NZ Truck & Driver Magazine July 2019

NZ TRUCK & DRIVER

FREE GIANT TRUCK POSTER LIFTOUT

| July 2019

July 2019 $8.50 incl. GST

BIG TEST Fan base | FLEET FOCUS From pigfeed to big deal | FEATURE Show business....funny business

Fan

BASE

The Official Magazine of the

Issue 225

FLEET FOCUS FEATURE From pigfeed to big deal

Show business.... funny business

ISSN 1174-7935

N SERIES, WITH ADDED ELECTRICS. BUY ANY NEW ISUZU N SERIES TRUCK AND CHOOSE ONE OF FOUR $2000 HiKOKI POWER TOOL PACKS.

Buy any new Isuzu N Series truck before the end of August and choose one of four bonus HiKOKI tool packs valued at $2,000 + GST. To find out more about this great offer visit your nearest Isuzu Dealer or search Isuzu.co.nz.

T&C’s apply, visit Isuzu.co.nz for more information

ISZ15108 Hikoki Partnership_NZ Truck and Driver A4 R01.indd 1

12/06/19 10:32 AM

CONTENTS Issue 225 – July 2019 2

News

48 Fleet Focus

The latest in the world of transport, including….Kiwi truckies overwhelmingly reckon low pay, long hours and incab cameras are the main reasons the industry is losing drivers; new performance based standards and proforma HPMV designs released; driverless, cabless Volvo starts work

22 Giti Tyres Big Test A truck the people at Volvo refer to as a “base-spec” tipper is winning itself a fanbase. We spend a day with one to find out how it compares

It’s a fleet that started out as a one-truck operation, keeping a Pukekohe piggery in feed. But its main waste food contract ended up outgrowing (and, ultimately, outliving) the pig farm!

CONTRIBUTORS 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

91 TRT Recently Registered

FEATURES

COLUMNS

66 Show business….funny business The 2019 Brisbane Truck Show is a real beauty mate. So what the bloody hell is going on! Why is an industry group talkingup the establishment of a rival show?

81 Sector Workforce Engagement Programme SWEP supports two successful careers expos – in Rotorua and Edgecumbe

85 RTANZ

Latest news from the Road Transport Forum NZ, including…..road transport operators’ social licence to operate relies on our industry’s collective compliance, safety and employment reputation; Cook Strait ferry DG documentation clampdown; the bus that works for trucking

Publisher

New products and services for the road transport industry

New truck and trailer registrations for May

39 Transport Forum

MANAGEMENT

89 Truck Shop

Our political environment sees SAFETY as a key outcome, over and above productivity

REGULARS 80/ PPG Transport Imaging 81 Awards Recognising NZ’s best-looking truck fleets….including a giant pullout poster of this month’s finalist

Gerald Shacklock Dave McLeod John Coker Olivia Beauchamp Peter Owens

ART DEPARTMENT Design & Production Luca Bempensante Zarko Mihic EQUIPMENT GUIDE AUCKLAND, NORTHLAND, BOP, WAIKATO, CENTRAL NORTH ISLAND Advertising Don Leith 027 233 0090 don@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

87 National Road Carriers Association What does a low-emissions economy mean for your trucking business?

ADMINISTRATION Sue Woolston MANAGER accounts@trucker.co.nz SUBSCRIPTIONS Sue Woolston accounts@trucker.co.nz NZ subscription $80 incl. GST for one year price (11 issues) Overseas rates on application ADDRESS Phone +64 9 571 3544 Fax +64 9 571 3549 Freephone 0508 TRUCKER (878 2537) Postal Address PO Box 112 062, Penrose, AUCKLAND Street Address 172B Marua Road, Ellerslie, AUCKLAND Web www.alliedpublications.co.nz PRINTING & DISTRIBUTION Printer Nicholson Print Solutions Distribution Gordon & Gotch Publication: New Zealand Truck & Driver is published monthly, except January,

by Allied Publications Ltd PO Box 112 062, Penrose, Auckland

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Truck & Driver | 1

NEWS

Vera goes to work VOLVO TRUCK S’ F U T U R ISTIC electric, connected and autonomous Vera is going to work in Sweden – moving containers from a logistics centre to a port terminal.

The real-world testing assignment for the autonomous concept truck – which has no cab, let alone a driver – is the result of a collaboration between Volvo Trucks and ferry and logistics company, DFDS. Vera was unveiled last year – designed for repetitive assignments in logistics centres, factories and ports. It’s suited for operating over short distances, transporting large volumes of goods with high precision.

The collaboration with DFDS (also involving several other companies), is

intended to have Vera operate in a connected system, maintaining a continuous flow of goods from a DFDS’ logistics centre to an APM Terminals port facility in Gothenburg.

Several Veras will be monitored by an operator in a control tower – enabling a seamless and constant flow, responsive to demands for greater efficiency, flexibility and sustainability.

The solution is suited to repetitive workflows, with Vera travelling at a maximum 40km/h. Infrastructure has been adapted as part of the integrated transport, including automated gates at the terminals.

Volvo sees the collaboration with DFDS as “a first step towards implementing Vera

in a real transport assignment on predefined public roads in an industrial area.”

Mikael Karlsson, vice president autonomous solutions at Volvo Trucks, says the collaboration gives it “the opportunity to implement Vera in an ideal setting and further develop her potential for other similar operations.”

DFDS CEO Torben Carlsen says the company wants to be at the forefront of connected, autonomous transportation: “This collaboration will help us develop an efficient, flexible and sustainable longterm solution for receiving autonomous vehicles arriving at our gates – benefitting our customers, the environment and our business.” T&D

Pay, hours, mo n driver issues FIRST UNION SAYS A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF Kiwi truckies, asking them why the industry is losing drivers (and isn’t attracting more newcomers), shows that low pay is overwhelmingly seen as the main reason….followed, in order, by long working hours and increasing surveillance.

The union says that of the 384 drivers quizzed for the In It For The Long-Haul survey, 80.4% cited pay, over half (51.7%) reckoned it’s the long hours and 41.9% blamed an increased level of driver monitoring.

Says FIRST Union: “The survey reveals systemic issues within the sector such as inadequate pay, long hours and driver monitoring and surveillance rather than demographics (age) and worsened driving culture as main factors for the truck driver shortage.”

Just 2.9% of the drivers surveyed were under 25 years of age….while 73.5% per were 45 years or older. In fact, of the latter group, 15.4% were 65 or older.

FIRST Union divisional secretary Jared Abbott says that truck 2 | Truck & Driver

driving is becoming less appealing – and the reasons for that need to be addressed: “So many of our sectors rely on truck drivers to keep businesses running, so many of the products and services we use and consume everyday have been delivered by a truck, this needs to be a wakeup call.

“More importantly, we have been warning about the industry becoming less appealing due to pay packets that seem to be stuck in neutral and invasive in-cab cameras. Pay is not what it used to be and drivers are under more pressure to work even longer hours to make up for the inadequate pay.

“Further, we really need to ask whether driver-facing cameras are having a positive effect on health and safety at all. With increased anxiety amongst drivers adding to fatigue and experienced drivers leaving the industry, how can this be positive?”

The Union says the drivers surveyed in one-on-one interviews were “union and non-union, and employees and contractors.” The survey

NEWS

The driverless, cabless Vera is carting containers between a logistics centre and a port terminal

o nitoring....key was commissioned by the Transport Workers Network and ProDrive.

Most of the driver surveyed (95.6% of them) held Class 4-6+ licences, while 79% held Class 5 or higher.

One of the most important findings of the survey, says FIRST Union, is that “contrary to the popular belief that retirement and fatalities/accidents represent the main causes of drivers leaving the industry,” only around 18% of those surveyed indicated fatalities/risk of injury as a factor, while almost 24% cited retirement.

Almost a third of respondents (33.0%) listed a worsening workplace culture – particularly relationships with managers and dispatchers.

And almost 42% said driver monitoring (with up to four cameras recording the driver in the cab) was a likely reason for drivers getting out of the industry.

Just over 23% of respondents identified “other” issues they believed were influencing drivers to leave (or not enter) the industry – the most common among them were worsening traffic, the high cost of getting a licence and a lack of respect from management.

“Experienced drivers who teach new drivers often feel that they are not acknowledged for this by management and many drivers also spoke of poor relationships with dispatchers.”

The truckies surveyed were asked what could be done to attract/ retain more drivers, and the most popular suggestions were better

wages, fewer long shifts (and none over 12 hours), a better workplace culture – eg wanting to be acknowledged by management and treated with respect.

They also wanted better H&S standards (including a strong call to be allowed to have their children in the cabs), better management, less monitoring – many strongly expressing the view that the driver-facing cameras are detrimental to health and safety – and more training.

FIRST Union says that “whereas factors such as accidents and retirement are viewed as almost inevitable….(the former can be minimised but never completely thwarted), systemic factors such as low pay, long hours and driver monitoring are the result of economic and political decisions.

“We therefore argue that pay rates can and must be increased, long shifts reduced and driver monitoring minimised. These issues are solvable.

“Our survey indicates that most drivers love their job; many of them have been in the industry for over three decades, but the pay and working conditions do not reflect their hard work and commitment.

“We conclude that challenging the low pay, long hours, driver monitoring and deteriorated workplace culture represent the main tasks for industry leaders in order to resolve the truck driver shortage in NZ.” T&D Truck & Driver | 3

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NEWS

Fruehauf ’s prototype of the 10-axle B-train combination proforma design can be applied to a curtainsider or flatdeck, as well as this skeletal format

Ok to three new proforma HPMV designs THREE NEW PROFORMA DESIGNS FOR HIGH productivity vehicles – a nine-axle logging truck and trailer unit and nineaxle and 10-axle B-train combinations – have been approved by the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The trio are the first proforma designs that meet new performance based standards (PBS), which were released last month by the Agency.

Prototypes of the two B-train designs passed low-speed and onroad validation testing by TERNZ in May. As part of the process of developing the new PBS, the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Federation (TTMF) commissioned (with NZTA approval) the development of the two new proforma B-train designs to comply with the new PBS. The nine-axle B1233 combination – a 23m unit, comprising a 6x4 tractor unit and a six-axle Roadmaster B-train – has been run by Vowles Transport since last December.

The 23m 10-axle B1243 combination – a 6x4 tractor and a B-train with four axles on the front trailer (the rearmost axle a steerer) – was built by Fruehauf for K&S Freighters, and went on the road in March.

It’s capable of carrying two 22.5-tonne, 20-foot containers....or one 40ft container and one 20-footer. And the design is equally applicable to flatdecks or curtainsiders.

Combinations built to the proposed logtruck PBS – comprising an 8x4 truck and five-axle trailer – have been permitted to run in the central North Island on specific route permits over a longer period…at overall lengths of up to 23.5m, that including an allowable rear load overhang of up to 1m.

This enables them to transport 6.1m logs (an industry standard length) as a two-packet load on the trailer, while also providing “substantially improved rollover stability for negligible additional risk due the additional length,” says TERNZ. The PBS are used to assess whether non-standard heavy vehicle designs

will meet safety performance requirements, equivalent to standard vehicles – as specified in the Vehicle Dimensions and Mass Rule 2016 (VDAM).

As NZTA points out, alternative heavy vehicle combinations such as HPMVs “have to be carefully designed to make sure they meet the principle set by the VDAM Rule – that they are as safe as a standard vehicle.”

Hence the need for PBS to help determine the safety of new HPMV designs – primarily “how the vehicle fits on the road and its ability to take avoidance manoeuvres at speed without losing control.”

The Agency says that until now, NZ’s PBS were largely based on standards developed overseas: “The new PBS are better suited to NZ’s more frequently narrow and winding roads.”

NZTA regulatory general manager Kane Patena says the new PBS encourage better design and safer performance on the network: “In particular, they’ll exhibit improved tracking within a lane, on tight curves – and allow productivity improvements such as being able to simultaneously cart a 20-foot and 40-foot ISO container.

“The new PBS will enhance safety while maintaining – or even improving – productivity.”

They also “provide a transparent and consistent process for assessing non-standard heavy vehicles. They’ll provide certainty to the industry on what truck configurations they can put on the road, particularly for the new HPMV fleet.”

The new PBS were developed in consultation with industry representatives, were peer reviewed internationally, confirmed by computer modelling and then validated by practical onroad trials, carried out by TERNZ. The new PBS are available at https://www.nzta.govt.nz/commercialdriving/high-productivity/performance-based-standards.

NZTA says other proforma designs, which are developed “based on greatest identified need,” will be released. A framework for assessing unique designs will also be released. T&D Truck & Driver | 5

NEWS

New No. 1 for No. 1 ISUZU, NEW ZEALAND’S LONGTIME BEST-SELLING heavy truck make, has a new Kiwi head.

Former national sales manager Dave Ballantyne has been appointed general manager of Isuzu Trucks NZ, filling the role left vacant by the resignation of former GM Colin Muir.

Ballantyne, who has been with the company for almost three years, thanks Muir for a smooth transition: “It’s been a seamless handover process and I look forward to building on the great work he did cementing the Isuzu Truck brand as the country’s leading supplier of new trucks for 19 consecutive years.

“I am committed to maintaining our excellent record in the NZ marketplace and am also looking to introduce some new initiatives which will continue to enhance our competitive advantage.”

Ballantyne’s career has been devoted to the trucking and earthmoving equipment industries, in NZ and Australia – that including experience with a number of makes.

Says Ballantyne: “I have a real passion for Isuzu Trucks and the industry as a whole, so look forward to strengthening the team, stepping up customer experience and seizing every opportunity to enhance the brand.”

New GM David Ballantyne GM Holden NZ managing director Marc Ebolo says Ballantyne’s appointment “is recognition of his achievements as national sales manager over the past two and half years.

“He has proven himself in the market and the results speak for themselves. The dealer network is strong, while aftersales service and customer satisfaction continue to rise.

“Dave inherits the business in excellent health. I have every confidence he will build on the success of the brand and Isuzu has every opportunity for securing a 20th consecutive year as Number One in the market.” T&D

New CEO at Coretex FLEET SAFETY AND MANAGEMENT technology company Coretex has appointed a new CEO “following an extensive global search.”

William Payne, currently chief information officer at international building and construction giant Boral, takes over as CEO next month.

Retiring CEO and Coretex founder Selwyn Pellett will remain on the board as a nonexecutive director, the company says.

Payne has experience as both CIO and chief strategy officer in companies in Australia, Europe and the United States. Most recently he led the creation and implementation of a digital strategy at Boral – reshaping the company’s IT function into Boral Digital Solutions “and making it a pivotal element of the wider organisation’s future business strategy,” says Coretex.

Prior to that he spent more than nine years at global environmental services company, Veolia, with roles including executive general manager, strategy and performance ANZ and UK CIO. Coretex chairman Mark Giles says Payne’s 6 | Truck & Driver

appointment is “a significant move for the company: Coretex is positioned strongly for international growth in our key markets and we believe William has the skills, experience and vision to drive that growth.”

Pellett says that Payne’s “strategically focused vision and personal passion for optimising transportation and supply chains made him the unanimous choice. We are excited that we have found a visionary leader for the next stage of this journey.”

Payne says he’s “very excited to have the opportunity to lead Coretex on the next stage of its growth journey. Access to key information, for the right people, at the right time, is more important than ever for businesses seeking to keep their employees safe, drive productivity, all the while delivering great customer service.

“Coretex provides an innovative IoT platform that not only satisfies, but exceeds these requirements and I believe my real-world experience driving this value across numerous

industries will significantly help accelerate the company’s vision of a safer, greener, more productive world.” T&D

William Payne

This is Japan’s most advanced truck.

It’s part of a new commitment from FUSO to use innovative technologies to save lives and save money by avoiding or reducing the cost of accidents.

These advanced safety features, based on world-class Daimler technology, really set Shogun apart.

— Active Attention Assist

— Lane Departure Warning

This monitors a number of different inputs, including an infrared camera which monitors the driver’s face and eye closure.

A camera detects lane markings and warns the driver when the vehicle moves out of its lane.

— Active Emergency Braking

— New 7” Touchscreen & Reversing Camera

Avoids or mitigates collisions with pedestrians and other vehicles by using a radar to monitor the road ahead.

With Apple CarPlay and Android Audio. Gives handsfree talking and text to speech.

— Adaptive Cruise Control Automatically adjusts the vehicle’s speed to maintain a safe distance to the vehicle in front.

The new FUSO Shogun is a game-changer designed to get you home safely, night after night. Check it out at fuso.co.nz/shogun

We look after our own

NEWS

Safer roads for all DRIVING ON NEW ZEALAND’S ROADS “SHOULD NOT require spinning the roulette wheel of life,” EROAD chief executive Steven Newman believes.

In his annual report for the 2019 financial year Newman says it is “heartwarming indeed to know that what we do, what our products and services enable for our customers, also helps get more people home safely, every night.”

EROAD says it can attribute a 47% reduction in customer over-speed events directly back to the company’s products and services.

At an individual customer level, commercial vehicle fleets are experiencing greater than 80% reductions in speeding events after installing EROAD’s Ehubo2, it says.

“Making roads safer has been a key focus for EROAD, influencing the company’s product development since launching 10 years ago with the world’s first nationwide electronic Road User Charging system.

“The good news is that more commercial vehicle fleets are installing EROAD, with the company showing an increase of 24% in total contracted units over the last financial year.”

In NZ and Australia the number of contracted units totalled 71,446 last financial year – up 19%. In North America, the total increased by 40%, to

24,944.

But, the company adds, “even though it supplies more vehicles than any other telematics company operating in NZ, this equates to only 11.3% of the total number of commercial vehicles operating on our roads.

“The use of telematics in commercial vehicles is not mandatory, although EROAD believes that companies concerned about the safety of their employees either have or are currently looking at in-vehicle hardware – given that it’s proven to improve driver behaviour.”

EROAD says it is achieving what successive governments have been attempting: “Safer roads for all who travel them.”

Newman says that “in the past year, EROAD has supported journeys of more than 3.2 billion kilometres travelled by trucks and light vehicles in NZ, Australia and the US. “More customers, more journeys, more data, more knowledge for informed decisions.”

Chairman Graham Stuart adds: “We believe that decisions affecting our roads should be well informed through the masses of data that we can now access and analyse. EROAD believes it has a role to play in making our roads safer and this is why we are establishing growth incubators that will make a difference to our business and our communities.” T&D

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NEWS

Traton values itself

Traton CEO Andreas Renschler (centre), with key execs at last year’s IAA Show in Germany

THE VOLKSWAGEN GROUP, WHICH is edging closer to one of the biggest public share offerings of the year in Europe, has valued its heavytrucks business at $NZ23.3billion-$NZ28.5bn.

VW intends to offer stock in Traton, which sells MAN and Scania trucks, for 27-33 euros a share – aiming to raise up to $NZ3.29bn by floating a stake of at least 10%.

Volkswagen backed out of its initial public

offering (IPO) in March, citing unfavourable global market conditions.

The share offering is reckoned to be driven, in part at least, by a desire to increase its 16.8% stake in US-based truckmaker Navistar.

Traton CEO Andreas Renschler has repeatedly voiced his ambitions for Traton to become the “global champion” among truckmakers – ousting Daimler Trucks and the Volvo Group from their

positions….above Traton.

As well as owning Scania and MAN, and its stake in Navistar, the VW trucks division has VW-branded trucks in Brazil and has shares in Chinese truckmaker Sinotruk…plus a partnership with Hino in Japan.

Traton has said that a Swedish pension fund has agreed to become a cornerstone investor in the listing and subscribe to 200 million euros worth of Traton stock. T&D

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In our industry, every kilometre comes at a cost. That’s why we created KMAX, a premium quality tyre underpinned by Goodyear’s tried and tested IntelliMax technology.

This proven technology provides up to 35% more mileage compared to previous designs, as well as tyres that perform reliably in wet or dry conditions, wear evenly over their lifetime and have the durability New Zealand operators demand.

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NEWS

Fireworks accompany the unveiling of the new crane. Over 100 industry and government guests attended the Brisbane launch...which included a demo of the PC28’s capabilities

New TRT crane sets benchmark

A NEW ARTICULATING PICK AND CARRY CR ANE, designed and built by TRT – and which it says sets a new industry standard – has been launched in Australia in spectacular fashion.

The TIDD PC28, which TRT says has technology designed to improve the crane’s operational capability and safety, was first unveiled at the company’s Australian base, at Murarrie, in Brisbane.

As the cover was lifted off the PC28 by another crane, fireworks added to the moment – witnessed by more than 100 industry representatives and Government officials.

The TIDD PC28 got more exposure at the Brisbane Truck Show and was then shown off at two more customer launch functions, in New South Wales and Western Australia.

TRT says its focus on safety with the PC28 has resulted in features including a dynamic load indicator (LMI) with a deadlock switch inside the cabin and the LMI bridging switch outside.

Slew Safe, developed by TRT, “is designed to minimise the risk of a rollover when the crane is lifting on uneven surfaces – a leading cause of articulating crane incidents in Australia,” says TRT country manager Stephen Dance.

The optional safety feature, which is recommended for the TIDD PC28, provides operators with feedback that can be felt through the steering wheel “when the crane moves into an unsafe operating zone….and also indicated visually through the dynamic load indicator.”

TRT says that the PC28 has many class-leading features including a “huge” lift capability – 28 tonnes maximum lift capacity on the lug and 27.6t on the

hook block. That, the company says, sets a new benchmark in the industry.

It has a new 18.64-metre full power boom, a 75% stationary chart for the heavy lifts and a 66% pick and carry chart.

It also has “superior roadability,” courtesy of its Mercedes-Benz six-cylinder turbocharged engine and its 12t per axle loading on the road, including its 2.3t removable counterweight mounted on the front.

TRT chief operations officer Lawrence Baker says the company is proud of the PC28: “We consulted with industry to produce a crane that will work to improve operator safety and deliver productivity improvements across Australasia. And, based on the feedback we have from the launch, the industry agrees.”

Guests included representatives from some of Australia’s largest Tier 1 construction companies, their suppliers, the Queensland Government and the New Zealand Consul-General for New South Wales and Queensland, Bill Dobbie.

Dance too says there’s been “overwhelming, positive feedback about the event and the quality of the new TIDD crane, with many commenting that the new level of safety available will improve outcomes for operators and owners across construction, infrastructure and mining sites.”

Bruce Carden, TRT’s manufacturing director, says that “at TRT, we are proud of our products. We have a team with a real passion for innovation, and the desire to solve problems.

“This collaboration means we create more relevant industry solutions. As such, we will continue to bring more locally developed and manufactured innovation to the Australian heavy transport, mining, construction and defence sectors.” T&D

Truck & Driver | 11

NEWS

RTF boss Nick Leggett says that the Labour Government has “romantic notions” about the freight capabilities of rail

“Romantic” rail funding hurts roadfreight KIWIRAIL SAYS THAT THE RESTORATION OF THE rail line between Wairoa and Napier will cut 5000 to 15,000 truck journeys annually between the two Hawke’s Bay centres.

The prediction of the dramatic impact that the rail link’s restoration will have on how logs are transported from Wairoa to Napier coincided with a lashing for the Government’s “romantic notions” about the freight capabilities of rail nationwide, from Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett.

The RTF boss wasn’t speaking specifically about the restoration of the Hawke’s Bay line – more generally about the Government’s plans to “pour billions and billions of dollars into a rail infrastructure that is well past its use-by date.”

Leggett said that feedback he’s hearing from trucking companies pins the blame on the Government’s “anti-road idelology” for issues they’re facing in efficiently moving the country’s freight.

“Road user charges (RUC) and fuel taxes are increasing, but less is being spent on roads that need to be upgraded/improved/built. And, in fact, vital major roading projects have been de-funded “Money that should be used on roads is being siphoned off for political gain on cycleways and rail. While rail is part of the transport network, those that use it say it’s slow, expensive, unreliable…and, up to 50% of the time, late.

“Rail can never match the efficiency and speed of road freight. It can’t deliver door-to-door. It’s not suitable for essential goods that must be transported within tight timeframes, such as medicines and fresh food.”

But the Government continues to pour money into rail rather than roads – “which all New Zealanders use, to get where they need to go and receive all the goods they need to live. It makes no sense at all.”

KiwiRail Group chief executive Greg Miller said that the reopening of the 115-kilometre Napier-Wairoa line – seven years after it was mothballed following severe storm damage – was made possible by the Government’s $6.2million of funding, through the Provincial Growth Fund.

Said Miller: “We know from our discussions with the forestry industry there is a need for our services. The amount of timber flowing from forests in the region is expected to quadruple in the next four years, and to get all those logs to market will require all transport networks working efficiently together.”

KiwiRail will now focus on establishing a log hub in Wairoa, he said – “so we’re ready to begin running trains once harvesting gets back into full swing at the end of winter.”

Initially, he said, there’ll be two log train services a week…..starting later this year: “Once the harvest gets into full swing we expect we will be running up to six trains a week.

“That means more than 5000 fewer truck journeys from Wairoa to Napier a year initially, rising to more than 15,000 as our services increase.

“Moving logs by rail takes pressure off the roads, and reduces greenhouse gases. The Wairoa-Napier road was never intended to cope with the volume of logs that is coming on stream and rail is the ideal way to get that timber to overseas customers.” T&D

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NEWS

TRT expands....again!

An artist’s impression of the new TRT Christchurch branch

LESS TH A N A Y E A R A F TER establishing its first Christchurch branch to better service its South Island customers, Tidd Ross Todd (TRT) has moved into new, larger premises in Hornby.

The manufacturing, truck and trailer parts, mechanical service and repair, and crane sales,

service and parts business says its new location extends its capacity and capability to service its growing customer base in the South.

“As a 100% New Zealand-owned business, we’re excited to continue to deliver the TRT standard of service and expand our product offering in the South Island,” says TRT

national sales manager Gavin Halley.

“It is an integral part of TRT’s strategic growth plan. We have also recruited another six parts experts and warehouse staff locally to make this possible.”

The new, larger warehouse facilities will enable TRT to carry a greater variety of truck

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TRT Christchurch branch manager Ed Foster adds: “TRT already stocks the most new and remanned transmissions in NZ, so this expansion of our warehousing will enable us to have greater stock levels for the South Island – making sure customers have the application they need, when they need it.”

TRT became HIAB’s NZ distributor late last year and the additional Christchurch warehousing space also allows greater stock levels of parts and equipment for that range – including HIAB cranes, Zepro tail lifts, Jonsered log cranes, Multilift and Moffett truck-mounted forklifts.

While the initial focus will be to support customers and service networks, TRT will also look to expand the number of products and services it offers. It will also increase expertise across the South Island – this expansion including the development of South Islandbased service and installation of truck and machinery seating solutions and the installation of Traction Air CTI at the new site.

The move has been made in conjunction with MC Transport Repairs (MCTR), which has relocated its operations to the recently-purchased NZ Trucks workshops in Brydone Road.

It also extends the successful relationship TRT has with MCTR. TRT will directly supply all parts for MCTR’s new service operation.

The IVECO representation at the Brydone Road site remains, with TRT and MCTR focused on their specific workshop and parts functions respectively – bringing “new levels of IVECO service to the Canterbury region.” T&D

eRUC for LCVs COR ETE X IS L AU NCHING W H AT IT SAYS IS New Zealand’s first electronic road user charges (eRUC) solution specifically designed for light commercial vehicles.

CoreRUC Light combines advanced self-install telematics hardware with an ePaper display screen – replacing paper RUC licences and automating the purchasing of RUCs. Corelogic says CoreRUC Light also maximises offroad mileage claims, with automatic second-by-second tracking, refund reporting and claim forms.

All offroad data is tracked and stored on Coretex servers. At the end of each month, this is available to be claimed from the NZ Transport Agency, simply by downloading a form – already filled-in and ready to be emailed.

The company says that until now, owners of LCVs only had the option of fitting heavy-duty eRUC...which was “simply not costeffective.”

Coretex chief product officer Sam Barclay says: “With our new CoreRUC Light solution, companies can have their entire fleet benefiting from the full features of eRUC, but at a light vehicle price.

“Automated eRUC licence purchasing is standard for all vehicles, at your desired choice of amount and distance.”

He says that CoreRUC Light “is plug, stick and play: Plug the device in, stick the screen on your window and you’re all set to go.

“Creating a device that is self-install makes the whole process even easier and vehicles are off the road for less time during the installation process – saving crucial time and money.” T&D

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NEWS

Main pic: Some of the 81 trucks that took part, coming from all over the South Inset: It was a case of third time lucky for Wanaka’s Craig Jolly and his 1986 Mack Super-Liner – taking out the King Rig Award THE TRUCKIE WHO TRAVELLED THE FURTHEST TO attend this year’s Gore Truck Show, also took out the show’s biggest award.

Craig Jolly travelled from Wanaka with his 1986 Mack Super-Liner for the McDonough Contracting Truck Show…and was rewarded with the King Rig Award.

Jolly, whose Jolly Earthworks operation has been in business for 14 years, had taken part in the show twice before, so was delighted to have won this time.

The show is well into its third decade….but actually started 41 years ago, as part of the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards. It was subsequently dropped from the Queen’s Birthday Weekend celebrations, but was revived by trucking enthusiasts in 1988.

Spectators travelled from all over Southland to see the truck parade and show, which this year attracted 81 trucks.

The 12-strong panel of judges spent three hours judging the entries in the various classes before the assembled trucks paraded through Gore’s central business district, witnessed by a large crowd.

After the parkup, so the public could get a closeup look at all the trucks, everyone retired to Traffers Tavern for the late afternoon awards ceremony, presided over

by Road Transport Logistics fleet manager (and executive member of the Otago/ Southland branch of the NZ Road Transport Association), Bruce Robertson.

He believes that the show is “a great event – and a great opportunity to promote the profile of the transport industry.”

Gore Truck Show committee secretary Rhonda Wilson, who devotes many hours to ensuring that the event runs smoothly, is confident the show has a long future ahead of it.

Gore Truck Show award-winners New-40,000kms: Quinn Calder, Cleanways. 40,000-100,000kms: Kevin McIntosh, Southern Transport. 100,000-400,000kms: Angus Drummond, Cromtrans. 400,000-700,000kms: Grant Tapp, Dynes Transport. 700,0001million kms: Isaiah McLellan, McLellan Freight. Best truck over 1million kms: Ken Adams, K2 Kontracting. Best Isuzu: Quinn Calder, Cleanways. Best Freightliner: Cortez Terei, Cleanways. Best Scania: Russell Nelson, Fonterra. Best Mercedes-Benz: Angus Drummond, Cromtrans. Best Hino: John Braithwaite, McDonough Contracting. Best Kenworth: Isaiah McLellan, McLellan Freight.

16 | Truck & Driver

Best Mitsubishi/FUSO: Ann Brown, Ritchies Coachlines. Best Volvo: Trev Drake, Andrews Transport. Best Western Star: Kerry Lankshear, Cleanways. Best Mack: Kevin McIntosh, Southern Transport. Best MAN: Stu McMath, Waikaka Transport. Best Nissan/UD: Dan Marsden, Southroads.

Best DAF: Ollie Webb, Gore Freight & Storage. Best of other breeds: Scott Reid, Southern Milk Transport. Best lights: Sydney Robertson, RTL West Otago.

Best linehaul: Aaron Calender, McLellan Freight. Best logger: Hamish Benfell, Dynes Transport. Best tip truck: Stu McMath, Waikaka Transport. Best timber cartage vehicle: Aaron Calender, McLellan Freight. Best curtainsider: Ollie Webb, Gore Freight & Storage. Best bulk sower: Angus Drummond, Cromtrans. Best stock truck: Bradley Curtis, HRT. Best tractor unit: Kevin McIntosh, Southern Transport. Best tanker: Quinn Calder, Cleanways. Best passenger vehicle: Ann Brown, Ritchies Coachlines. Best light vehicle: Sydney Robertson, RTL West Otago. Best HW Richardson Group: Kevin McIntosh, Southern Transport. Best paint job: Brendon Brand, RTL Clinton Waipahi. Furthest distance travelled: Craig Jolly, Jolly Earthworks. Tidiest oldest working truck, Best refurbished truck and Best vintage: Scott Reid, Southern Milk Transport. Best fleet: Andrews Transport. Best female driver: Dale Oliver, Fonterra. People’s choice: Trev Drake, Andrews Transport. King Rig 2019: Craig Jolly, Jolly Earthworks. T&D

Iveco grows its parts, service network IVECO NEW ZEALAND HAS EXTENDED ITS PARTS and service dealer network, with the addition of Diesel Transport Services in Dunedin and Southern Mechanical Services in Invercargill.

The addition of the two family-owned businesses, says Iveco, brings its dealerships to 24 nationwide.

The Green Island-based Diesel Transport Services has been in business for eight years. It has a team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable tradesmen and offers a CoF service onsite “which allows for a faster turnaround,” plus diagnostic services for many makes and models, Iveco says. T&D

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Scania’s NXT urban transport concept was unveiled last month. Swap bodies (below) allow it to switch between moving people and freight and collecting refuse

SWEDISH TRUCKMAKER SCANIA HAS APPLIED ITS modular philosophy – part of its truck design DNA – to an electric, autonomous urban concept vehicle….

Which can switch from carrying commuters to work, to delivering metro freight the rest of the day….and collecting refuse at night!

The innovative battery electric NXT changes shape for its varying urban duties.

With big cities globally demanding urban transport change, driven by the need for lower emissions and less congestion, “NXT is a vision of the future for transport in cities,” says Scania president and CEO Henrik Henriksson.

“Several of these technologies have yet to fully mature,” he concedes, “but for us it’s been important to actually build a concept vehicle to visibly and technically demonstrate ideas of what is within reach.

“NXT is designed for 2030 and beyond, while incorporating several cutting-edge features that are already available.”

In NXT, the front and rear drive modules can be fitted to a bus body, a distribution truck body or a refuse collector. The bus module went on show at a global public transport summit in Stockholm last month.

Scania says that “to achieve real change in the transport ecosystem… significant development of infrastructure is required to cater both for electrified and autonomous vehicles.

“Additionally, the 24/7 flow of people and goods in cities needs to be coherently addressed rather than disparately planned.

“Commercial transport in many ways constitutes the pulse of a city.

It is how we get to work or school. It is how food reaches shops and restaurants, how medicines are delivered to hospitals and how refuse is collected and removed.

“Currently, flows in cities are far from being optimised, as goods are delivered during the morning rush hour, while most people are also on the move. Meanwhile, commercial transport is largely barred from city centres during nights when people are asleep.”

As Henriksson says: “We at Scania can’t redraw the entire transport system for cities. What we can do is inspire change and that is the idea behind NXT – to think about transport and vehicles in a different and

sustainable way.

“Public transport has always meant sharing. That now needs to be taken to the next level. With a higher degree of automation, it will be simpler to introduce greater flexibility in public transport.”

The eight-metre-long bus module is built as one composite unit, substantially reducing weight. The cylindrical cell batteries are placed under the floor, thereby utilising otherwise wasted space as well as contributing to better weight distribution. With the low vehicle weight (less than eight tonnes), the range with present-day batteries is estimated at 245 kilometres. T&D

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What “Base Spec”? The so-called B-Ride model looks just the same as a standard spec Volvo FM... but goes without air suspension and the high-tech stuff in Volvo’s suite of active safety systems

22 | Truck & Driver

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The FM’s biggest challenge for the day is taking a load of pebbles up a steep farm driveway. It handles it with ease

I

T’S THE VOLVO THAT PEOPLE ARE BUYING WHEN they can’t afford a Volvo – or can’t justify their price anyway.

Okay, so Volvo is definitely not what you’d call a budget truck….but it is trying to meet the tipper market halfway, with a kind of “base-spec” FM model that goes without a couple of fancy (ie, more expensive) features.

On our way to experience first-hand what one of these more basic Volvos is like, I can’t help it – my mind runs riot thinking about what they will have gone without: Like the paint job – can it be any colour….just so long as it’s white? You want a what? An airsuspended seat! Forget it! Aircon and a stereo? You must be joking!

Okay, so it’s a bit of a surprise when we turn up at Smythes Quarries at Waitakaruru, in the northern Waikato, and meet up with Clegg’s Transport’s new Volvo FM13 6x4 B-Ride – one of these new tipper-spec models.

First off, it looks just like any other new Volvo FM. The paint job is sharp – in the Miranda company’s standout brown and orange colours.

Of course, the driver’s seat IS a standard Volvo air-suspended armchair – heated too. And the truck does have aircon – and a stereo. Plus electric windows, heated and electric mirrors…and tinted windows. On first inspection, in fact, it doesn’t seem to have gone without anything!

“It is,” says MTD Trucks’ Volvo national manager Paul France proudly, “an awful lot of truck for the money.”

Ninety-six percent of the Volvos sold in New Zealand, he points out, “have specific user specifications – axle locations, AdBlue tank positioning etc. There are no ‘vanilla’ trucks anymore.”

So, in partnership with Volvo Group Australia, MTD Trucks has come up with a standard day-cab tipper specification – and,

as France continues, “these base-specced FMs are positioned aggressively in price.

“I say ‘base spec,’ but it still has the Dynafleet hardware (enabling owners to add Volvo’s comprehensive telematics services), it’s a Volvo product in its electrics and hardware.

“It just doesn’t have things like air suspension – it runs on springs.” That’s under the cab as well. And yes – it comes as a day-cab.

It also goes without the likes of the just-released Volvo Dynamic Steering (which automatically corrects any tendency to wander on irregular road surfaces, even counter-acts strong side winds). Also left out of the spec is Volvo’s suite of electronic safety features – adaptive cruise control, proximity control, lane departure warning, emergency braking, driver alert system and all of that high-tech stuff.

It also skips a close-view front mirror and tyre pressure monitoring…but does still have the anti-rollover electronic stability programme and driver-friendly niceties like an electric/hydraulic cab tilt, an exterior sunvisor and armrests on the driver’s seat.

What it all adds up to, says France, is this: “We’re assisting smaller outfits to get into what would normally be an unattainable Volvo – those that need a strong grunty truck that’s nimble around city traffic and boasts excellent fuel economy “They are still more expensive than the Japanese (trucks), by about 10-15 grand – but, then again, we’re a different proposition: Every Volvo, from the front bumper to the back, is 100% Volvo through and through. They’re made in Brisbane and tailormade for NZ – very little adaptation required for the NZ market.”

France won’t be drawn on some of the potential fleets they’re targeting but let’s just say that people are noticing some FM tippers Truck & Driver | 25

Main picture: Close to home base at Miranda, the Volvo runs along the Firth of Thames coastline to pick up a load of metal at Mangatangi Right: Just over 28 tonnes of aggregate go on the Clegg’s unit to get the day started Opposite page, left: Nathan Taipari chose the Volvo over DAF and Isuzu options...and is very happy with his decision Opposite page, right: It doesn’t look like a first-choice option, but this is authorities’ designated bridge for trucks going in and out of Whangamata

in the colours of the heavily DAF-populated Winstone fleet these days….

France says that the 13-litre D13C engine, which of course uses selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to achieve its exhaust emissions compliance, has – at its 540-horsepower rating – proven to be “a game-changer in the NZ market.

“It’s regarded as bulletproof. If you take Regal (Haulage), for example: Their FM 540 pulls 58 tonnes over the Napier/Taupo road day in, day out.”

The 500hp/372 kilowatts D13C-equipped base-spec FM has also “been a very successful release over the past 12 months and I can say, hand on heart, not one client that’s taken this base level tipper has had any issues – they’re all really pleased with how it’s performing.

“I’m a big advocate for letting the customers do the selling – I’m just here to reinforce the position.”

And that is exactly why we’re here, at Smythes Quarries, alongside State Highway 2, to find out what one of those customers – the one-truck Clegg’s Transport – thinks about its new Volvo.

26 | Truck & Driver

Regular driver Nathan Taipari reckons that he initially felt disappointment when the FM arrived…..but only because he was off work at the time!

“I got it when my son was born, which pissed me off ‘cos I couldn’t drive it for a week!” explains Ngatea-based Taipari, virtually as soon as we shake hands.

Nathan, who’s wearing his usual “work attire” – shorts – despite the fact it’s foggy and cold in the north Waikato quarry, says that the Volvo was partly his choice – and came about despite Clegg’s Transport’s long history with Mitsubishi/FUSO trucks.

When company co-owners Bryan Irvine and Jillian Clegg (who’s Nathan’s mother-in-law) began considering a replacement for Nathan’s last truck, a 470-horsepower FUSO, “Bryan gave me some options. We were originally looking at a DAF – definitely not a Mitsi.

“The deal on the Volvo day cab came out of nowhere and I’d heard a lot of good things about it, so I definitely went with the Volvo.”

With a little time to kill before we’re loaded and ready to head off, we take a few minutes to check out this base-spec FM package,

which is immaculately clean and shiny – an indicator, I figure, of the driver’s attitude towards it.

The day cab 6x4 sits on Michelin rubber and 10-stud polished alloy wheels – XFE 385/65 R22.5 tyres on the steerers and XDY3 11R 22.5 drive tyres.

The windscreen has a stoneguard protector and to light the way there are standard Volvo headlights, with integrated fog lights and driving lights, V-shaped LED daytime running lights and LEDs at the rear too.

Nathan ushers me up and into the cab and out of the cold (although, based on how he’s dressed, I somehow doubt that he’s feeling it).

Getting in is easy enough: The cab door is wide opening, the front and rear grabhandles feel good in the palms and the two steps up are deep and grated. So far, so good. Once we’re in, Nathan turns down the music. It’s disco – not to his taste.

The driver’s door handle is apparently broken – “just wear and tear,” Nathan says – but for the rest, the cab looks great – more modern than I was expecting. It’s an uncluttered layout, with plenty

of storage. The vinyl and textile materials feel hard-wearing and are as-yet unscratched. It looks all very driver-centric.

We load the truck and trailer with just over 28 tonnes of Pap 7 aggregate, bound for the readymix concrete plant in Whangamata.

There’s around 10.5t on the truck’s Transfleet bin and about 17.5t on the matching trailer (which has Hendrickson axles – four of ‘em).

Add in the 15,880kg tare weight of the unit and we’re bang on 44 tonnes all up. It feels like a decent load for the Volvo 13-litre – which produces 2500 Newton metres/1843 lb ft of peak torque between 1050 and 1400rpm – and its 2600Nm-rated I-Shift 12-speed AMT. We pull off the weigh-station and head straight through the quarry’s wheel washer: “Stops any of the crap being dragged out onto the road,” says Nathan approvingly as we crawl towards SH2, just outside the gates.

Nathan helpfully provides a commentary: “I’ll probably start off in 2nd gear, because we stop here to get onto SH2. It’s pretty good…. because you’ve got a little incline on the way out, but you’ve got a big hill after that – going down, so you get up to speed pretty quick

Truck & Driver | 27

Clockwise, from top left: Nathan would have preferred a sleeper cab, for the extra storage room, but says there is enough space inside for the workaday essentials....the driver’s seat, steering wheel controls, dash layout and the main display are of the usual high-quality Volvo standard...a broken doorhandle is the only negative inside....gearshift controls attached to the driver’s seat are nicely positioned

once you leave.

“I just use hill start assist, get off the brake for a second then I can go. When you pull out of here, you’ve gotta go.” I can see what he’s talking about – cars are whizzing past at 100km/h.

Says Nathan: “A lot of people (truck drivers) pull out to the middle there (onto the median strip), but I don’t like doing that – I like to get going and get right over to the other side of the road.

Out of the way.”

With the I-Shift in manual mode, we’re quickly into fourth: “I’m skipping two gears each time – into sixth…and now I’ll just go up one.” He orders-up shifts at 1500rpm and the Volvo handles it with ease.

“Then I just keep it at the top of the green through here,” he says, talking about the green zone on the tachometer – part of the colour digital display within the mostly analogue dashboard.

“Then, as you start going down the hill, you can just ‘middle of the green it’ – about 1200 revs, then pump them straight up to top gear.”

It all looks easy enough – stress-free, in fact. It’s impressive, since we’ve just pulled a fully-laden truck onto a fast-moving state highway.

28 | Truck & Driver

The downhill that follows, as Nathan says, is a blessing: “You can get straight up to 90ks, so you don’t get too many grumpy people behind you.”

We’re at 90km/h, 1400rpm, in top gear. The cab is quiet and rattle free. It’s all very smooth and relaxed, thanks in particular to the I-Shift.

Now we’re approaching a roundabout, and Nathan demonstrates his unhurried driving style: “I get into it nice and early, so I don’t have to get on the brakes.”

Using the first of the three stages on the 13-litre’s Volvo Engine Brake (VEB+), Nathan pulls our speed down nice and slowly. He goes to the second stage, then the third and we end up in 10th and, with a tap on the brakes, we take the turnoff towards Thames and the Coromandel. It’s effortless.

Nathan’s been behind the wheel of a truck for over 10 years now and as I may have already mentioned once or twice, he’s very relaxed at his job. It opens up a whole new conversation about how he got into the business.

Nathan’s wife’s parents, Ian and Jillian Clegg, started the company 42 years ago. When Ian died in 1995, Bryan Irvine took his seat in the director’s chair. Clegg’s Transport is a small operation that

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helps meet the bulk transport needs of the area from Pokeno, at the southern foot of the Bombay Hills, over to the east coast of the Coromandel Pensinula.

Bryan Irvine encouraged Nathan to try truck driving – “and I’m glad I did,” says our driver. He’d “always wanted to drive a truck and trailer, but never thought it would happen.”

He started out by jumping into Bryan’s truck when he finished his day’s work: “I used to jump in, fuel it up for him, drive it around the yard and back it on the wash. Used to take me hours just to get it on there once. I was about 20. I was doing that for a few years before I got my licence and got into it.

“And then, once you get in them, you just get a thing for it eh.”

He loves the job – “the people you work with and the places you go. Like, every day you don’t know where you’re gonna be going or what you’re taking.

“Especially with the quarry work, you just don’t know: If I’m working for Firth – like I am today – you get there in the mornings and you don’t have a clue what you’re doing until you get there.”

In his time behind the wheel he’s only driven an Isuzu and his last truck, the Mitsi – “and the Volvo is pretty unbelievable compared to those ones eh. Completely different league.

“The Isuzu was a 460 GIGA and I got the 2012 Mitsi brand new…..

That was ok, it did its job.

“But this….this is just comfortable and cruisy. I used to get out of the Mitsi and you were buggered at the end of the day. You’d bounce around all day.”

Speaking of which, I look at Nathan and he doesn’t seem to be moving at all. Even without Volvo Dynamic Steering, he’s scarcely working at the steering wheel.

The other thing is, as he says: “This has got a bloody good seat in it. The truck’s not on airbags just springs.” Two-leaf parabolic springs (normal stiffness), plus stabiliser bars, to be more exact.

The steer axle is rated 7.5 tonnes and the rear diffs at 21t.

I want to know his thoughts on the controls, the dash display and the vision from his comfy seat: “You do everything off the steering wheel. You toggle through and you can get your oil pressure and everything – temperature, AdBlue and fuel.

“The rest is up here,” he adds – pointing at the dash turnout section that’s angled back towards him: “Your handbrake, PTO, difflocks...

“It’s all right there if you need it, but you don’t really need to touch up there – most of it’s on the (steering) wheel. Cruise control....”

I interrupt, to ask if he uses it: “Yep all the time. I use it on the straights and flats, like right now. They say to drive this in automatic all the time, but I like to use the tiptronic toggle. I just like to be in full control.”

The I-Shift is good though, he stresses – “real good, compared to the Mitsi. When you’re changing gear it’s straight in there. And when you drop down a gear, it’ll give a little rev and get straight in there.

“The Mitsi used to take so long to get into a gear that by the time it was in there, you’d have to go down another one! Plus the extra horsepower in this gives me two extra gears over the Mitsi.”

Nathan started out with a manual and that’s essentially why he prefers to drive the I-Shift in manual mode. The fact he likes the Volvo AMT doesn’t blind him – he still believes that “there are certain things that a manual is better at.

“If you get a little stuck, making a bit of a rut, in a manual you

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Left: The FM picks up its second load of the day at Mangatangi

Above: The hilly, windy run across the Kopu-Hikuai road is taken with ease

can rock your way out of it. This one’s a lot better but you still haven’t got that clutch to get out of that type of situation.”

The quietness of the FM is noteworthy – and Nathan agrees: “It’s good eh. And it’s got huge mirrors – you can see everything back there.” He falls as quiet as the truck itself for a moment, reflecting before continuing: “Yeah I love this. Soon as I saw it.”

He credits (then) Volvo salesman Mitch Redington for doing “a bloody good job” on the finishing touches to the FM: “You didn’t really have to tell him much to make it look good – he did it all himself. Normally the mirrors are black. He painted them up. It was his idea to paint up the bumper and make the visor white. He knew more than I did – I didn’t have to do or say much – he had these ideas and I completely agreed. And when it was finished....he’s done a mean job.”

About the only drawback with the Volvo is that “it’s only a day cab: I wanted a sleeper – mainly for the room.”

But he’s very quick to add that, as it’s turned out, this is not really a biggie: “There’s a bit of room back there though,” he says, pointing behind the seats. “You can get your lunch bag there. And it’s pretty good for storage areas.”

In taking-in his working space, I notice the roof hatch. Says Nathan: “I never use that – I’d probably forget it in the rain.”

The driver’s seat gets his approval: “Yeah it’s all leather….bloody good. It’s heated, adjustable headrest, electric. The armrests are the major thing I like – they take a bit of weight off my back. Shit it’s good! The mirrors are heated and electric too.”

I want to know if there’s anything he doesn’t like about it? “The steering lock isn’t as good as the Mitsi’s. That thing could turn on a dime.”

That said, he’s quickly back onto the positives: “The best thing about it is the stereo – it’s loud and got a good sound. I have it pretty full-bore sometimes. It’s all Bluetooth, handsfree and I can play my music through it. And it’s all controlled here on the wheel.”

As we head along SH25 towards Kopu, he has the cruise control engaged: “It’s all flat and smooth corners.”

I’m keen to know his thoughts on life as a truckie: Nathan is a sociable bloke, so how does a family man with two young kids cope with the solitude?

That’s easy: “I like being on my own. I don’t have someone

breathing down my neck, telling me what to do. Bryan and Jill don’t know where I am half the time – they just see me go off and do my job. I organise the work I’m doing for the day and go and do it.

“The workload is real good at the moment – it always is when the sun’s shining. The rain seems to slow things down. You can’t get into those big clay jobs and farm jobs – you just make a mess.”

The year-old Volvo has 73,000 kilometres on it – clocked up in a mix of carting bulk supplies to Auckland and working around its home area: “We did a lot of Auckland work, carting to a landscaping business up there – then coming back here and doing the local stuff. The landscape business changed ownership, so now we just focus on the local stuff.”

The run we’re on is typical – a three to three and a half hour round trip…made a little longer thanks to an eight-tonne bridge limit in Whangamata, which forces a detour around a back road.

Closing in on Kopu, we drop out of cruise control and Nathan goes back to manual mode as he slows for a tight corner and a roundabout – which we run through at 40km/h, in 8th gear: “This Volvo loves it down low,” he says as we come to a halt at the T-junction in 6th. As we pull away, the Volvo goes straight to 2nd: “It knows how heavy you are, this thing. Knows how much of a load you’ve got on. If I was empty we’d pull away in 3rd. If there was a bit of an incline here it would start off in 1st. It’s actually got a brain.

“I always go up two when we’re starting off in 2nd gear – you don’t need to use those other ones.”

Going into manual mode is a habit, he concedes: “Yeah, I got so used to it in the Mitsi, ‘cos you’d never have that in automatic – that that would just get up to all sorts of things.

“I quite enjoy it (automatic mode) in this. You can keep the revs low…..all the way through (the gears). And if you have to give it a bit of shit up a hill or whatever, you can.”

We pull into Kopu and NZ Truck & Driver’s Hayden Woolston hops in – standing-in for regular test driver Trevor Woolston – to get a taste of what the FM has to offer in the run across the Coromandel Peninsula towards Whangamata.

We pull off in 2nd towards the Kopu roundabout with the I-Shift in automated mode and it immediately jumps to 5th and then skipshifts again to 7th. From there it just makes single shifts.

Coming into the hills, we’re in 10th gear and the Volvo responds Truck & Driver | 33

Top pictures & bottom right: Base spec it may be, but the FM does still have the standard electric/hydraulic cab tilt, as Nathan happily demonstrates. The D13C engine is rated at 500hp

Bottom left: Company coowner Bryan Irvine says that, despite a long history with FUSOs, the decision to buy the Volvo was a good one

to the throttle kickdown function (a feature that Hayden likes) to 9th at 55km/h. Then, as the speed picks up, it goes back up to 10th, with the 13-litre pulling well. As you’d expect with the integrated Volvo powertrain, the shifts are keeping the tacho in the green zone most of the time. The engine achieves peak torque from 1050-1400 and maximum power between 1400 and 1900 revs.

In this stretch Woolston finds that the VEB+, on its third stage, slows the truck nicely for the corners. The engine brake delivers a maximum 300kW of retardation at 2300rpm.

Into the first big climb, the I-Shift takes itself down to 8th, shifts back up to 9th, 10th….then a quick single gear downshift, which it holds to the crest, at 1800rpm and 55km/h.

The road is a series of undulations and the I-Shift is tackling each one with gearshifts that carry only a minimal loss of momentum, but it does feel like a whole lot of shifting is going on.

On the next big climb, we start up at 90km/h in 12th gear, but Woolston is forced to lift off for a 55k corner and the I-Shift duly drops a gear at a time before settling in 8th at 40km/h and 1600rpm. It’s a decent hill and towards the top the AMT drops two gears, to 6th, at 30km/h.

For the descent Hayden opts to go to manual mode for maximum control, ending up in 8th with an occasional dab on the brakes to steady things.

With Nathan back behind the wheel, we take the prescribed heavy-vehicle detour over the rickety old one-way bridge over the Wentworth River. If this is the stronger, safer bridge for trucks I hate to think what the alternative’s like!

The truck and trailer load of metal is duly delivered to the Firth concrete plant in Whangamata and we’re soon heading back west.

Although it’s the Thursday before Easter, and the holiday traffic is beginning to build up, Nathan comes up with a plan to squeeze in a couple of local deliveries to a farm back near home base.

Because the access road on the farm is steep, we stop by Clegg’s yard in Miranda en route to drop off the trailer. Bryan Irvine and his dog are there to greet us with a welcoming smile and wagging tail.

34 | Truck & Driver

He nods to the trailer as it’s being unhooked and says proudly that the Bridgestone 540 tyres on it have so far done 190,000kms.

We talk a little about the business – Bryan detailing how “we used to have five trucks when we were flat out – all brand-new Mitsi 330s up until 2006. Then we got the Isuzu 460 and, in 2012, a new FUSO Euro 470 with a 12-speed auto. Now there’s just the Volvo – Nathan’s choice and it’s been a good one.”

Freed from the trailer, we head along the coast beside the Firth of Thames, to Kaiaua – then turn inland to the Mangatangi River Rock Quarry. We’re not all that far from Auckland, but there’s a laidback vibe about the place – “it’s a cruisy quarry,” as Nathan sums up. Still we’re soon loaded with 11 tonnes of 40/80 river pebble, destined for a farm only about 10 minutes’ drive from here.

The challenge of the delivery though is the steep hill up to the farmhouse, where the load’s to be tipped off. The metal driveway is sparsely covered, so Nathan needs to make a few preparations.

“Diff lock in, 6th gear, 20km/h and low revs – around 1000rpm – and you’ll be sweet,” he sums up, adding: “Not too heavy, not too light.” Sounds like he’s doing a breakfast cereal advert.

“It’s things like this that give truckies the shits,” he says pointing at the steep drive ahead: “With the trailer on it would spin the wheels on the metal.”

The climb is slow but sure – both truck and driver seem to know what they’re doing. The delivery’s done with no drama whatsoever.

The hill demands the same respect going down empty: “Just on the brakes on the way back down – no engine brake. It would just grab the tyres.”

After our run to Whangamata and these two farm deliveries, I reckon calling this a Base Spec truck is a bit of an injustice!

Volvo’s Paul France says the tipper-spec FM is a contributor to Volvo’s strong overall sales in the first three months of 2019: “We’ve enjoyed leading the first quarter in our market segment registrations. The Volvo order book has never been so strong.”

You might say that this so-called base-spec Volvo has built its own fan base. And Nathan Taipari is a leading member of it. As he sums up again: “Yeah, I loved this….as soon as I saw it.” T&D

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ODAY WE’RE CHECKING OUT something a little unusual – a spec tipper that Volvo brought to the market last year, to see if it can do what DAF’s done and nibble away at the Japanese truck dominance.

So this Clegg’s Transport 6x4 is a slightly simpler, less-high-tech version of Volvo’s standard FM model – its bid to reduce the gap between a European truck and a Japanese truck.

The sort of thing that they’ve left out of this spec tipper includes air suspension (under the truck, the cab and the passenger seat), driver assistance systems like adaptive cruise control...and Volvo Dynamic Steering.

I’ll get to see how the package performs on a good run – taking the fully laden truck and trailer over the Kopu-Hikuai road to Whangamata.

Entry into the cab is good with two wellspaced steps and grabhandles on each side, plus a wide-opening door.

Once inside it’s a familiar Volvo cab layout – similar to the FMX we tested last year.

There’s a heated air seat, controls on the steering wheel for virtually everything, and a dash that looks like it has all the other controls at easy reach…if they ain’t already on the wheel.

There’s a vinyl and textile interior trim which makes for a nice light cab that feels fresh and roomy.

36 | Truck & Driver

By Hayden Woolston

There’s plenty of storage for paperwork and more than enough cup holders. I can find only one thing in this cab that isn’t just right – and that’s the plastic doorhandle knob on the inside of the driver’s door has come off, leaving an exposed metal latch. I adjust the electric (and heated) mirrors and the steering column (which has telescopic and horizontal adjustment), this controlled by a foot pedal well above the accelerator pedal.

We’re not long under way when we come to a roundabout, where I find that the driver’s side mirror creates a minor blind spot when checking the traffic coming straight through.

Stand-in test driver Hayden Woolston

Nathan tips off at the Firth plant in Whangamata

• SPECIFICATIONS • VOLVO FM13 6x4 B-RIDE “TIPPER SPEC” DAY CAB Onto the Kopu-Hikuai road proper the truck quickly picks up speed, thanks to the 500hp Euro 5 engine and the I-Shift 12-speed skipping up and down gears as needed. In automated mode, the shifts are quick and smooth, which is to be expected as I rate this AMT one of the best gearboxes in the business.

On the initial run through some flat corners before the big hills, I find the steering excellent with very little correction needed – even over the bumpy bits of road and even without the Volvo Dynamic Steering system.

Cab noise is almost non-existent, with very little interruption to any in-cab discussions.

With the convex mirror under a main mirror I have good rear vision and I can see the Transfleet four-axle trailer tracking very well on this windy road.

I decide to leave the I-Shift in automated mode: Regular driver Nathan says he mostly drives it in manual mode, so I want to see how it performs in auto.

My first impression had been that the gear selector, which is attached to the driver’s seat, would be too close and that my leg would interfere with my use of it, but I find now that it is actually very well located. Because it moves with the air seat, it’s always right at your fingertips.

The 500hp engine makes light work of the start of the hill, with very little gearshifting needed – I even find myself needing to brake for

a couple of uphill corners. I do like the kickdown you get when you put your foot down hard on the throttle pedal.

Well into the climb the gearbox is changing up at 1800rpm and downshifting at 1400. Here’s where I find out why Nathan prefers manual mode: At two of the worst pinch points in the long climb the I-Shift decides to drop two gears from 8th ….but then shifts back up to 7th almost straight away. In manual I would have let it lug down a bit more and made just one gearchange.

Nathan reckons that the engine is at its best down at 1200 revs.

Once over the top of the climb, I intend going down the hill in auto mode – but coming into the first corner I feel I need to use the footbrake too much and the three-stage engine brake just isn’t holding us back enough in 9th and 10th gears.

I go to manual mode and drop down a gear, because I feel it gives me more control. Now I only need to dab the brakes and shift between 8th and 9th as required.

At the Whangamata turnoff I hand the FM back to Nathan. I hop out feeling that this is a well-specced truck for its work and although Volvo says it has made it a little more basic to meet a market, I reckon it’s very hard to tell where they’ve done it!

The truck’s 500hp engine and 12-speed I-Shift have handled the Kopu-Hikuai road’s challenges with ease. T&D

Engine: Volvo D13C six-cylinder, SCR, Euro 5 Capacity: 12.8 litres Maximum power: 372kW/500hp @ 1400-1900rpm Maximum torque: 2500Nm/1843 lb ft @ 1050-1400rpm Fuel capacity: 415 litres Transmission: 12-speed Volvo I-Shift AT2612F AMT Ratios: 1st 14.94 2nd 11.28 3rd 9.04 4th 7.09 5th 5.54 6th 4.35 7th 3.44 8th 2.70 9th 2.08 10th 1.63 11th 1.27 12th 1.00 Front axle: Volvo FAL, 7.5t rating Rear axles: Volvo RTS2370B single reduction, rated at 21t Auxiliary brake: Volvo VEB+ engine brake Front suspension: Volvo twoleaf parabolic leaf-springs and stabiliser bar Rear suspension: Volvo two-leaf parabolic springs and stabiliser bar GVW: 28,500kg GCM: 60,000kg

Truck & Driver | 37

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

A road transport company’s social licence to operate relies on our industry’s collective compliance, safety and employment reputation

NS, RY, EM OA UIP

Industry must earn its social licence Y

by Nick Leggett Chief Executive

TD29632

Road Transport Forum NZ

OU MAY HAVE HEARD OF THE TERM “a social licence to operate.” It refers to the level of acceptance that the local community and the general public have for your organisation and how you go about your business.

Every business is subject to this kind scrutiny and those that ignore public views and demands can quickly go out of business.

Due to the very nature of road transport, and the fact that we use public roads every day, our social licence to operate has an even higher bar than for most industries… and we are very visible to the general public.

The public rightly expect our businesses to not only be sources of wealth creation and employment, but also to play an important role in enhancing the social fabric of New Zealand. And, due to the public interaction, to

be especially safety conscious. Expectations will also only increase for businesses to be environmentally responsible.

Those who dismiss these concerns are really only kidding themselves: The public are the consumers at the end of the supply chain and their concerns very quickly get reflected back up through that chain.

I believe that the majority of transport businesses take their social and environmental responsibilities seriously, or are giving thought to how they might improve in these areas. Those that don’t will impact the whole industry’s collective social licence.

Recently the road transport industry has been hit by negative publicity in mainstream media that has put its employment practices and safety standards in the spotlight.

Continued on page 40 Truck & Driver | 39

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

New categories highlight indu T

WO NEW CATEGORIES WILL highlight this year’s New Zealand Road Transport Industry Awards Gala Dinner, to be held following the Road Transport Forum Conference, on Wednesday September 25 at Wairakei Resort, near Taupo.

The new awards are the Teletrac Navman Outstanding Contribution by a Woman in the Road Transport Industry Award and the EROAD Young Driver of the Year (under 35) Award. These two categories replace the Industry Innovation Award and the Training Award that were presented over recent years.

The new categories join the existing VTNZ Supreme Contribution to Road Transport Award and the EROAD Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety Award and provide the industry with a chance to recognise its outstanding achievers from the past year or so.

RTF’s Nick Leggett explains that the new awards are intended to contribute to the promotion of diversity within the industry.

“We know that despite road transport being an industry dominated by older men, there are many outstanding women and young people who make their careers in the sector and are contributing fresh ideas and new ways of thinking to our transport companies.

“RTF and our associations have long been trying to encourage a more diverse industry workforce, so it seemed only sensible to have our industry awards reflect that.

“Obviously, this means that the innovation and training awards are discontinued for the time being. That is no reflection on the very worthy winners we have had of those categories over the last few years.

“Nor does it demean the importance of innovation and training to our industry. However, the RTF board and I consider that those responsibilities should now be well understood by road transport operators across NZ,” says Leggett.

The four NZ Road Transport Industry Awards collectively honour activities and achievements that ultimately improve

Continued from page 39 As an advocate, one of the Road Transport Forum’s key strategic priorities is to lead and support the industry in attracting and retaining a sustainable workforce, and enhancing safety, compliance and best practice.

We must support endeavours to weed out illegal behaviour that compromises the safety of workers and the NZ public we share the roads with.

As an industry body, we actively work with government regulators to ensure that the road transport industry is improving its health and safety and employment practices.

This is in the industry’s interests: I firmly believe that if the industry wants to solve its workforce issues longterm and become an attractive career option to a diverse range of NZers, then it needs to focus on the wellbeing of the people who work within it.

At RTF, we are working hard to attract workers to the road transport industry and to show career pathways that are rewarding. That process can quickly be derailed by bad publicity – even if that publicity is only reflective of a very small number of industry players. Perception is reality after all.

While our industry plays a critical role in the economic fabric of NZ, so too do many other industries, and they will be more likely to attract people and support from government if they show that they’re making strides to improve industry standards, without forced regulation.

It’s not enough to be relevant or even economically important any more: We have to satisfy regulators that our businesses are fully compliant and as safe as they can

40 | Truck & Driver

be. We also need to provide a working environment that values health, wellbeing, work-life balance and decent pay rates.

It is hard to make the argument that those things are unaffordable for today’s transport companies and it falls on deaf ears at the table with Ministers and government officials. The constant “race to the bottom” of costs and competitive undercutting has led to a situation where the reputation of the entire industry is at stake.

As is the nature of life today, change is coming and fast. Technology is available now – and will be further developed in the future – that will contribute to this. For example, electronic logbooks can ensure an appropriate record of hours worked and breaks taken, as per the law, particularly if aligned with GPS information. They can be made almost impossible to cheat and, as I’m sure most readers will be aware, they have already been mandated in the United States.

This Government has an ambitious target to reduce the road toll and also has a union-backed commitment to occupational health and safety, and we must work with that. Being the 21 st Century, where everything else is automated and digitised, it’s pretty easy to see that electronic logbooks will eliminate issues around cheating on paper logbooks.

As an industry we need to ensure we offer working conditions that meet with the law, and with the public’s expectations of good practice. It is this that will help us to T&D retain our collective social licence to operate.

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

industry awards the daily lives of the public or ensure that the industry is a rewarding and safe environment to work in.

For entry guidelines and a nomination form, please visit the NZ Road Transport Industry Awards page under ‘Events’ on the RTF website. Nominations can be sent to forum@rtf.nz.

The Castrol Truck Driver Hero Award, supported by NZ Truck & Driver, will again be presented at the gala dinner, to appropriately acknowledge an individual from our industry who has saved or attempted to save another person from harm while carrying out their normal employment duties.

This is a very prestigious award that again relies on tipoffs from industry employers and colleagues. Nominations can be made through the Castrol Truck Driver Hero page on the RTF website.

The programme for the 2019 RTF Conference, registration details, accommodation, sponsorship packages and more are available at www.rtfconference.co.nz. It promises to be an interesting and entertaining two days and RTF looks forward to seeing you there. T&D

Last year’s Castrol Truck Driver Hero Award went to Fonterra driver Phil Newton, who stopped to help save a young woman’s life in the Waikato

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Truck & Driver | 41

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

Interisland ferry operators are concerned about the prevalence of undeclared or incorrectly-labelled dangerous goods making it onto ferries

T

RANSPORT OPERATORS CARRYING dangerous goods may have recently noticed far more stringent checks on their documentation from Cook Strait ferry companies and the Police. Unfortunately, this is a result of increased poor practice from some operators within our industry....and it has to stop.

Ferry operators and those who represent them have both privately (to the Road Transport Forum) and publicly voiced their concern over a growing trend for some transport operators to carry undeclared or incorrectly-labelled dangerous goods onto ferries. Such concerns are taken extremely seriously.

While RTF knows that the majority of transporters work extremely hard to make sure that documentation is accurate, there have been operators who have submitted incorrect or incomplete documentation in order to take undisclosed dangerous goods on regular ferry sailings. Such goods are only supposed to be carried on the early morning freight runs that are designed to take higher-risk cargo.

The actions of those operators place ferry crews, passengers and drivers at serious risk.

Dangerous goods cargo is treated differently than normal freight and must be stowed in accordance with maritime 42 | Truck & Driver

requirements once aboard. This means ensuring that certain products are not stored next to each other and are carried on the appropriate deck.

A ship’s crew also needs to know the precise information about the dangerous goods they’re carrying as this dictates the necessary response to any emergencies that may take place onboard. Fires on roll-on, roll-off ferries are not uncommon and globally there is a serious container ship fire every 60 days on average, so the threat is real.

Ferry operators in New Zealand already have a zerotolerance approach, whereby any discrepancies found in documentation and cargo result in trucks being rejected from sailings. Ferry operators are also committed to reporting any dangerous goods issues to the regulatory agencies responsible, with the NZ Transport Agency acting as the gateway.

If you are transporting dangerous goods, make sure your documentation is 100% accurate. Make sure your dispatchers are trained in dangerous goods documentation and that they take their responsibilities seriously.

Operators who cut corners on this kind of compliance not only put their business at risk and negatively impact the public perception of the industry, but are also risking the lives of ferry passengers, crews and, of course, their own drivers. T&D

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

New face at the RTF R

OAD TRANSPORT FORUM IS PLEASED TO welcome experienced communications and government relations adviser Josie Vidal to the role of communications and government relations manager.

Josie is supremely qualified for the role, having recently held a similar role at Horticulture New Zealand.

She managed communications and government relations for engineering firm Tonkin & Taylor’s response and recovery work on the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.

Previous work included time as a press secretary and adviser to government ministers Nikki Kaye and John Carter….and in her past life she was a journalist.

RTF chief executive Nick Leggett says: “Josie is fast getting her feet under the desk and is already helping to coordinate more of the industry’s communications and align them to a broad, overarching strategy.

“Josie’s significant media experience will greatly assist the Forum to better tell the positive story of our industry, the hardworking people within it and the critical part it plays in the NZ economy.”

Vidal says that “as a story teller, I know that people like to hear about people like themselves.

“A human face and a good yarn are the most effective way to get people to understand road transport, back what we are asking of government and consider a career in the industry. So, I’ll be taking every opportunity to get

Josie is an experienced communicator and has a deep understanding of how Wellington works

out and meet people and tell their stories to a broad audience.”

Josie is also an expert at government relations and has a deep understanding of how government works, whether that be the expectations and motivations of ministers and their staff, or how to progress policy through government departments and ministries.

“I have worked hard to foster contacts in all areas of government and can work agnostically with the government of the day,” she says.

Josie has lived in various parts of the world but has chosen to make Wellington home, despite finding it cold most of the time. As a political junkie she spends a lot of time following media and social media and talking about politics with like-minded friends in the bars of Wellington.

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Truck & Driver | 45

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

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ETTING KIDS TO BOARD A BUS DOESN’T seem like the obvious way to get young people excited about trucking, does it?

Well, for the members of Road Transport Association New Zealand (RTANZ) Region 4, it is actually proving to be the perfect way to promote the merits of a career in the road transport industry to New Zealand’s future workforce.

Recognising the difficulty that its members were having recruiting new people to the industry, RTANZ recently signed up as a supporter of the Inzone Careers Coach.

The Coach, which is really a rolling careers expo, travels around NZ and engages with school students on career opportunities that are available to them across a variety of industries.

The reality is that, of the 60,000 students leaving school each year, the road transport sector is currently attracting very few of them into the industry.

Obviously there are many reasons for this, from the difficulty of getting a relevant licence to the almost endless range of career options that are now available to young people globally.

However, as RTANZ chief executive Dennis Robertson

46 | Truck & Driver

explains, a big part of the challenge is simply getting young people to consider a role within the industry as a career option.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to attract young people to think about transport as a career option. We’re trying to show school students who are making career choices, that the transport industry is an exciting place to work – and, as it embraces new technology, it will be at the cutting edge for career choices.”

While RTANZ, and particularly Region 4, have put a lot of effort into supporting the coach, the success of the programme fundamentally relies on transport operators making a modest $2000 investment to have their companies included as a promoted career option.

To be as effective as possible, this investment should be supported by a company website or career landing-page, giving students who are considering a career in road transport the information they require to make an informed choice about the company.

Over 40,000 students get involved with the Careers Coach across 200 NZ schools every time it goes on tour, which makes its nationwide reach second to none – and $2000 is probably the

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.

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

Meryn Morrison has been chair of WiRT since 2016 and is the safety and compliance manager at Regal Group in Hamilton

School students board the Inzone Careers Coach and plug into the interactive kiosks, which can help put them in touch with prospective employers cheapest per capita investment a transport company could ever make in its future workforce.

On the bus, students use touchscreen kiosks to sift through the various industries, employment opportunities and employers of interest to them and can then use the kiosks to directly engage with the companies on a one-to-one basis.

“The Careers Coach programme will only succeed if transport operators make it a key priority to invest and engage with young people,” says Robertson.

“I’m convinced that if they do that, they will greatly benefit from the contribution these young people will make – and that in turn will make the boat go faster.”

It is true that a number of employers in our industry are hesitant to employ young people, either straight out of school or in their first job. However, getting more young people involved in your business does not just simply fill gaps in your workforce, it also helps to keep the industry fresh in a way that will help transport companies remain relevant in the 21st Century.

Says Robertson: “The industry needs to have new, young thinking to help it develop into the future, and the current school population will fit very well and successfully into the transport sector of the future.

“The challenge for the transport industry, apart from simply getting these people through the door, is to be open to new ideas and ways of doing things that the current school student will deliver in the years to come.”

So, while the challenge to students is simply to plug in and have a go, the challenge to transport operators is to take the future of your workforce into your own hands and get on board the Inzone Careers Coach.

This is one bus you don’t want to miss! More information can T&D be found at www.rtanz.co.nz/careers-coach.

National Road Carriers (NRC) PO Box 12-100, Penrose, Auckland 0800 686 777 09 622 2529 (Fax) enquiries@natroad.co.nz www.natroad.co.nz David Aitken, Chief Executive 09 636 2951 021 771 911 david.aitken@natroad.co.nz Paula Rogers, Executive Officer 09 636 2957 021 771 951 paula.rogers@natroad.co.nz Grant Turner, Executive Officer 09 636 2953 021 771 956 grant.turner@natroad.co.nz Jason Heather, Executive Officer 09 636 2950 021 771 946 Jason.heather@natroad.co.nz Tom Cloke, Executive Officer 0800 686 777 021 193 3555 tom.cloke@natroad.co.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 Dennis Robertson, Chief Executive 03 366 9854 021 221 3955 drobertson@rtanz.co.nz

Hawke’s Bay/Wairarapa/Otaki to Wellington Sandy Walker 0800 367 782 (Option 5) 027 485 6038 swalker@rtanz.co.nz Northern West Coast/Nelson/ Marlborough/North Canterbury John Bond 0800 367 782 (Option 6) 027 444 8136 jbond@rtanz.co.nz Southern West Coast/Christchurch/MidCanterbury/South Canterbury Simon Carson 0800 367 782 (Option 7) 027 556 6099 scarson@rtanz.co.nz Otago/Southland Alan Cooper 0800 367 782 (Option 8) 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

Area Executives Auckland/North Waikato/Thames Valley Keith McGuire 0800 367 782 (Option 2) 027 445 5785 kmcguire@rtanz.co.nz Southern Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Taupo/ Poverty Bay Dave Cox 0800 367 782 (Option 2) 027 443 6022 dcox@rtanz.co.nz

Truck & Driver | 47

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48 | Truck & Driver

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Company driver Kevin Eden loads waste onions into his Freightliner Argosy at a local market garden.

They’ll become stock feed Truck & Driver | 49

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The ever-versatile Riordan & West fleet includes a handful of UD 6x4s that swap bodies between water tanks, vacuum tanks and tippers. This one, doing a farm water delivery, is a 2006 model

I

T’S A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS THAT STARTED OUT 50-ODD years ago as a Pukekohe area piggery, with an old truck bought simply to keep it in pig feed.

That’s interesting, given that Riordan & West is now at 16 trucks….and counting. While it’s still based on what used to be the pig farm, the trucking business has outlasted the piggery – and become a successful dedicated transport operation in its own right.

What’s special though is that one of the originals from the early days of the piggery operation is still in daily work for the business. No, not one of the old trucks….the truckie!

Keith West started driving for farmers Royce Riordan and Alf Whitehouse in 1969. Later he became a 50/50 business partner with Riordan. And now, at 71, he’s a shareholder with his son Dave – and he’s still driving!

Riordan & West had its genesis in ’65, when Riordan and Whitehouse decided to start their own piggery at Puni – a tiny settlement a handful of kilometres west of Pukekohe.

When they ran into trouble getting reliable deliveries of feed for their pigs they decided to buy an old 4x2 Commer to pull an articulated single-axle trailer toting an old milk tank – so they could collect liquid feed for the 2400 pigs (including up to 200 breeding sows).

That was followed by the first of two 4x2 KT Dodges – and a West family introduction to Detroit power – which were also used to pick up waste food from the surrounding market gardens.

Keith West went to work for the business in 1969, to drive the

Commer and help with other work at the piggery.

Keith had got his heavy transport licence as an 18-year-old and had driven a six-cylinder TK Bedford and Ford D series 4x2 for Peter Sands in Waiuku as soon as he was legally allowed on the open road.

Brought up on a farm just down the road from Sands’ depot, Keith got plenty of exposure to trucking as a schoolboy, as he recounts: “His trucks used to go past every day. I went to work for him in the summer school holidays, picking up hay and sitting in on a cream run to a local dairy factory.”

At times Keith got to drive the truck on the farms they were working at. There was a good honest day’s work involved: “We’d start early and go until it got dark – often 12 hours – to get the hay in, in case it rained. I guess it was hard work, but you just did it.”

Once he started working for Royce Riordan his usual day at the piggery involved being up around 6am to feed the pigs, then stopping for breakfast, before loading up the cooker, which was used to prepare the pigs’ feed for the next day.

The cooker was a major part of the operation. Whatever food waste was collected to feed the pigs went through the cooker and was turned into a liquid, which was dispensed more easily.

Then it was a drive into Church St, Onehunga to New Zealand Starch to collect a load of liquid food. The rest of the day was spent straining the feed from the cooker, ready for the following day’s feed, and then finishing the working day by feeding the pigs again.

Truck & Driver | 51

“I didn’t mind working with the animals,” says Keith – “I was used to that from living on a farm as a kid and I got to drive trucks as well. They were pretty long hours every day.”

There were also seasonal collections of waste from market gardens around the Pukekohe area to supplement the pigs’ diet.

A Nestle factory at Waiuku provided nuts, chocolate and other rejected seconds for a while.

Keith and Riordan had to be resourceful. They were getting yoghurt and Zap milk drink seconds from manufacturers, but had to create a device to crush the packaging and squeeze out the food as quickly as possible: “You made up things as you went,” says Keith.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. The boiler that helped cook up all the food had to be cleaned on a regular basis.

On one occasion there was a flashback and Keith suffered burns. He should have had proper medical treatment. Instead he slapped on some of that Rawleigh’s ointment that Kiwis used to swear by.

As he says: “I had to get back to work because nobody else was going to do it.” The scars took nearly six months to heal and disappear.

As they were not doing long hauls, the piggery’s trucks tended to stay on its fleet for long stretches. The two Dodges saw the business through the 1970s. In 1978 a Detroit- powered, round nose White 6x4 was acquired and towed a tanker unit on an unusual (at the time) quad-axle semi-trailer they made themselves. The truck, which could also be fitted with a stock crate, long ago became a showpiece at the private Awakeri truck museum in the Bay of Plenty.

In 1980 Keith left the piggery to work with a friend, driving machinery at the SteelServ metal recovery plant at Glenbrook, which recycles waste from the steel mill.

But the call of the road was too strong and 18 months later – when Royce Riordan offered Keith and wife Heather the opportunity of a 50/50 partnership in the business, share-farming the pigs and running the necessary ancillary operations – they accepted.

Says Keith: “Royce told me he wanted me to come back. He needed somebody to get into the business with him.”

52 | Truck & Driver

Through the ‘80s the piggery ran an International DCF 400 6x4, alternating between a stock crate and a tipper body. There was also a Paystar on the fleet in the middle of the decade.

Throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, the constant need to keep the pigs fed twice a day, meant the trucks were totally devoted to bringing in the necessary feed. There was no room or time for outside contract work.

In the early ‘90s an International ACCO eight-wheeler took over the daily duties and was still there in 1998 when Dave West started working at the piggery. The same year a Kenworth K145 8x4 was acquired, running as a flatdeck, tipper, tanker...or even a livestock unit.

All of these secondhand trucks used by the piggery business had one thing in common – their Detroit powerplants.

The piggery operated at a similar volume for three decades –

Left: Those are probably Dave’s legs sticking out from underneath the company’s 1981 Kenworth K145CR, probably in the late 1990s – near the end of the piggery Right: Dave West reckons of trucking that “once it’s in your blood, you’re screwed anyway!”

Below: One of the five older-shape Argosys still on the fleet, a 2008 model, tips off SPR (soft pit run) aggregate at a stockpile at the company yard

necessarily, says Keith: “There was no room for expansion. We couldn’t run any more pigs in the existing buildings. And there was the problem of getting rid of the effluent.”

Depending on the breeding cycles of the 200 sows, between 30 and 50 pigs were being supplied to the works each week from the early ‘70s until the time the piggery operation was wound down.

Dave joined the business as a wages driver. He had, of course, been around trucks throughout his childhood – riding in them with his Dad during school holidays: “I guess that kindled the passion,” he reckons now.

Dave, now the major shareholder in the business (in partnership with Keith), is an unashamedly passionate truckie – sometimes too much so for his own good: “Once it’s in your blood you’re screwed anyway! My passion has always been trucks.”

When Dave joined the business, it still only had one truck, a 1974 ACCO 2152 which he’d repowered

some years earlier with a 6V92T Detroit motor, when he took a week’s holiday from his job as a diesel mechanic!

The fleet began to grow early this century, mostly by way of a contract to cart food waste from the Mr. Chips factory in East Tamaki to supplement the pigs’ diet. It had started out in 1988 with just eight to 10 tonnes a week, picked up over three days.

All of it went to the Riordan & West pigs.

In fact, this cartage job ended up outliving the piggery that gave birth to the trucking business!

By 2000, Royce Riordan and Keith West had to make a big decision about the future of the piggery: “The buildings were pretty knackered,” says Dave. “A lot of money was needed for reinvestment and it wasn’t viable.”

The piggery was closed and most of the original buildings demolished, with the emphasis of the business changing virtually overnight to trucking. Namely, dealing with

Truck & Driver | 53

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the Mr. Chips contract, which by then had grown into a job that demanded three truck and trailer loads a day, seven days a week.

With the Riordan & West piggery closed, the factory’s potato peelings waste was now being processed and trucked to the Waikato as supplementary feed for dairy cows, delivered mainly to customers in the Te Awamutu and Matamata areas.

Although he was only a wage-earning employee at the time, Dave West had a significant influence on the purchase of Riordan & West’s first new truck – a Freightliner Argosy long-wheelbase eight-wheeler.

The company’s past multi-purpose functionality – a keynote of the business still – was continued with that first Argosy: It worked as a flatdeck, carried a bin when needed and could also be set up as a curtainsider to meet the needs of the variety of work it handled.

Dave’s a real Argosy devotee: “It makes a really good dropside truck and its tare weight is good too.” The other part of the equation, of course, is that the Freightliner had a Detroit Diesel engine.

He explains: “We’d always had them in other older trucks before we got the first Argosy. We’d had a good run with them and decided to stick with them. That’s what the Argosy came with.”

Whenever possible, the Argosy backloaded aggregates and lime to Auckland.

54 | Truck & Driver

In 2003, Dave bought a share in the business, which was then formally set up as Riordan & West Ltd. Keith and Royce reduced their holdings equally. Eight years further on, Dave purchased Royce’s shares and West senior and junior together bought the Rogers Rd property off Riordan. Unfortunately Royce’s health deteriorated and he passed away soon after.

The company’s growth has since been boosted a couple of times by acquisitions: In 2006 Riordan & West bought Pukekohebased Donaldson Transport – mainly for the contracts it had at the time. The Mitsubishis inherited with the purchase were subsequently phased out for more Argosys.

Then, in 2009, Te Awamutu’s Exact Logistics was purchased… to access more steady work in the Waikato. Its Ivecos and Internationals disappeared over time – also replaced (of course) by more Argosys.

And its original contracts also grew – primarily on the back of the Mr. Chips work. By 2014, Riordan & West was collecting and processing 100 tonnes of its food waste weekly and delivering it to the Waikato.

It was also still picking up waste produce from the region’s market gardens – but that work was less-constant, as Dave West recounts: “Grower waste was seasonal….only after the main harvest times.”

Five years ago, Riordan & West faced something of a crisis – when the new owner of Mr. Chips decided to end the long-running

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deal with the Wests and cart its own food waste.

At the same time, a contract with Ravensdown – to deliver palm kernel north of Auckland – also disappeared.

Says Dave West mildly: “It was a major setback. We lost $250,000 worth of business a month. To compound the problem we had three new trucks on order at the same time.”

The company managed to survive – and without laying off any staff – but Dave admits there were a couple of lean years when the balance sheet “didn’t look too flash.

“Fortunately we’d built up the business and the customer base, and the backloads coming north to Auckland became the front loads.”

Luckily, he adds, the amount of freight coming north to the Auckland region is growing. Of course, he adds, “we like to keep the trucks loaded all the time – so we had to search out new freight that was leaving Auckland.

“It became quite challenging some days, but it was totally out of our control. We couldn’t buy the chip factory to guarantee the business we’d had for a long time.”

In the last 18 months, a contract with K&S Freighters and NZ Steel has added some stability to the southbound freight, this work done by one of the fleet’s nine-axle HPMV setups and a flatdeck B-train.

Riordan & West now has 16 trucks – 12 of them Argosys, with three more ordered before the Freightliner cabover is phased out at the end of this year. The other company trucks are UDs/Nissans with interchangeable bodies – water tanks, a tipper and low sided bodies – for local work in the Franklin area. Keith drives the

newest of them.

The Argosy fleet is set up in a variety of configurations and formats for the different types of work undertaken. One is a tractor unit that usually pulls a flatdeck B-train, carting steel from the Glenbrook steel mill to Wellington and Palmerston North under contract to K&S Freighters. There are usually five return trips a fortnight, with backloads for the return journey.

There’s another nine-axle flatdeck and two dropsiders for longhaul work, regularly including Roundwood posts.

Six other nine-axle truck and trailer bulk units cart stock feed, aggregates and fertiliser. They’re often employed taking fertiliser from Mt Maunganui to Ballance depots in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, and running to the Auckland area with scoria, sand, pumice and aggregates that the big city’s infrastructure and building boom keeps swallowing up. There are also often daily return trips to Taupo.

At times the company trucks even venture into the South Island, sometimes with fertiliser or poles – working closely with Templeton based Burnell & Sons Transport.

Some of the company’s units are based away from the Puni HQ yard – at Te Awamutu, Taupo, Hinuera and Waharoa.

Dave has settled on a fleet of Domett trailers to best suit the needs of the versatile and flexible operation. Most are 20 metres long, for their manoeuvrability: “They’re easier to get in and out of cockies’ driveways,” he explains.

Most are five-axle units, but they’re different lengths, depending on whether they’re aiming for a 35.5t or 36.5t payload: “Nobody wants to cart around more steel and aluminium than

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Top left: Dave’s sister Kathy has worked in the business for 18 years, running the office, looking after dispatch...and driving the loader when need be Top right: Keith West first went to work for the company 50 years ago!

they have to. We keep them as small as we can,” Dave explains.

Riordan & West units generally operate on 54t HPMV permits: “The road user charges for going to 58t kill it, unless you’re at the maximum loading,” says Dave.

“And the loads have to be precisely placed. It gets very expensive.”

As far as his beloved Argosys and Detroit engines go, Dave is very satisfied that both have served the company well – the fleet having grown mostly on the back of the Detroit-powered cabovers over the years.

By the time the third of his new Argosys (among the very last ones built) goes on the road in September, Riordan & West will have had 26 of the Freightliner cabovers.

Says Dave: “We had an oil feed problem on an engine that had done 700,000 kilometres. The warranty is great and it was replaced. It’s never a shit-fight dealing with (Auckland dealer) Trucks & Trailers.” The Detroit agent also carries out all the regular maintenance on the Riordan & West fleet.

“It’s as much about the people you deal with as the product,” he believes.

The future makeup of the fleet is uncertain at this point, given the end of production of the Argosy. As Dave’s all too well aware, his alternatives from here on with Detroit power are not thick on the ground: “It’s either a bonneted truck or a Merc,” he confirms.

With his last three Argosys he has at least delayed that decision: “We won’t need any other fleet replacements until late next year.”

He has already checked out one alternative – driving a 630 horsepower Mercedes-Benz Actros to Timaru and back over the

summer, towing his (Detroit-powered Argosy) racetruck.

The Merc’s cab, he says, “is not ideal” for Riordan & West’s purposes – “so we might look at the next model down the range.

I’m keen to make the Merc work for us and keep the cabover and Detroit power setup going.”

He was impressed with the latest technology in the Merc, including its radar-aided adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking: “I drove from Bulls to the ferry in Wellington without putting a foot on the pedals!”

Speaking of truck racing…just as his passion for trucks got him into truck driving, and then into co-owning a trucking business, it also led Dave West into truck racing…probably inevitably, after he watched NZ’s first-ever truck race meeting as an impressionable teenager, at the Pukekohe motor racing circuit in 1988.

Dave has now completed four race seasons, with a Detroit Series 60 legacy engine powering a Sterling chassis, with an Argosy lookalike cab (which has been narrowed). Dave built it with some friends over seven months in 2015.

The trucks are limited to 160km/h, but the West racer boasts between 1600 and 1800 horsepower and 4500Nm of torque. The purposebuilt racer only uses the chassis rails and axles from the original chassis and an aftermarket full disc brake setup.

“The cabover body probably doesn’t help the aero or handling,” admits Dave, “but I like it.”

He had an eventful first season in 2016. After just four laps of testing at Pukekohe he debuted at the Timaru round. Then at his next outing – at Teretonga, near Invercargill – Dave and the truck were involved in a big accident on the main straight. It was one of the most spectacular shunts in the sport’s history.

Truck & Driver | 59

Some of the oldtimers from Riordan & West’s history (clockwise from top left): This 1974 ACCO 2152 was in the fleet in the 1990s...Kathy and younger sister Suzanne in front of the company International DCF400, toting liquid feed tanks for the piggery.....1981 International PayStar 5000, bought as a glider kit and fitted with a Detroit, a gearbox and diffs by the company itself....the Detroit 6V71–powered White 3000, bought in ‘78 – when it was already “well–travelled”

Dave recounts how it happened – at 160km/h: “I was passing Pricey (International driver Garry Price) and ended up with a bit of a wheel on the grass. When I got past I looked up and saw the track lights were red (to stop the trucks for another incident).

“I eased up and touched the brakes and it was all over from there.” West’s truck started to slide and the laws of physics took over.

“There was nothing I could do about it. I was a passenger basically.” The truck took off across the track and into the Armco and concrete safety barriers protecting the infield pit lane. The 5.5t truck was then flung into a violent somersault, back onto the track – coming to rest on its side.

In his debut season Dave had managed to make the six o’clock news on telly! (albeit for the wrong reasons). The violence of the accident tore the front axle loose and ripped off the front bumper: “The cab was a writeoff and the chassis was pretty munted.”

Dave himself escaped with some bruising and a couple of bumps, thanks to the full-harness seatbelts and rollcage.

He was also undeterred. Dave and his team completed a total rebuild in time for the last races of the season: “It took more than that to slow me down. That season was about learning and we had a pretty steep learning curve,” he adds, laughing.

Since then he’s finished third and second in the national championship – and won his class.

He uses the race truck to promote his business and the sport and gets enjoyment from giving passengers rides: “People just 60 | Truck & Driver

don’t realise how fast they go. Seeing the look on their faces is great! I’ve had a few screamers in the cab at times. They just yell their heads off all the way around the track.”

The truck racing was preceded by six seasons of dirt track racing at Waiuku and Meremere, initially in an old Commodore and then in an ex-speedway Pontiac TransAm powered by a Chevrolet LS1 V8. Dave and his team had to convert the staggered suspension used on the left-turn speedway tracks to make it suitable for turning right on the dirt track circuits.

“I sold the TransAm….but it really only paid for the transmission in the race truck!”

The other “play truck” he owns is a 1998 International PayStar – an updated version of the 1981 model the company ran years ago.

It had an 8V71T Detroit motor and 13-speed transmission. The ‘98 model was imported from the States and converted to right-handdrive and updated with an aluminium 9200 cab, as the original was too rusty. It was also treated to a Detroit 8V92 engine.

“It’s only been to the moon and back once,” quips Dave.

Unsurprisingly, Dave West is the kind of bloke who would “rather be driving than sitting in the office.”

But he recognises the need to be easily accessible to customers – the reason, in fact, he doesn’t see continued growth for the operation: “I’m reasonably comfortable with where we’re at. We’re small enough to adapt, but big enough to respond to customers’ needs.

“If we get much bigger we could lose the family touch. Most

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Above: Keith wrangles a tipper body onto one of the UDs

Right: It’s a testimony to the strength of the rollcage Dave and his team had built that he walked away from this 160km/h crash into the concrete safety barriers in his new Argosy racetruck in 2016.

Undeterred, he rebuilt it in time for the last races of the season

people know if they ring up they can usually talk to me.”

And if it’s not Dave on the end of the line, it’s his sister Kathy – who’s worked in the business for 18 years, runs the office and the dispatch for much of the fleet, although Dave still keeps tabs on the “bulkies.”

Running a business with no formal experience is not the easiest part of his working life says Dave. “I need to get better at it, but I guess that will come with experience.”

The parts he doesn’t like, but knows are important, include managing the regulatory compliance: “You’ve got to do things right and keep track of things.”

He certainly sees it as an improvement on the old days of the industry: “The boys get a better lifestyle. We’re not doing the ridiculous hours we used to do.”

On that note, Dave is pretty proud of Riordan & West’s safety record, with only one at-fault accident in 19 years. There have

been a couple of others where motorists have crossed the centre line into the path of a company truck.

Staying onside with the Commercial Vehicle Safety Team (formerly the CVIU) makes sense, he reckons: “I think they know who they want to target. You can’t really beat the system with all the computer monitoring.”

Trucks are now usually kept on the fleet for around one million kilometres, but he admits that’s not a hard and fast rule: “Some go for 1.5 million kilometres – it all depends on what kind of workload they have over their life. And we do need some secondtier trucks.”

There is one bulk truck that’s now done over two million kilometres, while another unit that hasn’t been running 24/7 has only done 1.3 million kilometres in 10 years.

Dave says there’s no perfect number of trucks for an operation: “But I know more trucks equals more fuel and tyre bills – and Truck & Driver | 63

Top left: Dave gives his “play truck” a scrub up. It’s a 1998 International PayStar, imported from the States and fitted with an 8V92 Detroit and an aluminium 9200 cab

Top right: West and Riordan family members back in 2004. From left is Dave West, Royce Riordan, Keith West and wife Heather, and Royce’s wife Dawn

Above: One of the company’s early Dodge KTs. Dave thinks it’s him and sister Kathy posing with it Left: Dave would rather drive, but knows it’s important to be readily available to talk to clients

sometimes you question whether it’s worth it.”

When fuel prices went up in 2018, Riordan & West’s fuel bill went up $400,000, even though it had only added one truck to the fleet.

The company is, by his judgment and preference, a low-key operation, even though it operates by all the safety guidelines: “Common sense is still the key. Some of the accidents you see are a result of a lack of experience.”

Finding new drivers is very much a word of mouth exercise for Riordan & West: “We’ve got some guys who’ve been with us for over 10 years. I guess the low-key way we work appeals to some people.”

Dave reckons he has “a good crew of drivers. It goes in cycles, but certainly there aren’t enough young drivers coming through the ranks.”

While he reckons he only ever expects his drivers to do what I’d do – “sometimes that’s bad for them, on some days.”

One thing he doesn’t ask his drivers to do is go near the Auckland waterfront if it can possibly be avoided: Waiting to pick up or drop off containers is an exercise in frustration, he reckons.

Even booking jobs into the inner city is not done on a regular basis because of the congestion problems and the time taken to achieve anything.

64 | Truck & Driver

“We stay away from Auckland and the wharves as much as possible. Yes, we do go into the city, but we don’t make a habit of it.”

Like many smaller operations, maintaining a regular income stream can be challenging, particularly at a time when delayed payment is a business practice: “I’d like to keep people current on invoicing. Once you’ve done a job you shouldn’t have to keep chasing the money.”

At times Dave reckons his bank overdraft is helping underpin other people’s businesses: “If somebody is late paying a couple of grand, you could say ‘oh, it’s only one….’ But if you get five of them, that’s suddenly $10,000. And if that happens regularly it’s a lot over a financial year.”

Dave has been approached to sell Riordan & West on a couple of occasions, but declined…because of the hole that would have left in his life.

Instead he’s gone and bought more trucks – because of the realisation there was more work available and he might as well be doing what he’s passionate about.

In short, if he wasn’t running a trucking company – and still occasionally getting behind the wheel himself – he’s not sure what he’d be doing: “I got told at school I wasn’t going to make a living staring out the window. But I do know that you’ve got to enjoy what you do….otherwise you probably shouldn’t be there.” T&D

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2019 BRISBANE TRUCK SHOW

Show business.…

funny business Story Wayne Munro Photos Hayden Woolston, Wayne Munro

I

T IS, UNQUESTIONABLY, ONE OF THE BEST AUSSIE TRUCK shows ever. Probably THE best.

Yep, the 2019 Brisbane Truck Show really IS The Business. It’s got all of Australia’s major truck makes exhibiting, a big turnout of trailer manufacturers and major ancillary suppliers as well, and a bunch of new truck reveals, launches, announcements.

There’s the launch of important new FUSO Shogun and Kenworth T360 and T410 models. Plus a new Mercedes-Benz Actros with cameras instead of rear-vision mirrors, a crazy-big (and aptly named) XXL cab Volvo FH 700, a natural gas Scania, and an Aussiedeveloped light-duty Isuzu electric truck.

Showgoers get to enjoy other firsts including previews/teases of upcoming new models like Freightliner’s Cascadia conventional,

Clockwise, from above left: Trucks make their presence felt out in the Brisbane streets....big crowds attend the show....Freightliner’s coming Cascadias make their first appearance....Hino focuses on its 500 Series Standard Cab

the angular Mack Anthem, the world’s first mass-produced electric truck, the FUSO eCanter, and a new medium-duty UD, the Croner.

But wait….there’s more! There’s even the unlikely rebirth of the historic Diamond Reo. Say what! Well, it’s actually just a reincarnation of the name of the now-deceased North American brand: The trucks carry the old name….but as for who builds them?

Well, the biggest clue is that they also still bear the badge of Chinese make Sinotruk.

The good stuff continues with the show’s impressive push to get schoolkids in and convince ‘em that trucking is their future; with its Australian Heavy Vehicle Industry Week and its associated business sessions and with an apprentice of the year contest.

And, outside the cavernous Brisbane Convention Centre, the

FEATURE organisers – the Queensland-based Heavy Vehicle Industry Association – have actually managed to engineer a broader public presence.

That’s a tough job in a big city. But they’ve got trucks parked up in two of the city’s main malls, trucks (new UDs) on a barge on the Brisbane River…even a whole fleet of trucks parked up in a closed-off street, bang in the heart of South Bank’s busy restaurant precinct, turning it into The South Bank Roadhouse.

Okay, so it looks like a success on many levels. That makes it pretty sad (I would say unbelievable, but cynics know that there’s always someone keen to pinch something successful) that this show, which really does the business….is also experiencing some funny business.

Yep, just two weeks before this show kicks off, the news broke in the Aussie trucking media that the Truck Industry Council – a body representing Australia’s truck manufacturers, importers and major component suppliers – is planning to organise a national truck show of its own.

It announces the show and says it’ll launch it in 2021 – the same year as the next scheduled Brisbane show! In other words, one industry organisation is taking on another industry organisation

– to replace a show that’s already an unprecedented success! And that’s been around for 51 years. WTF! Nobody I talk to at Brisbane seems to want to come right out and publicly shoot down the TIC rival show idea. Even the HVIA has a very measured response, limiting itself to saying only that its show is “far and away the biggest business event our industry holds in the Southern hemisphere.” And that “it’s run by industry, for industry.”

Off the record though, there’s a lot of muttering about this divisive, potentially destructive move. Plus more than a little scepticism that the TIC plan will get off the ground….and general unhappiness and disappointment that anyone ever thought this was a good idea.

Because, regardless of what industry group you’re affiliated with, something that looks as good as this Brisbane show, that has as much good stuff on show, has the support of the state government and the city council, and attracts 36,900 showgoers shouldn’t be messed with.

Ok, enough of the political BS…and on with the show. DAIMLER TRUCKS’ stand is very classy (and not just because of the chandelier hanging above the Mercedes-Benz area).

Truck & Driver | 67

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New Mack Anthem, with its chiselled looks, previews next year’s NZ and Australian launch.

Mack says it’s all about the new, tall, high-tech cab

It’s because the global commercial vehicle giant has one helluva lineup to present to showgoers.

Or, as president and CEO Daniel Whitehead indicates, it’s an appropriate showpiece for the world’s biggest truckmaker – a company that invests a lazy $2billion a year in R&D globally.

He gestures to the trucks around him: “This is what $2billion worth of R&D looks like.” He reckons that FUSO, Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner are the No. 1 makes in their home markets – and says the aim is to soon achieve the same in Australia.

So here it is….with four new product launches at one show – two completely new trucks, two updated models with high-tech updates (one at the absolute cutting edge) and one important new model preview.

Firstup, there’s the new FUSO Shogun (yes, the one already on the market in NZ) and there’s also the official announcement that the world’s first series production electric truck, the light-duty eCanter, is coming to Australia (and NZ) within the next six months or so….

Plus the unveiling (and launch) of the pioneering mirrorless Mercedes-Benz Actros, and the first public showing of the Freightliner Cascadia conventionals that are going to be launched next February.

Finally, there’s a new Canter reckoned to be the only light-duty truck in Australia with advanced emergency braking as standard – along with lane departure warning and electronic stability control options.

FUSO Australia boss Justin Whitford reckons the new Shogun is that good it’s actually “a defining moment in time” for the make: “We’re really entering a new era…. in design technology and certainly vehicle safety that, ultimately, is underpinned…..by the international Daimler product strategy.”

Like NZ, the initial Aussie range tops out at 460-horsepower/338 kilowatts with its Euro 6 DD11/Mercedes-Benz OM470 engine. But, just as NZ has been promised we’ll eventually get a 520hp/382kW version of the DD13/OM471 engine, Whitford too hints at the same for Aussie. There will, he says, be “more news on that in the coming months.”

The Shogun has, as Whitford emphasises, high-tech safety and driver assistance features “never before realised in the Fuso portfolio…..” including advanced emergency braking, lane departure warning, electronic stability control and adaptive cruise control.

The release of the eCanter is announced, but with no actual onsale date given (whereas the first batch of up to 100 of them will be in NZ before year’s end).

The show gives Aussies and Kiwis their first opportunity to see a right-hand-drive FREIGHTLINER Cascadia in the flesh (or metal) – in the form of a 126 model with a 36-inch XT sleeper. It’s joined by two LHD models – the three taken off their pre-launch test duties to be at the show.

In their blue and white camo livery, the trio attract a lot of attention – unsurprisingly, given that the Cascadia is America’s Truck & Driver | 69

From left to right: UD previews the new Croner middleweight model, to be launched next year.... old-school, traditional Western Star 6900 is a spectacular eyecatcher....Kenworth shows pretty much all of its range, although the focus is on the new T410 and T360 models

biggest-selling heavy-duty truck. And since it’s the replacement (despite its bonnet) for the Argosy cabover that’s been so successful for Freightliner Down Under.

Freightliner director Stephen Downes says the current real-world testing of these trucks is one of the final pieces of a $100million programme to develop the RHD Cascadia – with 50 drivers also continuing reliability and durability testing in the US. Two of the Cascadias have Detroit DD16 Euro 6 engines (one rated at 600hp), the other has an E6 DD13. They all run the Detroit DT12 AMT. The Cascadia will, Downes reckons, “set the benchmark” for bonneted trucks in Australia – “whether it be fuel efficiency, safety or the driving experience.”

Its market-leading features, he says, will include SRS and curtain airbags, autonomous emergency braking, electronic stability control, front and rear-facing driver cameras, pedestrian recognition and blind spot detection.

MERCEDES-BENZ director Michael May says that last year saw record sales for the make in Australia, and declares: “We are pretty excited….. It’s fair to say the word is out there….Mercedes-Benz is back!”

And to add to the comeback’s momentum, May unveils the Actros with Mirrorcam – using wing-shaped cameras in place of rear-vision mirrors, their pictures shown on two screens on the A-pillars.

The truck, to be launched in Australia and NZ early next year, also has a new multimedia interface system, with two high-resolution, tablet-style screens in the cab – pretty much like Merc cars have.

It also has GPS-assisted Predictive Powertrain Control for increased fuel efficiency, enhanced connectivity and the latest advanced safety technology.

Although the new model – not long released in Europe – has already been tested extensively there, M-B is in the process of putting a handful of evaluation units to work in Australia, to “determine the ideal model specification for our tough and unique conditions.”

MirrorCam is said to deliver some fuel efficiency saving, thanks to the reduced drag of the camera wings, but primarily delivers an increased range of rear vision and removes the visual barrier of the much bigger mirrors.

May sums up the Mercedes-Benz approach: “Everyone talks. One 70 | Truck & Driver

delivers.”

Right across the aisle from the new Freightliners, KENWORTH has the first public showing of its new middleweight T360 and T410 models – the latest derivations of the new 2.1 metre cab first seen in the new T610, launched two years ago.

And, as Kenworth Australia marketing manager Brad May observes: “No better time to have a truck show than when you’ve got loads of new products to show….”

And, as expected, the Little Ts – replacements for the vocational specialist T359 and the local tipper, metro and regional freightoriented T409 – are a major feature of the sprawling PACCAR stand.

But surprisingly they’re not, insists Kenworth GM of sales David Harmsworth, THE primary focus. He explains: “Now you might think the main message for us is about the new models – but it’s not.

There’s no doubt the new models are going to give us a lot to talk about with customers over the next four days, but there’s some traditional values that have been around Kenworth for a long, long time – and that’s about flexibility and choice.”

Take the classic T909, for example: The one on show has a 130t GCM rating – “but if an operator wants to spec that truck as a single rigid tipper/four-axle dog running around metro Melbourne, you can do that. If he wants to run it run it as a tri-axle, running 200, 220t, three or four-trailer roadtrains in WA….we can offer that as well.”

With the traditional-looking T610SAR with a 1400mm sleeper cab – the biggest in the 2.1m cab range and the “five-star option from a driver’s point of view” – the options run to everything from a king single bed to an upper bunk…

Or there’s the choice instead to go for the more streamlined T610. A show truck with a 600mm sleeper is “a great package for us because, again, it’s around choice and flexibility for operators,” says Harmsworth.

“That truck allows an operator to run a full refrigerated B-double set, with a bullbar, and stay under the 26m envelope. Still with great features from a driver’s point of view, with under-bunk fridges and storage, a good bunk to put their head down for a while, good standup room…”

There’s choices too with the K200 cabover – “this one has Dana axles with disc brakes.” It also has a downsped setup, with lower diff ratios. And it has a Cummins Euro 6 engine – offering the choice of either E5 or E6.

The choice and flexibility theme is also a thing on the DAF end of the PACCAR stand – with last year’s start of local production of the DAF CF85 now allowing “us to offer more customised solutions to our customers,” says DAF Trucks GM Felipe Rubio.

Still, DAF’s presence is mostly about the new range of light to medium-duty LFs being launched here, with a 12t GVM LF260 4x2 and an 18t LF290 on display.

Both models have new PACCAR PX-7 6.7-litre Euro 6 engines and a choice of ZF AS Tronic six or 12-speed AMTs, ZF six or nine-speed manuals and an Allison 3000 auto.

Rubio says that the new engines deliver increased torque at lower engine revs “that could lead to fuel savings of up to 6%.”

The new LFs also offer higher payloads, a “world class-leading turning circle” and wide-opening doors (to 90 degrees). And standard equipment includes adaptive cruise, driver’s airbag, forward collision warning, advanced emergency braking system, lane departure warning and vehicle stability control.

The other global heavyweight in the room, in addition to Daimler, is the VOLVO GROUP. And it too has an impressive presence – with a real Aussie super-duper kingsize sleeper cab FH16, a brandnew medium-duty UD, a new, smaller-engined Quon and the first DownUnder showing of the Mack Anthem.

Volvo Group CEO and president Martin Merrick sums it up: “What you see here represents the very best of local engineering, local manufacturing – leveraging global innovation.”

First there’s the chunky, angular, love it or hate it new-look MACK Anthem, which is reckoned to be much more than just an interesting new face – more like the start of a new beginning for the full Mack range. Just as Kenworth’s big, modern, 2.1m cab, first debuted in the T610, is now being used for other models across the range, the technology in the Anthem cab is almost certainly going to be widely used by Mack.

So, while Mack Trucks Australia VP Dean Bestwick describes it as “a ripper looking truck,” it is so much more besides: “The functionality of everything in this product is something that we’ve been sweating on for a long time here in Australia,” he adds.

Sure, the chiselled outer shell, which arguably retains and enhances something of the classic Mack look, is delivering a 6% fuel efficiency improvement in the US, he says.

“But the big thing about the Anthem is actually inside…the HMI, the human machine interface, is where it all happens. So the ergonomics and the electrical architecture that’s in this truck is something that we have been really pushing to get hold of. It literally is a standup sleeper from the driver’s seat.”

Bestwick says with feeling that “the best thing about it for me” is that the Anthem matches (and dramatically modernises, I’d say)

the Macks that have been designed and built in Australia for years: “The reason we design trucks here in Australia, the reason we build them here in Australia, is because of their robustness, their durability for the Australian conditions. Well, this truck has all of that built into it.”

The Anthem will be launched in Australia and NZ next year, with both 6x4 and 8x4 versions – using existing Mack powertrains.

Trucks are now undergoing final real-world testing and validation in Australia and the US. Also on show is a good-looking Super-Liner concept – a shorter BBC version to meet Aussie regs and still end up with a conventional prime mover that fits into the 34 pallet/26m B-Double segment.

Finally, to celebrate 100 years of Mack Trucks in Australia, the company has created a pop-up museum in Brisbane – paying tribute to the make’s history with a standout collection of Macks from across the decades. A 1919 AC-model Mack – like the first two brought into Aussie – is the star turn. It’s just a pity that it’s located in an outer suburb: Somewhere in town it would have been sensational!

UD Trucks has two new trucks on its stand – a “sneak peek” preview of the new medium-duty Croner, which it announces will be launched early next year…

And an eight-litre variant of the Quon – a little brother to the 11-litre heavy-duty UD flagship unveiled here two years ago (and launched in NZ last year).

The VP of UD Trucks Australia, Mark Strambi, says that the downsized Quon “offers the same levels of driveability and safety as the 11-litre version,” but is 300kgs lighter.

“It really is a fantastic truck. Slightly smaller than the 11-litre models, it still possesses a sizeable payload, while offering operators extra flexibility through a greater load efficiency.”

It has a new Volvo group eight-litre GH8 engine delivering 360hp/263kW and 1428Nm of peak torque, at 1200-1600rpm. It meets the Japanese equivalent of the Euro 6 exhaust emissions standard.

With the same safety features as the 11-litre Quon, including disc brakes, active emergency braking, stability control and lane departure warning, the new model “continues the reputation that the Quon has developed as being the best specified heavy-duty truck on the Australian market, from a Japanese manufacturer,” Strambi reckons.

The Croner will be launched with two models – a PK 18 280 4x2 and a PD 25 280 6x2, with a variety of wheelbases and suspension options, but both powered by a 280hp version of the same GH8 engine that’s in the new Quon. They’ll both have an Allison 3000 Truck & Driver | 71

Clockwise, from top left: Electric Isuzu FSR concept truck is part of a homegrown etruck project....Isuzu’s partner is Aussie SEA Electric, which shows off its SEA Drive technology here....inside the new Actros with Mirrorcam. The state-of-the-art cab includes tablet-style display screens as well as the rear-vision monitors on the A-pillars

Series six-speed auto. The four-wheeler will have an 18t GVM and the 6x2 a 25t rating.

VOLVO celebrates a quarter-century of the FH model being built in Aussie, with an FH 540 25-Year Special Edition, which Volvo Trucks VP Tony O’Connell reckons is “the most technologically advanced truck we have ever offered.”

It comes packed with I-Shift Dual Clutch, the iSee predictive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane change support and driver alert and Volvo Dynamic Steering, with lanekeeping assist.

“The Volvo FH is one of the industry’s most successful models and is credited with changing the perception of modern trucks,” O’Connell reckons.

The Special Edition is, he says, “not only a celebration of the truck itself, but also a tribute to all the customers and drivers who have been driving this icon for the past 25 years.

Then there’s the large presence on the stand of the FH Globetrotter XXL cab – “a big cab, for a big country. We think it’ll redefine the space-race DownUnder,” says O’Connell.

“It’s been designed with Australia’s vast distances in mind….and many drivers spending extended periods away from home.”

Volvo has re-engineered the XL Globetrotter cab, moving the rear wall back 250mm to allow space for “one of the biggest beds in the business – 130mm longer and 250mm wider than in a regular Volvo FH.” There’s also extra storage to go with it, allowing extra gear for 72 | Truck & Driver

long trips.

O’Connell says its development, purely for Aussie, “underlines the importance of the Australian market and customers within Volvo Trucks’ global operations.”

Volvo also launches a new Volvo FE Low Entry Cab (LEC) model specifically designed for metro work and targeting waste collection and multi-stop distribution, with optimised driver ergonomics, safety and efficiency.

Features include “superior” all-round vision for busy city streets and near walk-in access to suit frequent driver entries and exits – aided by a kneeling function that drops the floor height a further 90mm. Emergency braking is standard.

Another multi-brand group at the show is PENSKE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES – making a welcome comeback after its absence two years ago.

It doesn’t need a brand-new model to turn heads – the WESTERN STAR 6900FXC may be an old-school traditionalist in its looks, but it’s a spectacular eyecatcher that stops punters in their tracks with its king of the road presence.

It’s a truck targeted directly at Australia’s toughest, heaviest longdistance applications – roadtrains, heavy duty mining, livestock and logging, with GCM ratings as high as 250t.

Penske CV MD Kevin Dennis says the thought was that showgoers would enjoy seeing “a true stalwart of the Australian trucking industry.”

The 600hp Cummins X15-engined canary yellow and red Neil Mansell Transport 6x4 does the trick alright. The 54-inch Stratosphere sleeper is handed over to Mansell at the show – the operator explaining why he’s bought over 80 Western Stars in the last 34 years: “I love the look of the 6900, which will be used in a triple roadtrain configuration over long distances – and I’m sure our drivers will really enjoy the roomy, big, wide cab.”

Also here is a much more modern-looking, aerodynamic 5800FE – a truck Penske CV says “combines Western Star’s trademark toughness with streamlined efficiency.”

The 5800FE, with its DD15 engine and setback front axle is proving ideal for B-double applications, Dennis says.

On the MAN side of the stand the focus is on a 640hp D38 PerformanceLine prime mover, a 580hp D38 tractor unit and a tipper spec 540hp TGS. The PeformanceLine is where “exclusivity meets performance,” says Penske – the limited edition offering “unsurpassed driver fatigue management through cabin noise reduction measures and comfort and safety features that allow for a reduced workload in an intuitive work environment.”

The driver-pampering stuff runs to climate control for the driver’s seat, leather seats, steel blue metallic interior highlights, a high-end lighting package and sound system and a big fridge.

The TGX D38, on the other hand, keeps it a bit more practical – combining “innovative safety features, high power output, outstanding ride and driver comfort, and low whole-of life costs,” making it a “business essential.”

The 6x4 TGS tipper comes with a low tare weight, “great visibility…an excellent turning circle, resulting in exceptional manoeuvrability, and a raft of standard safety features.”

The last of the multi-brand exhibitor is IVECO/INTERNATIONAL, with IVECO focusing heavily on its Euro 6 engine credentials – demonstrating, it says, its “commitment to minimising environmental impact.”

The E6 lineup includes a couple of trucks on public show in Australia for the first time – notably the recently-launched, locallymade Stralis X-Way, with a tractor unit and rigid model on show to mark the occasion.

It has a range of active and passive safety features and fuelsaving measures including Ecoroll, Ecoswitch and engine anti-idling.

Its emission control system is Iveco’s “unique” Hi-eSCR system, which doesn’t need any parked regeneration.

The X-Way is a new range, specifically developed for vocational 74 | Truck & Driver

and construction applications and comprising 6x4 tractor units with 45t GCMs and 6x4 and 8x4 rigids rated to 40-45t GCMs (or higher on application).

Also making their public debut are two “all-new, next generation” Euro 6 ACCOs, an 8x4 and a 6x4 – also, of course, made in Australia.

The ACCO is still undergoing its in-field testing ready for its launch later this year. Iveco says it “will build on the toughness of its predecessor, while delivering new levels of comfort and safety never before experienced in an ACCO.” The 6x4s have Iveco rear air suspension and the 8x4s have airbags all around. Meritor tandem drive axles have active traction control as well as diff locks.

The SCR Cursor 9 engines are rated up to 360hp and 1650Nm of torque and are matched to Allison 3200 Series autos, with standard safety including adaptive cruise, ABS, EBS, advanced emergency braking and electronic stability programme.

There are Euro 6 engines too in a medium duty Eurocargo and a Daily 70C van. And there’s a prototype of a new Daily 4x4, which has an increased GVM, up to 7t, and the Hi-Matic, eight-speed auto.

INTERNATIONAL ProStars, which share the stand with the Ivecos, are getting a safety boost – Iveco announcing here that the Inters are to get the electronic stability programme (ESP) and the Bendix Wingman Fusion safety system.

ESP will be standard on ProStars running the Eaton Ultrashift Plus AMT and optional on those fitted with Eaton Roadranger 18-speeds.

The Wingman suite, which offers active safety features including collision mitigation, adaptive cruise, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning, will be optional.

Iveco believes that the addition of the safety systems will expand the ProStar’s market – adding fleets that, because of compliance requirements or customers’ demands, must spec trucks with these safety features.

Out-front, in pride of place on the ISUZU stand is an electric concept truck – not courtesy of the mother company in Japan….but the product of a local effort, in league with Australian electric drive developer SEA Electric.

Isuzu doesn’t actually say that they’re partners in the project, but SEA Electric is exhibiting here too….with one of the Isuzu FSR concepts on its stand! And it confirms the association.

Actually (and despite its front and centre placement on the Isuzu stand) the FSR model EV concept gets only a passing mention from Isuzu Australia national sales manager Les Spaltman in his rundown

Left to right: The iconic Diamond Reo name from the past reappears – on trucks with Sinotruk badges....the extra-large XXL cab FH and a 25-years in Aussie anniversary FH are centrepieces of the Volvo stand...the show pulls in almost 37,000 punters

on the Japanese make’s show presence.

I guess it’s because it showed off its NQR and FSR model EV concepts to the Aussie media late last year, proclaiming the project “a major milestone” for Isuzu Australia – the No. 1 on the Oz market for 30 consecutive years.

Isuzu reckoned then that it believes it has “the technology and know-how to make the best electric truck for Australia.”

Anyway, the FSR etruck is driven by a direct drive permanent magnet motor, drawing power from a 132kWh lithium-ion battery pack. It produces 150kW of continuous power and 250kW maximum power, along with 1230Nm of continuous torque and 2500Nm of peak torque.

It has a GVM of 12 to 14t, while the smaller NQR concept (not on show) is rated to 9t, with the same battery pack and a motor putting out 100kW continuous and a maximum 130kW, and torque figures of 800Nm (continuous) and 1500Nm (peak).

The Brisbane focus though is really on Isuzu’s popular pre-built, Ready-to-Work range, with new models including service bodied NLS and NPS 4x4s, an FSR 140-260 tipper (with a 14t GVM) and an FRR 110-240 AMT curtainsider with a 10-pallet body.

There’s also a new, locally-developed dual control F-Series, with an Allison 3500 series auto and a 24t GVM, designed for the waste collection industry.

Isuzu’s partner in the etruck pilot project, SEA ELECTRIC – an automotive technology company with a proprietary battery electric power-system that suits everything from vans to 26t rigids – says it has just broken into Europe.

The company already has a presence in NZ, the US and many other parts of the world, and the message from SEA Electric founder and MD Tony Fairweather is that “the EV revolution is rapidly accelerating.”

The SEA-Drive modular electrification technology has been developed to be adaptable, offering a wide range of power output options, with battery capacities ranging from 45kWh to 216kWh. Seven different SEA-Drive power systems have been developed to replace diesel engines, with SEA Electric already involved in working with big Euro companies such as DHL and Ikea. It’s also signed its first European licensing co-operation with the largest

German manufacturer of waste collection trucks.

The SEA-Drive electric battery system can be fully charged within four to six hours “and is therefore perfect for commercial and delivery vehicles from major European cities.”

Unlike other electric vehicles, the systems have the option of being charged with a portable 22kW charger in any three-phase socket.

Fairweather reckons that “research suggests that vehicles’ fossil fuels will disappear from cities by 2050, and the use of electric trucks should increase by 2025.”

Headlining the HINO Australia stand are two of the 54 (!) available variants of the new 500 Series Standard Cab – a FE1426 and a FD1124.

Hino Australia’s GM Bill Gillespie says that the Standard Cab 500 “boasts the most comprehensive active safety package available from a Japanese manufacturer in the medium-duty market” – and it’s all part of the standard spec.

“Safety credentials aside, this truck also sets new benchmarks in comfort, technology, operational efficiency and its green credentials.”

The stand also features an example of the new heavy-duty Hino A05 turbocharged five-litre engine that powers the 500 Series Standard Cab models. Says Gillespie: “Not only does it deliver superior torque, increased power and improved fuel efficiency, but it also has the cleanest exhaust emissions ever for a Hino truck in Australia.” It meets the Japanese equivalent to Euro 6.

Technology and innovation are key themes elsewhere on the stand with an interactive display of a new smart multimedia system to be rolled out across Hino Australia’s entire range by year’s end.

The Hino 300 Series Hybrid, which the company says is Australia’s best-selling hybrid diesel-electric light duty truck, also features.

“At a time when Australian companies are increasingly looking for environmentally friendly options, Hino is proud to offer our proven hybrid technology as a legitimate solution for those customers who want to reduce fuel use and cut exhaust emissions,” says Gillespie.

The show truck has a 110kW (450hp)/420Nm diesel engine in Truck & Driver | 75

parallel with a 36kW/333Nm electric motor, both mated to a Hino ProShift 5 AMT. The launch of a new compressed natural gas (CNG) P 340 model gives SCANIA Australia MD Mikael Jansson the opportunity to call time on old trucks with engines that are at pre-Euro 4 emission control levels.

Australian operators, says Jansson, should stop using such old trucks in densely-populated areas: “Old, dirty trucks should not be retired into the city. They should be pensioned off – for good.

“We can no longer turn a blind eye to their continual emission of dirty fumes and excessive CO2 where our children walk and play.”

The message is clearly that there are super-clean options – like the CNG-fuelled P 340 6x2 rigid, which Scania developed specifically for urban applications…and which can cut CO2 emissions – by up to 90% when biogas is used, or 15% on natural gas.

The CNG model marks the launch of its OC09 gas engine in Australia – and is the first alternative fuel engine for Scania’s New Truck Generation (NGT). The gas engine is based on Scania’s wellproven nine-litre diesel and works on the Otto principle, with spark plugs and complete combustion.

Scania says that – as in Europe – “in Australia there is a small but growing band of operators and businesses keen to investigate the benefits of operating vehicles on alternative or renewable fuels.

“Over the past year, Scania Australia has signed an MOU with the NVG Group – infrastructure suppliers and consultants for natural gas. This will ensure operators of Scania’s CNG fuelled vehicles enjoy a reliable fuel supply.”

Scania director of sales Dean Dal Santo says that displaying only Euro 6-compliant trucks on the stand (E6 trucks now account for

90% of Scania’s Aussie sales) highlights “how Scania is leading the shift towards a sustainable transport system for Australia.

“Many of our customers, and our customers’ customers are now demanding a smaller carbon footprint from transport logistics in order to meet their own environmental targets – and Scania is fully equipped to deliver on this need.”

Also on show is a P 280 rigid with a new lightweight seven-litre engine seen for the first time in Australia. It produces 280hp, while cutting 360kg in weight compared to its predecessor.

Scania’s new Euro 6 650hp V8, which pumps out 3300Nm of peak torque, is also here, in a new R Series.

Australian terminal tractor manufacturer Daysworth International has reintroduced the iconic DIAMOND REO brand – around three decades after it disappeared from the market.

The original Diamond Reo make was created in the US in 1967 with a combination of the historic Diamond T and Reo Trucks, under White ownership.

It went broke seven years later, but there have been partial reincarnations over the years since – most notably here in Australia.

Diamond Reo Giant heavy duty road trucks were assembled and sold as late as the 1980s by Daysworth owners, the Vodanovich Brothers…..trading as the Australian Diamond Reo. The Giant was known in Aussie as “the world’s toughest truck.”

Now Daysworth has a new Diamond Reo Giant – a 540hp 6x4 tractor unit “with perfect specifications for inner-city haulage,” plus an 8x4 marketed as a vocational truck.

The reintroduction of the Diamond Reo has been a nine-year project, the company says – and reckons that the new Giant has been “extensively tested offshore and in Australia since 2015,” with

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Clockwise, from top left: New Euro 6 DAF LF has arrived....limited edition 640hp PerformanceLine model is to the fore on the MAN stand...Scania shows only Euro 6 models and also launches the new P280 and the P340 CNG model (right)

over a million kilometres of testing in “the harshest Australian road conditions.”

The company doesn’t specify where the trucks are being built – but the badge on the grilles of the Diamond Reos has to be a giveaway: It’s the same as the one that the Sinotruks sold in NZ wear. And the trucks just happen to look exactly like the Kiwi Sinotruks as well.

Speaking of Chinese trucks….giant truckmaker FOTON Motor Company (it says it’s the No. 1 CV manufacturer in China) uses the show to make its debut as the distributor of its own trucks in Australia.

The brand has had a couple of previous launches in Aussie, without gaining real traction in the market. But now, as a whollyowned subsidiary of the Chinese parent company, it has big plans, as Australian GM Robert Zhang outlines.

“Australia/NZ is really an important strategic market for the Foton Motor Company. And we’re committed to the market.

“We’re going to bring in a full series of products, ranging from medium-duty to heavy-duty as well as a light-duty truck.”

Here it has two new-generation trucks – a light-duty Aumark with a 4.5-7.5t GVM, running a 3.8 litre 112kW/150hp Cummins ISF engine and a ZF manual gearbox.

And 12t GVM Auman, with a 4.5 litre ISF putting out 185hp. It too has a ZF manual.

What they also have, most noticeably, is a Mercedes-Benz lookalike grille. But then, Daimler Trucks is one of Foton’s international JV partners, along with Cummins, ZF, Dana and Bosch.

Next year, says Zhang, “we’re gonna bring in our very heavy-duty 78 | Truck & Driver

truck as well. And…we’re going to update all our current models.”

The key partnerships, he says, means that all Fotons coming onto the Australian market have “the best components.”

Amber Gaden, GM of TATRA importer Offroad Trucks Australia, says that its all-wheel-drive Phoenix range of offroad tippers – the product of a partnership between the Czech truckmaker and DAF – is growing in popularity.

The TATRAs have DAF cabs and PACCAR MX engines, mated to either ZF AS Tronic AMTs or Allison 4500 autos.

Gaden says that sales of the Phoenix models have been on a high in the past two years – despite the fact it’s currently limited to 6x6 and 8x8 variants.

That will change next year, says Gaden, when TATRA will begin building the Phoenix with a new DAF Euro 6 cab, well-suited to Australia: “We’ll be expanding the range quite considerably. We’ll be looking at 4x4s, 10x10s, 12x12s…and we’re also going to be looking at doing a heavier suspension as well as hub-reduction axles.”

The company’s also looking at a tri-steer version, designed for mobile crane applications, with an 18t combined rating for the steerers.

Gaden says that TATRA’s pure offroad 8152 and 8157 models are still being sold into the mining industry, for customers “that are primarily looking for our simple, robust, old-school design, with minimal electronics.”

The Phoenix is more “for the customers that need something a little bit more highway applicable. Slightly lighter kerb weights, a little bit more creature comfort, a little bit more luxury items.” T&D

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Sector Workforce Engagement Programme

SWE P

WHO LET THE KIDS OUT!

A student at the wheel of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology’s Fonterra-supplied driver training tanker....before actually driving it a short distance

By Steve Divers Director – career pathways – road freight transport Sector Workforce Engagement Programme (SWEP)

S

WEP ROAD FREIGHT TRANSPORT IS CONSCIOUS of not being the prime initiator of events – not because highlighting the programme isn’t important, but because we’re trying to create sustainable actions.

Examples of such actions include careers expos and engaging with schools and students – something that was No. 1 on our list of priorities following our industry stocktake.

The lack of visibility of road transport careers in schools and the pathway to a driving career and beyond is a key drawback for young people considering a stable job.

They don’t see the line of sight between themselves and the person explaining the role. This is partly because it’s not always convenient to try and squeeze a truck into a school gymnasium, next to all the university and polytech display tables…and just having a few photos of trucks doesn’t capture the thrill of the experience of driving a heavy vehicle.

Our Tauranga showcase event held at the end of last year sparked a lot of interest from a team intent on staging a Rotorua Careers Expo: They visited the Baypark event and contacted the team that put it together to see what could be done in Rotorua – particularly the handson experiences.

This was a key point that set the road transport industry presence well apart from all the rest. The Freight & Logistics Action Group (FLAG) mobilised and with the support of members and partners, created a first-class experience.

What was different about the Rotorua event was

that the students entered through one of three doors – indicating the following career aspirations for each student: • Yellow Door: “I have no idea. Surprise me.”

• Pink Door: “I’ve got options – help me decide.”

• Blue Door: “I know what I want to do.”

Each student was then given a sticker indicating his or her choice, so exhibitors could identify a student’s choice and strike up a conversation and discuss the choices they’d made.

Over 2500 students visited the expo over two days, so a lot of conversations took place and exhibitors were able to single out those who needed help.

Our strategy was simple: Engage the students at the indoor transport and logistics display and then, using a highly-motivated group of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology logistics students (in hi-vis), chaperone the students to the Toi Ohomai driving experience: “Do you want to drive a truck today?” That was the opening gambit to engage the students.

So many times I’ve heard people in our industry say that they can’t put a young person in a truck….but this is something that we disagree with.

So, following a quick induction and briefing, the students one by one got into the cab of the Toi Ohomai 8x4 training truck. And, under the instruction of the driver trainers, they took the controls and undertook the basic exercise of driving forward (approximately 100 metres) in a sectioned-off area of the carpark. Then they reversed – to stop between two road cones.

The value of doing this was particularly strong for young women: I lost count of the times I heard “I can’t Truck & Driver | 81

Sector Workforce Engagement Programme

SWE P

Top left: The Rotorua expo had a novel way of getting started – having students enter through doors that gave some idea of their thinking on a likely career

Top right: Fonterra provided a truck and trailer unit for students to hop into at the Edgecumbe event

Right: At the Edgecumbe expo, FLAG chair John Galbraith talks to students about careers in transport and logistics

do that”….only for the speaker to go on and complete the drive. This was all done safely, as we had full control of the carpark area and prevented access by any wandering off-the-track students.

The practical drive wasn’t the only hands-on experience available: The team from Rotorua crane and hoist specialists Tallyho Industries had a fantastic display, utilising a truck-mounted crane and gave a few students the opportunity to take the controls and operate it remotely.

Tallyho was supported by Patchell Industries, with a Swinglift container trailer..… which students were also given the chance to operate and experience first-hand the technology that’s used every day in our industry.

Both of these displays allowed the students a line of sight between their own motor skills and the experience needed to operate heavy machinery, and also contributed a certain level of wow factor to our overall display.

I encourage any operator attending a local schools expo to consider how they might include a first-hand experience when displaying vehicles: It’s not enough just to show a few photos. All risk can be managed safely.

The Toi Ohomai inside stand at the Rotorua expo also included a forestry simulator, and although this wasn’t a 3D experience, students could take control of a virtual machine under the guidance of an instructor – another example of practically experiencing our trade.

But it isn’t just the big career expos that SWEP supports: Any opportunity to support a school expo should not be missed.

The Careers and Transition Education Association (CATE) – an organisation comprising careers advisers, gateway coordinators and 82 | Truck & Driver

vocational pathways leaders – organises a number of schools expos.

Leveraging the good work by the FLAG team in Tauranga in building strong relationships with a number of CATE-affiliated advisers in the Bay of Plenty, we recently supported a small expo at Edgecumbe College.

The team comprised FLAG chair John Galbraith and I on the transport and logistics stand. Although Edgecumbe College provided the venue, the local CATE advisers brought in other area schools to utilise one space for all the exhibitors. The advisers take it in turn to host the expo each year at their respective schools.

We were supported by MITO, promoting the ShiftUp school programme, and the transport division from Fonterra Edgecumbe, which provided a brand-new truck and trailer unit to provide students with an in-cab experience in the carpark.

It’s clear that when we do present to students it’s important to have our industry partners there to support us – and for us to create the engagement and then introduce the students to the people who provide the learning pathway.

I encourage operators attending any school expos to make contact with Maree Thomas, vocational careers adviser at MITO – maree.thomas@mito.org.nz – to ensure that MITO is present to promote the ShiftUp school programme, as this is our industry’s tool to engage youth into a career.

We aren’t always aware of all the school expos in the regions, but just give me a heads-up and we can assist you with material and a presence at your local school expo. steve.divers@truckingcareers.nz T&D

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Facing our perfect storm

Dennis Robertson

By Road Transport Association NZ chief executive Dennis Robertson

T

HE EVENTS OF THE LAST FEW MONTHS HAVE CERTAINLY put a spotlight on the transport sector.

Hardly a day goes by without a key media release on some aspect of our industry. With the activity around roading, safety and compliance we’re increasingly the subject of the news.

While this seems alarming in many ways, I believe it is good for the industry – as we have time to reflect on where we are as an industry….and where we want to be.

I see a lot of operator and members saying that we have to adapt to change – and change is constant. But, more importantly, unless we all adapt to the changing nature and demands that are in front of us, some of you won’t be here in 10 or 20 years’ time.

In many ways, we have a perfect storm. So, what is this perfect storm? We have a political environment that sees SAFETY as a key outcome, over and above productivity.

Under the last government it was all about productivity, and as a result of that the compliance side of the industry had the spotlight taken off it. We can now see very clearly, from what’s been happening, that this approach has changed.

Consistent with the safety theme is the wider implication of the health and safety legislation. This legislation aims to achieve a safety outcome by making sure that businesses have a clear commitment to safety – and it’s about demonstrating incremental improvement in the way we all go about doing business.

The second part of the perfect storm is our second major

challenge – THE DRIVER SHORTAGE. We’re all getting a clear message from the workforce that future employees have had enough of unsafe work practices, the long hours and demanding work arrangements.

Employees want a more managed, less-stressful job and if they can’t get it in the transport sector, then they’ll look somewhere else.

This is because other sectors are working hard to provide a safety culture and they’re being seen by many as a much more attractive proposition than us.

People don’t want to work for us, and we have a major driver shortage that’s not going to be solved for us by other people. It can only be solved by us.

So, there is a third part to the perfect storm – and it’s COMPLIANCE. It’s no accident that this is a key issue for us. The activity we’ve seen, particularly from the NZ Transport Agency, over the past few months has highlighted that, while they may have taken the foot off the pedal, they’ve now put it firmly on the brake – and we’re paying the price for that.

Compliance is not an easy activity to manage, but it is essential.

And, from the membership surveys we conduct as an association, it’s the NUMBER ONE issue that most transport companies find difficult to deal with.

The time is right, and we must deal with this perfect storm. T&D Truck & Driver | 85

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National Road Carriers

Future of Freight event focuses on sustainability

By David Aitken, CEO of National Road Carriers Association

David Aitken

T

HE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN PUSHING ITS SUSTAINABILITY agenda in the last few months, giving the transport industry plenty to think about, with future switches from fossil fuels to electric and hydrogen power being signalled to meet reduced carbon emission targets.

What does a low emissions economy mean for your trucking business? National Road Carriers is organising a Future of Freight seminar late this month to help road transport companies with their forward planning.

We will bring together knowledgeable speakers who can update us on Government policies and future fuels mix – hydrogen, biofuels, EVs and Euro 6 standard engines.

Meanwhile here’s an overview of the Government’s Zero Carbon Act and the Just Transitions Summit which have implications for road transport operators and fleet buying.

The Government introduced the Zero Carbon Act in May. The purpose of the Act references the Paris Agreement and an ambition to staying below 1.5 degrees of warming.

The proposed law will commit New Zealand to zero carbon by 2050 or sooner, set a legally binding pathway to this target, and require the Government to make a plan. It’s based on the United Kingdom’s 2008 Climate Change Act, which has cross-party support and has been adopted in several other countries.

Under the Act an independent Climate Commission will be established, consisting of six to 10 experts appointed by Parliament.

The Commission will provide expert advice on targets, policies and climate risks, and monitor progress on meeting the targets.

Here is a high level summary of what the Act does: 1. Establishes targets • Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide to be net zero by 2050 • Biogenic methane to be reduced by 10% by 2030 (against 2017 baseline) • Biogenic methane to be reduced by between 24% and 47% by 2050 (against 2017 baseline) Targets must be reviewed ahead of the 2036 budget setting process, and if the Minister requests it.

2. Establishes emissions budget process – stepping stones to 2050 in five-year increments • First one required by December 31 2021 and it must have three consecutive emissions budgets – the current period, plus two prospective • Budgets must be met through domestic emissions reductions and domestic removals – access to international units will be limited • Commission’s advice to the Minister on the budget must be made publicly available 3. Establishes adaptation measures to make sure we know the risks and have a plan to address them.

• National climate change risk assessment – to be prepared by the Climate Commission • National adaptation plan to be prepared by the Minister • Adaptation information gathering power – this enables the Minister to require central and local government organisations and “lifeline utility” providers to provide climate change adaptation information, including their assessment of the risk climate change poses, their proposals for adapting and progress towards implementing the proposals and policies.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has established a Just Transitions Unit to help share and co-ordinate the work of transitioning NZ to a low emissions economy.

Following the announcement in early 2018 that no further offshore oil and gas exploration permits would be issued, a Just Transition Summit in New Plymouth in May brought together NZ stakeholders and global experts to discuss a transition to a low emissions economy.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern headlined the summit, announcing that a $27million clean energy centre would be set up in Taranaki and a further $20m set aside in the Budget for a new energy research fund.

The National New Energy Development Centre will look into emerging clean energy options such as wind, hydrogen and tidal to help NZ move towards clean, affordable, renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.

The Summit, attended by National Road Carriers executive officer Tom Cloke, was designed to provide practical information and inspiration that attendees could use to start making their own changes towards a lowcarbon future. T&D Truck & Driver | 87

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P

ETERSON HAS RELEASED A REDESIGNED 2268A-R-MV side marker LED, with a welded rear housing.

The lamp also now features advanced surface-mount diodes and more precise separation between red and amber illumination.

The new lamp is “a significant update to the very popular 1268A-R-MV, incorporating many state of the art changes to technology and appearance,” says Wayne Butler, managing director of Peterson New Zealand distributor, CDL Autoparts.

It’s a retrofit unit that “directly replaces its predecessor and fits all current bracket styles,” Butler adds.

The LED, with clear lens configuration, lights up half red and half amber, making it “perfect for all clearance side-marker applications,” says Butler.

“It offers significantly greater angular performance with its low profile, narrow surface-mount design…..and particularly suits narrow channels.”

The 2268A-R-MV offers multiple mounting hardware options. It mounts on 49mm centres and its 168-09 bracket permits mounting on

The new Peterson side marker LED is an updated and upgraded replacement for a popular current lamp 29mm centres, with a recommended 4mm screw fastening.

The new side marker’s multi-volt design is compatible with 12-volt and 24-volt systems, its hardwire design features 18-gauge stripped leads and its flat-wire sheathed cable “makes for simplified crimp connections and less bulk,” says Butler.

It meets the IP67 ingress rating, is certified to applicable ADR regulations and boasts a 100,000-hour rated life.

Says Butler: “Peterson has listened to the NZ market demands and has produced a new, impressive side marker that I’m sure will be even more popular than its predecessor. T&D

TATES 250 tonne coupling

T

ATES HAS ADDED A NEW, BIG HITCH TO ITS New Zealand offerings, in the form of the V.Orlandi HD50, which is rated up to 250 tonnes.

Designed for off-highway logging applications, this 50mm coupling (which has a D-value of 400kN), is also suitable for mining industry applications.

The new 250t manual drawbar coupling is also offered with a matching 250t, 50mm weld-in tow eye. Both components offer substantial rating improvements over the existing 50mm range.

“We have a standard 50mm V.Orlandi hitch with a very high D rating, but it’s not as substantial as this new unit,” says TATES’ Aaron Burson.

“It’s visibly larger… the size of the shank and the nut, close to 50% larger than the standard version.”

The tow eye is also visibly larger and substantially heavier, with reinforcing in key areas. While a standard tow eye can be lifted with one hand, the 250t unit, at 30kg, is a two-handed lift.

The 250t hitch comes with large twin mounting plates, nuts and bolts and is operated simply by sliding out the lock and easily pulling the pin.

“I don’t think there’s anything else in the country like this that isn’t custom made,” adds Burson T&D

Substantial mounting plates, a larger-diameter main bolt and a heavier, larger tongue, give the unit its 250-tonne rating

Truck & Driver | 89

Diesel and Turbo Wellington

Tom Bracken, Sales Manager

Established in 1988 Diesel and Turbo Wellington has evolved into a vibrant well respected business. We are proud to be the Caltex Lubricant Distributor for Wellington, Taranaki, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay regions.

We understand that equipment reliability is critical to your business. Our professional team, and our Oil Shop Network can assist you with implementing efficient Lubrication service solution for your fleet, saving on down time and reducing operating costs.

Call the Team at Diesel and Turbo 0800 568 9218 or your local Caltex Oil shop.

K & L Distributors BOP Ltd

Auckland Oil Shop

www.dieselandturbo.co.nz Masterton:

Westland Engineering Supplies 03-768 5720

We would appreciate the opportunity to quote on the supply of Products and Services.

TD29671

Diesel & Turbo Rob 06 378 6900 Taihape: Bells Diesel Truck & Tractor Craig 06 388 0449 Raetihi: Caltex Raetihi Raymond 027 517 8322 Marton: Onestop Auto Centre Rangitikei Ltd Matt 06 327 8708 Napier: Napier Provedoring Co Ltd (Servicing Chatham Islands) Vic 06 835 1724 Waipukarau: Chris Boyd Ltd Chris 027 293 4110

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Southland’s Bond Contracts is renewing its WasteNet waste collection fleet – putting on this 6x4 and another six new Hino FMs. The 2632 FMs replace Hinos – the choice made in part for their 5.2 metre wheelbase, Allison 3500 automatic transmissions and proven reliability.

Up, up and away N

EW ZEALAND’S HEAVY TRUCK SALES had another record month in May – setting new benchmarks for the month and the year to date.

With 518 May registrations, the overall truck market (4.5 tonnes to maximum GVM), was 14.85% up on 2018’s recordbreaking May. And that pushed the year-to-date registration total at the end of May out to another alltime record – 2218 registrations compared to last year’s 2008….a 10.45% improvement.

Market leader Isuzu had another bumper month, with 126 May registrations in the overall market, taking its YTD total to 514 and increasing its lead over second-placed FUSO (348 YTD and 75 for the month).

Hino (313/80) retained third, Volvo retained fourth (159/19), Kenworth (124/22) held its place, as did MercedesBenz (121/33), in sixth.

Behind them, DAF (112/31) overtook UD (111/24) to move into seventh. Iveco (101/21) and Scania (63/18)

completed the top 10.

The 156 trailer registrations were down on last year’s bestever May performance of 172. The 653 YTD total was also 6.98% down on the 2018 alltime record – 702.

In the crossover 3.5-4.5t GVM segment the Fiat steamroller continued to crush the opposition, registering 108 YTD and 20 for May. Mercedes-Benz (30/8) and Ford (17/1) held second and third respectively, ahead of Chevrolet in fourth (16/2). Renault (13/4) overtook Peugeot (11/1) for fifth.

In the hotly-contested 4.5-7.5t GVM category, FUSO (139/30) continued to hold a handy YTD lead over Isuzu (127/34), despite Isuzu beating it for the month. Iveco (63/8) was third YTD, ahead of Hino (61/20), Mercedes-Benz (52/12) and Foton (26/9).

In the 7.5-15t GVM division Isuzu (221/47) continued to open a huge lead on Hino (108/29) and FUSO (83/17).

(continued on page 94) Truck & Driver | 91

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General freight is carted South Island-wide by this new DAF CF 85 nine-axle truck and trailer curtainsider unit, operated by Marlborough’s Renwick Transport. Steve Canning drives the 8x4, which has a 510-horsepower PACCAR MX engine and an AS Tronic AMT.

23,001kg-max GVM 2019

4501kg-max GVM 2019 Brand ISUZU FUSO HINO VOLVO KENWORTH MERCEDES-BENZ DAF UD IVECO SCANIA MAN SINOTRUK FOTON FREIGHTLINER MACK HYUNDAI VOLKSWAGEN INTERNATIONAL FIAT WESTERN STAR RAM OTHER Total

Vol 514 348 313 159 124 121 112 111 101 63 56 42 34 27 26 17 15 15 8 8 3 1 2218

% 23.2 15.7 14.1 7.2 5.6 5.5 5.0 5.0 4.6 2.8 2.5 1.9 1.5 1.2 1.2 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.0 100.00

May Vol 126 75 80 19 22 33 31 24 21 18 8 16 12 9 7 3 2 4 3 3 2 0 518

% 24.3 14.5 15.4 3.7 4.2 6.4 6.0 4.6 4.1 3.5 1.5 3.1 2.3 1.7 1.4 0.6 0.4 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.0 100.00

3501-4500kg GVM 2019 Brand FIAT MERCEDES-BENZ FORD CHEVROLET RENAULT PEUGEOT LDV FUSO TOYOTA IVECO NISSAN Total

Vol 108 30 17 16 13 11 7 2 3 3 1 211

% 51.2 14.2 8.1 7.6 6.2 5.2 3.3 0.9 1.4 1.4 0.5 100.00

May Vol 20 8 1 2 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 38

% 52.6 21.1 2.6 5.3 10.5 2.6 0.0 0.0 2.6 2.6 0.0 100.00

4501-7500kg GVM 2019 Brand FUSO ISUZU IVECO HINO MERCEDES-BENZ FOTON VOLKSWAGEN HYUNDAI FIAT RAM Total 92 | Truck & Driver

Vol 139 127 63 61 52 26 15 11 8 3 505

% 27.5 25.1 12.5 12.1 10.3 5.1 3.0 2.2 1.6 0.6 100.00

May Vol 30 34 8 20 12 9 2 2 3 2 122

% 24.6 27.9 6.6 16.4 9.8 7.4 1.6 1.6 2.5 1.6 100.00

Market leader Isuzu had another bumper month 7501-15,000kg GVM 2019 Brand ISUZU HINO FUSO UD IVECO FOTON MERCEDES-BENZ DAF HYUNDAI VOLVO OTHER Total

Vol 221 108 83 18 18 8 6 4 4 1 1 472

% 46.8 22.9 17.6 3.8 3.8 1.7 1.3 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.2 100.00

May Vol 47 29 17 3 7 3 0 0 1 0 0 107

% 43.9 27.1 15.9 2.8 6.5 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.9 0.0 0.0 100.00

15,001-20,500kg GVM 2019 Brand HINO UD FUSO ISUZU SCANIA IVECO MERCEDES-BENZ SINOTRUK MAN DAF Total

Vol 31 26 22 13 10 5 4 6 3 3 123

% 25.2 21.1 17.9 10.6 8.1 4.1 3.3 4.9 2.4 2.4 100.00

May Vol 6 5 8 2 1 0 0 3 0 1 26

% 23.1 19.2 30.8 7.7 3.8 0.0 0.0 11.5 0.0 3.8 100.00

20,501-23,000kg GVM 2019 Brand HINO FUSO UD ISUZU MAN SINOTRUK SCANIA Total

Vol 14 9 6 4 1 1 1 36

% 38.9 25.0 16.7 11.1 2.8 2.8 2.8 100.00

May Vol 7 2 3 3 0 0 0 15

% 46.7 13.3 20.0 20.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.00

Brand VOLVO ISUZU KENWORTH DAF HINO FUSO UD MERCEDES-BENZ MAN SCANIA SINOTRUK FREIGHTLINER MACK INTERNATIONAL IVECO WESTERN STAR HYUNDAI Total

Vol 158 149 124 105 99 95 61 61 52 52 35 27 26 15 16 8 2 1085

% 14.6 13.7 11.4 9.7 9.1 8.8 5.6 5.6 4.8 4.8 3.2 2.5 2.4 1.4 1.5 0.7 0.2 100.00

May Vol 19 40 22 30 18 18 13 22 8 17 13 9 7 4 7 4 0 251

% 7.6 15.9 8.8 12.0 7.2 7.2 5.2 8.8 3.2 6.8 5.2 3.6 2.8 1.6 2.8 1.6 0.0 100.00

Trailers 2019 Brand Vol PATCHELL 76 ROADMASTER 61 TMC 50 MTE 48 TRANSPORT TRAILERS 47 FRUEHAUF 46 DOMETT 44 TRANSFLEET 23 JACKSON 20 TES 20 FREIGHTER 18 EVANS 13 MAKARANUI 13 KRAFT 12 MILLS-TUI 12 FAIRFAX 10 HAMMAR 10 TIDD 9 NZ LOHR 9 CHIEFTAIN 8 MAXICUBE 7 CWS 7 MORGAN 5 KOROMIKO 4 LUSK 4 HTS 4 LOWES 4 WARREN 4 IDEAL 3 SEC 3 TEO 3 DOUGLAS 2 WAIMEA 2 WARNER 2 OTHERS 50 Total 653

% 11.6 9.3 7.7 7.4 7.2 7.0 6.7 3.5 3.1 3.1 2.8 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.1 1.1 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.3 7.7 100.00

May Vol 16 18 12 9 13 11 13 9 4 7 4 3 3 2 2 1 2 3 1 1 3 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 11 156

% 10.3 11.5 7.7 5.8 8.3 7.1 8.3 5.8 2.6 4.5 2.6 1.9 1.9 1.3 1.3 0.6 1.3 1.9 0.6 0.6 1.9 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.1 100.00

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AUMARK C RANGE – 3 MODELS & 4 GVM SOLUTIONS FROM MRP $29,995 + GST + ORC The key to Aumark’s success is it’s DNA. At the heart of the Aumark is Cummins power, reliability and durability along with highly regarded components from world best suppliers. The Cummins powered Aumark light duty truck range represents exceptional value for money, with ‘Job Ready’ Box Body variants starting from MRP $39,995 + GST + ORC (BJ1051). Whether you need something to drive on a car licence, or for carrying freight around town, the Cummins powered Foton Aumark C range has a job ready solution for you.

To book a test drive and find out why the Cummins powered Aumark C is New Zealand’s fastest growing light duty truck range (GVM’s 5650 - 8995kg) visit: aumark.foton.co.nz

Aumark C from MRP $29,995 + GST + ORC. Factory warranty: 3 Years/160,000kms

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aumark.foton.co.nz WHANGAREI – Northland Autos T: 09 438 7043, AUCKLAND – PIL T: 09 279 2905, HAMILTON – Ebbett Foton T: 07 838 0949, TAUPO - Foton Central T: 07 378 6761, GISBORNE – Enterprise Motor Group T: 06 868 4581, HASTINGS – The Car Company T: 06 870 9951, PALMERSTON NORTH – Cartown T: 06 355 2000, CHRISTCHURCH – Trucks NZ T: 03 349 0256. AVDL A Member Of The Ebbett Group

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Nelson’s Waimea Contract Carriers has added this new K200 logger to its growing fleet of Kenworths. The Cummins-powered nine-axle HPMV unit is driven by Steve Crowle and operates all around the Tasman region.

Patchell (76/16) led the monthly trailer registrations once again in May – just as it has every month this year UD (18/3) and Iveco (18/7) were a long way back in fourth-equal – well clear of Foton (8/3), Mercedes-Benz (6/0) and DAF (4/0).

In the small 15-20.5t GVM class, Hino (31/6) retained the YTD lead, but it was beaten for the month by third-ranked FUSO (22/8).

UD (26/5) retained second place. Isuzu (13/2) was fourth and Scania (10/1) fifth.

Hino (14/7) continued its dominance in the tiny 20.5-23t segment, followed by FUSO (9/2) and UD (6/3).

In the premium 23t to maximum GVM market, Volvo (158/19) retained its No. 1 position for the year, despite rating as only fifth in May registrations.

But Isuzu (149/40), which notched up the most May regos, closedin dramatically on Volvo in the YTD standings.

Kenworth (124/22) held third, while DAF (105/30) jumped two positions into fourth. Hino (99/18) and FUSO (95/18) each dropped 94 | Truck & Driver

one spot – into fifth and sixth respectively. UD (61/11) held its place in seventh, but was joined by Mercedes-Benz (61/22). Scania (52/17) caught up with MAN (52/8) for ninth-equal.

Patchell (76/16) led the monthly trailer registrations once again in May – just as it has every month this year.

It’s a very different situation to last year, when Domett and Roadmaster shared the honours in February, Fruehauf led in March… and then MTE was No. 1 in April.

This year, in May Roadmaster (61/18) was the best for the month – and continued to hold down second place YTD. TMC (50/12) moved back into third position YTD, ahead of MTE (48/9), while Transport Trailers (47/13) also picked up a place, at the expense of Fruehauf (46/11). Domett (44/13) remained seventh, while Transfleet (23/9) moved up one spot to eighth and Jackson (20/4) and TES (20/7) completed the top 10. T&D

TD28440

(continued from page 91)

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This new UD Trucks Quon GW 26-420 6x4 tipper is now working around the greater Christchurch region for BAYPHIL. Baydon Philiips drives the truck, which has a 420hp GH11-TC Euro 6 engine, an Escot-VI 12-speed transmission, spring rear suspension and disc brakes all around. It has an Engineering Repairs-built bin. Pic – Alix Houmard

Waikato’s Waitoa Haulage has put this new DAF CF85 bulk tipper to work, with a refurbished dropside body fitted. The 6x4 has a 460hp PACCAR MX engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual gearbox and Meritor 46-160 diffs with full crosslocks. Extras include a B-pillar blind-spot camera, a heated driver’s seat, a Groenveld automatic greasing system and Alcoa Dura-Bright alloy wheels.

96 | Truck & Driver

Reefton’s Rosco Contractors has put this new Iveco Daily 4x4 service truck to work on the Coast, servicing heavy earthmoving machinery and mining equipment. It has a 180hp Euro 6 engine, a six-speed manual transmission, a purposebuilt service vehicle body including locker boxes and a 3.5-tonne taillift.

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Palmerston North’s Menefy Trucking has added this new Volvo FH 540 to its fleet. In Menefy tradition it’s been given a Pink Floyd-based name – Learning To Fly. The 8x4 tractor unit works in front of a variety of company trailers

Mark (Magpie) Amer, a subcontractor to Kaiapoi’s SML, has replaced an old Mack Trident logger with this new model. The 6x4 Trident has a 535hp Mack MP8 engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual gearbox and 46-160 Meritor diffs on Hendrickson Primaax suspension.

It has Kraft logging gear and pulls a matching new four-axle trailer, running on Hendrickson axles. Extras include Superchrome rims and a custombuilt Australian Kingbars bullbar.

98 | Truck & Driver

Christcurch’s Diamond Freight has put this new UD Trucks Quon curtainsider to work around its home city, running under contract to Everest CFS. Russell Kamo drives the 6x2 PK17-280AS, which has a 280hp Volvo Group engine, a six-speed gearbox, rear air suspension and a Hale Manufacturing body. Pic – Alix Houmard

TRANSMISSIONS TRANSMISSIONS T TRANSMISSIONS

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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.

Through the many rural downturns one by one many of these companies disappeared and slowly the rural carrier became a thing of the past.

Today many of these fleets are gone for ever but once again Gavin Abbot has brought them back to life with yet another of his collector series of books compiled from his extensive photo library, order your copy now of this limited edition collectors series.

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Those that survived did so by diversifying and expanding into national operations.

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TD29634

102 | Truck & Driver

TRANSPORT, DIESEL & MARINE

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EG29668

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Specials valid while stocks last.

8 Prescott Street, Penrose, Auckland Email: ray@tdm.co.nz | john@tdm.co.nz

CLASSIFIED TRUCK & DRIVER

UPGRADE YOUR SLEEPER CAB MATTRESS

New Zealand’s First 1000 Macks

Talk to us today about custom building your mattress to suit your requirements and comfort.

Due for release in 2022 to coincide with fifty years of service, we are asking for expressions of interest in purchasing this complete anthology of New Zealand’s first thousand Mack trucks.

We manufacture mattresses for trucks, boats, caravans, motor homes with a full range of beds for your home.

The book will be a hard covered, coffee table styled book in full colour, of approximately 500 pages. We intend to limit the number to one thousand copies, allowing any Mack owners the possibility of purchasing their trucks equivalent book number.

WAIKATO BEDDING

Once your order is placed you will be guaranteed to receive a copy should you wish to proceed at the time of publication. No payment is expected at this time, but we may require a deposit be paid early in 2022.

Come in and see us now Mon – Fri. 9am – 5pm Sat 9am – 2pm.

Riverlea Rd, Hamilton Ph 07 856 0393 sleepland@waikatobedding.co.nz

Numbers will be limited so get your name on the list for this once in a life-time book.

To order your copy please email: mansell@orcon.net.nz or grant.gadsby3@xtra.co.nz

TD29697

This book will not be reprinted after the initial production run.

TD28896

Your Sleepland Store

A price indication is approximately $135 plus, but this may change due to the quantity finally printed, and inflation, over which we have no control.

Engineering Project Manager – Truck Bodies Company: McCurdy Trucks Limited – Location: New Plymouth, Taranaki

104 | Truck & Driver

We’re not getting any younger and day by day we are seeing many of our old mates pass over to the other side, so let’s all get together and remember the bad old days.

Venue cost covered, cash bar and bistro.

2-00PM SATURDAY 20TH JULY TAUPO COSSIE CLUB 5 TANIWHA STREET TAUPO TD29584

Please send a cover letter stating why you would suit this position and your CV to: paul@mccurdy.co.nz Or McCurdy Trucks PO Box 3243 New Plymouth 4341 Attn: Paul McCurdy Applicants for this position should have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa.

Old TME F…ers, SORRY! OLD TIME TRUCKERS GET TOGETHER

TD29679

McCurdy Trucks require a new team member to join our busy award-winning Truck and Trailer Repair Dealership’s.

We represent the best brands in the market and cover the entire Taranaki region with our three branches located in New Plymouth, Bell Block and Hawera. We are the Taranaki agents for Southpac Trucks (KW & DAF), Truckstops (Volvo & Hino), Cummins engine company, T&G Bulk tippers and Isuzu Master Truck dealer for Taranaki, Wanganui and King Country.

Our brand new Bell Block Dealership requires a Truck Body Building Project Manager to fill a newly created role. In August 2019, our New Plymouth and Bell Block workshops will both be moving to our new Connett Road site. Our body Fabrication capacity has been expanded and we need someone to project manage our crane installs, tractor units set ups, deck & body building and major R&M repairs or modifications.

This role requires you to work individually but also alongside our Customer Service Team, Fabrication Team, Service Team, Truck Salesman, Parts Team and Management.

Our team are a hard-working bunch and go the extra mile. If you are too you will receive: A wage negotiated on experience and talent –Fulltime hours from 7:30am – Great variety through our franchise brands and work scope – Up skilling and experience You must be able to pass pre-employment and random drug and alcohol tests.

To see the full information on this role see trademe listing #2179933985

For more info: Bill Brown 021 061 0349

030

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ISX ISX ISXENGINE ENGINE ENGINE OVERHAULS OVERHAULS OVERHAULS ISX ISX ISX SIGNATURE SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

ISX ISX ISX EGR EGR EGR

ISX ISX ISX EGR EGR EGR

STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD

STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD

STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD

STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD

PREMIUM PREMIUM PREMIUM

PREMIUM PREMIUM PREMIUM

PREMIUM PREMIUM PREMIUM

PREMIUM PREMIUM PREMIUM

with with with 152mm 152mm 152mm Cylinder Cylinder Cylinder liners liners liners

with with with 150mm 150mm 150mm Cylinder Cylinder Cylinder liners liners liners

ISX ISX ISX e5 e5 e5

$12,500 $12,500 $12,500 $13,600 $13,600 $13,600 $12,650 $12,650 $12,650 $14,200 $14,200 $14,200 +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST $18,000 $18,000 $18,000 $19,100 $19,100 $19,100 $18,150 $18,150 $18,150 $20,400 $20,400 $20,400 +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST +GST

INCLUDED INCLUDED INCLUDED WITH WITH WITH EACH EACH EACH OVERHAUL OVERHAUL OVERHAUL STANDARD STANDARD STANDARD -

Engine - Engine - Engine overhaul overhaul overhaul kitkitkit - Con - Con - rod Con rod cap rod cap screws cap screws screws x 24 x 24 x 24 Big - Big - end Big end bearings end bearings bearings x 6x 6x 6 - 47ltrs - 47ltrs - 47ltrs of of CK4 of CK4 engine CK4 engine engine oiloiloil Oil - Oil - filter Oil filter filter - Labour - Labour - Labour Fuel - Fuel - Fuel filters filters filters

PREMIUM PREMIUM PREMIUM -

Engine - Engine - Engine overhaul overhaul overhaul kitkitkit - 47ltrs - 47ltrs - 47ltrs of of CK4 of CK4 engine CK4 engine engine oiloiloil Big - Big - end Big end bearings end bearings bearings x 6x 6x 6 - Lube - Lube - Lube pump pump pump Oil - Oil - filter Oil filter filter - Cylinder - Cylinder - Cylinder head head head Fuel - Fuel - Fuel filters filters filters - Labour - Labour - Labour Con - Con - rod Con rod cap rod cap screws cap screws screws x 24 x 24 x 24

AnyAny additional Any additional additional parts parts and parts and labour and labour labour required required required willwill bewill be invoiced be invoiced invoiced at the at the at normal the normal normal rate. rate.

Offer rate.

Offer Offer ends ends ends July July 31st July 31st 2019.

31st 2019.

2019.

FULLY FULLY FULLYAUTHORISED AUTHORISED AUTHORISED PARTS PARTS PARTS&&&SERVICE SERVICE SERVICEDEALER DEALER DEALER FOR FOR FOROTAGO OTAGO OTAGOAND AND ANDSOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND SOUTHLAND Contact Contact Contact your your your nearest nearest nearest Transport Transport Transport Repairs Repairs Repairs forfor more for more more details: details: details:

030303 445 445 445 4527 4527 4527 030303 478 478 478 8324 8324 8324 030303 208 208 208 3008 3008 3008 030303 218 218 218 3059 3059 3059 1414 Ree 14 Ree Ree Crescent Crescent Crescent 2424 Donald 24 Donald Donald Street Street Street 2525 Faulkner 25 Faulkner Faulkner Road Road Road CROMWELL CROMWELL CROMWELL DUNEDIN DUNEDIN DUNEDIN GORE GORE GORE

9 Kinloch 9 Kinloch 9 Kinloch Street Street Street INVERCARGILL INVERCARGILL INVERCARGILL

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Enter your fleet colour scheme in the PPG Transport Imaging Awards: Just fill out this entry form (or a photocopy of it) and send it into New Zealand Truck & Driver.

Be in with a chance to win in the annual PPG Transport Imaging Awards.

Contact name name & position in company: ________________________________________________________________ Location:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone numbers: __________________________________________________________________________________________

TD16163

Fleet or company name:___________________________________________________________________________________

Please send a selection of photos of one particular truck in your fleet colours. It’s desirable (but not compulsory) to also send shots of other trucks that show off the colours. Make sure your images are supplied as large format files taken on a fine setting on a digital camera. The files must be at least 3MB. All entries become the property of Allied Publications Ltd. All entries property of AlliedIMAGING Publications Send yourbecome entry tothe PPG TRANSPORT A Ltd. S AWARD Send your entry to: PPG TRANSPORT IMAGING AWARDS 1642 or email to waynemunro@xtra.co.nz Allied Publications Ltd PO Box 112062 Penrose Auckland Allied Publications Box to 112062, Auckland 1642, or email to waynemunro@xtra.co.nz (Remember do not reduceLtd, size PO of images transmit Penrose, by email, send two at a time on separate emails if large files.)

(Do not reduce the size of images to send them by email – send large files one or two at a time in separate emails if necessary).

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Cool

livery rules

AY OF PLENTY OPERATOR BRETT MARSH ALMOST decided to leave the latest flagships on his fleet a plain old, anonymous white, rather than the distinctive pale blue and white livery that the company adopted 12 years ago.

He reckoned that, since the two newcomers are eyecatching traditional-style Kenworth T909s, maybe “plain white would stand out just as much. They looked good white.”

And, after all, plain white does carry the same cool, cold connotations as the company colour scheme and logo that Brett and wife Leonie adopted when they made a switch to refrigerated transport in 2007.

Prior to that, they’d been in the business of running bulk liquid tankers…painted in metalflake black.

Marsh reckons that the blue and white colour scheme came about when he effectively handed Marty Cantlon, of Marty’s High Performance Signs in Tauranga, a blank

canvas – asking him to design him a new logo and new livery that captured the nature of Brett Marsh Transport’s new business.

Anyway…back to the present, and the new T909s: In the end Brett decided to send the pair of them off to Wrapped Auto Signs at Pyes Pa to have the blue and white livery applied – along, of course, with its intricate dark blue and orange pinstriping and scrollwork and the company logo.... which includes an image of Mt Ruapehu and what looks like melting icicles.

He explains the mind-change: “They are the flagships of our fleet, so it seemed appropriate we should do them up.”

Do them up, that is, in addition to the treatment the T909s had already been given before they even arrived in New Zealand: They went from the Kenworth factory in Melbourne to Klos Custom Trucks, where chrome exhaust stacks, additional lights, a dropvisor, massive bumper and

This photo & poster – Gerald Shacklock

Main picture: The two new T909 Kenworths almost went without the distinctive blue and white company colour scheme

Above: Some intricate scrollwork and pinstriping accompanies the carefully designed pale blue striping

Right: The company logo, like the colour scheme itself, was designed to reflect Brett Marsh Transport’s major focus on refrigerated freight

2 | Truck & Driver

TRANSPORT IMAGING AWARDS

other shiny stuff was added.

The spectacular end result shows off the Brett Marsh Transport livery to perfection on the unit, driven by Gav Morgie, with a quad-axle refrigerated trailer behind it – running a North Island round trip that takes in Auckland, New Plymouth and Palmerston North.

It’s this unit that earns the Marsh fleet the finalist’s spot this month in the PPG Transport Imaging Awards, just in time for the 2019 winner to be announced next month.

Appropriately enough, the first to wear the Brett Marsh Transport pale blue and white colour scheme 12 years ago was a 2000 model Kenworth T904 bought secondhand – and still on the fleet.

Such old trucks are a rarity these days, given a change of approach from Brett and Leonie Marsh in terms of their truck buying and truck replacement approach.

For years they pursued a policy of selectively buying secondhand trucks and refurbishing them where necessary – this to avoid the high costs of a large capital outlay, insurance and depreciation on new trucks…even taking into account the higher maintenance costs.

Says Brett Marsh now: “You won’t see that any more, I can tell you.” It’s not only down to looks that the secondhand trucks policy has been dropped – it’s also about R&M costs…the expense involved “to keep running them,” he says with feeling.

In the old days they used to keep trucks for up to 10 years – with up to two million kilometres on the odometer. Hand in hand with that approach meant a programme of replacing engines or transmissions when the big distances had been clocked up. While those major costs were budgeted for, it

was a drain on the business. Now trucks tend to be turned over every five years.

“We try and keep the running costs in check before anything major occurs,” he says. Reliability is improved and the chances of untimely and disruptive breakdowns are reduced.

Hence the two new T909s are just two of 11 new trucks being added to the fleet this year.

Unfortunately, says Marsh, one hangover of the old secondhand policies stays with them still – in the form of a “1996 ****ing FL Freightliner!”

The Brett Marsh Transport fleet, which was at 30 trucks until recently, has been cut back a little, to 26. Most of them are employed on refrigerated freight….and most of them are Kenworths. That’s been the favoured make for about five years now. As far as Brett can remember, there’s also one Freightliner, one MAN and a couple of Western Stars.

Ten years ago he recalls thinking that a couple of dozen trucks was about all that he and Leonie could manage. But, he explains: “With a growing population there is more work out there, particularly in the refrigerated freight area.”

Longstanding contracts have grown to service the expanding demand – so the need for more trucks to service that has driven the Marsh fleet’s expansion: “We’ve picked up contracts we never had before,” says Brett. Thus some of the trucks are in the colours of Foodstuffs’ Pak ‘N Save, while others are sub-contracted to Halls Refrigerated Transport to deliver goods to Progressive supermarkets.

But the overwhelming logic for presenting distinctive, good-looking trucks? “It’s about retaining good staff at the end of the day. It really is. And it’s worked so far.” T&D

All photos - Gerald Shacklock

Truck & Driver | 3

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