne’s site (which is also a public Waitomo station) and generally wear gloves then anyway, “because it’s not very nice to get back in the truck and have a cup Truck & Driver | 57

Above, left: An Osborne’s Foden 4400, pictured in the early 2000s Above, right: A pair of Osborne’s 1981 Mack FRs at a truck show

Below: A big pickup near Te Awamutu, with two truck and trailer loads of cattle destined for the works in Auckland

of tea or a sandwich with diesel on your fingers. They’ve all got water on their trucks so they can wash their hands frequently too.”

Powell reckons that Level 4 has seen business quieten down a bit, taking some work away.

But that, in fact, may be a help rather than a hindrance right now: “We’ve been three drivers down for quite a while now.

They’re pretty hard to source in the livestock industry these days.

We’ve got one guy we call on and he comes in a couple of days a week. We’ve got nine drivers at the moment – but we could do with 12.”

Thoughts turn to what this COVID-19 emergency will end up doing to the industry – and George reckons that currently “I would say there are too many stock carriers around the place….”

And probably, he adds, some of them won’t survive.

“There’s a huge amount of yards you go past these days with a lot of trucks parked up. Most of the carrying firms around here are two, three and four drivers short in the livestock department alone.”

Powell explains further: “There seems to be plenty of work – but if everyone had a full lot of drivers….there probably isn’t enough work. And this is one of the busiest times of the year –

58 | Truck & Driver

when farmers are unloading, getting ready for the end of the year financials. It always becomes a bottleneck this time of the year.

“Of course, the drought didn’t help: You get a backup of cattle to go to the works and the works can’t handle it.

“If you spoke to some of the freezing works hierarchy they’d say there are too many works in the country. If everything went according to plan, you could probably kill all the stock with about five or six works – but there’s about 12 I think.

“But it’s not a perfect world. It never goes to plan. They have downtime, just like the transport: Sometimes there’s nothing ready to go and then it all gets ready at once.

“It doesn’t matter what you do – milking cows or fattening – the weather has a lot to do with farming. If it’s too wet it’s no good…. and the same goes if it’s too dry.”

George reckons that Osborne’s is geographically pretty wellplaced as a livestock transport operation: “Because there’s a good mix of dairy and dry stock out to the coast – sheep and beef. Well, not so much sheep any more – that seems to be a dying breed. The wool isn’t worth anything….I don’t know why, because it’s a very good product.

“But it’s the first year that the meat’s been extremely good for

Top: Back in the 1980s, the Osborne’s fleet was a mix of Macks – including this ‘81 FR model – Kenworths, Mitsis and Leylands....among others Above, left: International 9800 8x4, a 2008 model, just preceded the fleet’s exclusive focus on Isuzus

Above, right: The company is well-located in Te Awamutu to service the stock sales that happen every day around south and central Waikato

both lamb and cattle.”

In the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic there’s obviously the threat of troubled times ahead – but what does George see the future holding for Osborne’s Transport?

Well, whatever that is…he’d like it to mean a lot less work for him: “I’m probably past my use-by date! I’m 70 in August. I’ve seen what happens to old carriers – they just sit in their chair and waste away.

“I don’t want to be doing that. There’s other things I’d like to do first – like go back to Germany and have a look at the Mercedes factory and Volvo while I’m over there….and go do a guided tour through the Heineken brewery.”

To that end, he reveals that the business “has been on the market “for quite some time. Tried to sell it but there doesn’t seem to be anyone interested.” Some bigger businesses have looked – but offered joint-venture type arrangements…and that didn’t suit George.

“I guess if it stays on the market long enough, someone will buy it. Otherwise we’ll keep on trucking.”

And the Powell approach, says George, is as it’s always been: “Osborne’s Transport always had a very good name in livestock cartage – and I guess we’ve tried to keep it like that. It’s still a family business and we do what we do well.” T&D Truck & Driver | 59

COVID-19 GLOBAL DIARY

It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future Story Wayne Munro

W

HAT’S AN AMERICAN BASEBALL SUPERSTAR OF the past got to do with the economic mayhem created by the global COVID-19 pandemic?

Ah….well, a top United States transportation analyst and economist called up a quote from the legendary Yogi Berra to help sum up the current economic situation in the US. The late Berra – whose 40-year pro baseball career ended all of 35 years ago – added to his fame earned as a superstar player, coach and manager, with his mangled quotable quotes and malapropisms.

Cleverly and funnily intentional, or happily unintended, his “Yogi-isms” (which made him an American cultural icon) included: “You can observe a lot by watching…. The future ain’t what it used to be…. If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer….It ain’t over till it’s over.”

There’s even one that’s relevant right now: In a COVID-19 trucking industry webinar, Bill Witte – chief economist for research and analysis company FTR Transportation Intelligence – brought to mind another Yogi-ism, as TruckNews.com reported: “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

60 | Truck & Driver

That’s particularly so, Witte explained, because the economic slump triggered by the COVID-19 emergency is unlike any past recessions we’ve experienced – and thus looking back to them for some guidance on how this will play out “is not useful.”

Witte told the FTR-hosted webinar about the economic outlook for US freight after the coronavirus emergency: “I don’t think this is a normal recession-recovery situation. It’s not a business cycle event – it’s a completely artificial event.”

Sure, there are predictable phases in the economic impact of the virus emergency – the now-familiar-to-us pattern of lockdown, containment and restarting.

But beyond that….well, FTR did attempt to do what Yogi Berra reckoned was difficult – and it wasn’t pretty: A short containment period in the US could see a “pretty rapid” restart. But that was from what was likely America’s worst overall trucking industry conditions on record – as projected by FTR in its March Trucking Conditions Index .

And, the research and analysis business’ CEO Eric Starks told the webinar: “We don’t see a noticeable jump (in the US goods transportation sector) until the fourth quarter,” TruckNews.com

FEATURE

With alltime-low freight volumes and truck and trailer orders, plunging rates and booming unemployment, the American trucking industry isn’t likely to recover until mid-2021...or even later. American Trucking Association boss Chris Spear is calling for Donald Trump (seen at left at a White House function to honour truckers) and his political rivals to unify on an economic recovery plan built around improving America’s roads and bridges reported.

And he added that the trucking industry won’t return to normal levels of activity until mid-2021….or even late 2021: “This is a recovery that is not a return to normal overnight. And I think that’s a big deal for us to understand.”

Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking, had already given his view of COVID-19’s toll: “Although trucking conditions might prove to be comparable to the worst of the Great Recession, the trucking industry – “like the rest of the economy” – has never seen such an abrupt deterioration.

“The need to restock grocery shelves provided a brief boost for some segments, but the economic shutdown now has taken a toll on the whole industry. While an economic restart likely will begin in May, the damage wrought during this period will weaken trucking conditions for months to come.”

Starks said that the concept of “flattening the curve” of the spread of the virus is better in healthcare terms….but “could also push out economic pain into the third quarter this year.

“So the ability for us to get back to normal — whatever the heck normal is — becomes more difficult because of that,” said Starks, TruckNews.com reported.

“And so this is the push-and-pull that we’re dealing with trying to understand the impacts on the basic economy.”

As TruckNews.com summarised, on May 11: “Skyrocketing unemployment. Cratering freight volumes. Plummeting spot market freight rates. Record-low Class 8 truck orders. These are just a few of the new realities the North American trucking industry is grappling with as global economies reel under the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Bad as all of this is, there are shafts of optimism that shine through the COVID-19 gloom as the trucking industry and entire national economies alike look for the best ways to get through the virus-created crisis.

As American Trucking Associations president and CEO Chris Spear says in a heartfelt blog, “it’s challenging to spot silver linings amid a global pandemic….but if there’s something working Americans can be grateful for during lockdown, it’s a reprieve from the wretched traffic that’s plagued daily commutes for years.”

Which brings him to his idea for American economic salvation: “But what happens when life returns to a new normal? America’s sagging roads and cracking bridges will still be there, causing the bottlenecks and accidents that are the signature of everyday gridlock: Whatever the future holds, it’s clear we can no longer rely on yesterday’s roads to get us there.”

And thus, his take on “where do we go from here: Beyond the staggering human toll the coronavirus has left a devastating trail of economic destruction in its wake – and its impact continues to spread.”

But, he adds, “before the pandemic swept the globe, America was sliding into a deepening infrastructure crisis. But COVID-19 has now brought it full bore.”

His solution – echoed here in New Zealand by Road Transport Forum CEO Nick Leggett: Invest big – right now – in fixing up, improving, future-proofing the nation’s roads and bridges.

Spear points out that President Donald Trump’s “big and bold vision” – a cornerstone of his 2016 election campaign – was to revitalise America’s degraded infrastructure. On the other side, Truck & Driver | 61

Above: Major infrastructure projects like the now-completed Waterview Tunnel and interchange, are being pushed by the trucking industry here and in the United States alike, as a valuable way to stimulate the economy....and add longterm benefits Opposite page: In Europe, where heavy commercial vehicle sales plummeted by 47%, calls were made for the EU to introduce a “cash for clunkers” programme to help truckmakers through the crisis

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Democrat) has also said that rebuilding roads and bridges is a top priority.

And her Republican arch-rival and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is for it too – dependent on funding.

So, says Spear: “What if there was a smart way forward that finds common ground? What if we could jumpstart our economy, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work in good-paying, private-sector jobs – without adding another dime to the deficit?

“What if we could capitalise on this this rare moment in the global oil market – paying dividends to working Americans for decades to come?

“There is. And we can. All that’s needed now is the political courage to get there.”

“In one package, infrastructure offers a singular solution to the tangled web of policy challenges woven by COVID-19: It would generate a powerful economic stimulus in the near-term….

“It would lay a strong foundation for longterm economic growth, strengthening our supply chain and securing America’s pre-eminent position in the global economy.

“Most importantly, it can be done responsibly – and fully paid for – without adding a dime to the federal deficit.”

Controversially, Spear’s proposal is to fund the infrastructure spend with an increase in the fuel tax – arguing that there hasn’t been an increase in 27 years… and US national debt is already up to $US25trillion and rising....thus arguably can’t cope with extra 62 | Truck & Driver

for roads.

Besides, he adds: “Make no mistake – when government fails to fund infrastructure, it’s the motoring public who pays. The typical motorist now loses $US1600 every year in wages, gas and vehicle repairs because of poor road conditions and the traffic congestion they create.”

With the COVID-19 crisis driving down global oil prices to historic lows, says Spear, “the present moment offers an enormous investment opportunity to recoup the economic losses inflicted on our country.”

Increasing the fuel tax by only a nickel (five cents) each year, over four years, would generate $US340bn in new revenue over the next decade. It would, he adds, “cost the average motorist merely an extra 50c at the pump each week.”

But also – and more importantly, he argues – “well-maintained and responsibly funded surface transportation would realise significant savings for motorists, by steadily reducing the $1600 and 54 hours they’re currently losing every year as roads and bridges fall deeper into disrepair.

“We’re all in this together is a common refrain heard as we confront one of history’s greatest challenges. Truckers have helped carry America through this crisis, and we’ll continue to lead as our country emerges out of it.”

Spear reckons that “when it comes to funding the roads and bridges that Americans use every day, the trucking industry more than carries its weight – and we’re proud of the fact.

“Road freight carries 93% of the total tonnes of freight moved in NZ” “While trucks account for only 4% of vehicles on our nation’s roads, we pay nearly half of all Highway Trust Fund user fees.

And we’re willing to pay more to get this job done.”

And in this push, he says, truckers are truly not alone: “America’s farmers, manufacturers, building trades, steel workers, business and labour leaders all stand in unison behind this national goal.

“Together we can rebuild America – faster, better and stronger than ever before. So the question for Congress becomes: Are you with us?”

And he concludes: “Beijing is building roads and bridges.

America should take notice.”

There is a Kiwi equivalent to this approach: Like Spear, RTF boss Nick Leggett has also been championing badly-needed spending on NZ’s highway infrastructure as a priority for the Government’s economic recovery plans.

Prior to last month’s Rebuilding Budget (AKA, according to some, The Budget of Doom), Leggett expressed his concerns about the Government’s apparent determination to spend money collected for roads – via taxes and RUCs – for cycling, walking and rail.

He interpreted the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport 2021/’22 – 2030/’31 as an apparent push by Government “to demonise trucks,” as the document “heavily promotes rail freight over road. That means less money for roads that badly need the spend.”

The RTF pre-empted the Budget with a pushback against this trend. Trucks, said Leggett, “are not unsafe. Where there are safety concerns, it’s due to lack of infrastructure spend making NZ roads unsafe for the traffic demands placed on them – nothing to do with the performance of the vehicles themselves, which are in fact, made safe via a number of NZ laws, rules and regulations.

“The re-engineering of the transport system to satisfy ideology is not only costly, but flies in the face of economic reality. In a COVID-19 world, many people will be waking up to the fact that NZ needs export and import trade to survive.

“For that critical supply chain to work in a way that allows NZ to compete, you need a good roading network. We haven’t walked our products to market for some time.

“While we support passenger rail, road freight is simply more flexible and immediate than rail freight will ever be. There are some 93,000 kilometres of road in NZ, and only 4000kms of rail track.

“That split isn’t going to change significantly and the freight customers (the market) will continue to make business-based choices, no matter how much money the Government throws at rail.

“Road freight carries 93% of the total tonnes of freight moved in NZ. We do not support any heavy-handed State intervention to counter market choices. It appears the mass return to rail freight is a fantasy, rather than policy grounded in evidence.

“The COVID-19 experience has confirmed the adaptability of Truck & Driver | 63

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Clockwise from above: American Trucking Associations CEO Chris Spear, here testifying before a US Senate panel, is calling for major spending on highways....Irish forklift manufacturer Combilift developed a splitter device to have one medical ventilator help multiple patients with their breathing.....the Australian Trucking Association slammed the NSW premier for rallying businesses to reopen - while its own staff stopped servicing toilets on main freight routes.... In the US, Volvo Trucks switched some staff in three plants from truckbuilding to making personal protective equipment for health workers

mills-tui.co.nz road freight to meet a disruptive market, something rail is unable to do. We find it difficult to see a future with rail services supplanting trucks, especially when truck transport’s environmental performance is continuing to improve, with not only better engine and powertrain technology, but also better load management and delivery efficiency.”

Leggett had earlier called for Government to “dig deep and find that ‘number 8 wire can fix it’ mentality…

“We are staring down the barrel of our worst unemployment rate in many generations. The economy is on its knees. Businesses that were the fabric of our society – small and locally owned – are bleeding and dying. A whole generation are having their education interrupted to the point that for some, there will be no recovery.”

He called for the Government to move the country to a level where businesses can effectively operate and step out “from the shadow of Government.

“The Government should focus on those who most need help – the young, unemployed, and unwell (a giant task ahead) – as well as boosting the economy with the things within their control at all times, not just COVID-19 times, such as big-ticket infrastructure.”

Meantime….in Europe, where commercial vehicle sales slumped by 47% in March (in Italy, Spain and France, the figures were much worse – losing 63-66%), Traton Group CEO Andreas Renschler came up with another idea to aid the industry’s recovery.

He urged a European “cash for clunkers” programme to boost new truck purchases – calling to mind the US government’s cash vouchers paid to the owners of old cars who bought new vehicles during the so-called

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The so-called morning “rush-hour” on Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway during the Level 4 lockdown. Truckies working on essential services during the emergency at least had the pleasure of empty roads

Great Recession in 2009.

“What Europe needs right now are investment incentives for the environmentally friendly modernisation of truck fleets as a means to overcome the crisis in this system-critical sector,” said Renschler.

“If a fleet modernisation programme can be initiated quickly across the whole of Europe, it will be possible to replace trucks weighing more than six tonnes with more economical models,” he added.

“This would not only create jobs in the forwarding and commercial vehicle industries, but also help the European Union to meet its environmental targets.”

Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of this year’s staging of the world’s biggest truck show – IAA Commercial Vehicles, which had been scheduled for September 24-30, in Hanover, Germany.

Organiser VDA says that “as a global meeting place for experts and decisionmakers from the entire transport and logistics sector….direct personal contacts are at the heart of the show.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed shown the general public very clearly just how essential commercial vehicles are for maintaining public food supplies, but it is having an unprecedented impact on business in the sector and also the IAA .

“Many countries have travel restrictions that will remain in force for several months to come. Large events have been prohibited over the coming months in nearly all European countries.”

The next show will be held in September 2022.

In feelgood news, amidst the virus misery, in the US and Ireland industry leaders turned their hand (and their skills and manufacturing capabilities) into helping the battle against COVID-19.

Volvo Trucks North America put staff to work at three of its manufacturing sites, designing and making personal protective equipment – making face masks and 3D printing face shields and 66 | Truck & Driver

Much-needed investment in highway infrastructure will help the country’s economic recovery and overcome some of the all-toocommon traffic congestion that’s costing transport operators and motorists alike hugely in terms of time and fuel wasted and extra mechanical wear and tear

ear guards for healthcare workers in their local areas.

VTNA chairman and Mack Trucks president Martin Weissburg said the effort was triggered by a call from a healthcare provider asking if the company could help make PPE for its hospital workers – in preparation for the coming pandemic.

Said Weissburg: “I’ve been a business leader for more than 25 years, and I’ve been through a variety of crises – and never seen one like this.”

He asked the company engineers to see how Volvo could help: “If we can build the best trucks and power systems in the industry, we can sure help out with some plastic parts for face masks,” he reasoned.

Volvo chief engineer Steve Barnhardt, who helped coordinate the effort, said: “We were able to shift some of our production tools and start producing.

“When you say people are really in need, it’s really easy to get people motivated to work on this.”

Irish manufacturer Combilift, maker of forklifts and other loadhandling machinery, put its expert staff to work to design and build a splitter device to turn one medical ventilator into multiple ventilation stations.

The non-profit Combi-Ventilate project was developed by Combilift mechatronic and software engineers in just five weeks and immediately began laboratory tests at a critical care unit in a Dublin hospital.

Combilift founder and CEO Martin McVicar said: “Certain countries and cities are struggling to get enough ventilators and many governments and health authorities are encouraging manufacturers to come up with a solution….. Instead of actually developing ventilators we analysed what is really required, as we do in our usual business models.”

“We have made Combi-Ventilate under the same ethos and with the same objective as we do with all our Combilift products, which is all about doing more with less,” said McVicar.

In the UK, DAF Trucks and its biggest dealer, plus a group of suppliers, fast-tracked a fleet of eight trucks – urgently needed by the National Health Service, for its fight against COVID-19. They went on the road in just two weeks

“The medical device sector is not our core business but making critical equipment which keeps people safe and alive has always been our focus and this latest project, driven by our desire to help during these difficult times, mirrors what our research and development has done for the last 20 years.

“If our product can save lives – if we can make a difference during these hard times – then we are making the world a better place for everyone.”

In the same helpful vain, DAF Trucks in the UK, the world’s largest DAF dealer MOTUS Commercials and third-party suppliers, pulled off a remarkable two-week turnaround for a fleet of eight refrigerated trucks needed urgently for the National Health Service Blood and Transplant division in the fight to control COVID-19.

The DAF LF 180 rigids had been on order for transporting blood and blood products when NHSBT needed to reassign them for more urgent work as it embarked on crucial COVID-19 convalescent blood plasma trials.

Refrigerated body supplier Solomon Commercials, Fleet Trak, Thermo King, Webasto and signwriters AST shrugged off staff shortages to have the trucks ready for work in 14 days.

NHSBT’s national fleet engineering manager John Lowden said he was “extremely impressed with the response from MOTUS and DAF and all the companies involved in this true team effort.

“We’ve seen the transport industry rise to the challenge of the coronavirus outbreak over recent weeks and, here at NHSBT, we’ve experienced British skill and ingenuity at its very best – and right at the moment when it’s needed most.”

In Aussie, the Australian Trucking Association’s Keep Them Open campaign – to press businesses and councils to reopen toilets for truckies – publicly named and shamed those who weren’t doing the decent thing.

That included the New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who had publicly called for businesses to reopen and “have a

go”…..but earned a verbal serve from ATA CEO Ben Maguire, for not first ensuring her own government was opening and maintaining toilet facilities for truckies on major freight routes.

Maguire was scathing in his criticism after seeing first-hand the impact of toilet closures along the Hume Highway: “When stopping at the Partridge VC rest area today, I was astonished to see a Transport for NSW sign posting that the toilet facilities were not being serviced.

“At a time when the community is expecting toilet paper and food to be on supermarket shelves, trucking is having a go and working hard to get it there – but the NSW government is not even willing to clean the toilets on Australia’s major freight route.

“How can we possibly expect businesses to reopen and ‘have a go,’ if the trucks that carry their supplies can’t get the basic support needed to deliver goods?”

Maguire also called out building supplies company Sika, after the company confirmed it was refusing truck drivers access to its onsite toilet facilities.

“Sika have told us they can’t segregate facilities onsite and that drivers should just use a nearby service centre or a council toilet. This is not good enough,” said Maguire.

“Surely when the trucking industry is already under so much duress, and providing so much for the community, available facilities should be enhanced rather than reduced.

“Instead of turning away hardworking drivers, Sika should, as a minimum, have a formal arrangement with the service centre and directions for drivers in place. They need to treat drivers with the same respect they would expect for themselves,” he said.

Maguire said it was a breach of basic human rights to deny truck drivers access to toilet facilities.

“Sika must remember that without hardworking truck drivers bringing goods onto their site, they wouldn’t be able to keep their company going. They depend on truckies,” he said. T&D

Thanking the essential workers of the road transport industry keeping New Zealand going through the Covid-19 shutdowns You are the hero’s out there delivering essential supplies to society to ensure it can continue to function. Risking their own health & safety to do so.

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FEATURE

This Super-Low Shogun FS2536 is one of three pre-launch trucks that have clocked-up 120,000 kilometres in six months of test running in New Zealand

SUPER-LOW LITTLE BRO’ FUSO Story: Wayne Munro

TD30650

N

EW SHOGUN MODELS WITH A SMALLER, MORE fuel-efficient engine and a low load-height are being added to FUSO’s New Zealand range this month.

Fuso NZ reckons that the new Shoguns “break the mould” for highway delivery trucks – “bridging the gap between FUSO’s 280-horsepower Fighter and 400hp Shogun ranges.”

Three of the four new Shoguns are powered by the new eightlitre 360hp/260kW engine – the fourth using the same 400hp 11-litre as some of the existing lineup.

Fuso NZ managing director Kurtis Andrews says the new models are “a planned evolution” of the Shogun range.

“These four trucks represent a significant addition to our range, providing tailored solutions for specialist delivery applications and strengthening our Shogun lineup to 13 models.

“As the transport sector looks to get back on its feet, smart, cost-effective transport solutions built to safeguard the safety of drivers and stakeholder investment will be more important than ever.”

Fuso says that the new models boast “a range of innovative, class-leading features engineered to lower running costs and

improve performance in specialist freight applications.”

The 6x2 FU2536, 6x4 FV2536 and 8x4 FS2536 come with the smaller OM936 T1 inline-six engine, which produces its 360hp/260kW maximum power at 2200rpm – with 320hp/238kW of that available from 1650-2250rpm.

The Detroit Diesel-derived engine boasts 1400Nm/1034 lb ft of peak torque between 1200-1600. Of that, 1300Nm/958 lb ft is on tap over a wider rev range – from 1000-1900rpm.

The 8x4 FS2540 is powered by the 11-litre 400hp/298kW OM470 T2 engine found in some existing Shogun models.

The two new light tare weight Super-Low 8x4s in the range – the FS2536 and the FS2540 – are designed specifically for lowload applications.

They’re built on 844mm-high chassis with 19.5-inch wheels and with four-bag air suspension front and rear (which Fuso NZ says is a first in a Japanese truck on the NZ market).

The Super-Lows weigh around 1100 kilograms less than existing 460hp Shogun 8x4s, “which themselves have class-leading tare weights.”

Fuso says that the Super-Lows’ light tare weights will enable Truck & Driver | 69

Above: The new models give drivers the same suite of safety and driver-friendly features as their big brother Shoguns already on the road here

Opposite page: It’s a fair indication of Carr & Haslam director Chris Carr’s opinion of the new Shoguns that he bought both test trucks – this Super-Low 8x4 and a 6x2 FU2536 with eight-bag rear air suspension

operators to maximise payloads. That, in combination with their low chassis height, makes them “a solid investment” for general freight and low-load transport operators.

The all-air suspension “provides the advantages of even ride height and load share, enhanced protection for sensitive cargo and reduced fatigue to alloy truck bodies caused by road shocks.”

The 6x2 FU2536 and 6x4 FV2536 models break new ground with their eight-bag rear air suspension, which Fuso says “provides added stability and an exceptionally smooth ride – even on NZ’s less-than-perfect roads.”

The new Shogun models are all equipped with ride height control, which can be operated in the cab or remotely for extra ease of operation at varying-height loading docks.

The 6x4 also has a limited slip diff on both drive axles for greater traction, making it suited to crane truck work, sometimes on difficult terrain.

The new models all use the FUSO ShiftPilot Gen. 3 automated manual transmission already employed in the existing range. The AMT has crawler, rock-free, eco-roll and eco-cruise functions.

All models include “the full complement of advanced safety features” that come as standard across the existing Shogun range. They include electronic braking (EBS), electronic stability control (ESC), active brake assist, lane departure warning, driver fatigue warning and adaptive cruise control (including vehicle proximity control).

Fuso NZ terms the new OM936 eight-litre “a smaller engine 70 | Truck & Driver

with plenty of smarts,” capable of “reducing running costs with optimal power output.”

Built to comply with the Euro 6-equivalent Japanese JP17 exhaust emissions standard, “the T1 has a high output to displacement ratio, providing efficient, effective power delivery and exceptional fuel economy, resulting in a low carbon footprint.”

The engine’s selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emissions control system also cuts operating costs, Fuso NZ reckons – cutting AdBlue consumption “to between 2.0-2.5% of fuel consumption.”

The engine’s robust components also reduce wear and tear for enhanced longevity, it says.

The eight-litre has a crossflow cylinder head, four valves per cylinder and double overhead cams, with the exhaust camshaft actuated by a variable camshaft phaser (VCP) – “the first adjustable exhaust camshaft of this type to appear in any diesel engine,” says Fuso.

The system supports the regeneration of the particulate filter, making that possible “under practically any operating conditions.”

The OM936 uses two-stage turbocharging, with twin asymmetric double-flow turbochargers and an electronicallycontrolled boost pressure valve, to regulate the charge pressure and further improve engine response during acceleration and when using the Jake engine brake.

Fuso says that the engine’s 110/135mm bore/stroke ratio “enables low fuel consumption,” while it also “ensures excellent

pulling power at low revs. “ Further fuel economy is achieved by electronically controlling the speed of the water pump to achieve fast warmup and to maintain optimum engine temperatures over the complete rev range.

Three evaluation trucks have clocked-up over 120,000kms in NZ during the last six months, running in linehaul general freight and low load-height operations.

Fuso NZ says: “Operator feedback was extremely positive, with reports indicating significant fuel savings and noticeably improved ride stability and comfort.

“Where air suspension is the standard specification for highway delivery trucks, added to superior performance, advanced safety and value for money, these new Shogun models will tick a lot of boxes for NZ freight operators,” says Kurtis Andrews.

General freight, container and car carrier Carr & Haslam ran two of the evaluation units in its fleet – and it’s a measure of director Chris Carr’s opinion of them that he’s now bought both of them.

Carr, who reckons they are “Shogun-Lites,” put a FU2536 6x2 with eight-bag rear air suspension to work out of Christchurch, delivering gas bottles around the top half of the South Island for Vector Ongas.

An 8x4 Super-Low FS2536 was doubleshifted for the trial, running between Auckland and Wellington – simply to quickly clock up big kilometres…which it did, running over 52,000Ks in three and a half months.

Since the trial, Carr & Haslam has shifted it to Christchurch, where it does two runs a week delivering gas bottles for Vector Ongas, around the southern half of the South Island.

Both it and the 6x2 replace FUSO Fighters and Carr says that they are “impressive….seriously competent trucks” that are a “dramatic improvement” on the Fighters.

He lists the 8x4’s low ride height and both models’ “modern technology, reduced carbon emissions and all the safety features – particularly the lane departure warning and the adaptive cruise control….including emergency braking” as their areas of improvement.

The safety features onboard are a good fit with Vector Ongas’ safety-conscious philosophy for its transport, says Carr.

He is mightily impressed with the eight-litre engine’s “CO2 emissions reductions” – which see the 8x4’s carbon emissions down 24% on a Carr & Haslam 6x2 Fighter automatic.

The twin-steer Super-Low has a tare weight just under 11 tonnes, and runs at up to 24.5 tonnes all-up. By comparison, the 6x2 Fighters tare at 9800kg and can run at just under 21t.

The carbon emissions with the 6x2 Shogun are, he says, 38% lower than an automatic 6x2 Fighter and 31% better than a manual gearbox Fighter.

Carr says the arrangement for Carr & Haslam to test the trucks came with no obligation to buy them at the end of the trial: “But I said, ‘but I want to!’ ” The first shipment of the new Shoguns is due to arrive here this month. T&D Truck & Driver | 71

The new Hangcha XC forklifts join a lithium battery lineup that already includes electric forklifts, powered pallet trucks, stackers, reach trucks and all A-Series counterbalance forklifts up to five tonnes

New lithium ion electric forklifts here N

EW ZEALAND’S RANGE OF HANGCHA electric forklifts has a new lithium ion-powered model that’s safer, more versatile and more user-friendly.

NZ distributor Northern Forklifts says that the Hangcha XC is a premium-performance two-tonne to 3.5t capacity counterbalance forklift range, designed specifically for lithium battery power.

It continues Hangcha’s partnership with lithium battery manufacturer CATL, which sees it already offering lithium battery options on most of its electric forklifts, including powered pallet trucks, stackers, reach trucks and all A-Series counterbalance forklifts up to 5t.

The distributor says that whereas “most counterbalance machines have the heavy lead acid battery mounted relatively high in the chassis” (to allow access to the top for checking water and to vent the battery while charging), the smaller XC lithium batteries are mounted low.

This delivers “a much lower centre of gravity…greatly enhancing stability and therefore operator safety.”

An additional safety feature on the XC is a function that automatically slows the machine during turns to further reduce rollover risk.

Northern Forklifts also points out that lithium batteries are maintenancefree (no watering, no acid) and don’t release potentially explosive gas while charging. They’re also much smaller than comparable lead acid units and

can be removed much more easily (and safely) – using a pallet truck, rather than a gantry or another forklift.

The machine also has improved operator ergonomics (including extra footspace), easier access to components and instrumentation – including adjustable operating parameters such as top speed, regen brake force and self-diagnosis for fault-finding – that is conveniently located at eye level on the overhead guard.

The electric drive and hydraulic motors are “extremely quiet and powerful and can be combined with a suspension operator’s seat – with integrated fingertip controls – for optimum comfort and a fatigue-free working day.”

The XC’s high water and dust-resistance ratings allow it to be used outside in the rain or in a dusty yard. The CATL batteries’ inbuilt heating capability mean the XC can also be used in freezers with no dropoff in performance, says Northern Forklifts.

The lithium ion batteries provide full battery power right up to recharge time….and a full recharge takes just two hours. They can also be “opportunity charged as often as needed, without affecting overall battery life.” The maintenance-free batteries have a five-year/10,000-hour warranty.

Northern Forklifts sees the Hangcha XC as “particularly suited to the high utilisation customer who’s looking for maximum performance from an electric forklift in varied conditions.” T&D

The low-mounted lithium ion batteries in the new range allow a lower centre of gravity, thus enhancing the forklifts' stability 72 | Truck & Driver

TRUCK SHOP

ISRI gets new NZ online presence

K

IWI TRANSPORT OPERATORS LOOKING FOR new driver seats are now able to access an updated ISRINGHAUSEN New Zealand website.

Official ISRI distributor in NZ, Geemac Trading, says it has reinvigorated the www.isringhausen.co.nz website “to offer our customers a full range of ISRI options, spare parts and technical advice – as well as continue to provide the high level of support that the company has upheld for the past decades.”

The company has also launched a comprehensive ISRI seat catalogue.

Geemac director and owner Gordon McKendry says that the company was established 31 years ago, with the aim of representing “only the best products we could source.”

Within three years Geemac had chosen ISRI seats, “as it was clear other brands did not stand up as well to the demands of NZ truck and bus operators and local conditions,” he says.

They are, he says, “acknowledged as the world’s best driver’s seats….and

Geemac is the only approved distributor within NZ.” Now McKendry’s son Callum has joined him at Geemac “to further enhance our industry presence.”

Callum McKendry says that while he and his father have the same approach in terms of key business and sales fundamentals, “my background in marketing allows me to bring other aspects to the business.

“On top of our new catalogue and seat identification document, the updated website is one of those things. The simple design and layout means that customers can easily identify what seat they are interested in buying/ replacing and inquire about price, parts lists, availability etc.

“As well as that, one of the main things that we need from customers when they’re seeking information on what ISRI seat they can fit into their vehicle, is the make, model and year.

“These details are built into the inquiry form on the new website, which will help speed up quotes….and, therefore, seat supply.” T&D

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FEATURE

F

OR FINNISH TRANSPORT OPERATOR VILLE VÄHÄLÄ THE latest Mercedes-Benz Actros is a dream truck.

For starters, the MirrorCam Actros, which replaces rear vision mirrors with rear-facing cameras housed inside streamlined wings – delivering pictures to monitors on each A-pillar – comes as standard with a system that meets Finnish regulations for highproductivity trucks.

Under Finland’s “high-capacity truck” rules introduced last year, tractor units can tow two semi-trailers, stretching out up to 34.5 metres in total length and weighing up to 76 tonnes all-up….

Provided that all units over 28m long have a digital camera system. Yep, like MirrorCam. Understandably then, the third-generation boss of the family business, which operates out of the northern Finland city of Oulu, was quick to embrace the concept – becoming one of the first operators in Europe to trial a MirrorCam Actros in long-distance work.

The 2633 Actros has now become an integral part of the Vähälä company’s 200-truck fleet (comprising 65 of its own units, the rest run by contractors) – having proven itself through a Finnish winter,

operating in temperatures as low as minus-40 degrees Celsius!

Oulu is over 600 kilometres north of the Finnish capital, Helsinki – and is just 150kms short of the Arctic Circle. In fact, the MirrorCam Merc’s regular run takes it from southern Finland, into the Arctic Circle – so to describe its operating conditions as “extreme” is no exaggeration.

In winter, the days start with temperatures slightly above freezing….dropping to -40 by the time drivers arrive at the Lapland capital Rovaniemi (known as the gateway to the Arctic) in the evening – having travelled 900kms or more. The Actros is multishifted, clocking up 250,000-300,000kms a year.

Mercs make up two-thirds of Vähälä’s fleet, which carts freight ranging from pulp for paper manufacture to medical products, foodstuffs for supermarkets and cargo on behalf of German logistics giant DB Schenker.

Ville Vähälä says the company is “delighted with the new Actros.”

The MirrorCam system has proven itself, even in the height of winter – with its powerful cameras, minimal soiling of the lens and a function that automatically heats the lens once temperatures drop below 15 degrees Celsius.

Above: To satisfy Finnish high-productivity regulations, trucks must have a digital camera system fitted....which the MirrorCam Actros has as standard Below: The rules allow the two-trailer units to stretch out to 34.5 metres and to weigh up to 76 tonnes

Truck & Driver | 75

The Finnish intensity of light is also handled comfortably by MirrorCam, according to Ville – ensuring good visibility, even at night.

The compact design of the cameras also means they’re far less prone than conventional mirrors to getting dirty – from slush, for example.

And the system provides assistance to the drivers when the long unit is negotiating bends: The driver is always able to see the end of the second trailer.

Given the extra-long units, the MirrorCam system’s capability to switch to a wide-angle view on the monitors during reversing is also valuable.

Vähälä says that the Merc has other features that help the drivers manage challenging winter conditions – this including its new Active Drive Assist, which supports the driver when braking, accelerating and steering. Ditto for Active Brake Assist 5 – the latest generation of M-B’s emergency brake assistant.

The new Actros also has an improved version of the truckmaker’s Predictive Powertrain Control – its intelligent cruise and transmission control.

That contributes to improved fuel efficiency – a key feature for Ville Vähälä. “Mercedes has certainly reached new heights here with this feature.” The Euro 6 engine, finely-tuned drivetrain settings and aero improvements (including the replacement of the rear-vision mirrors) are also credited as key factors in improved fuel economy – important to an operation whose trucks travel eight to nine million kilometres annually.

Ville Vähälä reckons that his Mercs “can cover up to 150,000kms between two service appointments – that’s extraordinary.” Thanks to service contracts and Mercedes-Benz Uptime, “we have no need for our own workshop any more,” he adds. T&D

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F: 0800 329 331 | M: 027 381 8881 E: werner@williamgill.co.nz | www.williamgill.co.nz 72 Grayson Ave, Manukau, Auckland 2104 76 | Truck & Driver

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F: 0800 329 331 | P: 09 277 9961 E: auckland@williamgill.co.nz | E: huntly@williamgill.co.nz 72 Grayson Ave, Papatoetoe Auckland, 2104 Park Ave, Huntly 3700

F: 0800 329 331 | P: 09 277 9961

Werner Kriel

Sales Executive

EG30683

Ringfeder included

Clockwise, from opposite page, top: The MirrorCam system goes to a wide-angle view during reversing..... the Merc’s regular run takes it into Lapland, within the Arctic Circle..... driver Elias Salonen has the MirrorCam and other useful technology to help him stay safe in the icy conditions

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Hair-raising images from the onboard camera in the Toll van (left), during the driver’s apparent diabetic episode. Motorists, including participants in a vintage car rally, were confronted by the van veering directly into their path....until Shane Preston (above) – seeing it happening in his truck’s rear-vision mirrors – managed to corral the van behind him, preventing a likely head-on accident

Now he’s seen it all S

TD30669

HANE PRESTON HASN’T BEEN DRIVING FULLTIME FOR THAT long. Two or three years tops...although in his previous life as an agricultural contractor the 62-year-old was often behind the wheel.

Short though it has been, his time behind the wheel every day has quickly opened his eyes to the range of stupid things people do on the road – and he was beginning to think he’d seen most of it (maybe even seen it all).

But the Toll van that he saw in his mirrors as he approached Carterton from the north one day in February was something else again, he recalls: “It was all over the place – drifting over the centreline into the face of oncoming traffic, then swerving back to the correct side. This wasn’t a once-off, it happened several times.”

Shane realised he had to do something, and quickly, as a serious crash looked almost inevitable. His cool analysis and

Story Brian Cowan Photos Toll, Reisima Haulage

prompt response to the situation has now led to his nomination as a Castrol Truck Driver Hero – an accolade that recognises drivers who have contributed significantly to the safety of others while working, or in some other way have gone beyond the call of duty for their employer or the industry as a whole. In other words, herotype behaviour needn’t be limited only to road trauma...though in this instance, that was emphatically a likely outcome.

Fearing the van driver was either drunk, drugged or suffering a medical emergency, Shane radioed Graeme Reisima, his boss at Masterton’s Reisima Haulage, to call the Police. Meanwhile, the erratic driving continued. Time and again the van veered to the wrong side, forcing other vehicles to swerve out of its way, then tailgating the Isuzu 8x4 truck and trailer combination Shane was driving.

To compound the situation, a vintage car rally was passing through Carterton at the time and the main street of the Wairarapa

Truck & Driver | 79

Right, top: A number of cars had to take evasive action to avoid a head-on crash before Shane got the opportunity to stop the van Right, bottom: Shane’s first attempt to guide the van off to the side of the road, saw the driver swerve back to the right Below: Shane reckons he’s no hero

town was carrying more traffic than usual. Several of the rally participants were among those forced into emergency avoidance.

Shane continues: “I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell what it was. The oncoming traffic didn’t have many places to go because of the kerb and footpath. When he came up behind me I put the lefthand indicator on to maybe suggest he move across to that side – but he swerved out to the middle of the road.

“So I went with him, to try to block him, to avert a head-on, and slowed down. We weren’t going all that quickly and I had moved back to the left when he crashed into me. I ran back to check if the driver was OK and he was out of it – disoriented and unable to answer my questions.

“An off-duty fireman was driving behind us and had seen the whole episode. He asked the van driver if he was a diabetic and got a confirmation. I grabbed some water I had in the cab and he downed half a bottle, as well as some Coke the fireman had, which brought him round a bit.

“By that time the Police had arrived and got him in their car with the airconditioning going, because he was as hot as blazes.”

Graeme Reisima was at his desk in Masterton when he got the radio call from Shane, telling him of the wildly erratic behaviour of the van and asking him to get in touch with the Police straight away: “I was in the process of calling *555 and also trying to raise Brian Graham, Toll’s Masterton depot manager, when Shane called back to say the van had crashed into the back of his trailer and to call an ambulance.

“I did so and headed straight down to Carterton, by which time the Police were on the scene and were looking after the van driver, and the ambulance was on its way.

“Shane kept a really cool head, but he’s that sort of guy – someone

80 | Truck & Driver

who can stay calm when others might be panicking. When he first called, I thought he sounded pretty stressed, which seemed a bit out of character, but it was only later when I saw the dashcam pictures from the van that I realised the gravity of the situation he was in. Had he not acted as he did, things could have turned out really badly.”

Brian Graham, meanwhile, came across the scene in Carterton quite by coincidence: “I’d been in Martinborough for a meeting and had switched off my phone, so I didn’t realise Graeme Reisima was trying to call me. So it was quite a shock on the way home to come across the incident. We found later that the driver was quite a serious diabetic, but hadn’t been fully aware of his condition.

“Though he came up behind Shane, only when the truck slowed at the outskirts of Carterton, reports from other road users indicate he was having trouble as far back as Masterton, around 15 kilometres up the highway. In fact, Masterton was where he had a scheduled delivery, and he was so far gone he had passed through there without being aware of it!

“I’d really like to see Shane recognised for his professionalism, the way he managed to slow right down, and as much as he could, block the van from oncoming traffic. He made an outstanding call. Commercial drivers and the industry can get bad press at times, but something like this shows people what can be done: There could easily have been a fatality or serious injury, but because of Shane we ended up with no injury, and minimal damage to the vehicles.”

Both Graeme and Brian strongly support Shane’s nomination as a Castrol Truck Driver Hero, saying that his quick and calm response was exactly what was needed in the circumstances.

Shane downplays the tag of hero: “It was one of those things. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.” T&D

National Road Carriers

Thanks for stepping up

By David Aitken, CEO of National Road Carriers Association

A

BIG THANKYOU TO EVERYONE IN the road transport industry for doing such a great job to keep this country moving during the various lockdown levels of the COVID-19 epidemic.

The industry has stepped up to make sure food, medicines and other essential goods have been delivered.

Every day, drivers, logistics staff and service providers have risked their health and wellbeing to ensure essential freight is delivered to where it’s needed. You are the backbone of the country.

In these uncertain and challenging times it’s been great to see the hard work and sacrifice the road transport sector is making.

The transportation of goods is one of the most important functions in a time like this – to ensure the country can function.

The industry has stood up in times of trouble before and is doing so again in what is the most significant event many of us have experienced.

I would also like to recognise and thank the members of the NRC team, who have worked from early morning until late at night for weeks to make sure the road transport community has been getting the information you need in a timely manner.

So thanks to Jason Heather, Paula Rogers, Richie Arber and Marie Klokova for your dedication – you’ve been amazing.

We’ve received many phone calls and emails from members thanking us for the information and support we have provided and Paula even received a call from a Waiuku company owner checking-in that our team was okay. Everyone has been looking out for everyone.

There has been no shortage of challenges

since the Prime Minister announced on Monday March 23 that the country would go into Level 4 lockdown for four weeks.

The NRC and Road Transport Forum teams worked hard to sort out these challenges.

We’ve kept up a regular stream of emails and website updates addressing the issues and helping to answer members’ questions, starting with: “What are essential vehicles?”

And “what are essential goods?” We needed to clarify very quickly what drivers could and couldn’t do.

Toilet facilities, plus food and drink – basic needs for drivers on the road – then became a concern that gained media attention.

Richie touched base with every council in New Zealand to explain our dilemma and ask what facilities they had open. We got replies from every single council – and Civil Defence Emergency, Mobil and Z Energy helped as well – so we could help create a list and share it.

Richie also took on the role of creating a database of available drivers should anyone need them. That started when some drivers called us to say they were out of work.

We turned that around and sent an email asking which of those drivers would like to work, where they were from and what their work experience was. Within 24 hours we had 200 emails and the database eventually grew to 360 drivers. We have had several companies emailing us looking for multiple drivers and we were able to provide relevant names, based on location and experience.

Jason has acted as the conduit between the container operators and the container network, such as Ports of Auckland, Ports of Tauranga, Metroport and the container yards.

David Aitken

There have still been about 700 containers a day coming off POAL alone, equating to 1400 truck movements. Jason has consolidated all the information into one daily bulletin, while also spending time dealing with container operators’ issues.

Paula describes the work the NRC team has done over this period as “problemsolving.” For example, she has worked on getting water pumps through to droughtstricken Northland, communicating the easing of regulations, CoFs and permits and helping to answer more than 100 calls a day to the NRC’s virtual office.

Marie has been creating infographics to make things easier to understand and getting all our communication and bulletins out the door by email and social media. She has also had the gratifying task of receiving and collating all the positive messages from members.

I would also like to thank all the other services providers that remained open to ensure drivers could continue to operate – the mechanics, tyre suppliers, panelbeaters, parts suppliers and others.

And we must acknowledge the support we have received from the authorities – AT, MoT, NZTA, CVST. They have been very helpful, working alongside a select group of our members including Pamela Bonney and Chris Carr, to understand industry concerns.

We have also run focus groups via Zoom, to get industry feedback to pass on to the agencies – who have also wanted to ensure essential goods keep moving.

We are operating in unique and difficult times. But the whole transport sector has done a fantastic job. You have made the industry and the country proud. T&D Truck & Driver | 81

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Trucks head into Christchurch from a largely empty southern motorway early in the Level 4 lockdown

Taking time to focus on the positives

By Road Transport Association NZ communications manager David Killick

T

HE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY AND THE WHOLE ECONOMY ARE facing massive challenges.

Before focusing on them, I think it’s worth pausing for a moment to acknowledge how well New Zealand has done.

It could have been so much worse: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s call to “go early and go hard” was the right one. The tough Level 4 lockdown conditions – tougher than those in many countries – succeeded in flattening the curve and eliminating COVID-19…. down to just a handful of cases after the first month.

Our health services could have been overwhelmed had the virus been allowed to spread uncontained. That’s what happened in the United States, where President Trump at first downplayed the threat and said it would just go away – and everything was under control.

The US death toll is horrendous – worse than the total number of people killed during the Vietnam war.

Now, protesters in the US are calling for lockdown measures to be eased, even though the virus is still raging. That risks a second deadly wave of infections.

Yes, the economy matters but people’s lives come first.

Without people, or with large numbers of the population sick and hospitalised, there wouldn’t be an economy. The road transport industry in the US, as well as throughout Europe and the UK, has been dealt a hammer blow and is struggling. One of the main problems is reported to be keeping operators safe from the virus.

Sound leadership, heeding the scientists and medical experts, bringing in tough necessary measures, and getting public buy-in, have made a critical difference in NZ. One pleasing outcome was the unprecedented level of cooperation and the suspension, at least for a short period, of politics as usual. Our team of five million worked together. We all want a good outcome.

That’s not to let the Government off the hook. Far from it: The need for increased spending on infrastructure, especially roads, is

now more compelling than ever. It’s essential to expand our state highway network and bring it up to First World standards.

Another positive has been the recognition of the huge and vital role that road transport operators play in keeping the economy running. Even as the Level 4 lockdown kicked in, operators were gearing up to hit the road, carrying essential supplies to those who needed it most.

For some, the restrictions proved very tough until they were eased to allow the movement of non-essential goods. Some operators will still struggle. They need ongoing support.

The economy will certainly be very different. We will still depend on exports. Perhaps we will go back to manufacturing more products in NZ. For those forced to stay at home in their bubble, life has been different. But for most, not too difficult. Those of us in Christchurch who went through the earthquakes are used to disruption.

Julie Berry, of Safe Business Solutions, wrote: “Remember, our grandparents were called to war; we are being called to sit on the sofa and watch movies. We can do this!”

The lockdown also proved that many people could work from home. The dropoff in traffic early on was a welcome relief for nature and made it a lot easier for people to get out walking or biking around their neighbourhoods. Truck drivers welcomed the change, prompting a warning to stay alert with so few vehicles about. What a relief not to have to watch out for aggressive and impatient motorists!

Once restrictions eased, traffic levels were back up to their previous levels. There has been a call for more spending on cycling infrastructure to cut the numbers of cars on the roads.

To me, freeing roads up for the vital trucking operators who contribute to the economy for the good of all NZers, makes sense.

Whatever your view on all of these issues, the Road Transport Association will continue to listen and make your voice heard. T&D Truck & Driver | 83

DESIGNED IN SÖDERTÄLJE. PERFECTED HERE.

scania.co.nz

MADE FOR NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association Windfarm turbine blades being transported from Port Taranaki by the Specialist Lifting and Transport Group

Jonathan Bhana-Thomson

By Jonathan Bhana-Thomson – chief executive, New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association

Oversize industry applauded

O

VERALL, THE OVERSIZE INDUSTRY SECTOR TOOK A responsible attitude to the Level 4 lockdown – and stayed at home.

The debate in New Zealand was around what was essential and non-essential freight movement, and while most industries that oversize transport operators service were in lockdown, operators accepted that the best way to control the virus spread in NZ was for them also to be at home.

Contrast this with the situation in Australia, the United States and United Kingdom, where all freight was deemed able to travel. Obviously, in times to come, there will be others who look into what the best approach was – however most oversize operators here were willing to stay in lockdown…if this meant that we were all able to get back to work sooner, and the overall effect on the economy was less severe.

Nevertheless, it was with some relief that most oversize operators and associated industry clients returned to work under the Level 3 restrictions.

However it needs to be recognised that the oversize industry by and large took the heed to stay in lockdown seriously and didn’t push the envelope on what freight was deemed to be essential freight.

There were a few oversize loads that were considered to be essential.

A major oversize task was clearing a shipload of 99 wind turbine blades that needed to be moved out of Port Taranaki, in New Plymouth, to make room for other inbound freight arriving off other ships.

There were also other equipment movements out of other ports, goods moved for the primary sector, and also some large manufactured items that needed to be transported to the Ports of Auckland, to be shipped to Melbourne for healthcare purposes.

This has been a challenging period and the support from Government in terms of the wage subsidy was certainly appreciated by the oversize industry – as were other financial measures.

In terms of governmental agency support, it needs to be recognised that the two-way communication with both the Ministry of Transport and the NZ Transport Agency was considerable. The NZ Heavy Haulage Association was included in many conference calls to keep us up to date with developments and the Agency in particular was very interested to hear from industry about what our issues were and how they could assist with them.

They didn’t manage to achieve everything that would have enabled the oversize industry to work more efficiently at Level 3, but we hope that the open communication channels and attitude towards solving problems in conjunction with industry will continue into the future.

A key role that the association also carried out was the writing and distribution to members of a guidance document and template for a Site Safety Plan for operating under Level 3. A lot of industry groups have developed these, but because of the unique operation of the oversize industry – involving teams of workers including load pilots, overhead escorts and other subcontractors – the association developed template documents that members could adapt to their own operations, in particular highlighting physical distancing, contact tracing and sanitising.

This last couple of months have been challenging for the oversize industry, but the responsible and pro-active measures that the members and the association have taken will stand us in good stead for the future. T&D Truck & Driver | 85

W O N K U O Y O D R E V I R D K C A TRU

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O R E H

WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS: l Significantly contributed to the safety of others. l Acted in a consistently safe way to prevent harm to others. l Generally helped other motorists on our roads. l Contributed to the industry in ways such as encouraging others to become drivers. l Been a long-term reliable driver.

PRIZES UP FOR GRABS!

l Has gone over and above their call of duty for the business/industry.

NOMINATION FORMS ARE AVAILABLE ON-LINE Having a winning driver on your team pays huge dividends. There’s free publicity, its a morale boost, a proud flag to fly and just entering somebody’s name shows you care. The winning driver and his or her carrier are often used in subsequent stories.

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10/12/2019 11:04

19 11:04

Mount Maunganui Owens contractor Hewlett Transport has put this new DAF CF85 FTD 8x4 tractor unit to work, carting containers. The Sultan of Swing has a 510hp PACCAR MX engine, a ZF 16-speed transmission and Meritor 46-160 diffs on Airglide suspension. It tows a new Patchell quad Swinglift

Coronavirus convulsions T

HE CORONAVIRUS WREAKED HAVOC WITH New Zealand’s new truck market in April – the Level 4 state of emergency, unsurprisingly, reducing monthly registrations to historic lows.

The widespread expectation that this unprecedented closedown of the country to stop the global COVID-19 pandemic taking a devastating hold here, came to pass – with a vengeance.

Just 89 new trucks in the overall market (all trucks with a GVM of 4.5 tonnes or more) were registered….and trailermakers put a mere eight units on the road.

The scale of the savaging that the heavy commercial vehicle market took in April is revealed by a comparison of the figures with those for the same month last year – the truck registrations down 311 units and 77.8%....while the eight trailer regos represented a 93.6% drop on last

April’s 126.

Year-to-date truck registrations at the end of April stood at 1134 – a third down on the 1700 for the first four months of 2020.

The trailer market’s YTD total stood at 318 – 179 (and 36%) down on the same point last year.

In the overall truck market, Isuzu (270/21) continued to clearly lead the 2020 figures with 270 registrations – moving further ahead of second-placed FUSO (181/9) and third-placed Hino (131/7).

However, Volvo registered a standout 27 trucks to become April’s top performer – taking its 2020 registrations total to 109 and going clear of fifth-placed Scania (82/6), Iveco (71/4), Mercedes-Benz (54/7), Kenworth (50/1), UD (43/2) and DAF (31/2).

In the 3.5-4.5t GVM crossover segment, Fiat (63/0) held its lead, although it had no registrations for the month. Mercedes-Benz (30/3) Truck & Driver | 87

The second of two new Mack Trident 8x4 tractor units has gone to work for Dibble Bulk Transport, carting cement products with a Feldbinder quad semi-trailer pneumatic tanker. The Mt Maunganui-based unit has a 535hp Mack MP8 engine, an mDrive AMT and Meritor 46-160 diffs

4501kg-max GVM

Brand ISUZU FUSO HINO VOLVO SCANIA IVECO MERCEDES-BENZ KENWORTH UD DAF MAN SINOTRUK MACK FOTON FREIGHTLINER INTERNATIONAL VOLKSWAGEN PEUGEOT HYUNDAI FIAT WESTERN STAR RAM JAC OTHER Total

2020 Vol % 270 23.8 181 16.0 131 11.6 109 9.6 82 7.2 71 6.3 54 4.8 50 4.4 43 3.8 31 2.7 25 2.2 17 1.5 15 1.3 15 1.3 14 1.2 6 0.5 5 0.4 3 0.3 3 0.3 3 0.3 2 0.2 2 0.2 1 0.1 1 0.1 1134 100.00

April Vol % 21 23.6 9 10.1 7 7.9 27 30.3 6 6.7 4 4.5 7 7.9 1 1.1 2 2.2 2 2.2 3 3.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 89 100.00

3501-4500kg GVM

Brand FIAT MERCEDES-BENZ FORD RENAULT PEUGEOT CHEVROLET IVECO LDV Total

Vol 63 30 11 9 8 7 3 1 132

2020 % 47.7 22.7 8.3 6.8 6.1 5.3 2.3 0.8 100.00

April Vol % 0 0.0 3 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 100.00

4501-7500kg GVM

Brand FUSO ISUZU IVECO HINO MERCEDES-BENZ FOTON VOLKSWAGEN PEUGEOT HYUNDAI FIAT RAM Total 88 | Truck & Driver

Vol 74 73 36 22 14 13 5 3 3 3 2 248

2020 % 29.8 29.4 14.5 8.9 5.6 5.2 2.0 1.2 1.2 1.2 0.8 100.00

April Vol % 5 29.4 8 47.1 0 0.0 3 17.6 1 5.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 17 100.00

Volvo’s 27 registrations in the 23t-max GVM premium division were just three trucks shy of its March sales...

7501-15,000kg GVM

Brand ISUZU FUSO HINO IVECO UD FOTON MAN MERCEDES-BENZ JAC OTHER Total

Vol 123 42 35 12 4 2 2 2 1 1 224

2020 % 54.9 18.8 15.6 5.4 1.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.4 0.4 100.00

April Vol % 5 29.4 3 17.6 3 17.6 3 17.6 2 11.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 5.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 17 100.00

15,001-20,500kg GVM

Brand HINO FUSO UD SCANIA MERCEDES-BENZ ISUZU DAF IVECO MAN SINOTRUK Total

Vol 24 13 12 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 77

2020 % 31.2 16.9 15.6 9.1 7.8 6.5 5.2 3.9 2.6 1.3 100.00

April Vol % 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 66.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 33.3 0 0.0 3 100.00

20,501-23,000kg GVM

Brand HINO FUSO FREIGHTLINER Total

Vol 8 4 1 13

2020 % 61.5 30.8 7.7 100.00

April Vol % 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.00

23,001kg-max GVM

Brand VOLVO SCANIA ISUZU KENWORTH FUSO HINO MERCEDES-BENZ UD DAF MAN IVECO SINOTRUK MACK FREIGHTLINER INTERNATIONAL WESTERN STAR Total

Vol 109 75 69 50 48 42 32 27 27 21 20 16 15 13 6 2 572

2020 % 19.1 13.1 12.1 8.7 8.4 7.3 5.6 4.7 4.7 3.7 3.5 2.8 2.6 2.3 1.0 0.3 100.00

April Vol % 27 51.9 6 11.5 8 15.4 1 1.9 1 1.9 1 1.9 3 5.8 0 0.0 2 3.8 2 3.8 1 1.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 52 100.00

Trailers

2020 Vol % Brand PATCHELL 38 11.9 FRUEHAUF 31 9.7 MTE 28 8.8 ROADMASTER 27 8.5 DOMETT 22 6.9 TMC 20 6.3 14 4.4 FREIGHTER TES 12 3.8 3.5 TRANSPORT TRAILERS 11 TRANSFLEET 11 3.5 JACKSON 8 2.5 MAXICUBE 7 2.2 TIDD 5 1.6 HAMMAR 5 1.6 5 1.6 MILLS-TUI MTC 5 1.6 EVANS 4 1.3 MD 4 1.3 MAKARANUI 4 1.3 MTC 4 1.3 COWAN 3 0.9 CWS 3 0.9 HTS 2 0.6 KRAFT 2 0.6 PTE 2 0.6 LOWES 2 0.6 FELDBINDER 2 0.6 WHITE 2 0.6 SEC 2 0.6 KOROMIKO 1 0.3 OTHER 32 10.1 Total 318 100.00

April Vol % 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 25.0 1 12.5 5 62.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 8 100.00

Wairoa’s Kiwi Transport has this new Volvo FM 500 tipper unit carting fert and bulk metal around its home area. The 6x4 has a 500hp engine, I-Shift transmission and Volvo diffs, with a 7.5 tonne front axle and Transfleet bulk body

was the only other brand to register a truck in this segment in April.

Ford (11/0) remained third.

In the 4.5-7.5t division, FUSO (74/5) held onto its lead (just!) over Isuzu (73/8), with Iveco (36/0) retaining third. Hino (22/3) remained in fourth position, while Mercedes-Benz (14/1) went ahead of Foton (13/0).

In the 7.5-15t class, Isuzu (123/5) retained the significant lead it had already built in the first three months. FUSO (42/3) remained second, ahead of Hino (35/3), Iveco (12/3), UD (4/2), Foton (2/0) and Mercedes-Benz (2/1).

In the 15-20.5t GVM category, Hino (24/0) continued to lead from FUSO (13/0) and UD (12/0), in second and third. Scania (7/0) held fourth – but only by one thanks to Mercedes-Benz (6/2) registering two trucks in April…while MAN (2/1) sold one.

In the tiny 20.5-23t GVM division there were no registrations – thus Hino (8/0) continued to lead from FUSO (4/0) and Freightliner (1/0).

Volvo’s 27 registrations in the 23t-max GVM premium division

were just three trucks shy of its March sales – that mere 10% reduction remarkable since others in the top 10 lost anything between 46% and 100% of their March registrations.

So Volvo extended its segment lead over Scania (75/6) with 109 YTD registrations. Isuzu (69/8) was third, while the next six held their March places, with Kenworth (50/1) in fourth, ahead of FUSO (48/1), Hino (42/1), Mercedes-Benz (32/3), UD (27/0) and DAF (27/2). MAN (21/2) edged ahead of Iveco (20/1) for 10th.

With trailer manufacturers forced to close during the Level 4 lockdown, unsurprisingly only three managed to register new vehicles – Freighter improving from 10th to seventh with its five regos, Domett with two and TMC one.

Market leader Patchell (38/0) retained its YTD leadership, followed

by Fruehauf (31/0), MTE (28/0), Roadmaster (27/0), Domett (22/2), TMC (20/1) and Freighter (14/5).

Completing the top 10 were TES (12/0) and Transport Trailers and Transfleet (both 11/0). T&D Truck & Driver | 89

Gavin Logging has this new Kenworth T659 logger working out of Hanmer Springs, with Stephen (Yogi) Oakley at the wheel. It has a 600-615hp Cummins X15 engine, an 18-speed Roadranger transmission and Meritor 46-160GP diffs on Airglide suspension. It’s fitted with Patchell log gear and tows a matching four-axle trailer

Auto Dispatch put this new Volvo FM 540 car transporter, capable of carrying nine cars, on the road, working out of Wellington. The 8x4 rigid has a 540hp engine and an I Shift AMT

This new Volvo FH 540 carts fuel all over the South Island for Allied Petroleum. Damon Bennett and Brent Moir share the driving of the 6x4 tractor unit, which works in front of a Lowes six-axle B-train

90 | Truck & Driver

The first Kenworth T909 to be sold in NZ with a 36-inch mid-roof sleeper cab, this heavy haulage tractor unit is now in work shifting heavy machinery for the Tokoroa and Taumarunui-based Central Equipment Movers. It has a 600-615hp Cummins X15 engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual gearbox and Dana diffs on Neway suspension. Much-experienced heavy haul driver Kyle Gibbs has been entrusted with the newcomer, which came with many, many extras, plus a new MTE low-loader

Paengaroa Road Haulage (PRH) has this new Volvo FH 540 carting general freight and produce around the North Island, out of its Te Puke base. The 8x4 rigid has a 540hp engine, an I Shift AMT and a new Domett curtainsider body and matching five-axle trailer

This new Kenworth T610SAR logger has gone to work for LOADCO, driven by Tokoroa trucking identity Bruce Tricky. It has a 550-578hp Cummins X15 engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual transmission and Meritor 46-160 rear axles, plus Patchell logging gear and matching four-axle trailer

Truck & Driver | 91

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Tauranga 80 Glenlyon Greerton, Tauranga 80 Glenlyon Ave,Ave, Greerton, Tauranga 80Ave, Glenlyon Greerton, Tauranga PO Box Greerton, Tauranga, 3142 31423142 PO9234, Box 9234, Greerton, Tauranga, PO Box 9234, Greerton, Tauranga, Contact: Rueben Kelly Contact: Rueben KellyKelly Contact: Rueben 07 578073434 578 34343434 07 578 027 227 0272624 227 26242624 027 227 rueben@brokersnz.co.nz rueben@brokersnz.co.nz rueben@brokersnz.co.nz

40-42 40-42 Geddes Road, Rotorua 40-42 Geddes Geddes Road, Road, Rotorua Rotorua PO Box 4346 PO133, Box POWaitara, Box 133,133, Waitara, Waitara, 43464346 Contact: Rick Osborne Contact: Contact: RickRick Osborne Osborne 07 34607 2089 346 07 2089 346 2089 027 277 0272653 027 277 277 26532653 rick@brokerspnp.co.nz rick@brokerspnp.co.nz rick@brokerspnp.co.nz

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92 | Truck & Driver

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EASTERN BAY STOCK Every rural community in New Zealand used to have their local and sometimes more than one local rural carrier. These fleets provided a full range of rural services from picking up hay delivering sand and metal and carrying live stock.

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range of accessories to compliment every ISRI seat.

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WE’RE HERE & SHOVEL READY!

T5G 6X4 CONCRETE TRUCK 6.5m3 Capacity Factory fitted bowl TWS wired with plug in remote controller

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Work and safety lights

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THE MODERN TRANSPORT GROUP