MEET MY FLEET
The APL Direct fleet are instantly recognisable when out and about. Here is one of the latest additions, a Scania R500, towing a specialist glass Roadmaster B-train
APL Direct Story By Milly McCauley
They are an impressive head-turing sight wherever they are spotted. Milly McCauley was lucky enough to spend some time with APL Direct’s general manager Jake Lambert and meet the man in charge of one of the country’s sharpest line-haul fleets.
From riddle on page 47
LTDU: Who owns APL Direct? Jake: APL direct is owned by the Plaw family. LTDU: How long has APL Direct been in business? Jake: APL Direct was established in 2003 and started out as a small aluminium joinery fabrication company. As APL grew, they faced problems and damages with third-party distributors, deciding therefore to take the distribution of their product into their own hands.
ANSWER
He was walking.
48
Images By Rob Van Der Hoek and Dave McCoid
Little trucker down under
APL Direct has now been operating for over 19 years. LTDU: Where do you have trucks based? Jake: APL Direct has four main depots; Hamilton, Hautapu, where the glass operations are based, Palmerston North where a smaller satellite depot is, and Christchurch where we service the South Island from. LTDU: How many trucks does APL Direct operate? Jake: APL has 38 trucks
What do you call a queue of trucks?
and 15 trailers in the fleet. This number is continually growing! LTDU: What makes of trucks do you have and how many of each? Jake: The APL Direct fleet is mainly Scania, however Hinos and DAFs are there also, used for smaller metro delivery services. LTDU: How many people do APL Direct employ? Jake: APL has more than 60 employees throughout their dispatching, management and transport divisions.
p line A picku
