570 X-WAY DRIVEN BY DESIRE HASNORTHMANHARTE LIVEWOKATUOTHERPADDON’SRIDEFLOORS
“Like everyone else in business, the past couple of years have been a challenge,” says Kirsty. “The end of last year was so busy, we never slept in the same bed at the same time between the end of September and the end of January. It was just nuts, with an economy often still in lockdown yet gathering pace at the same time.”
HARTE
PART I Through
ONCE AGAIN WITH
…and soul Sitting at Nelson Airport, waiting to board a plane on the way home from four days in the company of Wakefield’s Leithem and Kirsty Harte, I hear news of falling economic productivity, the labour market shortfall, and high levels of benefit payout. My head rocks back, and my eyes roll under my closed lids. I have no idea what to think. Harte Transport Ltd (HTL), owned by Leithem and Kirsty, is one of TSI’s contractors in the Tasman Region, TSI being the distribution arm of Foodstuffs South Island. Like so many others, the Hartes are a clear example of the people – and trucks – delivering life’s essentials so efficiently that what they do has become largely invisible.Theirstory is a classic one of risk, courage, and reward. But at their age and stage in life, the reward still presents itself as the opportunity to work their arses off. Business is always a long game, and Leithem and Kirsty, who are both 41 years young, are people who can see well beyond the horizon. They must be that way. Otherwise, their night-owl, ‘passing each other like ships in the night’ lifestyle would be hard to keep up.
Story by Dave McCoid Photos and video by Craig McCauley and Dave McCoid year.362conditionsalldaysa
In concert with the ‘vision’, of course, the other key to ultimate success is embracing the journey.Leithem is living his trucking and business dream, running the linehaul side of the operation on a four-on/four-off rotation with his stalwart wingman Te Reremoana
The Northern Milk Run starts as everyone else is thinking about the day’s end and finishes as smartphone alarms around the Tasman region herald dawn’s arrival. To do this job takes a special kind of tenacity and drive – in the people who chose this life and the machines that must get through no matter what.
COVER FEATURE
Nepe, aka Nemo. The nightly Hope to Christchurch and return linehaul leg kicks off mid-afternoon and pretty much burns the daily work hours’ allocation. The fouron/four-off system allows a decent break, shift flexibility between the two men, and gives Leithem the opportunity to pitch in and help Kirsty at home, ensuring she also has some flexibility in her life. Aggghhh… Kirsty! Kirsty is one of those who run on adrenalin and won’t ever be beaten, whether that’s the next delivery or the couple’s long-term goals. Standing in the Hope depot in the wee small hours of a crystal-clear winter morning, she runs the cutter, stripping out the linehaul unit and loading the regional trucks like a Navy Seal commander orchestrating a coastal incursion. She’s fast and precise, with instructions to the troops as sharp as the morning air. That’s not saying the scene lacks conviviality or the odd cheeky quip, but they’re all there to get shit done. If you’re going to get up at 1.30am, why muck around?
Besides, after the unload and reload, Kirsty will have her own delivery runs, some days as far away as Blenheim and Murchison. Then, there’s a household to run, admin, and customer service stuff to sort. Somewhere in there, she’ll also find time to clean the 8x4 Scania she calls her ‘baby’ and polish its alloy feet. Crikey. Wars and an everchanging peace No, not our dynamic duo, more the story of how the slick HTL business came to be. It starts on Leithem’s side. He was born in Nelson and raised in Wakefield to the southwest, the son of local milk vendors Kevin and Ianthe Harte. “I missed the era of the runner on the milk trolley –thankfully,” laughs Leithem. “But I did the exchange bottles at the gate for about 10 years. The days before refrigeration when wet blankets and buckets of water kept the milk in the back of the truck cool. By the time I was old enough to work as a runner, it was a mixture of glass and plastic bottles, and the range
The Fuso Fighter with trailer on hook. Expansion with the changing face of the industry and the knock-on effects of the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. The 8x4 Fuso. Big gear. A humble toiler.
4 New Zealand Trucking August 2022
They say the only constant in life is change, and the sale of Meadow Fresh to Goodman Fielder in 2006 saw the loadout point move to Goodman Fielder’s Nelson operation. However, that was nothing against the rapidly changing landscape of milk distribution nationally. As well as an ever-increasing range of products in the milk and dairy business, the rising costs of traditional vendorstyle domestic sales saw that model give way steadily to retail sales, supermarkets especially. As a consequence of the growth in business-tobusiness transactions, the Hartes soon realised they needed trucks capable of carrying significantly more; enter the scene a pair of Fusos, one a 6x2, and the other a 4x2. Not just change in the air One day, with things having settled down a bit in the late 2000s, Leithem’s mate told him he had his wires crossed and that the chatty, cheeky… demanding… gal at the Sprig and Fern Bar in Brightwater was, in fact, single and he should pursue that which he had previously thought was out of bounds. As they say, the rest is history, and with one thing leading to another, the core duo of tomorrow’s Harte family business were wed in 2013. In 2014, Leithem and Kirsty bought out Kevin and Ianthe. In the face of unease over the direction Goodman Fielder was taking its business, they decided to try and rectify the issue of too many eggs being in one basket. Their accountant was also a business advisor, and in Leithem’s words, “he started teaching us how to do things properly, recommending a business plan and SWOT [strengths, Leithem’s,theretheandtopthat.beopportunities,weaknesses,threats]analysisdone”.Together,thepairdidexactlyDiversificationwasattheofthelist,usingtheplantskillstheyhadtobroadenrevenuebase.Alsoinwasapersonaldreamoftorunandoperate Kevin Harte with the trusty Daihatsu back in the day.
The Hartes went to Meadow Fresh and, within a short time of starting, came an offer to sell their central Stoke and Tahunanui runs back to the company and take on runs encompassing Richmond, Brightwater, Wakefield, and as far out as Murchison, 117km to the south. “It was a huge undertaking and meant we’d need to grow. Dad was opposed, but I saw the potential. I was all fired up. He came around eventually, and we took it on. “We bought a 1992 Mitsubishi Canter five-speed to go with some old Isuzus. It was a Jap import, so it had some mod-cons like air conditioning. It did the water pump in the first week; you’ll always be tested, I guess. “Initially, it was a nightmare, with estimates of how long the runs would take coming up well short. It was six days a week from 4am to late at night. In time and with systems and understanding, it did settle down.”
of products was increasing all the time. I guess the first truck I drove on my own was our old Daihatsu Delta with a fivespeed box. I could drive that on a restricted licence. “Because I didn’t have any university ambitions, I left school at the end of the sixth form. The folks had just bought out another vendor, so there was plenty of work in the familyThenbusiness.”camethe Nelson milk wars of the late 1990s. “Yeah, they were interesting times. Nelson’s vendors all worked under the Nelson Milk Co-Op. Then Meadow Fresh came to town, and a heap switched over to them. You had opposing vendors delivering to the same place at the same time. There was a fair bit of shit getting thrown around.”
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a linehaul unit. With this new clarity, the pair set about supplementing their three-day-a-week run to Murchison via Tapawera with additional food-service freight. It also initiated a name change for the business to Harte Distribution and Freighting. “We started visiting butchers and produce suppliers, advertising our service,” says Leithem. “‘Work’s work,’ we thought. If we get an additional $100 a month, it would be a $100 we didn’t have prior.”
Shaking things up When Trents’ current transport provider shut up shop, the Hartes found the regular Foodstuffs chilled and frozen arrangement expanded to include ambient grocery, kegs, and alcohol. It also meant the tourist and ski village of St Arnaud at the top of the Wairau Valley was now in the mix. This brought about the need for a two-axle trailer to hook behind the 4x2 Fuso, as well as a six-daya-week roster all the way to Murchison.Then,as we all know, in late 2016, something else happened. Mother Nature felt the need to realign the Kaikoura coast, and overnight, the Wairau ValleyMurchison-Lewis Pass route to Christchurch was –metaphorically speaking – the new SH1 for the foreseeable future. Of course, St Arnaud and Murchison were on the new passage, the latter being the only town of any size. As a result, the demand for hospitality skyrocketed. That meant rapid expansion for HTL, which changed out the 6x2 Fuso for an 8x4, also adding a Scania R480 8x4 reefer within 12 months. “Sometimes when long weekends were looming, we’d have to run both units down to ‘Murch’,” says Leithem. What the mayhem did, however, was solve the lack of resilience in their business. General freight was now more than holding its own. They were now in control of their company’s destiny. In 2018, Goodman Fielder restructured distribution in the Tasman region, resulting in the buyback of all existing contracts, with only a few re-let. The Hartes were one contractor offered a new position.“Wedidn’t like the new structure and contract,” says Leithem. “Because of where we’d got to, we could decide if we wanted to let the milk go and concentrate on the freight. But that was a massive decision, especially for me. Milk distribution had put the food on my family’s table my whole life. I remember saying to Kirsty, ‘I’m not sure if I can do it’.” Old worlds for new Then came the rumour that Meadow Fresh had lost its milk supply contract with Foodstuffs to Synlait. With the turmoil of the Goodman Fielder restructure swirling around Kirsty and Leithem’s heads, the uncertainty of what this latest news might mean to the business only complicated matters further. It was time to do what they’d done before, take control into their own hands and make forwardfacing decisions.
Having worked in the hospitality industry, Kirsty understood just how important it was for customers to get what they need when they need it. It wasn’t long before $100, turned into $1000. Then came an approach from Foodstuffs for them to deliver chilled and frozen freight to the outlying areas they covered on the days Nelson-based wholesale distributor Trents couldn’t. “We said yes, of course, but also put it out there that we’d like the chance at some point to service all Four Square stores along our run – Brightwater, Wakefield, Tapawera, and Murchison –with milk, also.” The test was a delivery to Four Square Wakefield. “An excellent owner and businessman,” says Leithem, “but well known for a meticulous approach when it came to temperature spec.”
“By this time, we’d actually been working for Foodstuffs for just over half a decade, so we felt we had a solid service record with them as a subcontractor,” says Leithem. “We made up a resumé of what we’d done for them, what we thought we could do for them and made an appointment with TSI’s transport manager. “We got in the car and headed for Christchurch. We laid it all out and said we’d love to be considered at some point for a position on the ‘inside’. We’d never formally been told anything about where we sat and were shocked in a good way when they said, ‘Oh, we definitely consider you guys to be on the ‘inside’, as you put it’. “We told them Goodman Fielder was restructuring, and we weren’t overly thrilled with the options on the table and didn’t know what we were going to do, hence the exploration exercise with Foodstuffs. The meeting Leithem and Kirsty: proud as punch and as immaculate as ever.
Foodstuffs in the loop, and they were in contact within a couple of days. They said, ‘You know milk, how would you undertake the milk deliveries to Four Square stores and supermarkets in Nelson?’”
“What’s up?” “We’ve got the linehaul and the delivery. We’ve got three months to find a tractor unit.” “You’re shitting me?” We“Nope!”didn’t say much to each other for about two days as we processed the new challenge and tried to get our head around what we had achieved.Fiveyears after writing their business plan, it had all come to fruition. Well, almost. The good news did put the ‘eggs in basket’ question back on the“Yes,table.but our dealings with
ended with a ‘we’ll be in touch’. We certainly left feeling good about it.”
The process of taking control, and the recognition from Foodstuffs that they were already seen as more than a regular casual, empowered the pair to decline the Goodman Fielder proposal and move forward with what they had outside that arrangement.
“We emailed them on a Friday afternoon declining the proposal, and within five minutes, the phone was ringing. However, the decision had been made, and it was just time to move on. We both had a gut feel that our future lay“Weelsewhere.alsoemailed TSI’s manager letting him know what we’d done, just to keep
Take the Viking by the horns “We proposed three options,” Old faithful still at it, and still looking sharp. The Milkman was retained, and is used as back-up and for bulk local deliveries. says Leithem. “One was running the linehaul leg as well as the distribution. Hey, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know,” he laughs. “But it also gave us control of the situation, right from Christchurch. There’s nothing worse than your livelihood being dependent on too many others. If we had control, the buck stopped with us.“The next day, the phone rang. ‘Buy a tractor unit, tow a company semi, linehaul to Nelson, and distribute. You’ve got three-and-a-half months to be running.’ I got off the phone, and I was shaking.”
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Once we have our half-hour break and head into the DC, it’s a run through the drivethrough wash, swap semis, and motor off. We normally make Murchison on the way home before taking another break. If there’s not much traffic heading home or we don’t encounter any holdups, we might get to the top of the Hope [Saddle] or even Kohatu. We can take a break anywhere, really. Then, after that, it’s the homeward leg to Hope, arriving in at around 3am to 3.30am. It’s good because it starts early enough so we can be in, unhooked, washed, and in bed before the sun rises.
Location, location, location One of the recent pluses for the immaculate wee fleet has been the move of base operations from Stoke to Hope. The new site on the premises of Crate Services in Hope has more room and chiller space than the old inner-Stoke site. However, the real plus is the location itself. “It’s barely 10 minutes west of the old depot but, living in Wakefield, that’s 20 minutes’ travel, and more importantly, 20 minutes less overall for the linehaul truck. As anyone in trucking knows, 20 minutes is a lifetime in terms of making it or not. It has huge implications, especially on the first half of the night. Getting to the DC is very doable if we want“Kirstyto. and I also have to acknowledge our landlord, Phil Gardiner. He has been so accommodating and great to work with. Nothing is a problem.”Ofcourse, once the linehaul lads are in, the real work starts, as Kirsty would say. She and regulars Tony
The Harte Transport fleet today.
the purchase and set-up. While our build was going on, they transitioned to Penske New Zealand also, so he had a lot on his plate.” In the end, a MAN 32.540 8x4 sleeper-cabbed tractor was selected, affectionately named ‘The Milkman’. Even though linehaul was a whole new venture, and costs had to be kept in check, the result was a truck that caught the eye. In Leithem’s heart, this machine had been a long time coming, a personal goal. He’s a stickler for European trucks dressed to look Euro-cool and not some weird trans-Atlantic crossover. Without great expense, The Milkman nailed it. The roof spoiler, stainlesssteel visor, top and bottom Kelsa-Bars, chrome grille infills, and driving lights both on the top bar and set into the grille stood the truck apart. It looked Euro-cool; it looked fantastic.Themaiden voyage for the new venture was Friday, 8 December 2018. Kirsty and Leithem went to Christchurch to pick the truck up, load it, and bring it home. In the four years between then and now, their 362-day-a-year operation has replicated itself faultlessly.
TSI had been great all along,” said Leithem. “We decided we were in boots and all and so shed the general freight.” That signalled another name change, this time to the Harte Transport Ltd we know today. “Looking back, it’s hands down the best business move we’ve ever made. TSI are a great organisation; transparent, and they communicate. We’ve had rate reviews where the rate goes up! When do you ever hear of that?” Now the pressure was on to find the tractor unit. It was pre-Covid, obviously, but lead times were already challenging. Volvo and Scania couldn’t supply in the timeframe, MAN and Kenworth could, but the price difference between them was significant. “You’ve got to walk before you can run. Plus, two other things made the MAN an attractive proposition. One was that Foodstuffs ran a fleet of MANs and so they knew the costings for them in detail, so could help in that context. The other was Glenn Heybourn at Heavy Trucks in Christchurch. I don’t know if his being a Wakefield lad helped,” laughs Leithem, “but he was just fantastic through
“Yep, we get notified when the trailer will be ready in Christchurch, and we leave Nelson based on that, allowing about six hours to get there. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, it’s somewhere in the 2pm to 3pm bracket out of Nelson. Nemo or I motor down, and depending on how the afternoon’s gone, we might need a break as we approach Christchurch. When tourist traffic and the like is light, we might get to just outside the DC gates at Hornby. Bear in mind, we’ve only got empty crates and pallets on going down, so it’s effortless driving.
and even though they’d started filtering into Australia, I was just a bit too early here. We worked with Owen Humphries at Penske New Zealand in Christchurch, and he was great. Obviously, there was a lot of interest around the build, and there’s plenty that needed tending to. He was always across it. The new one next time, eh?”
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Cleanliness is next to godliness as they say. Somewhere in her chaotic life, Kirsty always finds time to clean ‘her baby’. Right: Having the vision, and enjoying the journey. Theirs is a tough gig, but Kirsty and Leithem Harte love what they do. Wells and Bruce Still do the distribution in the Richmond, Stoke, Brightwater, and Wakefield suburbs and the three-times-a-week service to Tapawera, Murchison and Blenheim. The product brought up from Christchurch is matched with produce and food products sourced locally by Foodstuffs. It’s a process that takes a couple of hours on average, after which the Fuso, Scania and MAN disappear into the night to complete distribution’s toughest phase… ‘the last mile’. The whole shooting match is usually done by about 8.30am on local-only days, and on days Kirsty and one of the lads take the Scania and Fuso to Murchison and Blenheim respectively, the expected knock-off time will likely be about 12.30pm to “Tony1pm. and Bruce are awesome blokes,” says Kirsty. “Both are semi-retired, not looking for full-time work but just so reliable as you’d expect for their age group. Sometimes I’ve got to work, and they’re already there, just having a cuppa. They know what needs to be done. I give them heaps, and they give it back,” she laughs. Lead by example Part two of this feature is obviously all about The Milkman’s replacement, ‘The Northman’. Leithem admits he never envisaged his linehaul dream all those years ago coming to fruition in the form of a MAN – it wasn’t a marque he’d had a lot to do with, but now he’s glad he has. “In terms of plant, there’s no doubt The Milkman has been an absolute key to the success of the operation. That truck has been just fantastic. It’s done 1,100,000km and only had three nights off the road – the first of those wasn’t until 850,000km. And I can say, hand on heart, that it’s never been unable to complete a night’s work. We made sure from about 800,000km to start scheduling preventative maintenance on major components. It’s a whole lot easier than having it stopped on the Shenandoah at midnight. It’s been on contract maintenance the whole way, so it’s all planned and accounted for. “One thing that’s been hugely beneficial is our local service agent Lloyd Heslop Motors. They have a couple of MAN experts in their ranks who know the product better than inside out. And they’ve been great at working in with the truck’s strict timetable at service time. “At about 750,000km, we had to start looking at the replacement. Ideally, I would love to have had the new model with the new interior, Kirsty and Tony ‘attack’ the linehaul unit shortly after its arrival in. The Northman’s load is matched with locally supplied product and reloaded onto local trucks.
A truck is one thing, but ‘lead by example’ seems to be the overarching mantra at HTL. Leithem and Kirsty’s two children Alanta (16) and Deacon (10) are getting an education too many kids are missing out on. They witness just how hard it is to ensure one of life’s staples sits immaculately on the shelves of chillers at shops and supermarkets. In fact, the odd cancelled holiday to guarantee service continuity is a price even they have paid. Yet the food-delivery supply chains of the country operate so seamlessly that humanity can now fulfil their food needs in air-conditioned comfort, dressed in a onesie and Ugg boots; their biggest irritation is probably the truck that held them up on the way to the store – ironically enough – or maybe the distance they had to park from the supermarket’s front door. It’s a daily unrecognisedmiracle,forthe most part. One thing’s for sure, though, Alanta, Deacon, and all the children of contractors like the Hartes will not grow up lacking understanding or a genuine appreciation of those who conduct the food-supply symphony.Oh,and as for work ethic? I’d say that’s in their genes anyway!
Below: Summitting the northern side of the Hope Saddle. The only section of the route Leithem will flick the AMT into manual.
The D38. One of the sweetest sounding big bangers.
This long boat rows! I climbed aboard with Leithem at the Foodstuffs Christchurch DC in Hornby. At 9pm on a Wednesday, it’s a hive of industry, with trucks arriving from all corners of the South Island. HTL tows the same two Fairfax semi-trailers all the time; great for keeping track of repairs and maintenance and just knowing individual quirks. Through the wash, he rolls up alongside tonight’s trolley, a 15.1m Fairfax quad steerer with full Leithemskirts.isa fastidious trailer connector. He’s four years in, yet watching you’d think it was his first time and he was being audited to boot. He’s precise, backing under, taking the weight of the semi on the JOST fifth wheel, then winding the legs up just clear of the ground. He eases The Northman back until we hear A cab that’s served its industry well: Leithem’s custom-built cabinets in the top of the sleeper.
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the signature ‘click’ of the jaws wrapping the Kingpin. There’s no banging or lurching – the semi hardly budged at the point of connection. A tug test is always followed by a thorough visual of the yoke with a torch before he winds the legs home, and connects hoses and leads. He opens the back doors and looks in. The shoring bars are in place, strapped and secured. Frozens up front, chilled, and then bulk milk.
If you remember the Waiotahi Contractors test of May 2019, you’ll remember our love of the sound coming from MAN’s biggest banger. That hasn’t changed, and I’ll stand by my belief that the way MAN plumbs up the outlet makes it the nicest sounding of the big bores. “It sounds like a train, eh?” says Leithem. “Yep! That’s it exactly.” The 15.2-litre D38 in Euro6c trim produces 478kW (640hp) at 1800rpm. It’s not a flat power curve, rising gradually from 1400rpm and 440kW (590hp). Torque hits the magical 3000Nm (2213lb/ ft), and it’s a dead flat line from 900rpm through to 1400rpm, so work out for yourself where on the tach the lion’s den is. It’s mind-boggling to us greyhaired folk that it matches the peak power of a Cummins Big-Cam 400 while still under 1000rpm. Putting tonight’s load under the power-toweight microscope, you come up with 13.5kW (18.0hp) per tonne and 84.5Nm (62.3lb/ft) perLiketonne.allbig Euros, there’s an ultra-slick AMT behind the D38, MANs TipMatic 12 30 OD with retarder 35. Underneath the MAN ‘genetic code’ that brings the transmission to life is ZF TraXon hardware, so it’s smoothness is not surprising. “With the power they have on tap, along with the way they manage and deliver it Crossing the Owen River. Nothing makes a linehaul operation tick like teamwork and trust. Nemo (left) and Leithem exemplify both.
The obligatory weighbridge crossing registers us at 35.5 tonnes, which prompts the other big question: 640hp? “Yes, I’ve copped a bit over that, too,” laughs Leithem. “Well, first of all, I wanted one, so that’s simple; but no, for me, it makes sense and in the first two months of operation, it’s bearing fruit. “The Milkman had enough grunt for the job, but it still worked hard in places. Both Nemo and I are cruisers, and me and Kirsty being the owners means we pay the bills, so that’s always moderating. Nemo’s an ex-military driver, and we absolutely trust his discipline. He is just fantastic to work with. In fact, it’s his first brand-new truck here in New Zealand in his 40-odd years of driving. I’m a tidy person, but the pride he has in this truck is unbelievable.“Iwantedthis truck to return the same trip times, whether we were light and early, or heavy and late. If we’re late out of the DC, we are late out. It’s going to take ‘x’ time to get home with breaks regardless of load, so the truck is out of the equation. The situation will be no worse on arriving at Hope, and we’ve driven no different to every other night.”
“There’s so much twisting and racking on the road the bars have to be strapped into their slots. But nah, she looks good, eh?”
1) Once into Foodstuffs Hornby, it’s through the wash. 2 & 3) Leithem is a fastidious connector of the towed unit. 4) The end-of-night Nerta experience.
MAN – pass Lewis – fail We rolled north through Amberley, making the left turn at Waipara onto SH7, the main artery linking the upper West Coast, Buller and Tasman regions with North Canterbury and Christchurch. It’s a road that’s seen an awful lot of traffic over the past decade, and it shows. It would be fair to say the stretch from the eastern side of the Lewis Pass onto SH65 at Springs Junction, SH6 at Sullivan’s Bridge south of Murchison, through to the SH63 junction at Kawatiri is buggered, and a long way from fit for purpose. The initial 100km or so was like having a chat in a library while the scenery passed by. The D38 is not among the uber quiet, sitting in the high 60s decibel-wise, but you wouldn’t want it to be. “There are some nights when I drive all the way home and just listen to the motor doing its thing.”Leithem lets another linehaul unit pass, obviously someone with somewhere to be. We head out of North Canterbury’s easy rolling country and come alongside the Waiau River at the Hamner turn-off. From here, the road starts to run with the contour of the land and track of the river until veering away towards the Lewis Pass at Glenhope, 30km-odd further on. The stretch is all up, down, and around sort of stuff and, of course, each section has a name only known to the trucking fraternity; ‘Handyside’, ‘Boundary Creek’, ‘Hay Paddock Hill’, ‘Glen Wye’ all sap the hardearned ground speed of under-powered trucks. The Northman climbed Glen Wye, a steep pinch almost like a mini version of the Crib-Wall on the Arthurs Pass, at 50kph in 10th gear and 1300rpm. Even here, this far in, if you wanted a justification for 640hp pulling 35 tonnes in a time-scheduled FMCG environment, you had it. The MAN simply rolled along like a giant Toyota Corolla, unimpressed by the challenges as they popped up. Like many of its European cohorts, the truck is all about brute strength and intelligence. It bristles with things such as adaptive cruise control, emergency brake assist 2, electronic stability, anti-slip regulation, lane guard, easy start (hill hold), launch control, andLeithemanti-jackknife.speaks highly of MANs BrakeMatic, the company’s blending suite, implicating both auxiliary, retarder, and service brakes. “It’s just great in our going. It’s effortless driving. You set the speed and it does the rest. I will, on occasions, flick it into manual on descents if it wants to try and do too much to help. At our weights, it’s not necessary.“Wedrove the old truck in manual at quite a few points, but the only place I’ll regularly take this out of auto are the switchbacks on the Nelson side of the Hope Saddle. “The Milkman was such a good training ground for knowing straight away how to get the best out of The Northman.”MAN’sEVBec (Exhaust Valve Braking – electronically
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in applications like this one, the Europeans are rapidly becoming the only option,” says Leithem as The Northman easily keeps in stride with the Christchurch traffic. “They’re safe, smart, and perform at a differentRoundinglevel.”out the specs are MAN hypoid HYD-1370/ HY-1350 axles with differential lock on the rear axle, rated at 23 tonnes for the pair, on MAN 8-bag ECAS with shock absorbers and stabiliser bars. The eight-tonne rated MAN VOK-09 dropped front axle rides on parabolic springs with shock absorbers and stabiliser bars. Brakes are disc with ABS and EBS.
controlled) produces a max holdback of 630kW (844hp) at 2400rpm (Sheez! That’s spinnin’). The exhaust flap is upstream of the turbos and can build up more back pressure when braking. The targeted airflow increases the exhaust turbine speed and therefore intake turbine speed, which raises pressure levels in the system, increasing brake output. The heat is dissipated through the exhaust system, making it ideal for highway work in challenging topography… like the Lewis Pass, which is where we now were.The surface of the pass is a disgrace, and the truck’s ability to climb is at times thwarted by Leithem’s status as bill payer. Here we were again in a European cab that is behaving impeccably. MAN’s biggest offering is not the towering bulk of Rowdy’s Globetrotter, but there’s a lot of truck all the same. Originally, the cab was on spring suspension only, and Leithem had that changed to full air. Like the Volvo in June, a massive stabiliser bar works wonders to keep the ship in trim. You wouldn’t blame any truck for giving the odd lurch in here, but it never really came. A caveat on that is Leithem’s driving style. If you had a ‘fizzer’ on the tiller, I’m sure the coffee might empty on the floor as you tried to sip away.“It’s like night and day compared to the old girl,” he says. “That second axle constantly reminded you it was there. This steers slightly differently, and there was an adjustment period for sure. But you get out of this after four shifts and feel better than you did after one in The Milkman. I love it.” We won’t dwell on The Northman’s inner world; we’ve seen and driven the new model in Europe in 2020, and with it now in the wings locally, there’s no real point. It’s best to save the words for the new kid, because it really is a pearler. Briefly, then, a cab we know well that has served many in the industry with aplomb. Spacious, wellappointed, with oodles of storage including the custom motorhome cabinets Leithem’s had made. The build quality is what you’d expect from a truck that toughs it out in Europe’s super-seven slugfest. Like DAF, MAN are – or maybe were – their own thing, significantly different to even their Griffin cousin. The slightly disorganised design language of the infotainment and switch-gear complex to the left of the binnacle has been well and truly addressed in the new machine. And when I said ‘were’ above, it’s because I detected a definite family ’air’ to aspects of the new shed’s control department in 2020. I’m sure I’ll be shot down for that. A graphic representation of the inadequacy of our main roading arteries.
Back to The Northman. The binnacle is big and clear and set out in the almost industry standard format of gauges split by a central telemetry screen. Wipers’ dip and indication are on the left steering column wand, and gear selection and auxiliary braking are on the right. I don’t think there’s any doubt the outgoing MAN has the biggest, chunkiest steering wheel in the Euro league –something that’s actually an asset on roads like these. Getting in is easy; getting out something you do reluctantly. Farewell, old friend. Deer, deer, dear! The Northman had two starts to its working life, and as we approached Springs Junction on the long straight past the weighbridge, Leithem recollected why on 2 March the big fella was put back under starters orders. “Yeah, we were right here on the way home, and a bloody deer ran across in front of us. I thought we were okay because nothing was coming so I slowed and moved over to the right, but when he got to the left edge, the bugger turned and came straight back into the front left corner. I was gutted!“A1am call to Kirsty informing her of my latest incident didn’t go as I expected. Kirsty asked if I had killed it and tied it to the truck? When I answered ‘No!’, she hung up on me! She waited for me to arrive in with the paperwork and camera ready, another job for her to complete, and the only words she said was, ‘Go to bed because in 10 hours exactly, you’re taking this thing back to Christchurch’. It wasn’t my fault that two years earlier, just about to the day, I hit a boar and did damage to The Milkman.”Butitdid mean a few weeks back in the dry dock for the Northman. Thankfully, The Milkman hadn’t been traded; she is now a spare and handles the local bulk deliveries off the back of the semi.“Yes, thank goodness for that. We thought it would be a good backup, saving anywhere between 40km and 100kms a day on the new one, and allow the linehaul truck to make servicing appointments that much earlier. We were not expecting to call it back into the front line so quickly.” But that’s all history and The Northman is now 40,000km into its 1,000,000km tour of duty, having launched again in mid-April.Werolled on north over the Shenandoah Saddle and followed the Maruia River out to O’Sullivans Bridge and into Murchison. It’s another horrible stretch of stressed highway with narrow lanes and corners. There’s absolutely no margin forExcepterror. for the Kawitiri (meaning deep and swift) section, where the foothills of Mt Owen plunge into the Buller River, the SH6 passage north from Murchison to Nelson is a significant improvement. To date, the MAN is returning 2.39kpl (6.74mpg). Make no mistake, that result is purely down to the approach taken by its drivers. On the trip down earlier, we were on the Balmoral Straights between Culverden and Hurunui in North Canterbury. In the distance behind appeared a set of lights. In the time it took us to travel the 30km from Hurunui to Waipara and the junction with SH1, what turned out to be a 13-litre MercedesBenz Actros and B-train was right behind the MAN. Having and using The Northman’s assets in the mountains means Leithem and Nemo never have to play catch-up. Into the light We rolled into Hope at about 3.30am. Standard procedure is to swap out the two MANs and a full wash for the linehaul unit. In typical Harte style, Leithem changes into full overalls and gummies… you’ll rarely find a hair out of place on these two. Kirsty even had her hair and makeup done for the early morning shoot. Another perfect example of
New Zealand Trucking August 2022 15
Rear suspension: MAN 8-bag ECAS
Cab interior: Air-sprung leather driver and passenger seats with arm rests. Climate air conditioning with pollen filter. Red and white interior lighting. Air connection in cab. Single bunk. Fridge. Rear cab wall –gooseneck reading light, control module, alarm clock, and charging port.
Options: Kelsa-Bar roof, central grille, and under-bumper. Additional LED roof lights and central driving lights. Custom side skirts, full-width deck plate and custom-made trailer connection. Custom taillight bar. Additional marker lights. TV. Nespresso machine and microwave.
Custom work: TTR Christchurch MAN TGX 26.640 6x4 BLS SPECIFICATIONS their
Tare: 9740kg (load certificate) GVM: 26,000kg GCM: 60,000kg Wheelbase: 4260mm Engine: MAN D3876LF09 Capacity: 15.21 litre Power: 478kW (640hp) Torque: 3000Nm (2213lb/ft)
surreal scene. You forget it’s 3.45am; you’re just hanging with the Hartes and their team in the middle of a working day. In their little depot, they’re flanked by Tasman’s biggest metropolis, the citizens of which are still out the monk. Some will wake and stagger to the fridge, and find there’s no milk. They’ll then drag themselves down to the shop, and there it will be, sitting on the shelf. They neither know nor care that 10 hours ago it was in Christchurch, but the Hartes and their team do. It’s their job to ensure ignorance is bliss, and once again, it looks like they have just the right MAN for the job. Through rain, through hail, through wind, and snow, the groceries must get through. The Harte’s are an inspiration to anyone wanting to chance their arm at business, and a lesson in what it takes to do it well. Thanks to Leithem, Kirsty, and crew for letting us be part of a tight knit, cool wee group of happy hard workers. Thanks to Blair Fraser at Penske NZ for the initial heads-up on a slick piece of kit, and Dean Hoverd for always helping with whatever we need to get a story done.And a huge thanks to everyone in the food supply chains of New Zealand, for allowing us the privilege of easily accessible essentials. What you do is truly a miracle of the night.
Brakes: DISC. ABS, EBS. MAN BrakeMatic Auxiliary braking: EVBec (Exhaust Valve Braking electronically controlled). Gearbox Retarder 35 Additional safety: ACC (Adaptive Cruise), EBA 2 (Emergency Brake Assist 2), Lane Guard, ASR (Anti-Spin Regulation), ESP (Electronically Stability Program)
SPECIAL THANKS Reprinted from the August 2022 edition of
Productivity: Easy Start (Hill Hold), Launch Control Fuel: 490 litres DEF tank: 80 litres Wheels: Alcoa Dura-Bright Tyres front: 385/55 R22.5 Tyres rear: 275/70 R22.5 Electrical: 24V Cab exterior: ECE-29 compliant all-steel cab. Nordic insulation. Full air suspension. Fog and driving lights. Aero package – roof and side skirt kit. External storage locker accessible from the inside. Remotecontrolled and heated mirrors. Remote locking. Electric cab-tilt.
vanishtroopsandThisabilityold,TheissetcleanandNerta.athistheget“She’shome-sizedLeithem’snot-ahead-of-itgrow-with-the-business-styleislittleyellowKarcherwaterblaster.beenalittleripper.I’llmyselfaproperonewhenbudgetallows.Thekeyisstuff,”andhepointstotruck-washproductcalled“It’sbloodyamazinghalvedthetimeittakestothetruck.Thewaywe’veituphelps,butthisreallytheicingonthecake.WhenMilkmanwas40,000kmwe’dalreadylostthetomakeitlooklikenew.onestillcomesupmint.”Leithemwasheshispridejoy,andKirstyandtheunload,reload,andintothenight.It’sa
16 New Zealand Trucking August 2022
Emissions: Euro-6c Transmission: MAN TipMatic 12 30 OD with retarder 35 Clutch: Single disc MFZ 430 Front axle: VOK-09 dropped Front-axle rating: 8.0 tonne Front suspension: Parabolic front springs Rear axle: MAN Hyoid HYD-1370/HY-1350 differential lock on rear axle Rear-axle rating: 23 tonne (pair)
