NZ Truck & Driver February 2021

NZ TRUCK & DRIVER

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| February 2021

February 2021 $8.50 incl. GST

FLEET FOCUS l towie The accidenta

BIG TEST Missin’ Nissan returns | FLEET FOCUS The accidental towie | FEATURE The steel real deal

FEATURE deal The steel real

MISSIN’

Issue 242

NISSAN RETURNS

The Official Magazine of the

ISSN 2703-6278

Through all conditions, it’s those who stay ahead of the game that reap the rewards and do well in the New Zealand trucking industry.

So, for those who want to be ready and equipped to seize new opportunities, the all new Freightliner Cascadia has arrived. Built and tested to unprecedented standards, with new levels of safety, comfort and fuel efficiency, the Cascadia is ready and capable for what lies ahead.

FRE10299_NZ Trucking_DPS-11_FA.indd 1

THE ALL NEW CASCADIA

TO FIND OUT MORE PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER Authorised North Island Dealers

Authorised South Island Dealers

KEITH ANDREWS TRUCKS LTD Ph: 0800 487 825 www.keithandrews.co.nz

CABLEPRICE LTD Ph: 0800 555 456 www.cableprice.co.nz

FREIGHTLINER.CO.NZ Freightliner is a registered trademark of Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Published by Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific Pty Ltd ACN 86 618 413 282.

14/1/21 4:44 pm

This is Japan’s most advanced truck.

The new FUSO Shogun sets new standards in efficiency, comfort and safety.

— Efficiency The new 10.7 litre engine is available with 400 or 460 horsepower and, coupled with the new 12-speed ShiftPilot transmission, gives effortless power that is tailor-made for New Zealand conditions. The OM470 engine is more efficient, giving less fuel consumption and extended oil change intervals.

— Comfort The new Daimler-inspired seat has an integrated seatbelt and improved ergonomic cushioning. Add to this easy-to-use steering wheel switches and a new Silent Cabin Package and you get unprecedented levels of driver comfort.

— Safety Shogun’s new advanced safety features are based on world-class Daimler technology and take trucking safety to a new level. Shogun is fitted with Active Attention Assist - a driver monitoring system using an infrared camera which monitors the driver’s face and eye closure. It also features Active Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning and Adaptive Cruise Control.

SCAN HERE TO SEE SHOGUN IN ACTION! POINT YOUR CAMERA AT THE CODE TO ACCESS THE VIDEO. NO APP REQUIRED!

— New 7” Touchscreen and Reversing Camera Featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for safe, hands-free communication and navigation via smartphone.

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

CONTENTS Issue 242 – February 2021 4

Aeolus News

The latest in the world of transport, including…. port logistics company ISO buys Pacific Haulage and Williams & Wilshier’s Gisborne operations; National Truck Driver Appreciation Week happens this month; Australia’s first Volvo FL Electric to start work soon

24 Giti Tyres Big Test

When UD Trucks/Nissan lost a heavy-duty 8x4 model from its range in 2013, Whanganui operator Brendon Molan was also at a loss – as to what to buy instead. For a company that had been loyal to the make for over 20 years, it’s been a trying time….one that’s happily now come to an end, with his recent purchase of a new UD Trucks Quon CG-32-460

Latest news from the Road Transport Forum NZ, including…..the Government needs to listen more to small businesses, to get its COVID recovery right; new Transport Minister Michael Wood must focus on what’s truly important; Road to success programme about to be launched

50 Teletrac Navman Fleet Focus

When Auckland towtruck business owner Evan Watson died 11 years ago, for wife Pam things could hardly have been worse. In grave danger of losing everything the couple had worked for, she did the only thing possible: “You dig in and get on with it!”

Publisher

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

Advertising

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

EDITORIAL Editor

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

Editorial office Phone

PO Box 48 074 AUCKLAND 09 826 0494

Associate Editor

Brian Cowan

REGULARS

66 Southpac Trucks Legends

80/ PPG Transport Imaging Awards 81 Recognising NZ’s best-looking truck fleets….

Even with well over 100 years between them of time spent working within J Swap Contractors, directors and brothers David and Lewis Swap are still the “dynamic duo” of the Matamata business

including a giant pullout poster of this month’s finalist

93 Truck Shop

New products and services for the road transport industry

68 The steel real deal

Hundreds of Kiwi transport operators have made it pretty clear over the past eight-odd years that Swedish-made Hardox high-strength steel is the real deal when it comes to betterlooking, longer-lasting truck and trailer tipper bodies

94 Vertex Lubricants Recently Registered New truck and trailer registrations for November/December and the 2020 year

COLUMNS

77 Stunning truck stunt

41 Transport Forum

MANAGEMENT

FEATURES

CONTRIBUTORS

As truck stunts go, this one is pretty much right out there! A Ukrainian extreme athlete has successfully managed a spectacular five-metre jump – between two trucks driving along a highway

A big thankyou to everyone in the road transport industry for keeping the country moving during the COVID-19 pandemic

81 Aumark’s new start

91 Road Transport Association NZ

Chinese truckmaker Foton’s new Aumark S light-duty model is a night and day improvement on its predecessor, reckons importer CEO Roger Jory

Gerald Shacklock Dave McLeod Olivia Beauchamp

ART DEPARTMENT Design & Production Luca Bempensante

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

027 233 0090

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

89 National Road Carriers Association

027 448 8768 hayden@trucker.co.nz Dion Rout 027 491 1110 dion@trucker.co.nz

As an industry, we need to get much, much better at celebrating our successes

ADMINISTRATION Sue Woolston MANAGER accounts@trucker.co.nz SUBSCRIPTIONS

NZ subscription price

ADDRESS Phone Freephone Postal Address Street Address Web

Sue Woolston accounts@trucker.co.nz $80 incl. GST for one year (11 issues) Overseas rates on application +64 9 571 3544 0508 TRUCKER (878 2537) PO Box 112 062, Penrose, AUCKLAND 172B Marua Road, Ellerslie, AUCKLAND www.alliedpublications.co.nz

Contributions: Editorial contributions are welcomed for consideration, but no responsibility is accepted for lost or damaged materials (photographs, graphics, printed material etc).

To mail, ensure return (if required), material must be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. It’s suggested that the editor is contacted by fax or email before submitting material.

Copyright: Articles in New Zealand Truck & Driver are copyright and may not be reproduced in any form – in whole or part – without permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by, the publisher.

NZ Truck & Driver Magazine

PRINTING & DISTRIBUTION Printer Bluestar Retail Distribution Ovato Publication: New Zealand Truck & Driver is published monthly, except January,

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Net circulation – ended 31/03/2019

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Truck & Driver | 3

NEWS

ISO buys huge l INTERNATIONAL PORT LOGISTICS company ISO Ltd has made a huge move into New Zealand’s log transport industry, with the purchase of Pacific Haulage and Williams & Wilshier’s Gisborne operation.

The buyout has seen ISO acquire the entire Gisborne operations of the two companies, including a combined fleet of 90-plus logtrucks and trailers.

ISO chief executive officer Paul Cameron won’t divulge the purchase price, but says the company paid “a fair market price for a quality business.”

Cameron pays tribute to W&W owner Warwick Wilshier and his former Pacific coowners Calvin Paddon and the late Mike Treloar for building what ISO terms “wellrespected businesses with strong brands, that have delivered exceptional transport service to the East Coast over the past 30 years.”

He says the two companies will “both be run the same as they are now…..separate businesses operating out of the one site, with a single management team overlooking both.”

General manager Campbell Gilmour stays on, “running the business,” along with more than 120 staff, including drivers and workshop and admin staff….plus “a handful” of owner-drivers.

Cameron says that Paddon has retired, but Wilshier has been “more than happy to stay on” – contracted by ISO to assist the company “until we settle in.”

The deal, which saw the Tauranga-based (but Australian-owned) ISO take over on January

5, did not include the transport companies’ modern Gisborne HQ, workshops and yard – but Cameron says ISO has secured a longterm lease of the property.

ISO is not appointing any of its own execs to head the business: “It’s not necessary. As you can imagine with Warwick and Calvin, it’s a really mature, established and well-run business and there’s no real need for us to interfere with the operational side of the business.”

Rather, Cameron sees ISO adding value to the operations “through our network and our corporate structure, our access to capital and our health and safety and quality and compliance systems…”

And the company won’t be rebranding the fleets in ISO livery: The Pacific and W&W businesses “will operate as a standalone company within the ISO group” – continuing with their current names and colour schemes “for the foreseeable future.”

Cameron says that the acquisition is the result of a decision by the company – owned for the past six years by leading Australian logistics provider QUBE Ports & Bulk – to add log transport to its stevedoring, marshalling, warehousing, IT and total supply chain solution port operations throughout the country.

Says Cameron: “We made a decision a wee while ago to expand further into the supply chain with forestry transport. It’s a good addition to our logistics business…” Since then it had considered “different transport businesses…. looking for quality assets. And we were fortunate

enough that we happened to make the approach to Warwick – and it was the right time for him and Calvin.”

Asked if this is the precursor to more trucking company acquisitions, Cameron says wryly: “Oh look, I think we’ve taken a pretty bite of the apple with this business! So we’ll bed this in for a time – and then we’ll re-evaluate a little bit further down the track.”

He says that a key reason for the Gisborne purchase “is that we already have a strong presence there with our port business. We had 150-odd staff already at the port.

“What that does for us is it gives us the opportunity to create some really good career paths for people in the business. It’s a pretty challenging environment to recruit people in Gisborne and if there’s anything we can do to upskill staff….it’s a real benefit to us…and to them as well.”

Until now ISO has had a modest involvement in trucking – running a fleet of 12 to 16 container and curtainsider units for its logistics operation in Tauranga.

Last October, it embarked on a renewal programme that saw it take delivery of the first of eight new Kenworth T410 6x4 and 8x4 tractor units, to tow predominantly three-axle Patchell skeletal semi-trailers or seven-axle Super-B trailers custom-designed by ISO and Patchell.

The Super-Bs are capable of carrying two heavy 20ft containers or can have cage log bodies twistlocked on, for short-distance log transfers.

They are, says Cameron, “really versatile units

Inter launches new tough truck NAVISTAR HAS LAUNCHED A NEW GENERATION OF ITS International HX Series severe-duty model in North America.

Navistar says that the new HX Series is “our most comfortable, durable, technologically integrated and driver-focused severe service truck ever.”

The new HX comes standard with an International A26 engine, rated up to 500 horsepower – or the option of a Cummins X15, with up to 605hp and 2050 lb ft of peak torque.

There’s the choice of an Eaton Roadranger manual gearbox, an UltraShift AMT or an Allison 4000 Series auto. International axles are mated with the new Hendrickson HAULMAAX HMX-EX suspension.

Navistar says the redesigned HX cab says will “perform in even the most punishing vocational applications.”

A stronger three-piece bonnet is designed to provide improved forward vision and dual external air cleaners offer improved filtration in dusty environments.

Navistar says that the HX has a larger cab, providing improved comfort, a premium driver seat, best-in-class aircon system and larger, power windows.

4 | Truck & Driver

It also has Bendix driver assist technology to improve driver awareness.

Dual steering gears improve on-site manoeuvrability and advanced ABS improves traction and safety. T&D

NEWS

e logtruck fleet

Williams & Wilshier owner and Pacific Haulage co-owner Warwick Wilshier pictured with a small part of the combined Gisborne fleet, at the time of his induction into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame last year HPMVs, automatics, no chains – easy for us to find operators for.”

ISO is, he says, “more than likely to order another couple (of the Super-B units) this year, to service Napier.”

The W&W/Pacific buyout is, Cameron says, “probably the largest” of the many acquisitions

and investments ISO has made in NZ – even given its 26-year history of continual expansion..

The company started up in 1995 as International Stevedoring Operations Ltd, in Tauranga, Gisborne and Wellington.

In the years since, it has expanded into ports nationwide – and into other cargo logistics

services, prompting a name-change in 2008 to ISO Ltd, “to better reflect its move away from offering mainly stevedoring services.”

It had begun log marshalling operations in four Australian ports and two in the US before the company was bought in 2015 by QUBE. T&D

Electric Volvo goes to work in Oz AUSTR A LI A’S FIRST ZERO EMISSIONS VOLVO FL Electric will soon go to work for Linfox, on a trial basis.

The 4x2 is equipped with 600-volt, 200 kWh battery packs, powering a

200kW/425Nm motor, driven through a two-speed I-Shift AMT. It will be fitted with an eight-pallet body and a tail-lift and will do metro beverage deliveries for Linfox’s BevChain.

“It is very clear that both our customers – and our customers’ customers – are demanding a cleaner and quieter urban transport environment,” says Volvo Trucks Australia VP Tony O’Connell. The FL Electric marks “the first step on that journey” for VTA. Linfox executive chairman Peter Fox says the introduction of the FL Electric “opens an exciting chapter for both Linfox and Volvo.

“Adopting a greener fleet is an ongoing part of our commitment to act sustainably, as we strive for zero net environmental emissions and play our part to mitigate climate change.

“As our nation’s freight demand grows, it is vital we meet that need safely, efficiently and with reduced environmental impact.

“Acting sustainably is just common sense. It is imperative to my family and our business that we preserve and protect our environment for the next generation.” T&D Truck & Driver | 5

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NEWS

Mini-trucks make it to NZ

The Dieci trucks are small in stature, but have “a comparatively large payload capacity” – making them well-suited to working in difficult, tightlyconfined spaces A NEW TRUCK MAKE HAS GONE TO WORK IN NEW Zealand, with 10 Italian-made concrete mixers and tippers now in work in Auckland.

But don’t expect to see them driving down the Southern Motorway – or even on city or suburban streets.

The Diecis are mini-trucks – four-wheel-drive and 4-wheel-steer, with 4.5-litre four-cylinder FPT engines producing 125 horsepower/93 kilowatts, driven through servo-controlled two-stage hydrostatic transmissions.

The dumper model can accommodate a seven cubic metre level-body load, with a maximum 12-tonne capacity.

The F7000 concrete mixers have an unladen weight of 7400kg and have a seven cubic metre bowl fitted.

The Diecis can be legally driven on NZ roads, but this particular shipment of the mini-trucks – brought into NZ by agents Webbline Agriculture to work on “a major Auckland infrastructure project” – will be working onsite only.

Webbline’s Tim Currie says that “Dieci has recently become one of the innovation leaders when it comes to telehandlers in NZ – and they offer the same level of performance and reliability in these dumpers and mixers.”

Currie says the design of the machines opens up a wide range of options when it comes to the applications they can be used for – “from working underground in enclosed spaces, to offroad environments, such as bridge-building or other areas where access may be difficult.

“Both the concrete mixers and the tippers have a much smaller footprint than standard trucks, but still have a comparatively large payload capacity, given how compact they are,” he says.

“This makes them ideal for worksites that have limited space or where larger vehicles are impractical.

“One of the really key features for us is the manoeuvrability, which is outstanding because of the four-wheel-drive and four-wheel-steer. This makes these trucks highly functional in situations that would normally be really difficult to work in.”

The mini-trucks also have a reversible driving position: “This allows the machine to be driven directly to and from a tight worksite without needing a turning bay, or requiring the operator to reverse the machine in either direction, adding improved functionality as well as increasing safety and productivity.”

The fully-enclosed cabs are rated for both roll-over and falling object protection for improved operator safety. T&D

Chinese truckmaker eyes Iveco CHINESE TRUCKMAKER FAW JIEFANG is rumoured to be negotiating to buy Iveco from its owners, the giant CNH Industrial.

Reuters has reported that a CNH spokesperson confirmed “preliminary discussions” with FAW regarding Iveco, but would not provide more details – other than to say that “no final agreement around the scope or nature of cooperation has been reached at this time.”

And adding: “Further information in line with statutory and regulatory requirements will be disclosed in due course.”

FAW and CNH were reportedly in similar discussions last year – with international media reporting that the Chinese company had made an initial offer of around three billion Euros… said to have been dismissed by CNH as too low.

CNH had said in 2019 that it was

considering separating its automotive and industrial businesses – the truck and bus manufacturing likely to be aligned with its FPT engine division.

FAW is believed to have ambitions to expand globally and purchasing Iveco would provide it with an immediate entry into Europe and other countries where the Italian make is sold. T&D Truck & Driver | 7

NEWS Daimler Trucks being prepped for stockmarket

European media reports suggest that Daimler AG is readying its truck division, which represents global brands including FUSO and its Foton Auman JV, for a stockmarket listing

DAIMLER TRUCKS IS BEING PREPARED for a stockmarket listing, German business media have reported, quoting Daimler AG sources.

Such a spinoff has been rumoured before, particularly since the Daimler group began creating independent subsidiaries under its umbrella – market analysts quick to point out that this makes it easier to split them and list them separately.

The newspaper Handelsblatt said that Daimler AG is planning an initial public offering of Daimler Trucks late this year. The trucks division, of course, includes the MercedesBenz, Freightliner, FUSO and Western Star truck makes.

It said that Daimler wanted to unlock the value of the truck unit – and other German media

suggested that Mercedes-Benz has been under financial pressure because of its heavy investment in zero-emission electric cars and its hefty fines for diesel engine emission-cheating cases from the past decade.

The rival Volkswagen group floated its TRATON truck division in 2019 to put the business on an independent footing. T&D

MITO, RTF launch free road transport micro-credential MITO, IN LEAGUE WITH THE ROAD TRANSPORT FORUM, has launched a new, free micro-credential that provides a comprehensive introduction to the commercial road transport industry.

The Introduction to Commercial Road Transport Micro-credential (Level 3) is one of six micro-credentials that will form part of the RTF’s Road to success traineeship, being launched this year.

“From vehicle systems and documentation, through to driver roles and customer service, learners will gain the foundation knowledge required to either kickstart their qualification pathway in the industry, or to explore a potential new career,” says MITO. Chief executive Janet Lane says MITO has worked closely with industry “to ensure this micro-credential meets their specific training requirements.

“It provides an exciting career pathway for both school leavers and those considering a career change, as well providing foundation knowledge for those already working in the industry.

“This micro-credential reinforces our dedication to future-proofing the success of New Zealand’s commercial road transport workforce.”

8 | Truck & Driver

RTF chief executive Nick Leggett says the Introduction to Commercial Road Transport Micro-credential “is a great starting point for people to build successful careers in an industry that offers flexibility and freedom.

“Jobs in road freight transport are skilled jobs, and we need people in them with recognised qualifications.”

Leggett says the RTF is working with MITO “to develop micro-credentials for our Road to success traineeship that will offer a step-by-step pathway to other qualifications, if that is what the trainees want.

“This is a great opportunity for both people in the industry already who want recognition for their skills and knowledge, as well as people looking to take up a career in this vital part of the global supply chain.”

The first micro-credential is completed entirely online – “allowing learners to complete it from their own devices, at their own pace,” says Leggett.

“The online nature of this micro-credential is recognition that the world is changing and today’s learners engage in different ways.”

The micro-credential will take up to four months to complete and is free until June 30. Further information is available at mito.nz/crtmicro. T&D

YOUR HAMMAR. YOUR WAY

HAMMAR 195:

+ Versatile – PrecisionLeg™ for optimal stabilising + Light – low tare + Strong – 36-tonne Safe Working Load (SWL) or 40-tonne option + Stable – legs extend for firm base and transfer + Weighing – by each crane or total + High lift – ideal for stacking option + Reach – long outreach cranes + Ease – crane/stabiliser side-by-side design + Safety+™ – computer monitored handling as std + SDS – Hammar Soft-Drive System + Flex – Trailer or Truckmounted

HAMMAR 110: + Fast + Narrow + Light + Safe + Reach + Weighing + Strong + Stable + High lift + Ease + Safety+™ + SDS + Flex

– new SledgeLeg™ technology, 50% faster – SledgeLeg™ use for confined spaces – from 8.4-tonne tare – optimal crane geometry – long outreach cranes – by each crane or total – 36-tonne Safe Working Load (SWL) – legs extend for firm base and transfer – ideal for stacking option – crane/stabiliser side-by-side design – computer monitored handling as std – Hammar Soft-Drive System – Trailer or Truckmounted

HAMMAR 130:

+ Versatile – handles two 20’ containers or one 40’ container via 3 cranes + Unique – middle crane folds into chassis to accommodate a single 40’ + Sliding – for maximum payload with a single 20’ option + Light – only 7.5 tonne tare + Strong – 16-tonne Safe Working Load (SWL) + Stable – legs extend for firm base and transfer + Reach – long outreach cranes + Ease – crane/stabiliser side-by-side design + SDS – Hammar Soft-Drive System + Flex – Trailer or Truckmounted

Every freight delivery is different, so our three high-performance HAMMAR models are designed for your needs. Each HAMMAR is constructed from premium grade steel from Swedish and NZ components, to be stable, strong, fast and built to last. Designed for easy operation, service and maintenance in mind. You cannot buy a better sideloader.

With more than 45 years experience in sideloaders and a reputation for quality of manufacturing and service, HAMMAR sets the standard.

Now sold in 115 countries MADE IN NEW ZEALAND

HAMMAR Sideloaders are Made in New Zealand from local and Swedish components to suit YOUR transport needs.

Hammar New Zealand Ltd, 16 Marphona Cres, Takanini, Auckland. 0800 2 HAMMAR sales.nz@hammarlift.com www hammarlift.com

NEWS

Trev’s rollercoaster 30 years IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE THAT A FUN SIDE PROJECT that longtime trailer manufacturer Trevor Jackson is working on is…a rollercoaster!

Building it in his own backyard at home in Pahiatua. Why? “Because I can! I’m in an industry that has welders and steel and pipe rollers, so why not make use of it.”

And why is it relevant, as the 66-year-old starts his 31st year of running Jackson Enterprises?

Because, as he reckons, “if you’ve been in the transport industry for a while you’ll undoubtedly have experienced your share of ups and downs.”

That’s certainly something of how the last three decades of Jackson Enterprises have been – with a succession of highs and lows….good times and bad.

Jackson says happily that he and his team started off well – earning a reputation for designing and building innovative, quality trailers and truck bodies.

“We led the way for a number of years as far as the bling thing goes. Back in the early days we were putting lights under toolboxes and lights around the draw beams – so drivers could see what they were doing – adding bits of stainless here, there and everywhere, to make their trucks look more attractive.

“Whereas the opposition basically gave you what you paid for: You got something that was everyday, run-of-the-mill.”

He says his company started the trend for internal tiedowns on stock trucks: “Once upon a time you used to see the J-hooks down the side of the crate – all looking messy and horrible. We started bolting them through the floor on the inside.”

And, he adds: “We modelled up and manufactured our own effluent valves. We’ve sold thousands of those things – even to other body manufacturers.”

Over the years he reckons the company has built “just over 1000 trailers.

If you talk about truck bodies, you can add probably another 1700, 1800 to that!”

Standouts that come to mind include – “back in the early days – the chipboard carriers for Winstones: Big quads that were over-width and had rolling up curtains, because the drivers weren’t allowed outside of their cabs.

And we did a 250-tonne transporter for the Stockton (coal) mine.”

On the other hand, there’ve been the lows: Like business associates “that didn’t work out.”

Almost disastrous was a downturn in the economy – and the industry – back in the early 2000s, “when the government didn’t know what length of vehicles or what weights were allowed out on the road – they didn’t know what they wanted to do with trucks!

10 | Truck & Driver

“We basically went from about 36 staff, down to about 12! That was just about close the doors and never come back again time! That was really bad, but all of us in the transport and manufacturing industry went through it.”

But celebrating the good times seems more Jackson’s style – as his family, staff and customers will be aware: “You can’t build your ship without your staff and what I’ve found in the past is that the whole country has been lacking transport shows – so my philosophy is to bring my customers to me.

“We celebrated our 25th with about 400 people. And now we’ve just celebrated our 30th. ” That party late last year saw hundreds of guests hosted at the Tui Brewery in Mangatainoka, with Kiwi motor racing star Greg Murphy MCing ( Jackson is an avowed V8 Supercars fan).

Starting 2021, Jackson’s optimistic: “2020 will probably be a year that many would like to forget, but the prospects and our order books for 2021 are absolutely amazing.”

And he’s got the fun challenge of that rollercoaster: “When you look at the design and what work’s gone into getting it to operate properly, there’s a lot of physics and a lot of trial and error as well. It’s a great engineering feat because it’s something that’s not powered by anything and it’s got to find its way home. I enjoy building something like that.

“There’s going to be a lot of smiling kids when it’s finished – and even adults. And I hope it’s going to be of interest to a lot of people down the track.” T&D

NEWS

Left: Trevor Jackson celebrated the 30th anniversary of his business pre-Christmas

Above: Jackson estimates that the company has built over 1000 trailers – and almost twice as many truck bodies

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Truck & Driver | 11

N A T I O N A L

Truck Driver A ppr

eciati on Week

22nd - 28th February 2021 BROUGHT TO YOU BY: EJ Brenan Trust

and currently sUPPORTED BY:

NEWS N A T I O N A L

Truck Driver A ppr

eciati on Week

Let’s show drivers our appreciation THIS MONTH SEES THE RETURN OF THE ANNUAL National Truck Driver Appreciation Week – with various events around the country from February 22 to 28.

The team at NZ Truck & Driver is busy co-ordinating the week’s activities, alongside the Road Transport Forum and our association partners.

It’s thanks to the RTF for its contribution and support for TDAW – along with a number of industry suppliers who have also already committed to supporting the event (there’s a full list on Page 12).

We are working towards events around the country where we’ll be handing out appreciation gift bags to as many drivers as possible. Check our Facebook page or our website – https://nztruckanddriver.co.nz/promotions/

truck-driver-appreciation-week – for details.

As part of this year’s National Truck Driver Appreciation Week we have also made a significant investment in a nationwide media campaign aimed at achieving some appreciation in the wider community of what it is we do for all New Zealanders….every day – by delivering everything and anything they need.

We ask that all operators do their bit during the week to look after their own drivers by making them feel appreciated.

If you wish to be a part of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week please contact Olivia Beauchamp at NZ Truck & Driver, either by emailing olivia@trucker.co.nz or by phoning 027 6855066 T&D

CablePrice adds Dunedin branch CABLEPRICE’S EXPANSION OF ITS South Island sales, parts and service network for Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and FUSO trucks continues with the establishment of a Dunedin branch.

CablePrice deputy MD Aidan Mahony says the company is “delighted to bring sales and support back to Dunedin” for the Daimler makes.

“The team at CablePrice are fully committed to supporting customers with the best possible service through our own, ever-increasing, branch network and this is just one part of that commitment.

“The Dunedin branch, operating on the former Prestige Commercial site, will service the wider Otago region and offer truck and Mercedes-Benz van customers full workshop

support, along with 24/7 mobile support should the need arise.

“We have also been fortunate enough to secure the talents of some fantastic factorytrained technicians, ensuring we deliver the

highest level of service.

“CablePrice has a strong relationship with customers in the Otago region and we are looking to take this to the next level with this recent expansion.” T&D

Truck & Driver | 13

NEWS

Keith Andrews and CablePrice pick up more Mercedes-Benz light commercials representation

More Merc dealer changes

FURTHER CHANGES TO MERCEDES-BENZ commercial vehicles representation in New Zealand have seen Keith Andrews appointed the make’s light commercial and vans sales, service and parts dealer for a large part of Auckland….

While CablePrice has been appointed the Mercedes-Benz vans parts and service dealer for the South Island.

Keith Andrews was already representing Merc vans and X-Class utes in Whangarei – along with M-B, Freightliner and FUSO trucks and buses in a growing number of locations around the North Island.

The addition of vans and utes to its Wiri dealership will see it cover the Auckland region south of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

Keith Andrews managing director Aaron Smith says: “Mercedes-Benz has an exciting range of light commercial products and we are delighted that it has recognised our tenure, capability and desire to represent it beyond Northland.

“We have a strong Mercedes-Benz light commercial capability and have three times been awarded Mercedes-Benz Vans Dealer of the Year.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to bring our internationally recognised knowledge and expertise to the Auckland south region, and we look forward to supporting and building upon its existing Mercedes-Benz light commercial customer base.”

The addition of M-B vans parts and service dealer status to CablePrice in the South Island follows its recent confirmation as the Mainland’s sales, parts and service dealer for Mercedes-Benz heavy commercial vehicles.

CablePrice deputy MD Aidan Mahony says that the addition of the light commercial vehicles to the company’s network “further strengthens our South Island footprint, while providing Mercedes-Benz customers with the added assurance that a CablePrice branch is never far away.”

The company will provide “everything, from scheduled servicing and routine maintenance, to general repairs and roadside assistance.

“With locations in Christchurch, Timaru, Greymouth, Dunedin and Invercargill, Mercedes-Benz vans will now have a far greater presence on the South Island,” says Mahony.

“Our workshops are designed for commercial vehicles, equipped with heavy-duty lifts and have high roof studs – able to lift almost any vehicle, while remaining fully under cover. There’s nothing we can’t service or repair.

“Additionally, we have qualified Mercedes-Benz technicians at all workshops and we’re fully equipped with the latest specialist MercedesBenz diagnostic tooling.”

All branches also have fully-stocked parts departments, allowing quick turnaround times and deliveries. And, adds Mahony, “any part that’s not stocked we can usually secure overnight.” T&D

Daimler Trucks hit with $15m-plus penalties ALLEGED FAILURE TO RECALL vehicles in a timely fashion and to comply with other reporting to the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will cost Daimler Trucks North America $US15million to $30m.

The NHTSA said in January that an investigation uncovered the failures and resulted in a consent order, which includes a potential total civil penalty of $30m.

The consent order includes both financial and non-monetary provisions designed to 14 | Truck & Driver

improve DTNA’s compliance with the law and to improve the company’s safety practices.

The company will, for instance, develop and implement an advanced data analytics programme to enhance its ability to detect and to investigate potential safety defects.

It will improve its IT systems to collect potential safety information from its business units more effectively – and to report that accurately to NHTSA. And it will develop written procedures and conduct training for its employees on its legal

recall and reporting requirements, take actions to ensure that its reporting to NHTSA is complete and meet regularly with NHTSA to discuss potential safety issues.

The consent order is for two years, extendable by an additional year if warranted.

The order requires payment of an upfront $10m penalty and the spending of an additional $5m on specific projects to enhance safety – with an extra $15m deferred penalty that may become payable under specified circumstances. T&D

Quality, Reliability and Residual Value That you can count on, year after year

Ingrained into T&G culture — uncompromising quality, a commitment to innovation, constantly improving, fostering long-term partnerships with our customers and suppliers, passion for our brand, nationwide service and support, a commitment to the transport industry and a 100-year vision for the company. This is who we are.

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NEWS Southpac Trucks’ new TRP Parts branch in Bell Block

Southpac makes parts and service network changes KENWORTH AND DAF DISTRIBUTOR Southpac Trucks has been making changes to its parts and service dealer network around the country.

In Taranaki, it has opened Southpac Trucks, New Plymouth – the Bell Block TRP Parts branch becoming the sixth around the country (with others in Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Palmerston North and Christchurch).

Says Southpac: “We place a huge emphasis on parts, service and support – pillars of an integrated strategy that sees truck sales as only

part of the equation. We see the biggest focus of Southpac not on the initial selling of a truck, but on a lifetime support of the product.”

Mid-January also saw Egmont Diesel Services in Inglewood commence business as the Southpac service dealer for Taranaki.

Southpac says that the 12-year-old company run by Alvin and Emma Hunt – with 10 NZtrained technicians and a new 1000 square metre workshop with good access to SH3 and 3A – is “positioned well to extend their business for

Kenworth and DAF truck servicing in the region.”

Blenheim’s Transport Repairs Ltd has been appointed Southpac’s parts and service dealer for the Blenheim-Marlborough-Kaikoura region.

The company was established in late 2017, with the amalgamation of three successful companies in Invercargill, Gore, Cromwell, Dunedin and Christchurch. Southpac says that TRL’s Blenheim workshop – located at the Riverlands Roadhouse – is modern, with state of the art equipment and facilities. T&D

EROAD appoints much-experienced technology leader VEHICLE TELEMATICS PROVIDER EROAD has appointed Tim Hogan its chief technology officer.

Hogan has extensive experience in the technology sector, with a particular focus on software as a service (SaaS), EROAD says.

Hogan, it adds, “has held key leadership roles at major global companies including Warner Bros and TiVo, as well as founding a successful technology company.

“As both a founder and leader, Tim has built a track record of successful platform and revenue growth.

“In his most recent role as chief innovation officer for Webedia Entertainment, Tim expanded the partner ecosystem and developed new strategies for data commercialisation. He 16 | Truck & Driver

has launched and localised technology services in 11 markets around the world.”

CEO Steven Newman says the company is pleased “to add Tim’s significant leadership and technical capability and global experience to drive EROAD’s technology offering.

“Tim has been key to the successful growth of a number of globally recognised entertainment technology brands. As we accelerate our growth strategies, Tim’s experience will be invaluable.”

“We’ve got ambitious growth plans and a strong team of highly capable people who are dedicated to helping solve our customers’ problems. We look forward to Tim joining us and leading our technology function as we continue to expand EROAD’s platform to become the global leader in vehicle telematics.” T&D

Tim Hogan

NEWS

The Scania dealer network is supported by the company’s new parts warehouse in Auckland

Scania-branded network ready to go SCANIA NEW ZEALAND’S NETWORK of service centres is largely in place starting 2021 – with the rebranding of seven former Trucks & Trailers branches and the addition of a new Rotorua workshop.

Scania NZ MD Mattias Lundholm says the new-look dealer network service centres were ready pre-Christmas “for their first official days of servicing as part of the Scania stable.”

Lundholm says incorporating the employees of Trucks & Trailers, which Scania bought last August, “has been one of the most satisfying parts of the journey.

“It was very important for Scania to align with a business like Trucks & Trailers that shared its values towards its people, customers

and community, so it’s been a very efficient and rewarding process bringing them all up-tospeed on our own Scania values. They wear the Scania brand well,” says Lundholm.

Acquiring the centres “significantly expanded Scania’s footprint across the country and just as importantly underlined our commitment to our customers and provincial NZ.” Scania’s network sees service centres located in Wiri, Drury, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Greymouth, Timaru and Invercargill.

Scania NZ concedes that “there are some gaps across NZ” but it is “working on a solution – with more to come soon!”

Meantime, Scania has relocated its national

parts warehouse from Wellington to Auckland.

Service director Nick Allan says there are welcome benefits from relocating the warehouse to Wiri.

“We are very pleased to be bringing such a strategic operation inhouse with Scania. The national parts and inventory warehouse was previously managed by CablePrice, but by incorporating these logistics within our own operation it will undoubtedly add to efficiencies in servicing our expansive and vital dealer network.”

The warehouse inventory comprises more than 170,000 individual parts, representing nearly 9000 unique line items – with a combined retail value in excess of $31million. T&D

World premiere for new FUSO Canter MITSUBISHI FUSO HAS UNVEILED a new Canter model in Japan – and says it’s the first light-duty truck in Japan with active sideguard assistance as standard.

The system uses radar sensors to detect pedestrians, cyclists or vehicles when a truck is turning left – sounding an alert.

The left-side monitoring and warning system joins the suite of safety systems already offered on the current Canter, including advanced emergency braking, electronic stability

programme and lane departure warning.

The new model, which will be launched on the Japanese market in November, also gives the Canter its first cab redesign in 10 years.

The new Canter also has FUSO’s telematics platform Truckonnect, which remotely monitors vehicle data such as a truck’s location, fuel efficiency and operation status (including any technical issues).

FUSO’s Easy Access System allows drivers to lock or unlock the Canter simply by pressing a switch on the door handle, as long as the remote

key is in the vicinity of the door. The truck also has a keyless engine switch. T&D Truck & Driver | 17

NEWS Professional truck drivers are held to a higher account than other drivers – but must share the roads with them

Focus on drivers to cut the road toll THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO FOCUS ITS ATTEMPTS to reduce the road toll away from impossible targets and reduced speed limits – and turn its attention to drivers, Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett believes.

In the wake of the deaths of 11 people on New Zealand roads over the Christmas/New Year period – a devastating escalation from the four deaths in the same period 12 months earlier – Leggett asks: “What’s going wrong?”

“Motorsport legend Greg Murphy told Radio NZ that it is too easy to get a driving licence in NZ and it’s time for an overhaul – where drivers get better training to make them more aware and prepared for what can really happen on the roads. I couldn’t agree more.

“He also said being told the same stuff every year by Government advertising was wearing thin and we need action, not more words. Again, I couldn’t agree more.”

Leggett says that of the 11 people killed on the roads in the height of the holiday season, five were not wearing seatbelts. That’s despite annoying seatbelt-undone warnings and countless tv ads about “making it click”?

Leggett takes aims at the Government’s Road to Zero strategy and action plan – “a vision where no-one is killed or seriously injured in road crashes, and where no death or serious injury while travelling on our roads is acceptable.

“The road network is the trucking industry’s primary place of work and as such, the sector is committed to improving road safety. But we believe there are some serious flaws with Road to Zero – not the least an impossible 18 | Truck & Driver

target that will just turn the public off.”

“There is,” he says, “not enough focus on driver behaviour and distractions, which are the main causes of accidents.

“Changing driver behaviour is a longterm game and relies on an indepth look at what’s going wrong on the roads, licensing and ongoing driver education.”

But instead, he says: “The Government has become obsessed with speed – or should I say, the lack of it. Rather than improving road surfaces, it prefers to slow traffic down to sometimes ridiculous speeds, like 30km/h.

“Greg Murphy is right: It’s time to turn attention to the drivers: Professional truck drivers are held to a higher account than other drivers, in that their compliance and enforcement history can result in job loss and prohibition from driving heavy vehicles.

“There are three pieces of legislation covering their work. There have been massive improvements in performance and safety systems in modern trucks.

“Yet truck drivers are out on the road every day with people who aren’t held to account until it is too late. They face the ultimate accountability when they look up from their phone and see a truck bearing down on them, because they are on the wrong side of the road. No matter how slow you make the traffic go, if a car hits a truck, the car comes off worse.

“Dealing with driver behaviour and giving drivers the tools to drive themselves out of any trouble they might get into, must be top of the list if we want to get serious about reducing the road toll.” T&D

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NEWS

Helping ex-prisoners become truckies

Howard League CEO Mike Williams says training ex-prisoners to become truck drivers will help them....and the NZ economy

THE NEW ZEALAND HOWARD LEAGUE FOR PENAL Reform says it wants to help 100 ex-prisoners and offenders become truck drivers….to help grow the economy during the current global pandemic.

CEO Mike Williams says with NZ’s borders closed to the migrant workforce the country depends on, “now is the time to invest resources in our own people who may have been overlooked in the past.”

The League already works with Community Corrections to help exprisoners and offenders obtain car driving licences – “and from there move into work.” It has 17 driving programmes around the North Island – 14 funded by the Provincial Growth Fund and three by NZTA Waka Kotahi

New Volvo account manager VOLVO TRUCKS NEW ZEALAND HAS appointed Brendan Walsh its new account manager for the Auckland region.

Walsh has more than 22 years’ experience in the NZ transport industry, as well as having worked in the Australian industry – in roles including account, commercial and branch management.

His involvement in trucking began at an early age, when he spent school holidays with an uncle who drove trucks for RFL. Walsh says his strengths “are built around relationships, customer satisfaction, loyalty, integrity and stickability.

“I will work closely with my customers to arrive at a specification that produces the best fit-for-purpose truck for their business needs.”

He prides himself on building strong relationships and the ability to work with all types of people at all levels within their businesses: “Having come from the NZ domestic industry, which is the backbone of this country in regards to delivering goods, trucks with their drivers are the unsung heroes at the coalface – doing the hard work to keep the shelves filled for the public.” T&D 20 | Truck & Driver

– that have generated over 6000 Class 1 (car) driving licences.

Williams says: “For the cost of keeping one person in prison for a year we can train around 100 people to Class 2 to 5 licences, as well as providing training in wheels, tracks and rollers so they can operate roadworks and farm machinery and forklifts.

“Once someone has these licences they are almost guaranteed to get well-paid jobs anywhere in the country.”

According to social research company Impact Lab, headed by Sir Bill English, every dollar invested in the Howard League’s driving programme results in $3.26 return to NZ. T&D

Landmark LF THE 200,000TH DAF LF HAS ROLLED OFF THE PRODUCTION line at the DAF-owned Leyland Trucks factory in the United Kingdom.

The milestone was achieved in less than 20 years by the plant, which produces all DAF LFs as well as CF and XF heavy trucks, principally for right-hand-drive markets.

The special LF City 170 7.5-tonne rigid was destined for longtime DAF customer, Blackpool-based EVTS. It was part of a nine-truck order from the company, including two CF and four range-topping FX tractor units.

A year after the first LF was built by Leyland Trucks, the DAF was voted the International Truck of the Year – going on to win repeat Fleet Truck of the Year titles in the UK, most recently in 2019. T&D

NEWS An electric Scania is subjected to a side-on crash test, to ensure the safety of its battery pack

New-age trucks demand new-age crash tests THE CHALLENGES OF THE INCREASING NUMBER OF electric trucks being developed include, of course, ensuring that their batteries and electrical systems remain safe in the event of a crash.

Thus a new way of crash-testing electric trucks is being devised – as Scania R&D test engineer Jakob Leygraf explains.

Preparations for any crash test are massive, he points out: It can take months of precision planning to get all the details just right – “and then it’s over in less than a second,” says Leygraf.

The real test only takes place after numerous simulations have been carried out: “The actual crash test is ultimately only to confirm that our calculations were accurate.”

Research engineers began modifying crash test methods a few years ago, with the advent of early diesel/electric hybrid trucks – with many simulations run, says Scania’s head of mechanical testing, Mikael Littmann.

“We simulate over and over again, with different speed and angles.

Simulation is a powerful tool that is both faster and less expensive than the full-scale equivalent. We base the actual test on the results of our simulations.”

Crash testing an electric truck, unsurprisingly, differs from that of a diesel-engined truck: The energy from the impact needs to be distributed and should spread throughout the structure surrounding the battery. The desired state is that it turns into plastic deformation and kinetic energy in less critical components.

Says Littmann: “Since we want the crash test to be as authentic as possible, we use a real car for the impact, as that puts a lot more stress on the structure than if we’d used a barrier.”

Firefighters are present for each electric truck crash test because, as Leygraf points out: “This is the ultimate test – we do this for real.”

And the result of this particular etruck test? It went as expected, says Scania: The battery emerged unscathed. T&D

Kiwi road safety award winners KIWI COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN recognised for their work in improving safety for working drivers and vehicles in the sixth annual Australasian Fleet Champions Awards.

The awards, run by international road safety charity Brake and sponsored

by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, recognise companies and individuals who have implemented successful initiatives, products or services to tackle fleet safety.

The prestigious Waka Kotahi NZTA Outstanding Commitment to Road Safety Award was won by road surfacing and pavement expert Dr Bryan Pidwerbesky, from Fulton Hogan.

And the Suzuki Road Risk Manager of the Year Award went to Colin Blakemore from the NZ Defence Force.

TIL Logistics won the SurePlan Company Driver Safety Award, online driver training provider Fleetcoach won the Fleet Safety Product Award and Fulton Hogan took the Bridgestone Safe Vehicles Award.

Caroline Perry, Brake’s NZ director, says the awards celebrate “the achievements of companies and individuals who are striving to make a real difference in the world of fleet safety.

“It is always great to see the work that organisations are putting in to help ensure their staff and other road users get home safe every day, and this year that has included measures organisations have put in place in response to COVID-19.”

Perry says she hopes the awards will inspire other companies “to implement measures to address risk, and to gain recognition for their work too.”

NZTA safety, health and environment GM Greg Lazzaro says: “Many NZers spend a significant amount of time driving for work and tragically, road crashes are a leading cause of work-related deaths, both here and overseas.

“So we applaud these companies for the important work they are doing to reduce incidents and improve their fleet safety.” T&D Truck & Driver | 21

NEWS

50,000 Aussie Volvo delivered th

VOLVO TRUCKS AUSTR ALIA HAS ACHIEVED A production milestone, with the delivery of the 50,000th Australian-built Volvo.

The special FH16 XXL was handed over to 50-year customer Nolan’s Interstate Transport at Volvo Group Australia’s Wacol HQ near Brisbane.

The tractor unit is adorned with custom paintwork and airbrushed murals depicting the heritage of Volvo Trucks in Australia and some of the Nolan’s history in Queensland transport, dating back over 100 years.

Volvo Trucks VP Tony O’Connell says that the 50,000th Volvo is a fitting tribute to Volvo Group Sweden’s “wise investment” back in 1970, to spend $2million in creating an Australian manufacturing capability.

It’s also, he says, a tribute to the evolution of Volvo Trucks in Australia:

“We build some of the toughest, safest vehicles on the Australian market here – and our commitment to investing in this country and in our customers continues to grow.”

Volvo Commercial Vehicles dealer principal Greg Sargeant says that “the Australian transport industry is made up of a tapestry of stories…of hard work, sacrifice, innovation and ingenuity.”

In delivering the 50,000th Volvo to the historic Nolan’s operation, “we are celebrating this milestone with one of those very success stories. One that embodies everything I admire about this industry.”

Volvo Group Australia (VGA) has recently announced a further $25m expansion in manufacturing capability and the introduction of an all-new range of Volvo trucks to be built at the Wacol plant, starting this year. T&D

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The handover of the milestone Volvo was attended by (from left) Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz, VCV Australia dealer principal Greg Sargeant, Sandie, Flea and Daphne Nolan, Nolan’s CFO Andrew Tolputt, VTA VP Tony O’Connell, Darren Nolan and VGA president and CEO Martin Merrick

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NORTHLAND Mark Tucker

Grange Transport’s longtime love of UD/Nissan trucks is back on track – after a seven-year separation – with the introduction of a 460-horsepower 8x4 Quon

24 | Truck & Driver

BIG TEST

MISSIN’

NISSAN RETURNS Story Dave McLeod Photos Gerald Shacklock

Truck & Driver | 25

There are some hills on the Quon’s run, but with no more than nine tonnes of calves on board, this test isn’t about putting the 8x4 UD under any stress....more of a taste of how the twin-steer package is being received

W

HEN UD TRUCKS (AKA NISSAN) DROPPED AN 8x4 OPTION from its New Zealand model lineup, it gave lots of customers no choice but to go elsewhere.

That, even in a small market like ours (or maybe moreso, because every sale counts), can be a persuasive way of influencing head office.

And so it’s apparently been with the missing UD/Nissan twin-steer, as Kiwi UD brand manager John Gerbich freely concedes: When the decision was made to exit the 470-horsepower/350 kilowatts 8x4 from the market here in 2013, “I don’t think anyone understood the significance of an 8x4 in NZ.” Except, no doubt, the Kiwi distributor and its salesmen!

But, notwithstanding the tiny size of our market on the global stage, UD Trucks did get to know about it.

And, says Gerbich: “When Japan recognised the problem of not competing in this market they replaced it.”

It took a while, it has to be said – a bit like those old Pantene shampoo ads that reckoned: “It won’t happen overnight….but it will happen!”

But it would be churlish to grizzle about the five years without a reasonably-powerful 8x4 seeing as, Gerbich points out, eventually “they didn’t just give us one model – they gave us three! And it’s been a real boost to our sales.”

Within the new UD Quon heavy-duty range, “they gave us a 390hp and 420hp in 2018 – and earlier this year gave us the 460hp.”

When you consider that NZ “is the only country in the world they build that truck for,” as he adds, the 460 was “a real bonus – for such a small market like ours to be recognised.

“Anyone that’s buying an 8x4 and pulling a trailer needs to do a minimum of 44-tonnes and a lot of people are looking for 50MAX – and that’s the minimum horsepower you need to successfully sell into this market.”

Just powerful enough it may be, but the CG32-460 Quon does come with all the extras possible. Says an enthusiastic Gerbich: “We bring them in with EVERY option that’s available for that model….she comes in fully loaded and ready to plonk a deck on the back.

“It’s high spec for a Japanese truck – it’s got more features than most.” The rationale behind that, he explains, is that “if you get the safety pack done in the plant it’s a relatively low cost….if you want to do it aftermarket, it’s an extremely high cost.

“We’re better off bringing in the best vehicle we can from the plant – and that’s what we’ve done.”

Gerbich concedes that the 460hp 8x4 “was a long time coming, but the truck’s working well for us. We did quite well when we only had the 390s and 420s, and this has just added to it. Everything that we’ve been able to get built has sold before it gets here.”

One of those faithful Nissan customers who had to go elsewhere after 2013’s demise of a Kiwi 8x4 is Grange Transport director Brendon Molan. He appears to hold no grudges about UD’s withdrawal from the twin-steer market – he’s just chuffed to have an 8x4 UD back in the Whanganui-based operation.

Grange’s new CG32-460 is, he says, “the first new Nissan I’ve had since 2014. We were staunch Nissan for over 20 years.”

“Then when they stopped making 8x4 trucks with decent horsepower we didn’t know what to buy.

“We bought Isuzus, FUSOs and two Kenworths – which were not a good idea “for what we do and the areas we cover. The Japanese trucks, with their diff locks and everything, are so much better.”

Mind you, he reckons, if he could “we’d buy (International) T-Lines.”

He loves them – to the extent that a few years ago he bought back an ‘87 Inter that his Dad had sold in the 1990s. It’s still working.

Since that’s not an option in 2020, his next preference is a UD/ Nissan – as it was for his father Peter before him: “We’ve just found them to be reliable. For the work we do they’re fine.”

Truck & Driver | 27

Also key to the brand preference is the “very good rapport” he and his Dad have had with John Gerbich.

The new UD, which replaces an old 450 Nissan, is one of seven dedicated livestock units on the Grange fleet, with another four tippers also able to substitute stock crates for their bins to meet seasonal peaks in stock work.

Like each of the livestock units, the UD, as Molan says, “does everything” – as in sheep or cattle and going anywhere around the southern half of the North Island, working out of the company base at Otamatea, on the northwestern edge of Whanganui….on the main road to New Plymouth.

The truck deck and the older trailer behind the Quon were built by Fruehauf, with Delta four-deck stock crates installed. Molan explains the reason for the trailer being a four-axle: “We’ve got some shitty

28 | Truck & Driver

places around here, so long five-axle trailers are no good to us.”

The UD comes with a 60-tonne GCM and 32t GVM and the Grange combination tares at 23,610kg – 13,940kg for the truck and 9670kg for the trailer.

The Quon’s GH11TD 10.8-litre engine delivers its 338kilowatts/460horsepower maximum output at 1800rpm, with 450hp or more of that available from 1550-1850rpm. Similarly, its 2200Nm/1623 lb ft of peak torque is achieved at 1200 revs, but 2000Nm is delivered from 950-1600rpm.

Managing that output is UD’s ESCOT VI automated manual transmission – a 12-speed Volvo I-Shift by another name. It allows, of course, either manual or fully automatic shifting.

The Quon’s reverse Elliot I-beam front axles are suspended on parabolic leaf springs and shock absorbers while the UD single

reduction, hypoid gear diffs (with crosslocks) have UD ECAS4 eight bag air suspension.

The cab too is air suspended, with four airbags and shock absorbers, while the Alcoa alloy wheels are all fitted with 275/70 22.5 Bridgestones. The final piece of the suspension picture is the airsuspended ISRI driver’s seat – which gets a tick from Molan: “They’ve finally put a decent seat in them,” he says approvingly.

The truck’s only been on the road for a couple of weeks and so far at least, Molan couldn’t be happier: “We were born Nissan and eventually we will be moving the fleet back to Nissans. I’ve got a good feeling about this truck: Ninety percent of it is Volvo so it’s bound to be good. I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes.”

Just as the Quon 8x4 has got the makings of his ideal truck, its driver also fits his idea of what makes the best livestock drivers.

Namely, “people who grew up on a farm.”

Angela Haket spent over 20 years on a dairy farm before making a major career change and becoming a truck driver. She’s a happy, smiley person and has decorated her new Quon’s cab with her own touches – with pink butterflies and unicorns, inside and out.

She’s just two weeks into life with the UD, having hopped out of a Grange FUSO – and she reckons it’s “awesome…user-friendly…100% more electronically advanced than the FUSO I had before and has an excellent gearbox.”

It’s a clear day and it’s easy to see where we’re heading – straight towards Mount Taranaki. In fact, we’ll spend a few hours driving to its foothills….for the first of four weaner calf pickups….which will then be taken back through Whanganui….

To a farm at Apiti, northeast of Feilding, in the Manawatu – where they’ll spend the summer grazing.

Grange uses MyTrucking transport management software to get jobs out to its drivers via their mobile phones. The system then logs into Google maps for directions. This job’s first pickup isn’t till Kaimiro – between Inglewood and the mountain itself. About two hours’ drive away.

Access into the Quon cab is easy, courtesy of two grated steps.

Angela tells me “it’s a lot easier to get into than my old FUSO, because it’s lower and it’s only got two steps. And in the FUSO I was always grabbing the steering wheel to get in. This has two good grabhandles.”

Inside there’s a conservative light grey, beige and tan interior – brightened-up by a couple of Angela’s pink unicorns and bright pink floor mats!

It feels roomy but she thinks it’s a bit smaller – and lower – than the FUSO’s cab: “It’s probably a little bit light on the storage spaces – feels like it’s designed to have a passenger. I don’t care about the passenger!

All pictures: The Quon, with butterfly and unicorn girlie touches added by Angela, owes much to its Volvo heritage. That includes the I-Shift AMT – which works well, even on tight farm tracks – plus lots of high-tech stuff...even its modern styling Truck & Driver | 29

All pictures: The clear dash display, comfy driving position and good mirrors get kudos, the bunk is okay to sleep on...but there isn’t much room to push the driver’s seat back and Angela doesn’t like how far she has to reach to the main storage bin in the central console

“The storage area beside the passenger seat is quite awkward to get to and there’s no place for paperwork on top. And there’s another area beside it that’s even harder for the driver to reach.”

There is a hot/cold drink/food box in the central storage layout, although Angela chooses to keep her paperwork there, saying her lunch is “secondary.” There is more storage space suitable for paperwork above the windscreen.

The bunk behind the seats is large enough to sleep on Angela confirms (having tried it already) – and it’s comfortable enough, particularly since Grange has put in a thicker mattress: “You’ve got to be a bit of a contortionist to get back out though,” she says, although it does help that the passenger seat folds down, out of the way, to make things a little easier.

She finds the dash instrumentation clear and easy to read, with both analogue and digital displays: “You can even see which gear you’re in. You couldn’t do that in the other truck I had. It is a bit of a luxury to be able to see it.”

On the other hand she feels that some of the switches and controls on the dash, including the trailer brakes, are obscured by the large steering wheel. But she also points out that the traction control, diff locks, and other frequently used controls are easy to reach.

The four-spoke steering wheel is large, with a fair number of buttons and switches for things like the adaptive cruise control (which uses radar to autonomously maintain a safe distance to the vehicle

ahead), the Eco mode and for accessing a variety of info on the digital display in the middle of the dash.

The steering column is telescopic and tilt adjustable to help with creating a comfy driving position and Angela’s happy enough with the ISRI seat – although she suggests that “if you were a big person you may have difficulty in this truck: There’s not much room to get the seat back.”

Visibility from the driver’s seat is, she says, “excellent” – aided greatly by four good mirrors: “It’s sooo good! I can see everything over there, and in front. I can see where I’m nudging in tight places, I can see down the side of the truck. It’s pretty awesome. It’s got a nice big windscreen too.”

The AMT’s Eco mode is turned off as we pull out of the Grange yard, straight onto State Highway 3 – the ESCOT AMT detecting the lack of load onboard and easily skipshifting most of the way up into top.

Angela says of the Eco mode: “I instantly turn that off the moment I start the truck – plus the lane keep alert and the hill start assist. It’s like a small ritual.”

She believes that some of the Quon’s many driver assistance and safety aids – it also has emergency autonomous braking (in league with the Traffic Eye adaptive cruise), electronic stability control, ABS, and safe brake blending – can make smooth driving difficult and can unsettle the load, hence her instinct to turn some of it off.

30 | Truck & Driver

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Above: The second pickup is really easy – just a back up from a tarmac country road

Left: Angela Haket worked 20 years on farms before turning to truck driving five years ago

Angela has now been driving trucks for five years, following her husband into the job. She’d already prepared for a life after farming by getting her heavy commercial licences – learning to drive in trucks around the farms she’d worked on. Her first driving job was with Bell Block-based Symons Transport, operating flatdeck units carting general freight, milk and wine.

She loved her time with Symons, but the 113-kilometre commute (each way) from home in Waverley to Bell Block proved too much.

She left to drive logtrucks for Total Log Haulage and R&L Freight in her home area – and says she “loved” the log transport experience: “It was so much fun.”

But she also harboured another hankering: “I always wanted to do stock work, especially coming from my dairy farming and having worked with stock.”

And so, about a year ago, she joined Grange Transport. Even with four years’ driving experience and her farming background it’s been a steep learning curve, she reckons: “My goal when I first started with Brendon was to just make three months, then six, then a year. After a year I’m just loving it.”

She’s driven eight to 10 different truck makes and models in her relatively short driving career: With Symons she switched between a range of Scanias (from 560-620hp), then she drove a DAF CF85 logger with an 18-speed Roadranger, a Freightliner logger with an AMT, then a brand-new Total Kenworth K200…and finally, in logging, a new Kenworth T610.

In the past year she clocked up around 100,000kms in a Grange FUSO livestock truck and trailer unit.

She’s quick to say that she’s still pretty green: “I’m just having fun working. I feel pretty lucky to be in another new truck.”

Even running empty, on our first reasonable climb Angela moves the ESCOT-VI (AT02612F) AMT over to Manual mode for the climb. She

knows the hill well enough to nudge it down into 11th, to “cruise” up the hill at 65km/h, the 10.8 litre at 1700rpm.

“Otherwise,” she says, “it’ll just lug really slowly down to 1000 revs – which is fine, but it’s better to keep the speed and momentum going.”

Even when there’s a pretty flat road ahead, she refrains from selecting Economy mode in the AMT – preferring to avoid it going into the ESCOT Roll freewheeling mode whenever it can, whereby at 90k in top, it’ll go into neutral and coast, the revs dropping down to around 500rpm “When you know your roads and know your weight it’s worth using it – I just have to push the Eco off button on the wheel.

“Economy mode does slow you down – it is more grunty out of it – but I do use it sometimes. It’s quite good in certain places on the road. But we don’t do a lot of conserving of fuel. For me, it’s good to keep the momentum going.”

She is impressed with the Volvo group (ie I-Shift) AMT and appreciates its high and low ratio reverse gears.

Angela says she’s not bothered whether she has a manual or an AMT – “but we do a lot of long runs so the auto is a bit of a luxury.”

The plan for the day is to park the trailer at Eltham, then continue on to Kaimiro and Korito, near Inglewood. We’ll load calves there at two farms – then double back to Eltham to hook up the trailer, and head to Manutahi and Pihama, between Hawera and Opunake.

Says Angela: “It’s one of those days where it’s straightforward – but I haven’t been to a couple of the farms and there’s some trailer juggling.”

As we cruise along, she reckons that initially when she first got behind the wheel of the Quon, “I was trying to over-drive it. But I’ve worked out that less is more…

“I was going up hills, really working it. I’ve worked out that it’s Truck & Driver | 33

better to let it lug a little bit – it’s really good for working-in the engine: Let it go low and then high.

“Because it WILL lug. The FUSO didn’t, but this one you can change gear even down to 1000rpm and it will come back from that. It knows what it’s doing, you just have to trust it.”

In terms of horsepower, Angela’s attitude is to simply accept what she’s got….and work around it: “When you’re loaded, you’re loaded – and I think you’re gonna be quite slow in this job because of the stock.

“But I also think that it’s just never gonna quite have that horsepower or the grunt to buffer you through. So you’ve got to use the momentum and use other skills that you’ve got – like where you brake and where you don’t. You have to make use of every corner and you’ve got to know your roads.”

She feels that only having 460hp/338kW makes it “a concentrated drive.” But then again, she reckons that there wouldn’t be much difference between her trip times and those of more powerful trucks… even if they do overtake her on the hillclimbs.

“I’m not a fast driver but I don’t muck around. If I’m allowed to do 90, I do 90.”

Steering-wise, she finds the UD “really quite light” compared to her FUSO: “Before, when I had a full load on and was backing in somewhere I used to really struggle. I’d actually get sore arms at the end of the day from doing those movements over and over.”

In terms of its manouevrability in confined spaces, this is better than the Kenworths she’s driven, she says – but not as good as the FUSO: “I felt like I could turn on a 10c piece (in that). This one has caught me out a couple of times.”

On the other hand, she’s impressed with the UD’s rear air

suspension: “Well I came from the FUSO with the leaf springs so when I first got in this it was like driving on a cloud! It’s awesome…. now that I’m used to it.”

In terms of traction, the UD gets a good news/bad news report: “I’ve been stuck in it twice so far, when it was wet. My wheels came off the track a wee bit on one side and I just didn’t have anything – the trailer just acted like an anchor.

“I had the crosslocks on and I’m pretty sure I was halfway through getting the diffs in. I did manage to find out where my tow eye is though,” she laughs.

“But traction-wise on gravel, or anywhere that you’ve got a decent surface to go on, this has already outdone itself. It’s got the ability to do that ‘lolly’ – the roll you can do to get momentum to get out of things.”

On a downhill run in Auto, Angela has the four-stage exhaust brake and the UD Extra Engine Braking (EEB) on full – shown visually on the dash with four bars (which she does find handy). She manually prompts a downshift to 11th to hold us back.

It prompts her to mention that she’s “found that the brakes aren’t really good. If I’m loaded and going down the Saddle Road (over the Ruahine Ranges) and I’m trying not to work the brakes as much as I can….you have to use the gears to help the brakes.

“But even in the Kenworths I still felt that I was putting my foot on the brake too much.” Maybe, she suggests, it’s because she’s comparing them to the in Scanias, with their driveline retarders, which “really hold you up bigtime…”

On the Tangahoe Hill and others en route Angela’s approach is always to put the ESCOT AMT into Manual mode and downshift at 1100rpm. Loaded, she says, she’d be changing down at more like

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Above left: Brendon Molan reckons Grange Transport was “born Nissan”

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1200rpm.

One of the things she’s enjoying working for Grange is the variety of the work and the environment: “We’re not like in the Canterbury plains where you pick up 2000 sheep and it’s all flat….

“We’re all over the place and into quite old-established farms – with the same ramps and the same roads that the smaller trucks from years ago fitted on.”

Our first pickup, at Kaimiro, turns out to have pleasantly easy access, with plenty of room and plenty of gravel. Angela manoeuvres the truck up to the race with ease.

“The good thing about this truck is that you can adjust the idle, so when you’re backing up to a ramp and take your foot off the accelerator it continues to go backwards. Whereas in the other truck it wouldn’t idle aggressively enough to go back – you’d have to juggle between the brake and accelerator. This is a lot smoother.”

It doesn’t take long to get the 30 weaners on board – and it’s then a short drive to the next farm, at Korito. The stockyards are right on a tarmac road and, again, there’s no problem getting backed-in – although Angela does mention that you wouldn’t be getting in here with a truck and trailer.

The loading is quick and efficient, but it still looks like hard work – and I wonder if anyone treats her differently because she’s a woman.

She laughs at that: “I possibly should be offended because I don’t actually think anyone notices! It’s awesome. I have so much fun with these guys. In fact, in all of my jobs I’ve never really noticed it.”

She gets the 23 weaners loaded on her own – she has no dog to help her: “It’s still early days for a dog. I don’t really need one and you’ve got to be quite confident with the farmers to use your own dog. I can barely look after myself at work.”

Joking aside, Angela feels that managing the stock she carts is an ongoing learning process: “At farms, if we think that something’s too big to put up top we ring back to dispatch to ask advice. We don’t top-deck the big cows. It’s just a matter of constantly trying to put 36 | Truck & Driver

them into the right pens. If we’ve had to take one down or swap around then we make notes and send them through.”

Experience counts for a lot: “For sheep, for instance, how many go into one pen, the gating systems, how you load them. It’s practice and it’s asking questions and trying not to panic.”

She laughs when she reckons: “When I first started, I didn’t know one end of a sheep from the other! When they were in the pen it was just like candy floss.

“You don’t top-deck your ewes, and spring lambs are different from the start of the season to the end. It all adds up to wisdom. You are responsible for everything and that can be quite daunting.”

On this work, taking weaners to grazing, “the graziers are like ‘right how many? Are they in good condition?’ They want to know exactly how they’ve come off the farm and they’ve got to come off the truck perfectly – which is fair enough as there’s a lot riding on these animals getting transported all over the place….and everyone’s trying to cover their own arse.

“They’re even starting to video them coming off the truck – and the works do too.”

A little surprisingly, she says she prefers working with bulls: “Weaners are easy to load but take a lot of looking after. You’ve got to drive accordingly – you’ve got to work with them because they’ve got dainty little legs and they don’t actually know what they’re doing.

They’ve got no concept of what you’re asking them to do.

“And you want them to get back into the truck next time, as a calf heifer – so you’ve got to put some thought into it. Dairy cows are the worst because they’ve got an attitude.”

Now with 53 weaners on board – still a light load, at around 5.5 tonnes – we head south again to pick up the trailer.

It’s noticeable that Angela’s driving is smoother than it was and she commentates as we go: “Most livestock loads are ok. Sheep are pretty much stuck together so you don’t feel it that much. You do feel the cows on the double-deck though. You take your time – slow

Clockwise, from above: The new Grange UD ranges all over the southern half of the North Island....Angela Haket is enjoying the new UD....she spent 20 years working on farms but says it’s been a steep learning curve driving a stock truck....the 10.8-litre UD engine produces 460hp/338kW and 1623 lb ft/2200Nm down.”

Despite the butterflies and pink frills, Angela doesn’t mind the dirty side of the job. Fellow driver Ray, “who’s been at Grange forever and knows everything, he always refers to the trucks as workhorses and that is what this feels like.

“And that’s what attracted me to this industry – because it’s quite grunty. You’re going offroad – it’s like a tractor, just doing a job. Some of the drivers keep them looking quite pretty but I still feel cool when I’m sloshing down the road and the truck looks like it’s done some work.”

It can, of course, also be dirty work – and yes, it takes a good couple of hours to clean the outside of the truck and sometimes up to four hours to hose out the crates.

“When it’s wet we really try to make the most of it because it’s easier to get off. No one wants a shit truck on the inside – it just makes things difficult. And if you’ve done cows for a couple of days and move on to sheep, there’s no way you’re gonna get away without cleaning it. It is a shitty part of the job, but you have got all your wet weather gear on.”

And Angela reckons that there are also plenty of great things about the job: “Working with the people and just being out there and knowing they trust you and have your back. And seeing all the different places.

“I think if you didn’t like the challenge of trying to get into here, or there – or backing into that gateway, or loading that huge cow, you wouldn’t enjoy this job.

“It’s quite daunting when you get a job taking 500 lambs somewhere. That’s four decks high – truck and trailer. But it’s really rewarding when they’re all on.”

With the trailer hooked up we take a tight and windy rural road, over quite a few one-lane bridges. Angela barely gets into top gear as we cruise along – the windscreen occasionally filled with a stunning view of the mountain.

At a farm near Pihama, there’s a quick and efficient exercise in getting another 18 weaners into the Fruehauf trailer.

En route to our last pickup at Manutahi, with only around 7000kg of livestock on board, the Manutahi Hill has little effect on our progress – prompting shifts down to 10th and dropping our speed to 46km/h at worst, in Manual mode.

Once Angela has loaded another 17 weaners it’s NZ Truck & Driver tester Hayden Woolston’s turn to get behind the wheel, to drive back to Whanganui – the load now at around nine tonnes. For his impressions of the Quon, check out the Hayden Trevor Test on the next page.

For sure, the luck of the draw has seen us with a light load and relatively easy terrain – nothing to stress the 8x4 Quon.

Angela though has lived with it through some good loads and tough terrain – and reckons that even if a new truck arrived on the Grange fleet and she was offered it, she’d be happy to stay in the UD. Partly that’s because she’s enjoying getting to know the truck – its strengths and its quirks alike. But it’s also down to the fact this unit has been “sort of kitted out” for her – with some of the ramps modified to make them easier to lift.

Clearly this formerly missin’ Nissan 8x4 has been welcomed with open arms by fans of the make – Grange boss Brendon Molan, for one.

He does say though that he’d “still like a little bit more horsepower.” It’s a desire that UD Trucks brand manager John Gerbich has no doubt heard before – and wishes he could satisfy. But he’s a realist: “Are we going to get the 13-litre motor in it? Much as I’d like to….I don’t think so.

“Never say never – and every year on our product plan I bring it up. But the problem is, if we put a 13-litre in it, then that competes directly with the Volvo product. So if I was a betting person, I’d say we’re not going to see it anytime soon.” T&D Truck & Driver | 37

Test

HTAYDEN REVOR

IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I WAS IN A UD TRUCKS QUON CAB – OVER two years, in fact – but there’s a lot that hasn’t changed at all.

There is though one very important difference: This truck I climb into under the shadow of Mount Taranaki is an 8x4 – the first UD twin-steer with what Grange Transport owner Brendon Molan refers to as “decent” horsepower in seven or eight years.

The climb up into the cab I find a little difficult because of the fact there are only two widely-spaced steps. Regular driver Angela

Woolston behind the wheel of the very Volvo-influenced Quon 8x4

38 | Truck & Driver

Hayden Woolston

• SPECIFICATIONS • Haket reckons that you quickly get used to it – and then it’s not a problem. You are aided by good grabhandles on each side and a nice wide-opening door.

Once in the cab it’s a very nice layout – helped by being seated in an ISRI airsuspended seat with integrated seatbelt and left-hand armrest…standard spec in new Quons. Can you get any more European influence in Japanese trucks than that!

But that’s just it: Most of the new tech in these new Nissans/UDs is from it being part of the Volvo Group (at least it was – until its recent sale to Isuzu, as part of a deal that puts Isuzu into a strategic alliance with Volvo).

From the driver’s seat you have all the controls you need at your fingertips – on the steering wheel you have cruise control functions, adaptive cruise distance settings, the Eco mode off button, plus digital dash menu controls. As usual, the steering column stalks control the headlights, indicators, windscreen wipers and the four-stage exhaust and engine brake.

The main dash in front of the driver has a really nice, simple layout to it, including the speedo, tachometer, fuel and Adblue gauges – with a digital display in the centre with many functions…from engine oil, distance until empty, digital speedo, time and date, fuel consumption and the Nenpi driver coach (which monitors your driving and gives you a score). This is all easily scrolled through from the steering wheel.

Under all of this is a smaller digital display that shows your cruise control settings, what gear you’re in and your adaptive cruise control distance settings.

To the left there are multiple switches for functions ranging from crosslocks to draw beam isolation. Next to this is a digital touchscreen entertainment unit and lower down is the airconditioning panel, which looks nice and easy to use.

The gear selection controls are just to the left of the driver’s thigh, with a manual override button for the thumb.

The centre console is full of storage boxes with a couple having aircon controls in them to keep things cool if need be.

As I pull out onto a tight farm road I note that the mirrors work well, with the standard upper flat mirror and lower convex mirror on each side, plus a spotter mirror looking down to the front left corner of the truck. They don’t have a big shroud around them, which means

they don’t block too much view for the driver.

We gather speed – but slowly. It feels a little sluggish and then I realise I haven’t turned the ESCOT VI 12-speed AMT’s Eco mode off – something that UD Trucks and Angela told me to do.

Once Eco mode is disengaged, we’re up to the 90km/h speed limit and cruising along nice, smooth roads – heading back to the main New Plymouth-Whanganui highway.

The cab noise is very low and it’s easy to have a normal conversation. The ride in the 8x4 is nice and smooth, suggesting a good axle setup.

Driving the truck is a breeze, leaving the AMT in Auto mode. It works well with the 460hp GH11TD engine.

The box downshifts at around 1200rpm and changes up between 1400-1700rpm and doesn’t sound like its working too hard. The engine brake is good – but not amazing. On a couple of downhills I manually change down a gear to hold us back as I feel the truck running away, even with the maximum fourth stage engaged.

On the uphills I let the Auto do its thing and it grabs single gears all the way to the top with the engine fan kicking-in and making some noise.

Angela says that on the really steep hills she uses Manual and lets it lug down to 1100-1200rpm before manually grabbing two gears at a time. I can see why she does this – seeing as she previously drove an older AMT that would stall if left to its own devices.

Cruise control works well, with little overrun, but the opportunity doesn’t present itself to experience the adaptive cruise.

Driving through Whanganui is a breeze, with the older Fruehauf trailer tracking well around the roundabouts and the mirrors showing everything I need to see back there – and also with no blind spots at the roundabouts.

I hand Angela back her truck at Turakina.

She’ll head on to deliver our nine tonnes of weaners to their summer grazing.

It’s getting really hard to find things wrong with these new Japanese trucks – with most of them now having massive European influence in their drivetrains, plus the safety technology that comes along with it all.

Brendon and Angela seem more than happy with their UD Quon – and so am I for this type of work: You don’t need big horsepower for certain applications in NZ and the 460 does its job in this one. T&D

UD TRUCKS QUON CG32-460 8x4

Engine: UD GH11TD Japanese pPNLT (equal to Euro 6) Capacity: 10.83-litres Maximum power: 338kW (460hp) @ 1800rpm Maximum torque: 2200Nm (1623 lb ft) @ 1200rpm Fuel capacity: 400 litres Transmission: UD Trucks ESCOTVI (AT02612F) automated manual transmission (AMT) 12-speed, with fully automatic or manual control Ratios: 1st – 11.73 2nd – 9.21 3rd – 7.09 4th – 5.57 5th – 4.35 6th – 3.41 7th – 2.70 8th – 2.12 9th – 1.63 10th – 1.28 11th – 1.00 12th – 0.78 Front axles: UD reverse Elliot I-Beam, rated at 13,000kg Rear axles: UD single-reduction, hypoid gear, with crosslocks, rated at 20,000kg Auxiliary brakes: Exhaust brake, plus UD Extra Engine Braking (EEB) Front suspension: Parabolic leaf springs, with shock absorbers Rear suspension: Eight-bag ECAS 4 air GVW: 32,000kg GCM: 60,000kg

Truck & Driver | 39

To all my valued customers and suppliers, I would like to thank you all for your support over the last 30 years. I look forward to catching up with you all in 2021 for a tui or 3.

Regards, Trevor Jackson

www.jacksonenterprises.co.nz

TD31291

Queen St, Pahiatua Ph: 06 376 0020 Contact: Trevor: Mob 0274 437 968 Email: trevor@jacksonenterprises.co.nz

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

2020 has exposed government’s lack of understanding around New Zealand’s supply chain “Cashin Quay, Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand, 28 May 2008” by In Memoriam: PhillipC is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Listen to small businesses to get recovery right B

by Nick Leggett Chief Executive Road Transport Forum NZ

ACK IN OCTOBER LAST YEAR, THE ROAD Transport Forum hosted a Zoom seminar with economist Cameron Bagrie.

Anyone who has attended our last few conferences would know that Cameron is one of the most astute economic minds in the country, so when he makes the point that the Government needs to do more to listen to the small business community, you know that this is a recommendation to be taken seriously.

Cameron rightly identifies the dominance that big business has over small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) when it comes to influencing government. In many respects this is to be expected as the big end of town can afford to employ stakeholder engagement and government relations specialists, or contract a consultancy for that purpose.

There is also nothing wrong about business lobbying government, just as there isn’t when unions, community groups, or industry associations do it.

The fact is that New Zealand is an economy dominated by SMEs. They employ around 30% of our workforce (with another 10% self-employed). Smaller businesses are far more vulnerable to economic fluctuations and changes in government policy, yet they struggle to gain the access to government that their position within our economy deserves.

Engagement, however, is a two-way street, and this Government needs to do a lot better at tapping into the expertise and listening

to the concerns of the small business community as we negotiate our way through the COVID-19 recovery.

RTF’s members, most of whom are SMEs, can be sure that we will continue to advocate for their interests with both ministers and government officials. We have plenty of runs on the board when it comes to representing smaller operators and have worked to prevent a number of regulatory changes and unnecessary compliance that makes it harder to do business.

In recent years we have also pushed the Government to make legislative changes to protect small operators from unfair contract terms and unilateral deferred payment situations imposed on them by large corporates.

The other issue that the Government needs to urgently get on top of is how to best assist the freight sector to alleviate pressure on our supply chain. As we know, our ports have been struggling to clear the backlog of shipping imports, which is then having a flow-on for exporters.

This is all putting pressure on the road transport industry, which as usual ends up being the meat in the sandwich – feeling the squeeze from both sides.

While fault cannot be laid directly at the feet of Government, the freight sector was warning right from the start of the COVID19 crisis that there was a major issue developing with NZ’s supply chain. The infrastructure and resilience just don’t exist to deal with the kind of consumer demand and structural problems experienced Truck & Driver | 41

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

This year’s Road Transport Hall of Fame inductees (or their representatives) – from left: Inductee Jim Black’s son Aaron, Anita Dynes, Graham Sheldrake, Trevor Woolston, Sir Jack Newman’s great-granddaughter Sarah Newman-Hollis and his grandson Nigel Newman-Hollis, and Warwick Wilshier during 2020.

I admit to being extremely disappointed that the Government didn’t have much of a handle on the supply chain problem until empty shelves started appearing in our shops. Ours is an economy driven by exports and imports – goods that need to get where they are going as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. The supply chain is absolutely critical to how NZ pays its way in the world.

All we ask is that government proactively sits down with the freight sector when these situations appear on the horizon, listen to our logistics experts and implement strategies to free up scheduling, reduce compliance, and bring in more overseas workers, if that is what’s required.

On to something more positive: It was a real privilege to go down to Invercargill to attend the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame in November. For those who have never been, you really must put it in your diaries. It’s a great event that recognises NZ’s road transport legends, who have helped shape our industry over the years.

The 2020 event was particularly significant because it included some extremely notable inductees. Anita Dynes was the first woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Anita is an iconic industry figure as a critical part of Dynes Transport, and with the role of women in road transport frequently overlooked, it was great to see Anita recognised for what she has done for the industry.

I was also pleased to be there to see Graham Sheldrake, Trevor Woolston and Warwick Wilshier enter the Hall of Fame. All three have had a close relationship with the RTF and are still intimately involved with us; Graham in his capacity as advocate for Te ara ki tua Road to success, Trevor through our partnership with NZ Truck & Driver, and Warwick as a current RTF board 42 | Truck & Driver

member.

Other inductees on the night were tyre industry legend Jim Black and the late Sir Jack Newman of Newman Bros Ltd. Finally, those that have had a lot to do with RTF over the years will know that we are a pretty small team here in Wellington. Because of that we work really closely with each other and when someone moves on it tends to leave a bit of a hole in the office. I therefore really want to acknowledge Mark Ngatuere who has left to take up new opportunities in Queensland.

Mark has made a major contribution to the industry over the 15 years he has been RTF’s policy, training and safety manager. He has been intimately involved in many of our most successful initiatives and has been a driving force behind the Rollover Prevention Programme, Road to success, the industry’s work in the animal welfare and livestock cartage space, and as secretary for many of our critical sector groups.

Mark has a deep understanding of what makes the industry tick and his expertise and advice will be sorely missed. I wish him all the best for his time in Australia.

While we sadly said goodbye to Mark, it has been exciting to welcome two new faces to RTF in recent months. Caleb Rapson Nuñez del Prado has come on board in a policy role and – with an academic background in geography, economics and environmental issues – is adding to the expertise of our team.

Fiona McDonagh comes to us with significant experience in the sector, having been involved in HR, wellbeing, despatch and administration for a large transport company. Both Caleb and Fiona will have major roles to play in administering the Road to success traineeship programme and I look forward to working with them on that project and developing a viable workforce solution for the industry. T&D

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

New Minister needs to focus on what is important Michael Wood is the Minister of Transport, and Minister for Workplace Relations

S

OM E I N POLIT ICS A R E BEGI N N I NG TO consider the job of Transport Minister as a bit of a poisoned chalice.

However, RTF’s Nick Leggett believes newly sworn-in Minister of Transport Michael Wood has an opportunity to make a positive difference to New Zealand’s future, if he can stick to initiatives that focus on growing the economy.

“The difficulty for the new Minister is a growing tension within the Government and its supporters over the desire to be ‘transformational’ versus the reality of having to manage NZ through its economic recovery and build the infrastructure necessary to support our economy through the 21st Century,” says Leggett.

Ironically, it is actually in Michael Wood’s other portfolio, as Workplace Relations and Safety Minister, where he may have the greatest impact on commercial road transport operators. The concern is that a number of Labour Party workplace relations policies, if implemented, could add significant costs to operators and act as a drag on the economy.

First cab off the rank is the union movement’s desire to change the rules around contracting relationships.

“Owner-operators represent 65% of transport service licence holders in road freight and are fundamental to the flexibility and adaptability of the industry,” Leggett says.

“A change to this status quo has the potential to totally up-end the commercial equilibrium, with consequences not only for the cost of freight but also in terms of the workforce available to move it around.”

The Government has also stated an aim to increase the minimum wage to $20 per hour by April 1, with a view to getting it up to the

44 | Truck & Driver

‘living wage’, currently $22.10 per hour. Again, this will add significant cost to our industry, argues Leggett.

“As we stated in our briefing to the incoming Minister, there needs to be reconsideration of this policy – given the economic hit from COVID19, particularly to small and medium-sized businesses.”

RTF also sees the looming spectre of Fair Pay Agreements (national awards, or centralised wage-fixing by another name) as another labour reform hanging over the industry.

“We are strongly opposed to any form of centralised wage-fixing or any other forms of labour market regulation that pre-sets the renumeration and work conditions of professional drivers,” says Leggett.

“An industry-wide Fair Pay Agreement risks distorting the transport sector and creating undesirable outcomes that may have a significant effect on our workforce, particularly in regional NZ. “Advice RTF has received is that Fair Pay Agreements will be complex and slow to negotiate and add significantly to domestic freight costs, cutting into the margins of our exporters.”

RTF hopes that when it comes to the transport portfolio Minister Wood will take a more pragmatic approach: “In a time of economic uncertaint y; major supply chain issues, multi-billion-dollar infrastructure deficits and difficult environmental challenges are pressing transport issues that NZers need to see solved.

“Now more than ever, our economy needs a government that is focused on making the waka go faster. We just cannot afford ministers getting distracted by peripheral issues that will divert attention from what really matters for the vast majority of NZers.”

RTF’s briefing to the incoming Minister of Transport is available on the Road Transport Forum’s website. T&D

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Save the dates!

T

HE ROA D TR A NSPORT FORU M IS PLE A SED to announce that the RTF Conference is back for 2021 (Covid-19 restrictions permitting) – and this time we are heading to our southernmost city, Invercargill.

After a tumultuous 2020 that once again illustrated the strength and adaptability of New Zealand’s road transport sector, RTF looks forward to gathering the industry together to ref lect on our recent

challenges and discuss the opportunities we have to shape NZ’s transport future.

This year we are coordinating with the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame – giving delegates the chance to attend both events during the one trip.

So, gather your team together and join us in the deep south on September 24, 25 and 26, 2021. We look forward to seeing you there. T&D

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THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

RTF’s Caleb Rapson Nuñez del Prado discussing the Road to success programme with Auckland high school students at a recent careers fair

Embarking down the Road to success

T

HE ROAD TR ANSPORT FORUM IS EXCITED TO be on the cusp of launching the industry’s Te ara ki tua Road to success programme that seeks to assist road transport operators to recruit new trainees and get on top of our industry’s considerable workforce problems.

“A huge amount of work has gone into working with both the industry and government to develop the programme and we believe that over the next five to 10 years it can, if the industry continues to support it, play a major role in helping operators take on new staff,” says RTF chief executive Nick Leggett.

“We know from an extensive workforce survey we did with over 600 operators in early 2020, and through last October’s Road to success industry roadshow, that a large number of trucks are currently parkedup because of the lack of drivers. We also know that in parts of the country the recruitment of new people into trucking is down to a trickle and if we don’t do something dramatic, we will likely have a serious

labour shortage on our hands.”

The good news is that Road to success will support industry employers to take on trainees. The training, which is a mixture of practical and theoretical components, is designed to lead directly to qualifications specifically relevant to our industry. It also allows recruits to undertake large chunks of it while going about their normal day-to-day jobs.

“This, I believe, will encourage people to get into our industry and provide operators with the confidence that new, inexperienced staff will quickly learn the ropes and be safe and productive members of the industry’s workforce,” says Leggett.

A lot of operators already undertake some inhouse or external training. However, that is largely based on progressing drivers through the various driver licence levels. What Road to success seeks to do is make the industry more appealing to young people starting out on a career, or those looking to try something new, by offering formal qualifications while they work and earn money.

THE DRIVING FORCE OF NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING

“When it comes to recruits things are looking good,” says Leggett “The reality for a lot of young people is that they simply do not have the luxury of gaining qualifications before they enter the workforce so it is imperative that as an industry, road transport offers them the chance to both earn a decent wage and work towards qualifications at the same time,” says Leggett.

“When it comes to recruits things are looking good,” says Leggett.

“Already the Ministry for Social Development has come to the party and has undertaken to provide the industry with up to 50 trainees per year, while there has also been considerable interest from high school graduates at a career events RTF has attended.

“On the other side of the coin, the roadshow that Graham Sheldrake and Mark Ngatuere held in October has meant that we have a good number of operators across the country ready to take on these trainees.”

Traditionally a big bone of contention for operators has been spending the time and money employing and training someone….just for that person to leave for a job elsewhere in the industry.

“While this is an understandable concern in a commercial environment, it is a fear we need to do our best to park at the kerb,” says Leggett.

“When it comes to the industry’s workforce it will take a collective effort to turn around the current situation and that will take a certain degree of self lessness.

Nothing we can ever do individually will really make a dent in the problem.”

It is also critical that operators treat the training of recruits as a collective good for our industry, because that is one of the key ways employers can be sure of high standards of industry safety and productivity into the future.

As one attendee at the Road to success roadshow in October very succinctly said: “I’d rather train a person and lose them than not train a person and have them stay in my company.”

RTF now has two staff members, Fiona McDonagh and Caleb Rapson Nuñez del Prado, dedicated to Road to success and a website will be up and running in the near future. If anyone wants to know more about the programme in the meantime or how to go about registering your interest, either as a trainee or a potential employer, please contact RTF at caleb@rtf.nz T&D 48 | Truck & Driver

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

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

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

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WHEN AUCKLAND TOWTRUCK BUSINESS OWNER Evan Watson died 11 years ago, for wife Pam things could hardly have been worse.

In two harrowing years she’d seen him slowly, inexorably lose his battle with cancer.

Now she was facing, alone, the fight of her life – forced to push aside her grief and focus everything on saving their business.

It demanded the 47-year-old step up from her past role looking after the admin side of Southern Districts Towing, to fully take over running the whole show.

The challenges of being a woman boss in the male-dominated towing industry scarcely rated – not compared to what else she was confronted with.

The rent on SDT’s sprawling Manukau City base was an eyewatering figure per year…and while Evan had been terminally ill, the towing industry, the country – in fact, the whole world – had plunged into a recession, thanks to the Global Financial Crisis.

Thirty people either employed or contracted by SDT were depending on her. Not only that: If she walked away from the crippling lease, she’d lose the business….and her home as well!

So there was, as she says firmly, no other option: “You dig in and get on with it!”

So here she is now looking back on 30 years in Southern Districts Towing – the last 11 of them as an accidental towie (or, more correctly, transport operator).

She’d never wanted to get involved in Evan’s business: It was simply what he did….while she did her own things.

Back in 1990 the young entrepreneur already had her own business – a little seamstress shop (or “sweatshop,” she says with a laugh), making women’s fashion clothing. She’d started that when the 1987 US sharemarket crash brought an end to her

Above: Pam Watson has come through the awful traumatic times heading SDT and says she and the company are both now in a good place Below: Pam and Evan, around 2005. He died four years later

Truck & Driver | 53

career in real estate.

And, at 28, she was looking at starting a little alternative medicines health clinic – “which was my passion” – when boyfriend (soon to be husband) Evan asked her to help him with the admin side of SDT…which he’d owned for about eight years.

“The office administrator had walked out. I got thrown in the deep end….but Evan said ‘you’ve got to help me out. Can you just come in here for a couple of weeks until I can find someone to take over?’

“Well, two weeks turned into two months, then three years, then five...” And now three decades – sadly the last 11 years without Evan.

Back when Pam started working fulltime in the business, SDT ran to three or four trucks – all V8-engined one-tonners that were typical of those times. The business had started in 1978, with Evan taking it over in ’82.

SDT had struggled along, working out of what Pam reckons was “a horrible little dive” in Papatoetoe – kept alive, as often as not, by the panelbeating shop down the road that Evan also owned.

As she soon found out: “It wasn’t being run very well. There was never any money. It was terrible, stressful – because I had to process the wages and every week the drivers would ask: ‘Is it alright to cash my cheque today?’

54 | Truck & Driver

“Unlike the previous pay clerk, I never prepped a cheque for them unless there were funds. There’s nothing worse than standing in a bank queue, then to be told: ‘Sorry - no clear funds.’ That’s how bad it was.”

Things looked fairly bleak for the business until SDT won a contract to tow and store vehicles impounded by the Police in the South Auckland region: The work dramatically grew the business – to the extent that its existing premises were soon too small to accommodate the number of impounded and/or stored vehicles.

“It got bigger and bigger and bigger. We just ballooned – so we had to find more storage space. I think at one time we had three buildings to house all these cars. We were just inundated with work – it was flat tack all the time.”

Hard on the heels of this development, Southern Districts also picked up a much bigger police contract for the district, in 1997.

It obtained a heavy-duty MC Mack towtruck from the previous contractor – Papakura Workshop & Salvage – and began its involvement in towing heavy trucks and buses.

The Watsons, who’d married in the early 1990s, had also started another business, selling vehicles by tender on behalf of insurance companies – as well as selling off impound vehicles they’d been left with.

And so the business continued to flourish – prompting SDT’s expansion into a bigger building in nearby Wiri.

A decade on, with SDT up to 20 fulltime drivers and the same number of company trucks, plus four or five owner-drivers, Evan believed the time was right to commit to leasing an even bigger building down the road – to accommodate the ever-growing demand for storage on behalf of insurance companies and Police impounds.

The annual rent was “astronomical” and Pam was worried about it....but, based on their workload at the time, it did seem to make sense: “It was a huge site – maybe 20,000 square metres – but it was full most of the time. And we had an inhouse workshop there too.”

But soon after the move something way, way outside the Watsons’ control – namely a slump in the US housing market – triggered the GFC….soon seeing NZ plunge into a recession.

It was a worrying time….that quickly got much, much darker for the Watsons: Evan got sick.

He’d been suffering persistent back pain – and a series of doctors and specialists consulted were unable to find out why…. until a kidney specialist came up with a grim diagnosis: He had multiple myeloma and, at best, might have five years to live.

The next two years plunged the couple into the world of chemotherapy, fading strength, hope-inspiring bouncebacks… each one sadly followed by another setback: “It just kept coming back aggressively and he got weaker and weaker.”

On a “good day” Evan would go into work for a few hours “to keep an eye on things.” In between looking after him, Pam would work maybe three days a week.

She says appreciatively: “We had staff in place to keep things running. I had competent managers – they were very, very good.

And you know, the guys were really good – they knew the drill… what they had to be doing.”

After a two-year battle, Evan died in July 2009. Aside from having to deal with the emotional side of the loss Pam was now thrust into running the business on her own – and all that entailed.

“It was really stressful. You don’t get much sleep, that’s for sure. I had to weigh up the pros and cons of where we were at, because we were in the middle of a recession too.”

The business was on a knife-edge: Not only were the company’s overheads huge, the drivers were worried…and, understandably, SDT’s contracted customers “were asking ‘what’s going to happen?’ ” Was she going to sell?

That, says Pam, simply “wasn’t an option: I had a big mortgage (on their home) and I would have had to pay four years’ worth of rent that was personally guaranteed. So there’s a million dollars over there, there’s two million over there…. I really had to work it out.

“To walk away from my lease I would have lost my home. And

Ten-year-old Mack Trident, fitted with American-built Jerr-Dan boom and underlift, tows a truck claimed by fire

Truck & Driver | 55

Top: The heavy-duty vehicle towtrucks work all around the greater Auckland region...and beyond, if necessary Above: Lay-flat deck on FUSO Canter is specifically for low-riding saloons or sportscars....or motorcycles Right: Allan Hearn has brought a lifetime involvement in the towing, roadside assistance and car insurance industries to his current role as SDT’s operations and business manager the business. Everything.”

Being fiscally shrewd – “unlike my husband….he was a spender” – Pam started cutting away parts of the business that were leaking more money. And, she says, there were a lot.

She sold the panelbeating side of the business and set about rationalising the equipment and vehicles the company owned – because some of the fleet “was getting tired and old and I wondered how I was going to maintain it. Sometimes I don’t know how the bloody hell I did it. But I did it.”

Of course, she does actually remember exactly how she and key staff members, supported by her close friends, did it: A lot of hard work, for one. And they got “creative.”

Pam gives an example: “We had this crappy Hiab. We had to replace it because it was just shocking….a bucket! But we couldn’t afford to. So me and two friends (one a builder, one a jack of all trades) took the Hiab off the old truck in the yard, bought a (much better) cab/chassis and built a new deck.

“It was hard, backbreaking work – but, rather than having to 56 | Truck & Driver

pay somebody, we built this big timber-frame deck.”

With help she also “bought smart” – for instance, buying a truck with a refrigerated body at auction, removing the body and selling it….and then installing existing towing equipment on it.

The result? A much newer truck….that cost almost nothing.

There were many other money-saving ventures like that: “It was about having the smarts and no money – but needing to move forward.”

She had meetings with the staff to let them know her plan was to keep the business going as best she could: “Because it’s their jobs, their livelihood – and I felt obligated, because they all had families.”

By then, many of the towtruck drivers were subcontractors, “so if they didn’t get the work, they didn’t get paid.” The recession meant less work, which made it particularly hard on them – and some left, which saw the SDT fleet contract a little.

Understandably, the “unrest” extended to Southern District’s customers too. At the time of Evan’s death, Allan Hearn – now

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Scania 400 10x4 Hiab unit, capable of lifting up to 12 tonnes close in, recovers a wreck SDT’s business and operations manager – was working as a manager for one of the company’s big customers, the First Assistance roadside assistance network.

He recalls: “I was asked (when Evan died) ‘what’s it (SDT) going to be like now?’ I said ‘there’ll be no difference. It’ll be exactly the same, if not better,’ because I had the confidence.”

Says Pam: “The Police asked the same question and we said ‘no it’s fine, we’ll carry on.’ We had to dig our heels in and carry on regardless of what people were saying about us.”

SDT’s landlord gave her rental holidays, which helped….but also saw the company at one stage owing $250,000 in back rent!

“Just so we could make it through to the next month – and the next month. Yeah, it was very, very stressful.”

She does smile though at one memory: “Everybody laughed at me when I bought two (light-duty) Hyundais. It was a matter of finding cheaper ways of replacing some of our equipment because some of it was so old!

“I tell you what, I still have those trucks…and they have paid for themselves over and over and over. They’re cheap to run – great for our little breakdowns.”

For four or five years after Evan’s death, the business was “a struggle that whole time. You know, God knows how we survived it. But we did!”

For sure, she says, the recovery wasn’t entirely down to her efforts – it also needed the economy to pick up for Southern District’s financial health to recover….and it did.

And for those who stayed – staff and contractors – returning confidence saw the company’s work snowball once again.

Pam’s next target was getting rid of the massive rental overhead: That, she says, was another “big challenge – because I had to bide my time trying to get out of that lease. I had to work

through it.”

The aim was for SDT to buy its own place – something much more modest, with easy access to Auckland’s motorways. As the end of the lease (in 2014) neared, she found the right place – in nearby Takanini.

“I went to the bank that I’d been with for 20 years and said ‘look, we obviously have the ability to pay huge rent – what can you do for me?’ They were crap – didn’t want to know.

“And so we went to another bank and then they had me sorted in two weeks. I topped up the mortgage and they lent me 100% of the finance for this place.”

SDT moved into its current home six years ago – the move “a big boost….and it helped the growth of the business.” In fact, she adds, “if we hadn’t moved we would have died. So this was the best move ever.”

SDT’s Takanini base covers 8000 square metres – which sounds like plenty….but the company is now also leasing another 3000 square metre building across the road.

Pam explains: “October last year we were so full we just couldn’t fit anything else in. So we took a short-term lease across the road – and now we’ve had it for nearly a year.”

The company’s major clients now include First Assistance, the Counties Manukau Police District, the IAG insurance group, the AA and many more.

To service them, SDT now has 30 staff and 22 trucks – most of them medium-duty and light-duty towtrucks…a mix of slide-deck transporters and cradle trucks, with underlifts.

The slide-deck units are headed by four late-model UD Condors (6x4s and 4x2s) and a variety of other makes, including three FUSO Canters.

Says Allan Hearn: “We’ve got another smaller one that lays flat Truck & Driver | 59

on the ground – for low-slung cars and motorcycles. The whole deck comes off and lays flat.”

The cradle trucks – “little ones with underlifts” – are, he says, “good for little salvages and for getting vehicles out of tight spots. And for towaways. But they’re also good if you lose your keys: You can pick up the whole vehicle and nothing makes contact with the truck.”

Again, they’re a mixed bag in terms of makes and models – including Hyundais and a Hino.

The flagships of the blue and white-painted SDT fleet are its four heavy-duty units. There’s a 2012 International 9800 Eagle 8x4 towtruck with a Miller Century boom-lift (which was recycled from an old Mack UltraLiner that simply wore out), and a 2010 Mack Trident 8x4 with a Jerr-Dan boom-lift. Both of them are dedicated to heavy vehicle towing and salvage/crash recovery work.

60 | Truck & Driver

Each has an underlift, giving a low boom height and a long reach. In addition to their over-booms they have twin winches and they’re capable of dealing with trucks and buses – even the odd boat, motor home, house truck or caravan – weighing up to 50 tonnes.

A Mack Vision tractor unit, which tows a low-loader, often works with them, as Allan explains: “If you get a cab that’s been in a rollover we can pull that up onto the trailer.”

There’s also a ’97 Scania 400 8x4 flatdeck with a Hiab crane, that’s used for salvage operations and for serious crashes. As Allan points out: “Everything in a serious crash has always got to be lifted – you’ve got to maintain the evidence. We can lift up to 12-tonne.”

Repairs and maintenance on the fleet are carried out by local business, Roger Moore Mechanical. They are “brilliant,” Allan reckons.

All pictures, clockwise from top left: A youthful Evan Watson does a parade lap on the roof of his Holden Kingswood saloon at Auckland’s Waikaraka Park speedway in the early 1970s. He was a successful, well-known racer back in the ‘70s and ‘80s......an SDT slide deck unit, part of an alliance of towtruck companies contracted to recover vehicles on Auckland’s motorways, picks up a car impounded by Police.... old Mack UltraLiner was retired a few years ago, its towing gear transferred to the Inter 9800....the SDT fleet in 2019 Although SDT’s focus is on its Counties Manukau home district, its trucks work all over Auckland…and sometimes further afield: “If we have a client or customer that wants their car delivered to Hamilton, Wellington, whatever, we’ll do it,” says Allan.

In terms of competition, the Auckland towtruck scene is busy – Pam estimating that there are about 50 companies in the Auckland Tow Roster consortium (which manages the accident roster for the Police, across Auckland).

Most of them are pretty versatile, doing salvages, accidents, Police work, panelbeating shop jobs, breakdowns and moving vehicles from workshop to workshop.

Says Pam: “I guess some companies specialise in different areas to others, depending on the size of the business and what sort of equipment they have. Not every company does towaway or heavy vehicle.” SDT does the lot.

Mostly SDT’s trucks are dealing with light vehicles (up to five tonnes). Unsurprisingly (given that there are way fewer heavy trucks and buses on the roads), the heavy-duty towtrucks and salvage units are not as busy.

About 90% of the company’s work is for the Police, insurance companies and the crash repair trade. The Police work includes the recovery of stolen vehicles, picking-up vehicle impounds, vehicles used in serious crimes and those involved in serious crashes.

Allan explains that the insurance companies’ powerful influence on the towtruck industry has driven an increasing level of professionalism – especially in these days of strict health and safety regulations. SDT, for instance, now has one staff member devoted fulltime to H&S. Pam adds: “Our overheads are quite huge. Insurances, health and safety, equipment – it’s not a standard truck you put on the road. It’s $160,000 to put a transport slide deck on the road….

and then some. And then you’ve got the bigger ones, the heavy haulage units – they can be anything up to half a million dollars.

It’s not cheap. So don’t moan about the price when you get towed!”

Hefty though these costs of business are, Pam and Allan don’t complain too much about them – because they reinforce the much more professional approach that the towtruck industry is committed to….and which its major customers demand.

Says Allan: “No-one wants to associate themselves with cowboys. The professionalism is coming into it like you wouldn’t believe. Even if you go to the wop-wops in the South Island, you’ll get a guy with a towtruck come out in uniform. It has come a long way.

“There is still a certain amount of that stigma there – but a lot of it now is unwarranted. There are some cowboys still about, but slowly, slowly they’re disappearing.”

He says the industry is now more attractive to drivers – evidenced by SDT constantly taking phone calls from drivers wanting jobs. The only problem is, they’re looking to drive the light or medium-duty trucks – and there is still a shortage of heavy-duty towing and salvage operators.

“There just aren’t any,” he says, and adds: “You have to train them from the ground up.”

Another problem for SDT and other Auckland towtruck operators is the challenge of working around the city’s worsening traffic congestion. The time it takes for trucks to get to jobs – including vehicles crashed or broken down in potentially dangerous (or disruptive) situations – has escalated dramatically in recent years, Pam says.

“Whereas before we’ve had ETAs for the Police of about 20 minutes, that’s now stretched out to at least 30-40 minutes. And for every minute a crashed car is stuck on the motorway in a live Truck & Driver | 61

Top: UD slide-deck unit has an 11-tonne rating

Above, left: Usually SDT is working with the Police....but this time it’s a patrol car that also needs recovering Above, right: The fleet is versatile...and features a variety of truck makes

lane, the congestion increases by three kilometres – it can back up so quickly.”

Sometimes it’s possible for a towtruck to get to a crash or breakdown scene with a Police escort through heavy traffic – but that can be a nerve-wracking ride for the towtruck drivers: “If the gap gets too wide between the truck and the Police, people pull out in between them….and you’ve got to slam on the brakes. It can cause a few nervous moments.”

Male dominated though the towing industry is, Pam doesn’t believe that’s held her back: “I think it depends on your attitude.” She reckons that mostly people in the industry treat her as “just the head of a towing company – although sometimes I do roll my eyes and feel like people are only just saying that because I’m a female.

“Sometimes people just want to appease you to your face – and then go away and say something else. And that’s annoying because all you’re trying to do is run your business, and run it the best that you can – just like anybody else.”

Allan says he’s seen competitors treat the SDT boss differently 62 | Truck & Driver

because she’s a woman – “whereas they wouldn’t try it if she was a guy. Some have a misguided sense of her weakness – and then find out to the contrary!”

From the time of Evan’s death until about a year ago, Pam headed up SDT virtually single-handedly. The challenges of that and the workload involved took an accumulating toll.

As she says, with spectacular understatement: “It wasn’t always easy.”

And about three years ago she was so busy, so focused on the business that it suddenly hit her: “I thought ‘I’m done now!’ And I actually I went through a phase of ‘I can’t do this anymore – I can’t do this on my own!’ ” She did hire additional help – but it didn’t work out. She tried again...with the same result. She adds a heartfelt: “Staffing can be really hard – finding the right fit.”

And then she hired Allan – who came with prior knowledge of the company and the Watsons, as he explains: “I was with SDT before for a couple of years, then I did some other things for five years…and now I’ve come home.”

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All pictures, clockwise from this page, top: Three SDT units at an accident scene. The 8x4 Isuzu slide-back deck unit has the light truck on board, the Inter has a tractor unit and the Mack is recovering the trailer....light-duty Hino underlift unit can, by fitting a dollie under the towed vehicle’s rear wheels, recover vehicles without having access to them....the Inter swaps its usual highway environment for Auckland International Airport - to recover an airline catering truck....old MC Mack was SDT’s first heavy-duty towtruck....the Hiab flatdeck unit is invaluable in recovering crashed vehicles while maintaining their condition for possible ongoing investigations.....Hiab can also aid tricky vehicle recovery He started off in towing as a “young fella” in Australia and has had various positions within the transport industry, including a management role with First Assistance, working for another towing company and operating as an independent insurance assessor.

“Pam and myself have a good relationship, even though she’s my boss. She’s a friend as well and has been for 20-odd years, so that has segued into something pretty cool.”

Pam agrees: “I think the timing was right.” The experience he’s gained in his years away from SDT are now proving invaluable to the business.

And, she adds: “With Allan here I can have some time out and know that things are going to be taken care of, as there’s that trust and bond there. So now I work just three days a week.

“I’m always in control financially, but the other aspects of the business I don’t need to fill my head up with. I know it’s going to get dealt with.”

Pam reckons that after all the tough years, SDT is in a good place these days. It’s evolved from being something that she had to fight 64 | Truck & Driver

desperately for, in order to keep it alive…into a thriving business.

One that’s at a stage where she’s able to guide it to where she wants it to be. From a job she “had” to do…to one she “wants” to do.

“Yeah, it’s a comfortable place now. I used to get stressed-out all the time, but I’m not now. I’ve got the business to a point where we can make choices: Now we’re looking into a better environment for the drivers and staff, health insurance and training for the drivers…. that sort of thing.”

She’s also hellbent on changing public perceptions of the towing business. She believes that towing is a service industry that doesn’t deserve any more to be frowned upon or dumped on: “The industry has changed from the one-man-band cowboy, to where we’re assisting people in their time of need. We’re not called unless we’re needed.

“Our work is such a variety of different things – from attending serious crashes and serious crimes – like picking up cars when the streets are lined with Police with guns at the ready...

“To when you’re broken down on the side of the road, it’s four

degrees outside, you’ve got two kids in the car – and your heater’s not going!

“To get people off the motorway quickly we’ll pull a truck off another job or sometimes we’ll send the ute out and load up the family and get them off. We’ll go the extra mile. It’s about looking after people. And we don’t charge extra for that – it’s a need that has to be done.”

Allan chips in to add his belief that the towing industry has come so far – “it’s not a boogeyman industry anymore.

“Especially from our perspective: We’re a business to assist. And that’s what we do, no matter where it is.”

Southern Districts Towing has achieved so much in its 42-year lifespan…but where to from here?

Pam: “There are opportunities to get a lot of work, but what we want to do is stick to what we’re doing but with more efficiency and more service, because that’s what the customers want. Good service – and quick.

“You can get too big sometimes and your service starts dropping

off and you start losing customers. We don’t want to take over the towing world – just be the best we can be, with what we’ve got in our area.”

The recent history of Southern Districts Towing is something of a triumph over adversity – against all odds, almost. Pam reckons: “It’s been a whirlwind. Evan has been gone 12 years in June and it’s like, ‘where did the time go?’ I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved from then till now – I think I’ve done exceptionally well.

“I don’t have any academic qualifications or anything. It’s all been hands-on, on the fly. I’ve been running on gut feel.

“Wanting to succeed and be successful – that’s always the driving force. And to prove everybody wrong. Because the comments before were ‘I wonder what she’s going to do. Sell up and move on? Evan built this and Evan did that....’ ” Mention that with all that she’s been through, with what she’s achieved in this industry with its tough-guy image, Pam’s record as an operator suggests she may be more ballsy than many guys in the business…and she smiles: “Yeah, I’ve been told that.” T&D Truck & Driver | 65

LEGENDS

Family Matas - David and Lewis Swap

Lewis Swap

W

ITH A HISTORY THAT DATES all the way back to the 1930s, Matamata-based contractors J Swap’s family business is almost synonymous with the area as the Kaimai’s that shadow it - or maybe the Waiomou Stream where the business all began. However, as brothers David and Lewis Swap point out, the ‘family’ has grown to include 500+ staff, a large loyal customer base and even the people of Matamata township and beyond. It’s for this reason, David and Lewis are Southpac Legends.

Even with well-over a century of combined time within J Swap, and with their children and grandchildren working there, Directors David and Lewis Swap are still the ‘dynamic duo’ of the business. They seem as passionate about the way the business now as the day they first began and can talk the hind legs off a donkey - or the horse their father Joseph ‘Joe’ Swap used when dredging river gravel from the

66 | Truck & Driver

David Swap stream that bordered the family’s dairy farm at Te Poi in 1934.

According to Lewis, Joe used to milk the cows in the morning and night and carted three or four loads of gravel into town during the day. He says, “there were no quarries in those days so they used the shingle from the rivers ‘all’ he had to do was get it out of the river which he did with a shovel and draft horse. One truckload was only a 3-tonne load but that made a lot of concrete.”

David adds, “It was used by other farmers or to make footpaths or do any concreting and infrastructure work in Matamata town so the washed river gravel was in high demand.”

In the late ’40s the company diversified into civil trenching and drainage works that included the project to widen the Kaimai road, and set the foundations for the company’s future.

David joined the Swap company in ‘58,

directly upon leaving school. He drove trucks and worked beside his father on both the civil projects and on the farm. Lewis joined a decade later in ‘69, having travelled a bit and serving time as a diesel apprentice for Gough, Gough and Hamer. From there on in the company began to grow in both size and operations.

David recalls, “We built small subdivisions, probably every new one in the town here, doing the drainage. We did a lot of work in Tokoroa, which was still expanding in those days, sewage in Putaruru, building foundations. It was bloody hard yakka when you think of gear we had compared to today.

Nowadays a guy doesn’t even use a shovel to dig a hole.”

Lewis adds, “there was a lot of infrastructure being done, we spent six years doing sewage for Tauranga and the Mount back in the 70s and then on to Te Awamutu.

But we only did small civil work because the Ministry of Works did all the big stuff.”

Around that time Swaps got into quarries.

An opportunity to own and operate the Taotaoroa Quarry came about and was an ideal fit for their civil business, so ideal in fact that now they own ten. The quarries supply the aggregate for both their own civil projects and also a number of larger contractors.

The brothers say that nobody worked as hard as Joe and he basically worked at Swaps ‘til the day he died in Feb 91. “I’m the same age as he was when he died, he was 79,” adds David. But many of Joe’s traits remain to this day, (tenacity, hard work, networking,

loyalty - to name but a few) and aided both David and Lewis as the business expanded.

Lewis says, “there was no grand plan, it’s just happened” however, David adds “95% of my decisions are this, if it doesn’t feel right don’t do it.”

Land and farming (something both their father and grandfather William had a passion for) were next on the list, with some of it coming by way of necessity.

Lewis says, “with the quarries you’ve got to protect yourself with the land around them, [mainly from neighbour’s complaints] our father was always mad on farming, that was his passion and David and his wife have taken that over. We’ve now got 4,000 acres of farmland.”

“We’ve got 1200 cattle, 400 breeding cows and 12,000 sheep, we’re the biggest sheep farmer in this district now.” says David.

According to his brother, Lewis’s passion lies in commercial building. “Lewis is into building buildings and we’re really good at that, design, build and tenant. So we started getting into building and buying land. Banks will always back you if you’ve got bricks and mortar.” Lewis agrees “you can have all the Kenworth’s in the world, but if you’ve got a bit of land you’re ok.”

And they should know, as they have a lot of Keworths and trucks in general for that matter - in excess of two hundred and fifty.

Lewis says, “we never had many trucks and I said one day ‘we’re supplying all this work for truckies, millions of dollars of revenue for carting, why are we giving it all away?’” and so the fleet grew.

Surprisingly, another arm of their business grew too, stock feed. Thanks in part to a contract with Inghams, J Swap built up connections with commodity importers. This spawned an idea of importing palm kernel to use as a stockfood for dairy cows.

David says, “we’ve now got a stockfood business for which we’re market leaders in and the only independent importer. We’re even storing it for others too. Every load of stockfood you see on a truck in NZ has come through one of the big companies or us.”

Another surprise came out of the stock feed side of the business recently too. David says,

“when Covid came we put every one of our contractors on stockfood, we were breaking records. Civil engineers, driver trainers, quarry managers… they all just jumped into machines and produced stockfood, 14 hours a day.”

Stock food, bulk stores, quarries, farming…

J Swap seems to be a long way away from the business that Joe first started, but the brothers disagree.

Lewis says “the civil contracting side of the business, that’s really where it all started, so we’ve always kept that and we still do a lot of work around here for farmers.” David adds “I think we should never let it go because every job we do for civil, building a road or construction, it’s really interesting stuff and is worth a lot of money to us.”

The ‘traditional’ civil side continues and so too do the generations of family working at Swaps. Both David and Lewis have family [children and now grandchildren] in the business. And having the family connection is important to the brothers, both internally and externally.

Lewis says, “as a family business like ourselves, you have more contact with other family businesses than anything else and you pick up business through that.” David nods, “I used to think you get sick of people, but I’ve been here so long now that they come in to see our sons.”

The next generations of Swaps may be well-established in the business now, but there seems to be no sign of the brother septuagenarians leaving their posts anytime soon.

David says, “people ask me, why are you still here, the boys run the day to day stuff, we don’t need to be here. But there are so many things that they ask you every day because we know it.”

Lewis concurs, “we’ve got so much going on with building new buildings, developing quarries and the like that they can’t get around it all themselves. It’s not just sitting in the back room then going down and looking around the yard once a day, it’s real hard thinking and planning. That’s why we still spend a lot of time in this business.”

They say that currently they have around 504 staff on the payroll plus another 150 sub-

contractors and some fencing crews out there.

“We’ve got about 5,800 clients and 4,000 suppliers, it’s a lot of people to deal with.”

Lewis adds.

There is a strong sense of loyalty that runs throughout the Swap’s organisation and that includes its suppliers.

David says “we never change our oil companies, insurance companies, banks, we don’t believe in it. No matter what happens, we never change.” And nor does their attitude to the area in which they reside.

David smiles, “we give to every bloody thing in the town. My father was a giver, but we give a lot more than he would ever have, he would never have imagined the money that we are handing over now.”

Lewis agrees. “There’s the two rugby clubs, then there’s the crickets clubs, the local hospital…”

But it’s not just financial donations, just like Joe, they give both time and energy too.

There’s a sense of pride about the town and it’s got nothing to do with hobbits.

David recalls “Joe loved golf and would spend hours on the Matamata course and put on their watering system for nothing. We keep the 10km of grass cut on the main road past the racecourse, and keep the area clean, it was full of rubbish and stuff before that.”

Despite its size and fingers in multiple pies, at its heart J Swap remains a familyowned business with core family values and to both David and Lewis, that is all that really Matas. T&D

Joe Swap

Truck & Driver | 67

Opposite page: The 4000th Hardox truck or trailer tipper body was, appropriately enough, built by its leading trailermaker user, T&G....for big Hardox body customer Fulton Hogan Below: The process of creating a new Hardox body begins with body panels being formed on Real Steel’s press brake

68 | Truck & Driver

FEATURE

Story Wayne Munro

I

T’S THE REAL DEAL WHEN IT COMES TO STRONGER, better-looking, longer-lasting steel for truck and trailer tipper bodies.

Hundreds of Kiwi transport operators have made that pretty clear over the past eight and a bit years.

They’ve decided that Swedish-made Hardox high-strength steel is the right thing for their truck and trailer bodies – and they’ve put their money where their opinion is: They’ve commissioned 4000 of ‘em since late 2012.

The 4000th Hardox body was finished late last year – built

by Transport & General Engineering (T&G), under its Transport Trailers brand. That the milestone was achieved by T&G is appropriate – since it is New Zealand’s single biggest Hardox body manufacturer. Fitting too, that it was made for Fulton Hogan – a company that T&G has built 58 Hardox bins for.

To say that the Swedish Steel-manufactured Hardox has revolutionised NZ’s steel truck and trailer tipper body market is no exaggeration – as is graphically demonstrated by T&G’s experience.

In early 2013 it completed two of NZ’s first Hardox bodies – a truck and trailer unit for Rooney Earthmoving in Waimate.

Since then it has made over 500 bodies out of Hardox. And now, when it comes to steel bins, it simply doesn’t care to use anything but Hardox.

T&G director Greg Cornes confirms that the introduction of Hardox has been “absolutely amazing for our business…”

The high-strength steel “lends itself perfectly to our tipping industry – not all facets of it, but especially the construction and roading side….very much so.

“Because it gives those sorts of clients more versatility with what they can cart. See, one day they could be carting sand, the next day they could be carting demolition materials.

“And in the past, say if we were building a Bis 80 rock bin, we’d be looking at building it with 10mm floors and eight millimetre sides… Well we can build a relatively heavy-duty (Hardox) rock bin with six mill floors and four mill sides – so there’s a huge weight saving to start with.

“But the biggest benefit that I’ve seen with it is in the past

we’ve used wear plates to make these heavier duty bins. But most wear plates, like for roading type products, they do work hard, but they don’t like being formed and they don’t like being welded.

Whereas Hardox has got a high resistance to work hardening and it’s extremely easy to weld and also it’s quite formable.”

Hardox has actually been around in Sweden for over 46 years, but only made it to NZ in late 2012, when Wellington-based Real Steel – a supplier of steel wear parts for quarrying and mining industry machinery and equipment – noticed that there was a well-established market in Europe for tipper bins made of Hardox….

Which had been launched by Swedish Steel in 1974 as “the bendable wear plate” – the first wear plate in the world, it said, “to combine both hardness and toughness and also work well as construction steel.”

The Kiwi company wasn’t really “selling anything to truck (or trailer) body builders at that time,” says managing director Luke Mathieson.

But it could see the potential of the truck and trailer market simply because some of its mining and quarrying customers “also had trucks – and we could see the issues that they were having with their truck bodies.

“And so I guess we had a bit of confidence that the end users would have some demand for the product.”

So it decided to introduce Hardox here – promoting it as a lighter, tougher, longer-lasting alternative to mild steel for tipper bodies.

There was a catch: As Mathieson explains, to get the full advantage of the benefits of Hardox, a much bigger steel press brake than any in NZ at that time had to be bought and set up at Real Steel’s Upper Hutt HQ – to bend and shape the bodies.

Thus, the key to Hardox’s introduction in late 2012 was the commissioning of Real Steel’s 1000/8200 press brake, with a 1000-tonne force rating and the capability to handle up to 8.2metre-long plates.

The concept was (and still is) for Real Steel’s designers to work with trailermakers to optimise the benefits of Hardox – at least halving the number of separate components needed for a truck or Truck & Driver | 69

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CALISUZU.CO.NZ 0800 266 628

Left: These days, the only steel bodies T&G makes are made of Hardox – the high-strength steel used for around 95% of each body

Below: Real Steel MD Luke Mathieson says Hardox’s success has exceeded expectations trailer body….down to a prefabricated kitset comprising just four pieces of steel.

As Mathieson said at the time: “We’re taking things to another level – and really developing what you can do with this steel.”

T&G’s first Hardox bodies, for instance – a 6m trailer body and 4.8m truck bin – saw each body side, complete with a multi-bend, rolled top coaming rail, a smooth, flat main side panel and a skirt, formed from a single sheet of Hardox.

As Mathieson pointed out: “You know, historically you were lucky to do the floor in one piece – it was usually done in three or four pieces and each side in three or four pieces, with a separate coaming rail on top. And then your headboard and your tailgate.”

Making the formed sides possible, he explained, was “a mixture of the capacity of our machine and the tooling that we’ve got and the properties of the steel. You know, with a lesser grade steel – a weaker steel – you wouldn’t achieve that profile. It would just collapse in on itself. It’s only achievable in Hardox.”

Benefits, he added, included the shorter fabrication time, the “dead-straight” bends, the reduced welding and the clincher: “The steel itself is five times stronger than mild steel….”

Looking back now, Mathieson says that investing in the huge press brake “was a big step to make” – but it has paid off: The success of Hardox in the NZ tipper body market has exceeded expectations.

To the extent that Real Steel has since added two smaller press brakes – a 630t/6.2m machine “that’s good for the truck bodies” and a smaller one for componentry.

Hardox wasn’t an instant hit with the truck and trailer body manufacturers, Mathieson points out: “Those first couple of years…..the uptake was slow. But then it grew strongly from there.”

As expected, “it was end user driven, I guess. Because the end users were prepared to pay a little bit extra for something that was going to give them a lot better performance.”

Mathieson concedes that a Hardox body costs more than a mild steel alternative – but reckons that, “weighing up the benefits Hardox provides, it offers excellent value and lower cost of

ownership.”

And adds: “When you think about a tipper body, the price of the steel is only one component of building it. There’s obviously a lot of labour, there’s hydraulics, there’s paint, electrical – all those components come into it.

“So, a big push from the outset for us was to try and reduce the labour component – because that offset the steel price to a certain point.

“So, having the one piece for the integrated coaming rail…. number one, it was functional – because any weld on the high strength steel is always going to be the weak point. So, it actually created a stronger body because there were less welds.

“Number two, the aesthetics. Much cleaner lines. And number Truck & Driver | 71

three, the fabrication time was greatly reduced, because there’s less components to work with.

“So, you start adding all those things up, and then there’s some good reasons there to invest the extra in a Hardox body.

“And that doesn’t even really take into account tare weight – and the cost of ownership.” Apart from being five times stronger than mild steel, Hardox typically delivers around a 30% weight saving.

Adds Mathieson: “But probably what we’ve seen over the years is guys aren’t typically chasing every last bit of tare weight with a Hardox body: They’re ending up with a very acceptable weight, but they’re ending up with a very versatile bin that can do demolition, or it can do big rock one minute – and then it can do gravel the next. And it’s going to stand the test of time and still look good a few years down the track.”

Back when Real Steel was introducing Hardox, Mathieson said he expected the high-strength steel bodies would last 10 to 15 years, maybe longer. Does he still believe that will be the case?

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, it really depends on what they’re doing and how much of it they’re doing. But certainly, I think it wasn’t unusual for a mild steel body to at least wear out the floor and need a floor replacement within the life of the truck. I would say that’s pretty unusual with a Hardox body.”

If he sounds a wee bit cautious, it’s probably only because “there’s been some cases where people think, because they’re getting a Hardox body, it’s rock-solid and can handle anything that they throw at it. Yet they’ll only be building it out of like 3mm, or something like that.”

They’d risk getting “some dings” and might have to “spend a bit on R&M now and then. But typically, the life of the deck will at least match the life of the truck....or longer.”

Mathieson adds: “That kind of stuff happens less and less these days. Because the product’s been around for so long now, and there’s a lot of it out there, everybody’s got a pretty good idea” of how to spec it and use it correctly.

Greg Cornes says that now, not only are all of T&G’s steel bins made of Hardox…. the tough Swedish Steel is also used for 95% of each body: “So, we use Hardox in the wear plates, the runners, side skirts, the top rails, the front headboard, hoist boxes…… It’s only the add-on componentry, like trips and door closers and

All picture, clockwise from this pic: Bins on spectacular Sims Pacific Metals unit were among the early Hardox builds....a body being formed on the Real Steel press brake....the 4000th Hardox body under construction....and the milestone body being fitted to a FUSO 6x4

72 | Truck & Driver

hinges and stuff (that aren’t Hardox).”

Whereas “historically you would have had to have two welds for the top rail, a weld for the floor, a weld for your side skirt, it’s probably halved the amount of welding required….and the less welds, the stronger it’s going to be.”

A Hardox bin is, he says, three times stronger than one that’s made out of mild steel.

Lifetime-wise, bins built out of mild steel before Hardox was available, were “effectively a five to 10-year proposition…..

And what we’re seeing is these (Hardox) bins will last far longer….they’ll potentially outlast some of the trucks we put them on, that’s for

sure.”

And there’s another benefit – specifically from the Hardox floors, Cornes says. That is, they “release the product easier: They shine up once they’ve had a lot of use, instead of getting all gouged up and dented… If they’re spreading and tipping aggregates and stuff it just slides out extremely easily.”

Cornes says that T&G has fully embraced Hardox – in part because of “the alignment of values between Swedish Steel, Real Steel and T&G: We all work off very similar values – and that is making the best product we possibly can, and providing our clients not only with quality, but with value.”

Hardox, he says, has “been extremely

Truck & Driver | 73

All pictures: Rooney Earthmoving truck and trailer bins were the first Hardox bodies built by T&G – with large body panels formed by Real Steel and supplied as prefabricated kitsets

important for us as a business. It’s given us a whole new product line. Like I said, we don’t build a mild steel bin any more, we only use the Hardox product in our bins.”

Prior to Hardox, “we built very few steel bins…it wasn’t a big part of our business at all. We didn’t feel that we were providing a quality product for our clients and therefore we were not giving any added value.

“But that’s the difference Hardox has made – being able to build equipment that actually really adds value.

“We pride ourselves on building clients a quality product that, for one – they’re going to get a good life out of it, and when they do sell it, it’s good for another, second life – which means, historically our gear’s had good resale value.

“And we don’t want to lose that. We want our clients to be confident that in eight to 10 years’ time, when they’re trading up or moving that gear on, they’ve got something that’s saleable, has a good resale and it’s going to have a good second life with someone else.”

That philosophy has seen T&G intentionally put no emphasis on the weight saving possibilities of Hardox….in favour of using its strength and toughness “to give our clients longterm reliability.”

It’s the same rationale, by the way, that T&G has applied in introducing in recent years another Swedish Steel product, Strenx 700, for its trailer chassis: “We’ve done that not to reduce weight but to increase the design life of the trailers and give them better torsional rigidity and stability.”

T&G has settled on a standard build for its Hardox bodies: “You can go thinner….but what we want to do is give our clients longterm reliability and we know building them with a 6mm floor and 4mm sides, they’re going to get that longevity out of them.

“They might carry a touch more weight, but they can put a wide range of products in it – like from sand, up to 500 mill diameter 74 | Truck & Driver

rock and stuff….sometimes a bit heavier.”

Along with that versatility, he adds, clients get good-looking gear: “I know it’s only an aesthetics thing, but you look at steel bins of old that drive down the road – all the sides would be all dented and bulged out…. We don’t see this with Hardox bins.”

Specced correctly for their applications, Hardox users “should see no damage to them at all.”

There have, he says, “been issues in the industry where people have probably under-specced the product and gone and carted basalt or something like that…. and so they’ve ended up with a few dents and stuff. But as a whole the structural integrity of the bins is fine.”

T&G is one of five NZ manufacturers accredited with Swedish Steel’s Hardox In My Body quality control certification – several of them outside the road transport industry.

And, says Cornes, since starting building Hardox bodies, there’s been continuous development: “We’re working with Real Steel all the time on design and product improvement and the way we can make things better.”

Mathieson, in fact, points to T&G as a great example of a manufacturer Real Steel works with “very closely” on “constantly innovating their designs. The Hardox bins that they’re building now are just light years away from when they first started.”

Included in T&G’s 500 Hardox bodies have been some HPMV units – plus a number for special applications: “We have built some very heavy-duty ones, which would be an eight mill floor and six mill sides. At that thickness you could cart almost anything and be impervious to damage almost….

“And we’re building one at the moment for a client in the South Island that’s actually got 10mm floors and 8mm sides.

Yeah, so that’s going to be around in about five centuries’ time, I reckon!” T&D

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FEATURE

Stunning truck stunt

Above & below: Flying above and between trucks is Ukrainian freerunner Alexander Titarenko

Photos Wheel Bree/ Red Bull Content Pool S TRUCK STUNTS GO, THIS one is pretty much right out there!

Ukrainian freerunner Alexander Titarenko has successfully pulled off a spectacular five-metre jump…between two moving trucks.

Just for the hell of it (perhaps, to make it more “interesting”) he completed a so-called tunnel flip as he flew between the two car transporters….

Which were driving at 25km/h, four metres apart, as they crossed a bridge in Kiev, Ukraine.

In case there was any doubt about the element of risk involved, the 26-year-old had already proven its danger: He injured himself attempting the same stunt exactly a year earlier – and had spent the 12 months leading up to his successful jump recovering.

Titarenko confesses that the whole thing was his idea: “I had a friend in Mariupol, my hometown, who likes to do different things – like juggling with basketballs.

Truck & Driver | 77

Believe it or not, he actually had been contemplating a much riskier stunt.....

He tries breaking different records, like throwing the ball into the basket from the centre of the court. It motivated me. I thought, ‘I have to get a record for myself.’ ” First he figured on simply jumping the five metres from one static platform to another. Then he modified that to jumping between two moving buses….and finally settled on jumping from one moving car transporter to another.

In his 2019 attempt he literally and figuratively fell short of his target – smacking into the cab of the following truck and injuring a knee.

To add insult to the injury, the laser used by the Book of Records of Ukraine didn’t even capture what was a four-metre leap.

78 | Truck & Driver

Says Titarenko: “After last year’s injury, I had to recover for a long time – but that motivated me even more for the new record.”

Titarenko leapt to fame in 2017 when – as an unknown – he beat the world’s best freerunners in a surprise victory in the prestigious Red Bull Art of Motion.

Believe it or not, he actually had been contemplating a much riskier stunt involving moving machines – namely jumping from one plane to another!

For now at least, that idea is on hold, Titarenko explaining: “The project was a hard one. I realised that it was dangerous, so I’d like to slow down a bit with such tricks. After all, I’m a freerunner, so we need to come up with something in this direction.” T&D

Above, from left: En route to the bridge, Titarenko has time to think about the challenge ahead....the two car transporters start across the bridge....the freerunner sizes up the jump Right: Time for last-minute focus

Below, from left: The Ukrainan makes the leap.....pulls off a tunnel twist....whew! He’s well past the point where, a year ago, he crashed into the cab of the second truck. A split-second later he landed safely. Job done.

All photos: Wheel Bree – Red Bull Content Pool

Truck & Driver | 79

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FEATURE

The Foton Aumark S in its element – working around town

Aumark’s

Story: Dave McLeod Photos: Hayden Woolston

new start F

OTON IMPORTER CEO ROGER JORY RECKONS THAT THE Chinese truckmaker’s new Aumark S light-duty model is a night and day improvement on its predecessor.

Whereas the former Aumark C was positioned more as an alternative to a “top-end used import….” the all-new S model is targeted at competing with brand-new, established Japanese light-duty trucks.

Jory says that the Aumark S BJ1078 4x2 delivers a

combination of the new – including a much bigger “super cab” – and the same 3.8-litre 115 kilowatt Cummins ISF engine and ZF Ecolite 6S500 (MT) six-speed manual gearbox as before.

“So it’s still got all that really good gear in it.”

The new model also comes with a full air brake system (including parking brake) and 24-volt electrical system.

And, Jory reckons, he has “received direct feedback from a fleet operator that the Aumark S is better built and designed Truck & Driver | 81

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Above: A wide-opening door and right-hand grabhandle make it easy to get in and out of the Aumark

than some of the Japanese trucks they operate.”

Jory, CEO of New Zealand Foton agent Anglesea Vehicle Distributors, points out that the Foton brand has been in existence for 24 years. It rated as China’s best-selling lightduty truck make for the first eight months of 2020 and is involved in joint ventures with enginemaker Cummins, truckmaking giant Daimler (specifically on the heavy-duty Auman EST-A)…and with ZF. But in NZ, Jory concedes, “we’ve got a long way to go though, if we’re really honest.”

Foton’s NZ market presence is so far, he says, very small: “We’re a minor player and it takes time to build that.” But, he adds, “this truck is opening new doors for us.”

Jory reckons that Foton was one of the fastest growing truck brands in NZ in 2019 (in fact, it sold 81 trucks, compared to 53 in 2018 – an improvement of over 52%...second behind fellow Chinese truck make Sinotruk, which clocked a 189% growth).

And Foton’s result was achieved despite the Aumark S only arriving on the market in the latter part of the year, with the 12-tonne Aumark selling a little longer.

But growth, Jory reckons, is NOT the primary aim: “Our focus is to deliver our plan, to continue to build our network and deliver a good sustainable business.”

Although the Aumark S’ impact on the market has been “incredibly strong,” it still takes time to build its sales: “It’s doing the hard yards. You have to talk to the right people and put the product in front of them.”

He says that the fact it is making an impact can be seen, for instance, in a trend away from the Aumark Cs, which primarily were sold with Chinese-built ready-to-work steel trays – to the S models, which have all had their bodies built in NZ. That, adds Jory, “says to me that we’ve now moved it into the mainstream….it’s now for serious truckers – we’re not just the landscaper or handyman’s truck.

“And it’s a truck that we now feel confident going out and talking to fleets about. The big thing for us is that this is an all-new model – it’s not a facelift. You can even measure the chassis rails – they’re a different width.”

Jory lists other positives with the new Aumark, including a driver’s door that opens to 90 degrees, plus illuminated steps Truck & Driver | 83

Clockwise, from above: The dash is a mix of analogue dials, with a small digital display in the centre......air-operated disc brakes are standard on the Aumark S.....Hayden Woolston finds the new model comfortable, easy to drive and with a nice ride – but finds that the steering has a tendency to wander

– both making it easy to get in and out and “living with the truck a much better experience.”

He reckons that it has one of the widest cabs in the class and says that the super cab is so roomy (also with so much storage) that when he demonstrated it “to a couple of rental fleets….that’s one of the things that surprised them. They’ve even gone and got three people and put them across the front.”

In addition to its wide cab, the Aumark S has a 12.2-metre turning circle: “It’s one of those surprise and delight things.

On paper it looks good but when you experience it you understand what it means.

“When you’re driving it around town – and this-sized truck is an around-town truck… – the tight turning circle is a big deal.”

The user-friendly cab has a two-way adjustable steering column, with electric and heated mirrors.

It comes with three driving modes (power, basic and economy) that control throttle response and an analogue and digital dash, displaying info including speed, average fuel economy, battery voltage and air pressure, plus fuel and AdBlue gauges. Bluetooth is standard, as is a hill start assist system and provision for a PTO. Despite the fact that the Aumark S doesn’t have an airbag, Jory reckons that safety features are “a big thing for us.”

It does have an ECE 29-compliant cab, a lane departure warning system, cruise control, an engine brake and Wabco air foundation brakes, including an air-operated park brake.

Jory says that gives the Aumark an advantage over some light-duty rivals that have cardan shaft parking brakes.

Its spec sheet also has a bunch of safety acronyms – ABS , EBD, ASR, ESP, TPMS (ie anti-lock braking system, electronic brake force distribution, anti-skid reduction,electronic stability programme and tyre pressure management system)...plus 84 | Truck & Driver

daytime running lights.

What Foton needs now to grow the make in NZ, says Jory, are more models – with the 8495kg GVM BJ1078, the first Aumark S, now joined by the BJ1088, with an 8995kg GVM and a longer wheelbase.

To get a taste of the Aumark S NZ Truck & Driver tester Hayden Woolston and I mostly spend time in it (appropriately enough) around town in Hamilton, the steel dropsider traybodied model toting a 1000-litre/1000kg tank of water.

Woolston’s initial impressions are positive and confirm what Jory says about the cab and getting in and out of it: “Access is really good, with a grabhandle on the front pillar. The cab is a lot larger than you’d expect for a three-seater town truck.”

Inside he’s immediately able to get comfortable – and the environment is nice enough: “The trim is durable and things are well laid out. There’s plenty of air vents and heaps of legroom.” The footpedals are close together, but he says they’re actually no problem to use.

He likes the truck’s visibility: “The five mirrors are big but don’t obstruct your view – and there’s a reverse camera as standard.”

It also has a reverse warning buzzer and rear parking sensors.

The Cummins ISF engine produces its peak 115kW of power at 2600rpm and 500Nm of maximum torque from 1200rpm and above (up to 1900) – and around the city streets Woolston finds himself upshifting the ZF Ecolite manual at around 2400rpm and letting it lug down to 1100rpm before downshifting.

At 50km/h in fourth the ISF revs at 1900 and drops to 1400 with a shift to fifth. Woolston reckons that it feels quite heavy in its shifting, but it is also smooth and the gears are easy to find.

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His feedback on the steering has been passed on to Foton by Jory..... picking up speed, Woolston letting it rev out to 2500 before upshifting. It settles in top at 2300rpm.

He reports that the “cruise control is easy to set and the speed is adjustable, using the buttons on the steering wheel.”

He changes lanes without indicating and the lane-keep alert beeps – although he feels that its warning does come a little slowly….and late.

The Expressway is pretty bumpy in places, but the multi-leaf spring suspension feels good for a half-loaded truck: The driver can feel the road surface, but the ride is not overly bouncy.

At Ngaruawahia, we turn around and return to the city, Woolston impressed with the way the Aumark S handles – but still unimpressed with the steering….improved, “but still not there.”

His feedback on the steering has been passed on to Foton by Jory, who says the factory has now reported back “that you can adjust the steering box via a tension bolt.

“We made the change on the test truck and we noticed the difference when we drove it. We’re aware of it now and have informed our dealers to check it too.” T&D

TD31309

The air-boosted clutch is “nice and soft and the gearbox is really good.” The brakes, he says, are “a little snatchy – but a lot of little trucks are like that.”

We duck into an empty carpark so he can try out the turning circle – and is impressed with that….although not so much with the steering itself: “It’s a lot better than before – but still a little bit loose. I’m having to constantly move the steering wheel to correct it – there’s still too much movement.”

A smallish hill affords the chance to see how well the hill start assist system works. Sure, the gradient isn’t that steep – and we’ve only got around a one-tonne payload. But it does hold us no problem and the clutch, gearbox and Cummins combine for an easy liftoff. The ISF has plenty of pull as we continue up the hill.

While Woolston concedes that the steering is much better than on the old Aumark, he reckons it’s “still not great.”

While the foundation brakes took a bit of getting used to around town, at highway speeds they don’t seem so bad – and the engine brake is definitely noticeable.

On the Waikato Expressway, the Foton has no problem

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Cell: 021 309 884 Phone: 03 313 1786 www.cowantrailers.co.nz Email: cowantrailers@xtra.co.nz 311 Flaxton Road Rangiora 7400

This Aumark S BJ1078 4x2 has a an 8.5t GVM, a “super cab,” a 3.8-litre 115kw Cummins ISF engine and a ZF Ecolite 6S500 six-speed manual gearbox

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National Road Carriers

Looking back on 2020 and forward to 2021

By David Aitken, CEO of National Road Carriers Associationn

C

OVID-19 WAS CLEARLY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT EVENT last year. A big thankyou to everyone in the road transport industry for keeping the country moving during the pandemic.

The industry stepped up to deliver food, medicines, and other essential goods during these difficult times.

Road transport was recognised as an essential service by political leaders and New Zealanders. During lockdown NRC’s reduced team of five did a fantastic job tracking down information and distributing it via emails and website updates. We worked alongside authorities AT, MoT, NZTA, CVST, our Platinum partners Mobil, Z Energy, Vodafone, Marsh and Fortune Manning, and members to respond to industry concerns.

There will continue to be challenges this year as we see the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put supply chains into disarray worldwide. This has been compounded by booming exports from North Asia and not enough vessels, industrial action across the Tasman causing shipping delays of up to eight weeks, and Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga facing some major challenges of their own. We expect these supply chain issues will extend well into 2021.

In our view, the supply chain industry – the ports, the empty container yards and the freight industry – need to work together to understand each other’s issues and communicate better. There needs to be more clarity around roles and responsibilities.

Looking back on 2020 • Ports of Auckland report: We interviewed road transport stakeholders and the resulting report, Moving the Ports of Auckland: Costs and Challenges for Road Freight, concluded the port should stay put at least until 2050 and that Northport was logistically impractical.

• RUC increase petition: Our petition to postpone the Government’s 5.3% road user charges increase secured 15,859 signatures and was presented to Parliament in June 2020.

• Mentemia mental health app: We worked to help ease mental stress by partnering with Sir John Kirwan’s Mentemia to provide its mental health app to all those involved in the transport industry.

• Member benefits video: Twenty NRC members from around the country were asked about the benefits of NRC membership and they gave a big thumbs up, especially during the COVID-19 crisis (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5wJ1xuAhto&t=15s).

• Clearing the haze on cannabis law reform: In a live-streamed breakfast event hosted by NRC in October, Road Transport Forum

David Aitken

CEO Nick Leggett and The Drug Detection Agency CEO and founder Kirk Hardy laid out the facts for members before they voted on cannabis law reform referendum.

Looking forward to 2021 We will continue to champion the road transport industry with programmes and advocacy to improve roads and health and safety, address the driver shortage and infrastructure challenges, and to promote sustainability.

Truck Driver Appreciation Week: Starting on February 22, the NRC team will be holding events around the country in conjunction with the wider industry and giving out goodies at truck stops and rest areas. This will also be heavily promoted on our social media platforms to raise public awareness of the good work being done around the freight network.

Cost Model: A new, more user friendly cost model will be launched in 2021. The new platform will be able to model electric and hydrogen trucks. There will also be a carbon calculator, as many transport companies now wish to offset their carbon emissions. Further down the line the cost model will be available as a downloadable app.

Operation Clean Freight: The Auckland Council Healthy Waters team is joining forces with NRC and Plastics NZ to develop Operation Clean Freight. This accreditation will initially be exclusive to NRC members and will be given to transport companies that demonstrate, through a training and audit process, the correct handling and transportation of plastic products.

Te ara ki tua Road to success: With the increase in demand for drivers, NRC is supporting The Road Transport Forum’s training programme, Te ara ki tua Road to success, that meshes on-thejob practical training with theoretical components leading to qualifications and employment. This will help people to get into our industry and provide operators with support to take on new, inexperienced staff.

Talent Central partnership: Using the driver database we compiled during lockdown we are also continuing our collaboration with Talent Central to assist people in the NZ transport industry to connect with new employment opportunities or training.

NZ Truckers TV series: Last year we teamed up with television production company Stripe Studios, with support from Teletrac Navman, Mobil Oil NZ, Bridgestone NZ and UDC, to produce this new TV series to promote and improve the image of the industry.

The series is due to appear on television in mid-2021. T&D Truck & Driver | 89

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Follow us on ©2019 Hendrickson USA, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks shown are owned by Hendrickson USA, L.L.C., or one of its affiliates, in one or more countries.

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Road Transport Association NZ

After a hard year, let’s celebrate our successes

By Simon Carson, RTANZ chief operating officer

I

RECEIVED A WELL-WRITTEN LETTER IN LATE NOVEMBER FROM a member of the public, voicing appreciation of the work and the value the transport industry has in New Zealand – but also asking what happened to the “glory months” in early 2020, when transport businesses and the industry were held in the highest regard in the public domain.

The days of the transport heroes were here….then appeared to be just as quickly forgotten.

When the industry waded into a period where we were reluctantly thrust into the spotlight, the country celebrated us. Outside that, we never have been an industry even slightly good at celebrating our successes. We need to get much, much better at doing this and retain the momentum that we have recently seen.

The national supply chain has cracks showing in every link and, with no immediate solution, this is expected to continue well into 2021. The pandemic, colliding with the already pressured transport network, has created the perfect storm.

Disruption in key global markets, major port congestion, and the pre-Christmas rush to put goods on shelves have together created significant pressure on the transport industry – which, in 12 months, has experienced a seven percent increase in heavy traffic volume on our roads…just to keep up.

We are seeing progressive gains in the wider economy but there is still an air of caution on what is yet to come. Communication among industry suppliers, forwarders, transport businesses and the customers needs to be a critical part of what we do, and is equally important as having the trucks to do the job.

I continue to work with Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency on regional roading projects across the country. We are still seeing changes to infrastructure and roading that simply do not suit our industry. This has also been seen with some of our councils, where projects have been started, finished, ripped up….and started again.

Simon Carson

There’s a lot to be said for shovel-ready projects, but if they aren’t fit for purpose then they should not proceed. We have pushed for a better use of the dollar on our roads and a much more effective consultation process. While I feel there has been some progress made, there is still a long way to go to get to where we need to be.

Membership involvement is critical for us to be able to correctly address and action industry concerns. The three big topics for us as an association are (and always have been) roading and infrastructure, compliance and the driver shortage.

Early adopters of the Road to success programme and good support from the industry to sign up for trainees are an indicator that transport operators see this as a positive step in the right direction.

What roading and compliance issues are most important is often harder to extract from industry. Ultimately, we need to know what your concerns are if we are to be able to work on providing a solution, or escalating our efforts, as required.

Recently RTANZ has implemented a new customer relationship management (CRM) tool as well as a new website. Staff changes in Region 2 and Region 5 have left opportunities available for dynamic people to join the team and plans are under way for regional seminars to once again be held, in mid-2021. Our connection to the Road Transport Forum is strong and offers a real value proposition for members at all levels.

Finally, I am happy to have been given the opportunity to lead the association in 2020 through a period of significant change, to meet members from across the country, to work with an innovative and proactive board, and to set a new standard for members of our association.

As the year comes to a close I would like to extend best wishes and a peaceful festive season to all our members as we look forward to a productive 2021.

All the best, and safe journeys to all. T&D Truck & Driver | 91

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TRUCK SHOP

EROAD adds clarity The Clarity Dashcam's video is integrated with data from the EHUBO to give a complete picture of accidents or incidents

T

RANSPORT TECHNOLOGY company EROAD has integrated dashcam video footage into its onboard data capturing systems.

EROAD says that its Clarity Dashcam enables fleet operators to provide better driver coaching and delivers “fact determination” when accidents or incidents do occur.

“The integration of the dashcam and the EHUBO data into the MyEROAD web platform means that all the driver statistics, vehicle maintenance – and now video footage – can be found in the same place, MyEROAD Replay,” says the company.

“Truck drivers have it tough out on the roads: They drive long distances, other vehicles can be unpredictable….and if an accident happens, it can be catastrophic. Two-thirds of fatal accidents involving trucks are in fact caused by other motorists.

“EROAD has seen a consistent reduction in overspeed events – a key precursor to accidents – in the fleets that have adopted its technology.

“Its driver facing device – the EHUBO – helps to coach drivers by indicating events such as overspeeding, harsh cornering or accelerating, as well as reminding them to have a rest when they have been on the road for a while.

“Over the last five years EROAD users have reduced their frequency of overspeed events by 56%."

EROAD says that the introduction of the Clarity Dashcam is part of its “mission to make our roads safer.”

CEO Steven Newman says: “We look forward

to seeing the next set of results that our customers achieve in reducing crash harm on our roads, and the savings they make in reducing their insurance premiums from demonstrating their vehicle safety.”

The integrated EROAD video and data will, it says, give fleet managers richer data at their fingertips for saying: “That harsh braking you did saved a life, thankyou”….“I can see that the car cut you off and braked erratically, causing the accident”…. Or: “I’m sorry for the mistake that my driver made.”

Turning on the dual-facing Clarity Dashcam requires no action on the driver’s part: The camera is powered up by the truck ignition, and a harsh driving event – speeding, sudden braking,

swerving, or an actual crash – will trigger a video to be sent to the MyEROAD platform for review.

The driver can also manually send a clip back by pressing a button on the dash, or the back office can request a clip up to 40 driving hours later, with no need to contact EROAD for help, using the MyEROAD Replay platform.

Each automatically uploaded HD video clip is 20 seconds long, capturing the triggering moment plus 10s before and after – both front and driver facing, or just front facing (depending on a company’s needs and policies).

There’s also the option to record audio (turned off by default), and a lens caps is provided to afford privacy to drivers who wish to sleep in their cab in auxiliary mode. T&D

MyEROAD Replay gives fleet operators all the data and pictures available to understand what happened Truck & Driver | 93

The all-PACCAR Tranzliquid Logistics fleet recently added the 19th new Kenworth T610 tractor unit to its Mount Maunganui-based bulk fuel transport operation.

The 6x4, which is driven by Lawton Job, has a Cummins X15 engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual transmission, Meritor 46-160 diffs and Airglide rear suspension.

It pulls a custombuilt Tanker Engineering B-train tanker with Hendrickson axles and suspension and a tyre pressure monitoring system, while the Kenworth comes with an integrated Fusion active safety system, including active cruise control with braking, electronic stability programme, trailer response management, automatic traction control, drag torque control and ABS.

COVID cuts deep W

HAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES! THIS TIME 12 months ago, Recently Registered was all about the New Zealand new truck market’s just-completed recordbreaking year.

The new benchmark from 2019 saw the overall market (trucks with a GVM above 4.5 tonnes) reach 5314 sales – 105 more than 2017’s former alltime record.

Then came COVID-19 – throwing 2019’s record sales into sharp relief.

That, of course, is no surprise – it’s been a matter of awaiting the official NZ Transport Agency registration statistics for November and December to see just how bad it had been.

The answer is….it was, officially, the new truck industry’s worst year since 2016. In the overall market it amounted to a 23% crash in sales year on year.

The new trailer market was, of course, also hit hard – registrations dropping by 18%, from 2019’s record 1520, to just 1241 in 2020. That’s 28% below 2018’s alltime best 1714 sales.

Even within this downturned market some managed a positive year – Scania, for instance, actually increasing both its sales and its market share, while a number of others were down on registrations but up in terms of market share.

Isuzu was one of the latter – achieving a slight improvement (from 23.724.0%) while continuing its standout streak as the No. 1 truck make on the NZ market….for the 20th consecutive year!

Its sales slumped from 1261 in 2019 to 978 in 2020, but it finished the year well clear of repeat runner-up FUSO, which notched-up 622 sales for 15.2% of 94 | Truck & Driver

the market – a small improvement on its 14.94% in 2019.

Hino again held third place for the year, with 555 sales and a 13.6% share, compared to 711 and 13.38% in 2019.

Iveco moved up from sixth in 2019 to fourth in 2020 – falling just two shy of its 294 sales in 2019, while improving its share from 5.53% to 7.20%.

Fifth-placed Scania moved up from ninth-equal in 2019 (with 239 sales and a 4.5% share) – selling 287 trucks, for 7.0% of the market.

All but one of the makes in the bottom half of the top 10 lost ranking, registration numbers and share. Mercedes-Benz, with 250 sales and 6.1%, dropped from fourth to sixth, Volvo slipped from fifth to seventh, with 224 and 5.5%. Kenworth, with 158 sales and 3.9% was down one place, in eighth.

DAF was the odd one out: It remained ninth, its sales down from 239 to 156 and its share down (to 3.8%). UD (8th in 2019, with 260 sales and 4.89%) completed the top 10, with 143 sales and 3.5%.

In November and December, Isuzu (978/165) increased its 2020 overall market lead on the rest, with FUSO (622/128) and Hino (555/104) holding their places in second and third respectively.

Iveco (292/56) had a strong finish to the year to overtake Scania (287/37) for fourth place, while Mercedes-Benz (250/53) overtook Volvo (224/10) for sixth with its end-of-year sales push.

In the crossover 3.5-4.5t GVM market segment, Fiat dominated for most of 2020, and registered 79 in November/December to seal the deal – its 316 2020 sales amounting to well over half of the market! Mercedes-Benz (111/32) was

way back….and in turn held a huge margin on third-placed Renault (34/6) and Chevrolet (30/0).

It was tight at the top of the 4.5-7.5t GVM sector, with Isuzu (290/51) just one registration ahead of FUSO (289/66). Iveco (159/30) was third for the year, followed by Hino (114/22) and Mercedes-Benz (87/31) In the 7.5-15t segment, Isuzu (431/67) extended its runaway lead on Hino (159/34) and FUSO (123/23). Well behind were Iveco (50/10) and Foton (29/9) In the 15-20.5t division, clear leader Hino (98/17) actually improved on its 2019 performance (when it sold 89 trucks). FUSO (47/8) was second, ahead of UD (33/10) and Mercedes-Benz (23/9).

In the tiny 20.5-23t category Isuzu (34/1) continued its small lead margin over 2019 No. 1 Hino (29/2). FUSO (16/4) was third.

In the premier 23t-maximum GVM class, Scania (270/35) easily took the best-seller honours for the year – comfortably ahead of second-placed Volvo (224/10) as it completed a big year-on-year improvement, with a 14.9% segment share. In 2019 it was sixth – with an 8.8% share and 216 trucks sold. In 2018 it sold 147 trucks for a 5.84% share.

In retaining its 2019 runner-up spot, Volvo (224/10) made a small increase in its YOY market share – up from 11.9% to 12.4%.

Isuzu, last year’s heavyweight division No. 1, had a big closer to 2020, with 44 registrations carrying it to 212 for the year – still not enough to lift it above third.

Kenworth (158/21) – third last year – was fourth in 2020, withstanding a late challenge from Hino (155/29), which saw it close to within three.

In the last two months, FUSO (147/27) overtook DAF (142/21) and Mercedes-Benz (134/12) for sixth for the year, while UD (100/13) and Iveco (66/13) completed the segment’s top 10.

The heavyweight division’s 1813 total sales for the year amounted to a 26.4% drop on 2019’s 2464 registrations – and 27.9% down on 2018’s benchmark 2515 sales.

In the trailer market, in 2020 Patchell easily notched-up its 11th consecutive year as No. 1 – with 131 sales and a 10.6% market share. It did lose 23.4% of its 2019 volume and 0.7% of its market share, but it was still 23 sales ahead of its nearest rivals.

Fruehauf (108/18) threw down a late challenge to second-placed Domett, registering 18 trailers in the last two months of the year – good enough to tie with Domett as runners-up. That was a one-place improvement for Fruehauf compared to 2019 – and a three-place year-on-year jump for Domett, which also increased its market share by 1.8%, to 8.7%.

Roadmaster (99/14) and last year’s runner-up MTE (94/12) – both of whom slightly improved their market share – took fourth and fifth places respectively…while Transport Trailers (71/13) was sixth.

TMC (65/10), Transfleet (51/10) and TES (46/9) each repeated their 2019 7th, 8th and 9th places respectively, while Freighter (45/4) improved one spot to complete the top 10. T&D Truck & Driver | 95

Waikato’s JWI Group has recently added this new 460hp FUSO Shogun FS3146 8x4 to its logging division – owner Jason Innes liking the current Shogun for its Shiftpilot AMT and suite of safety aids

23,001kg-max GVM

4501kg-max GVM

Brand ISUZU FUSO HINO IVECO SCANIA MERCEDES-BENZ VOLVO KENWORTH DAF UD FOTON MAN SINOTRUK VOLKSWAGEN MACK HYUNDAI FREIGHTLINER INTERNATIONAL FIAT WESTERN STAR RAM PEUGEOT JAC OTHER Total

2020 Vol 978 622 555 292 287 250 224 158 156 143 84 63 51 50 38 34 34 27 21 6 4 3 1 1 4082

% 24.0 15.2 13.6 7.2 7.0 6.1 5.5 3.9 3.8 3.5 2.1 1.5 1.2 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 165 23.7 128 18.4 104 14.9 56 8.0 37 5.3 53 7.6 10 1.4 21 3.0 22 3.2 25 3.6 18 2.6 12 1.7 3 0.4 13 1.9 4 0.6 7 1.0 10 1.4 5 0.7 3 0.4 1 0.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 697 100.0

3501-4500kg GVM

Brand FIAT MERCEDES-BENZ RENAULT CHEVROLET PEUGEOT FORD IVECO VOLKSWAGEN LDV Total

2020 Vol 316 111 34 30 26 25 12 12 4 570

% 55.4 19.5 6.0 5.3 4.6 4.4 2.1 2.1 0.7 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 79 56.4 32 22.9 6 4.3 0 0.0 3 2.1 5 3.6 5 3.6 10 7.1 0 0.0 140 100.0

4501-7500kg GVM

Brand ISUZU FUSO IVECO HINO MERCEDES-BENZ FOTON VOLKSWAGEN HYUNDAI FIAT RAM PEUGEOT Total 96 | Truck & Driver

2020 Vol 290 289 159 114 87 55 50 28 21 4 3 1100

% 26.4 26.3 14.5 10.4 7.9 5.0 4.5 2.5 1.9 0.4 0.3 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 51 22.2 66 28.7 30 13.0 22 9.6 31 13.5 9 3.9 13 5.7 5 2.2 3 1.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 230 100.0

Even within this downturned market some managed a positive year....

7501-15,000kg GVM

Brand ISUZU HINO FUSO IVECO FOTON UD MERCEDES-BENZ MAN HYUNDAI JAC DAF OTHER Total

2020 Vol 431 159 123 50 29 9 6 6 5 1 1 1 821

% 52.5 19.4 15.0 6.1 3.5 1.1 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 67 44.7 34 22.7 23 15.3 10 6.7 9 6.0 1 0.7 1 0.7 2 1.3 2 1.3 0 0.0 1 0.7 0 0.0 150 100.0

15,001-20,500kg GVM

Brand HINO FUSO UD MERCEDES-BENZ IVECO SCANIA DAF ISUZU MAN SINOTRUK Total

2020 Vol 98 47 33 23 17 16 11 11 5 2 263

% 37.3 17.9 12.5 8.7 6.5 6.1 4.2 4.2 1.9 0.8 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 17 33.3 8 15.7 10 19.6 9 17.6 3 5.9 2 3.9 0 0.0 2 3.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 51 100.0

20,501-23,000kg GVM

Brand ISUZU HINO FUSO DAF FREIGHTLINER SCANIA UD SINOTRUK Total

2020 Vol 34 29 16 2 1 1 1 1 85

% 40.0 34.1 18.8 2.4 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 1 11.1 2 22.2 4 44.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 11.1 1 11.1 9 100.0

Brand SCANIA VOLVO ISUZU KENWORTH HINO FUSO DAF MERCEDES-BENZ UD IVECO MAN SINOTRUK MACK FREIGHTLINER INTERNATIONAL WESTERN STAR HYUNDAI Total

2020 Vol 270 224 212 158 155 147 142 134 100 66 52 48 38 33 27 6 1 1813

% 14.9 12.4 11.7 8.7 8.5 8.1 7.8 7.4 5.5 3.6 2.9 2.6 2.1 1.8 1.5 0.3 0.1 100.0

Nov/Dec Vol % 35 13.6 10 3.9 44 17.1 21 8.2 29 11.3 27 10.5 21 8.2 12 4.7 13 5.1 13 5.1 10 3.9 2 0.8 4 1.6 10 3.9 5 1.9 1 0.4 0 0.0 257 100.0

Trailers

Brand PATCHELL DOMETT FRUEHAUF ROADMASTER MTE TRANSPORT TMC TRANSFLEET TES FREIGHTER CWS JACKSON KRAFT LUSK HAMMAR MAXICUBE MTC MILLS-TUI TIDD SDC EVANS TANKER MD MAKARANUI PTE FAIRFAX COWAN FELDBINDER LOWES HTS SEC COX KOROMIKO WHITE UNDERBELLY TEO DOUGLAS TOTAL OTHER Total

2020 Vol 131 108 108 99 94 71 65 51 46 45 36 33 17 17 16 16 15 14 14 12 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 7 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 103 1241

Nov/Dec % Vol % 10.6 17 8.7 8.7 10 5.1 8.7 18 9.2 8.0 14 7.1 7.6 12 6.1 5.7 13 6.6 5.2 10 5.1 4.1 10 5.1 3.7 9 4.6 3.6 4 2.0 2.9 8 4.1 2.7 10 5.1 1.4 3 1.5 1.4 5 2.6 1.3 0.0 1.3 1 0.5 1.2 3 1.5 1.1 2 1.0 1.1 3 1.5 1.0 2 1.0 1.0 1 0.5 0.9 2 1.0 0.9 3 1.5 0.8 1 0.5 0.8 3 1.5 0.7 2 1.0 0.7 2 1.0 0.6 2 1.0 0.6 2 1.0 0.6 0 0.0 0.4 0 0.0 0.4 0 0.0 0.4 1 0.5 0.4 1 0.5 0.3 0 0.0 0.3 0 0.0 0.3 1 0.5 0.2 0 0.0 8.3 21 10.7 100.0 196 100.0

Register your interest for Exhibitor space at bombaytruckshow@gmail.com

TD31260

February 12th 2022 Bombay Rugby Club

New Zealand’s first Kenworth T410SAR has been delivered to Invercargill operator Eden Haulage.

The 6x4 has a 510hp PACCAR engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual transmission, Meritor 46-160 diffs and twin 360-litre fuel tanks. Inside the 600mm Aero sleeper cab is a 42-litre fridge, factory leather seats and a touchscreen GPS system. It will work in front of a variety of trailers, mostly carting produce around the lower South Island.

Waikato operator A&P Transport put this new FUSO Enduro FO3128 8x4 tipper to work late last year. The ready-to-work unit has a 285hp engine, a nine-speed manual transmission and a Cambridge Welding steel bin. It hauls asphalt and other roading construction materials around the region.

98 | Truck & Driver

Gisborne operators Gerry and Ro Storey have put this new DAF FAT CF85 sleeper cab tipper to work, contracted to McKay Cartage.

Ants Spencer drives the 6x4, which has a 510hp PACCAR MX engine, an 18-speed Roadranger manual gearbox and Meritor 46160 diffs on Airglide suspension.

The answer is….it was, officially, the new truck industry’s worst year since 2016.

Five-year comparison – overall market (4501kg-max GVM) Brand

2020

ISUZU FUSO HINO IVECO SCANIA MERCEDES-BENZ VOLVO KENWORTH DAF UD FOTON MAN SINOTRUK VOLKSWAGEN MACK FREIGHTLINER HYUNDAI INTERNATIONAL FIAT WESTERN STAR RAM OTHERS JAC RENAULT CATERPILLAR TOTAL

Volume 978 622 555 292 287 250 224 158 156 143 84 63 51 50 38 34 34 27 21 6 4 4 1

% 24.00 15.20 13.60 7.20 7.00 6.10 5.50 3.90 3.80 3.50 2.10 1.50 1.20 1.20 0.90 0.80 0.80 0.70 0.50 0.10 0.10 0.00 0.00

4082

2019 Volume % 1261 23.73 794 14.94 711 13.38 294 5.53 239 4.50 389 7.32 297 5.59 265 4.99 239 4.50 260 4.89 81 1.52 108 2.03 107 2.01 40 0.75 60 1.13 54 1.02 43 0.81 27 0.51 18 0.34 14 0.26 6 0.11 7 0.13 0 0.00

5314

2018 Volume 1197 829 707 252 167 387 274 310 279 271 53 113 37 3 65 74 24 24 35 22 23 15 2 1

% 23.18 16.05 13.69 4.88 3.23 7.49 5.31 6.00 5.40 5.25 1.03 2.19 0.72 0.06 1.26 1.43 0.46 0.46 0.68 0.43 0.45 0.29 0.04 0.02

5164

Increased share from 2019

2017 Volume 1262 955 661 246 168 331 294 229 253 267 13 161 31 8 62 70 32 25 37 25 50 27

2016

% 24.23 18.33 12.69 4.72 3.23 6.35 5.64 4.40 4.86 5.13 0.25 3.09 0.60 0.15 1.19 1.34 0.61 0.48 0.71 0.48 0.96 0.52

1 1

0.02 0.02

5209

Volume 1218 414 639 184 131 171 203 153 198 247 18 137 5 14 55 87 49 21 28 24 29 18 4 5 14

% 29.96 10.18 15.72 4.53 3.22 4.21 4.99 3.76 4.87 6.07 0.44 3.37 0.12 0.34 1.35 2.14 1.21 0.52 0.69 0.59 0.71 0.44 0.10 0.12 0.34

4066

Lost share from 2019

No change in share from 2019

Five-year comparison – 23,001kg-max GVM Brand

2020

SCANIA VOLVO ISUZU KENWORTH HINO FUSO DAF MERCEDES-BENZ UD IVECO MAN SINOTRUK MACK FREIGHTLINER

Volume 270 224 212 158 155 147 142 134 100 66 52 48 38 33

% 14.90 12.40 11.70 8.70 8.50 8.10 7.80 7.40 5.50 3.60 2.90 2.60 2.10 1.80

INTERNATIONAL WESTERN STAR OTHER

27 6 1

1.50 0.30 0.10

2019 Volume % 216 8.80 293 11.90 346 14.00 265 10.80 221 9.00 175 7.10 224 9.10 156 6.30 141 5.70 76 3.10 97 3.90 95 3.90 60 2.40 54 2.20 27 14 4

1.10 0.60 0.10

2018

2017

% 5.84 10.85 15.59 12.33 10.22 8.51 10.82 4.77 5.69 2.86 3.66 1.27 2.58 2.94

Volume 152 292 365 229 202 187 241 85 94 78 124 25 62 69

% 6.73 12.94 16.17 10.15 8.95 8.29 10.68 3.77 4.16 3.46 5.49 1.11 2.75 3.06

Volume 115 202 340 153 196 98 189 50 99 50

24 22 6

0.95 0.87 0.24

25 23 3 1

CATERPILLAR RENAULT TOTAL

1813

2464

2016

Volume 147 273 392 310 257 214 272 120 143 72 92 32 65 74

2515

2257

% 6.38 11.20 18.86 8.49 10.87 5.44 10.48 2.77 5.49 2.77

103

5.71

5 55 87

0.28 3.05 4.83

1.11 1.02 0.13

20 24

1.11 1.33

0.04

14 3

0.78 0.17

1803 Truck & Driver | 99

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HORNBY 96 Branston Street

CROMWELL 14 Ree Crescent GORE 25 Falconer Road

BROMLEY 68 Francella Street

DUNEDIN 24 Donald Street

INVERCARGILL 9 Kinloch Street Engineering Workshop available at these locations.

COF available at these locations.

FULLY AUTHORISED PARTS & SERVICE DEALER FOR

www.transportrepairs.co.nz

TRUCK AND TRAILER PARTS FOR ALL MAKES AND MODELS

Wood chip

Feed Seed Grain

Fertiliser

Sawdust Unloading bulk materials horizontally in less than a minute, this trailer will get you down the road and unloaded safer, and faster than ever before.

Mills-Tui Limited 16–38 Pururu Street, Managakakahi, Rotorua 3015 P 07 348 8039 T 0800 MILLS -TUI (645 578)

Mills-Tui A4 XTREME Advert 2020-12.indd 1

soil metal Gravel sand

mills-tui.co.nz/x-treme

22/12/20 2:49 PM