New Zealand Trucking December 2019 - January 2020

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WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ EDITIORIAL

A huge thank you

T

his is arguably one of the most important issues the magazine has ever done.

I have to extend a sincere thanks to TR Group for allowing us to feature Mack the Hopeful Black Dog. At New Zealand Trucking magazine we all know what this project means to them as a business family, not to mention everyone else who has played a part in bringing such a sensitive concept to reality.

It would be rare to find a business that hasn’t been touched in some way by the debilitation that depression and anxiety can inflict, and the only true way out of the darkest places is support.

When the integrity of the action is genuine in both delivery and perception, it’s incredible how significant even the simplest of support gestures can be in helping form the building blocks of recovery. The Hopeful Black Dog is a messenger of inspiration to us all to ensure that we check on the welfare of our friends and colleagues. Whether or not you’re a person of faith, we are ultimately our brother’s keeper.

A huge thank you to all of you for your support of our small enterprise. We are a band of truck-crazed Kiwis trying our best to put the industry’s best foot forward, and protect its rightful place of true significance as our country progresses. Our impassioned pleas for its voice and needs to be heard and respected are always founded

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in wanting better outcomes, recognition, and facilities for the men and women who move 93% of New Zealand’s freight tonnage.

Another thank you must go to the industry itself for continually making staff, trucks, and all manner of facilities available for us write and record our stories. As important as digital media is today, I’m still convinced there will come a time when today’s various digital protocols are unreadable relics of a primitive technological time, and the true treasure will be the images on paper that our brains can decipher without an intermediary aid.

And of course, the biggest thank you must go to the New Zealand Trucking magazine team of staff, contractors, and contributors.

Margaret, Matt, and I are grateful every day for the

outstanding effort and energy you all commit to ensure New Zealand’s oldest trucking masthead, now in its 35th year, can prosper. You are people of character and integrity and it’s a privilege to work alongside you all.

Finally, please take care when travelling and holidaying, and take that extra second on the road to ensure your fellow New Zealanders

are taken care of also. We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and hope that 2020 is happy, fulfilling, and prosperous.

Dave McCoid Editor

8/02/2012 11:02:47 a.m.

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

3

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CONTENTS

34 Giving value back – a machine for everyone

50 A MAN’s world – future focused

70 The Classics Locker – for the love of trucks

Invercargill, Hawke’s Bay, Alexandra – on show 76, 80, 84

Official Sponsor

E

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ RA CONTENT XT EDITOR

Dave McCoid

Video W

NZ

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Gavin Myers

O.

W

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ASSISTANT EDITOR

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UCKINGD

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Ph: 027 492 5601 Email: editor@nztrucking.co.nz Ph: 027 660 6608 Email: gavin@nztrucking.com

For all advertising enquiries for NZ Trucking magazine and Truck Trader contact: Matt Smith

Ph: 021 510 701 Email: matt@nztrucking.co.nz

Pav Warren

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SUB EDITOR

OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHER

Faye Lougher Craig Andrews Carl Kirkbeck Faye Lougher Craig McCauley Jacqui Madelin Niels Jansen (Europe) Howard Shanks (Australia) Will Shiers (UK) Paul O’Callaghan PRODUCTION MANAGER

also…

03

Editorial

10

Road Noise – Industry news

62

Just Truckin’ Around

Ricky Harris

Long Haul Publications Ltd OFFICE

Long Haul Publications Ltd PO Box 35 Thames 3500 C/O Purnell Lawyers 611 Mackay St, Thames 3500

ART DIRECTOR

98

Product Profile MaxiTRANS

102 Incoming Cargo – What’s coming

66

Top Truck – Eagle Rock

88

Aussie Angles – Newcastle’s impressive convoy

92

Georgi George

International Truck Stop – S-Way strikes/Duelling again

114 Business Update – retread testing gets technical 116 Special Report – IRTENZ 2019 120 RTF Conference 2019 122 Industry comment – no shortage of choice

regular columns

DIGITAL IMAGING

Willie Coyle

DIGITAL MANAGER/CONTENT

Louise Stowell

New Zealand Trucking magazine is published by Long Haul Publishing Ltd. The contents are copyright and may not be reproduced without the consent of the editor. Unsolicited editorial material may be submitted, but should include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. While every care is taken, no responsibility is accepted for material submitted. Opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of New Zealand Trucking or Long Haul Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

This magazine is subject to the New Zealand Press Council.

Complaints are to be first directed to: editor@nztrucking.co.nz with “Press Council Complaint” in the subject line.

If unsatisfied, the complaint may be referred to the Press Council, PO Box 10 879, The Terrace, Wellington 6143 or by email at info@presscouncil.org.nz Further details and online complaints at www.presscouncil.org.nz

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136 What’s on/Cartoon

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138 The Last Mile

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Nick Leggett, CEO, Road Transport Forum

T

Road trumps rail to meet customer demands

he 2017-18 National Freight Demand Study was released, without fanfare, a couple of months ago. This is the first such study in five years and it’s a significant reminder of just how important road transport is to the New Zealand economy.

It’s important to get it straight up front, New Zealand’s freight network works best when there is a balance between rail and road.

Each have their benefits, but as the stats show us, road freight is increasing its share because of the flexibility and reliability it offers in getting goods to market.

Most significantly from the report, the growth across the board in New Zealand’s freight task is large; up 18% in six years, from 236 million to 278.7 million tonnes per year.

This demonstrates the growth New Zealand has enjoyed in its population and economy.

We are guessing that the absence of a trumpeted announcement on the release of the report is because changes to the proportional split across transport modes flies in the face of the rhetoric and indeed, the billions of dollars invested in rail by the government. I’m talking about

10

the increase in the amount of freight that road transport carries, versus that of rail.

In 2012, road transport was responsible for 215.6 million tonnes, or 91%, of freight movements and 70% of tonnes transported per kilometre.

Despite a concerted anti-road campaign, and a government elected in 2017 with an antiroad agenda, road freight’s proportion has increased in the recent study to nearly 93% of the freight task, and 75% when it comes to tonnes-perkilometre.

Rail, on the other hand, has retreated from seven to six percent of freight movements.

On a tonnes-per-kilometre basis, rail is down from 16% to 12% of the freight task.

The rationale given by the pro-rail authors of the report is that this drop is down to the Kaikoura earthquake, which knocked out rail in the upper South Island for a long time.

But it also reflects a reduction in volume of rail-suitable commodities, such as coal.

Losing a rail line happens far more regularly than people might think. A section of rail line parallel to SH7, the main road linking Reefton and Greymouth, has been closed due to a slip. KiwiRail has been stopping the

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

TranzAlpine at Arthur’s Pass and offering buses for people wanting to continue on to the West Coast. Freight deliveries of coal and milk have been transported by road, instead of rail. Media attention has focused on the corresponding road failure, rather than that of the rail. I guess because if rail fails, there are always other transport options.

The most significant reason for the swing towards road freight is improvement of truck payload efficiency – that means bigger trucks that carry more load, reducing the number of truck trips. Over the past six years, efficiency gains through the uptake of HPMV and 50MAX have been realised in dairy, logs, livestock, aggregates, and petroleum distribution.

The growth in road freight makes the Government’s decisions to rob the National Land Transport Fund, using Road User Charges and fuel excise to artificially support rail projects, seem all the more short-sighted. This re-engineering of our transport system to satisfy ideology is not only costly, but flies in the face of economic reality. It is even more short-sighted to turn the tap off on new roads critical to the national freight

task, such as the East-West Link, in order to put money into rail projects of dubious economic benefit.

Don’t get me wrong; we support asset renewal in rail as it’s badly overdue for this critical infrastructure.

What we don’t support is the government continually selling that investment as a way to reduce ‘dangerous’ truck movements on our roads. We also reject this investment in rail over new, safer roads. There should be investment in both road and rail infrastructure.

Roads are more flexible and immediate than rail will ever be. There are 93,000km of road in New Zealand and only 4000km of rail track. That split isn’t changing, and what’s more, the market is making its choice.

Fewer trucks on the road mean fewer jobs, less economic activity and less money in the pockets of all New Zealanders.

The National Freight Demand Study proves that people and businesses choose the transport mode that best suits their requirements. In the 21st century economy where timeliness and responsiveness is everything, more often than not, that is delivered via road.

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ

Relocating Port of Auckland a costly decision

M

aking Northport Auckland’s main port will require massive investment in rail and road and will increase carbon emissions

and the cost of goods, said National Road Carriers Association CEO David Aitken.

Aitken was responding to news that the final report of a working group led by

Whangarei mayor Wayne Brown recommended Ports of Auckland be moved to Northland. If it goes ahead, it will reportedly be the largest infrastructure project in New Zealand history,

costing $10 billion.

“Where else in the world has a port for a country’s largest city been moved 140km away from its main market? This will increase freight costs, which will inevitably be passed on to consumers.”

Rail would only be able to carry a small portion of the freight, and most freight would continue to travel by road, based on current volumes going through Ports of Auckland.

Aitken said any relocation of Ports of Auckland’s functions to Northport should be based on sound economic analysis and proper costings of all infrastructure improvements needed. He said Northport should build and compete on its own merit.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

At the crossroads:

THE TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS SECTOR a resilient performer, the status quo is increasingly under threat,” said Sheed. “For the industry to survive and thrive – and to ensure New Zealand continues to benefit from reliable, highquality transport and logistics services – it’s clear that new approaches are needed from both operators and end-users.”

Addressing the challenges

T

facing, according to a new report from ANZ. The report (part of ANZ’s Business Insights series) analysed 170 transport and logistics businesses from around

he transport and logistics sector is vital to New Zealand’s economic prosperity. But new approaches are needed to address the challenges it is 16% 16%

14%

14%

12%

12%

10%

10% 8% 6%

14% 14%

8%

Upper quartile 7%

6%

4%

4%

2%

2%

0%

0%

Median

7%

Lower quartle

3%

3%

2013

2014

2015

2013

2016

2014

2017

2015

2016

2018

2017

2018

EBIT margin (Source: ANZ Analysis).

0

20

General freight (manufacturing & retail)

40

0

Concrete, aggregate & other minerals

60

80

20

100

40

120

60

140

80

100

120

140

General freight (manufacturing & retail) Logs & timber

Concrete, aggregate & other minerals Dairy

Logs & timber Limestone, cement & fertiliser Horticulture & other

Dairy

Waste & fertiliser Limestone, cement Livestock

Horticulture & other

Petroleum Coal

Waste

Steel & aluminium

Livestock

Meat & wool

Petroleum

Courier

Coal

Vehicle

Steel & aluminium 2012 Meat & wool

2042

Courier Vehicle 2012

2042

Freight growth forecast 2012 – 2042 in million tonnes (Source: ANZ Analysis).

12

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

New Zealand to create a snapshot of the industry and its future outlook.

The report emphasises the importance of the sector to New Zealand, exemplified by the strong correlation between freight activity and GDP growth. The transport and logistics sector itself contributes quartileto New Zealand’s $12Upper billion national Median income – around 4.7% of Lower GDP ( June 2019). quartle The prospects for the future look bright too, with the industry having to meet a potentially growing demand for its services.

Underneath the optimism, however, the transport and logistics sector is facing challenges.

“The industry has always been fiercely competitive and that hasn’t changed,” said ANZ general manager commercial and agri, Auckland and Northland, Andrew Sheed.

“But as the report makes clear, it’s also facing low productivity growth, driver shortages, an ageing fleet, and pressure to become more sustainable.”

The report also shows that the gap between the most and least profitable operators has widened over the past few years.

“While the industry has been

Encouragingly, both the industry and the government are taking steps to address these challenges.

In 2018 the government committed $2.8 million to train 700 commercial drivers a year, while the industry is calling for changes to the immigration system and encouraging driver diversity. The government is also making investments in road, rail and coastal shipping infrastructure.

When it comes to more environmentally sustainable freight, the report found no ‘silver bullet’ and outlined a range of approaches that are likely to be implemented as businesses take incremental steps towards achieving their sustainability goals.

A different way of doing business All things considered, to fully enable these and other initiatives as well as address the challenges the sector is facing, the report argues that the transport and logistics sector will need to evolve into a more collaborative, whole of supply chain approach.

The report sees an opportunity for both operators and end-users to enter into closer working relationships and explores what a more integrated model could mean for specific sectors.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

A concrete decision FREIGHTWAYS BUYS BIG CHILL

F

reightways Limited has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to buy Big Chill Distribution Limited.

Big Chill operates a fleet of more than 200 temperature-controlled trucks and trailers and delivered more than two million shipments in 2018 through its nationwide network of depots and purpose-built cool stores.

“The acquisition of Big Chill represents a highly compelling transaction and will provide Freightways with both short and long-term growth opportunities, while further diversifying its earnings base,” said Freightways’ CEO, Mark Troughear. “Big Chill’s founders and senior management have done a fantastic job growing the business and we look forward to working together, recognising the strong cultural alignment between our two businesses.”

Freightways will make an initial payment of $117 million, representing 80% of Big Chill’s current value. The final 20% will be paid in 2022, with the price based on Big Chill’s earnings and value at that date.

The purchase will be funded by debt, with Freightways net debt expected to increase temporarily.

The deal is subject to Overseas Investment Office approval, and should be completed in the first half of 2020.

Big Chill offers market share in a sector of the market that would provide Freightways protection against economic cycles and diversity from its current businesses.

Freightways expects there will be a range of benefits from leveraging the respective strengths and areas of expertise of the combined businesses, as well as some cost benefits.

S

CHWING Australia and Penske New Zealand recently handed over a MAN TGM 26.340 6x4 fitted with a SCHWING S 28 X truck-mounted concrete pump to Kevin Bartlett of KB Concrete Services. What was particularly impressive with this specific order is that it took place in what can be considered an impressively short period of time. The Palmerston North concrete services provider received his vehicle, fully equipped direct from Germany, in less than six months.

“The installation was done between MAN and SCHWING in Germany. MAN set up the vehicle in the factory, knowing it would need to go to SCHWING,” says Bob Reid, North Island aftersales coordinator, Penske New Zealand.

The vehicle arrived in New Zealand around mid-November and, following a pre-delivery inspection, was handed over to Bartlett.

“The whole process was seamless.

SCHWING and Penske have been brilliant,” he says.

Among the reasons the TGM was chosen

was its low cab, which allows the S 28 X a full range of operation.

The SCHWING S 28 X Concrete Pump with 28-Metre 4-Stage RZ Placing Boom and Twin Circuit Pump Kit (P2023-5130/80) with Big Rock Concrete Valve on MAN TGM 26.340 (6x4) – to give Bartlett’s unit its full name – is fully approved by the NZTA for road access, with less than 15 tonnes on the rear axle group and less than 6 tonnes on the front axle.

The pumpkit has a theoretical concrete output of 157m³ per hour at 31 strokes per minute, making it super-efficient and economical at lower everyday outputs. The boom’s four articulations allow it to have a vertical reach of 27.7m and a horizontal reach of 23.67m. With an impressive low unfolding height of 5.85m and large opening angles of 270° between boom arms 2-3 and 3-4, the S 28 X is ideal for work in enclosed environments – all of which makes this a rather versatile unit. Four hydraulically operated outriggers ensure the unit is secure at all times, while retaining a compact footprint on job sites (the outrigger spreads measure 5.96m front and 3.6m rear).

Bob Reid (left) of Penske New Zealand hands over the unit to Kevin Bartlett.

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A rear axle weight of less than 15 tonnes means the rig is approved for road access.

Bartlett also had his vehicle fitted with extra lighting to allow the rig to be set up when it’s dark. Another nifty versatility feature he opted for was the radio-controlled pump, although he skipped the air and water lines.

SCHWING Australia has been the sole authorised distributor of new SCHWING equipment and genuine parts for the New

Zealand market since 2000.

“Key components designed and built in-house

by SCHWING, for the specific purpose of concrete pumping, contribute greatly to SCHWING’s unrivalled low operating costs and long service life,” says Damien McTernan, general manager sales and marketing.

“The German-made Esser Twin Pipe delivery line has 10

The 28m boom folds up compactly.

times the service life of standard St52 single wall pipe. Like the rest of the machine, the pipeline is designed for long service life and lower cost of operation, improving profitability and optimising value retention.”

SCHWING Australia’s technical team also flew into Palmerston North to give Bartlett’s team full training on the unit. The company’s back up and support extends to remote

diagnosis capabilities, periodic inspections and field service, and a two-day delivery time of spare parts to customers in New Zealand.

“We also offer half-yearly service training schools to educate our customers in the service of their equipment and to elevate their understanding when working with our technical service experts,” McTernan says.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

McCurdy Trucks gets MAHA testing equipment

M

cCurdy Trucks New Plymouth has upped its vehicle-testing ability thanks to two new installations by workshop equipment supplier MAHA, the first being the MBT7250 20-Tonne Rising Bed Roller Brake Tester, and the second the LMS20-2 20-Tonne Axle Play Detector.

According to Mick Lauster, managing director of MAHA Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, the new equipment has a German-made pedigree that goes back to the 1960s and brings reliability, repeatability and accuracy to brake and axle-play testing.

“Anything from small cars right to the largest bus or even road trains in Australia with multiple

trailer sets can be tested,” he says.

According to Lauster, the rising bed load simulation means testing is fast because most of the axles don’t need to be tied down. “It’s safer for the inspector with less lifting of chains and climbing down into the pit.” The bakedceramic roller surface means the machine is extremely durable and offers superb traction with wet or dirty tires.

The use of an Android tablet also means the operation can be

performed by a single person.

The machine also gives the option to test warped rotors or oval drums as well as load distribution testing (single wheel/axle or gross weight).

The axle play detector makes use of hydraulic flat plates that fully load the suspension so it is tested in the operating position.

This means that no jacking of the axle is required and smooth, slow control of bi-directional movement can be achieved.

Once again, remote operation (with LED lighting for

inspection) makes the inspector’s job easier.

“The cost over the life of the machines is far lower than that of any of our competition,” says Lauster. “Training of McCurdy’s technicians was provided by a factory trained technician (who was formally trained in Germany). Factory support is directly in New Zealand by the MAHA technical sales manager and two technicians.

MAHA New Zealand is also supported by a team of 17 staff in Australia.”

Booth’s Transport purchases Tomoana Warehousing

B

ooth’s Transport Ltd has purchased Tomoana Warehousing Ltd, effective 31 October 2019.

Both companies will continue to operate as separate entities with the same staff and management structure, but under the ownership and governance of the Booth’s Transport executive team.

Stewart Taylor will remain at the helm of Tomoana in a newly appointed executive

director role, as well as fulfilling the role as interim general manager.

The acquisition has come about from the desire to tackle some of the challenges in recent times head-on, as well as the retirement of Trevor Taylor, Tomoana Warehousing’s founding director. The Taylor family, firstly through Trevor and later Stewart, has been synonymous with both logistics and the Hawke’s Bay for more than 40 years.

In separate statements sent to both companies’ customers and suppliers, they said the transport and logistics industry was a very dynamic and ever-changing market, which brought with it a number of challenges and opportunities.

“Tomoana and Booth’s are both family-run companies that share a huge amount of synergy with regards to core values. Both pride themselves on their service, safety and compliance obligations to staff

and customers. Under this new ownership model, we believe all stakeholders will benefit hugely from shared resources, systems and processes, through access to a broader network geographically and a wider range of service offerings. In addition to this we see other exciting opportunities too with increased capability in key areas like resource sharing, sales, health and safety, training and IT to name a few.”

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Freightliner now at Keith Andrews

K

eith Andrews is now an authorised North Island Freightliner dealership, in a move that strengthens its position as the country’s leading Daimler commercial vehicle specialist.

Sales, parts and service for the full Freightliner range are now available at Keith Andrews dealerships in Auckland, Hamilton and Whangarei, with sales also at its Tauranga branch.

The expansion of its Freightliner offering is the latest stage in the continued growth of the Keith Andrews network, which began in Whangarei in 1991 as a dedicated Fuso dealership.

Since then, the business has grown to become the largest commercial vehicle dealer in New Zealand.

Keith Andrews is also an experienced Mercedes-Benz specialist, covering sales, service and parts for the Northland region from its base in Whangarei, and for Waikato from its Hamilton branch, with parts and service support in Auckland.

Freightliner parts and service support

A Freightliner Coronado 114 Logging Unit makes a strong impression on the forecourt at Keith Andrews Hamilton.

has operated from the Whangarei dealership for the past 15 years.

“The addition of full Freightliner services under the Keith Andrews banner, alongside Mercedes-Benz and Fuso, cements our status as the North Island’s go-to Daimler dealer,” said managing director Kurtis Andrews.

“Collectively, these brands represent premium options across a wide range of applications, offering leading European,

Japanese and American design and technology – all within the Daimler Trucks family.

“While this is a natural progression for our business, it is also the result of hard work, dedication and consistency in delivering the highest level of expertise and customer service for operators across the North Island. We are very excited for the future.”

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

MyTrucking welcomes new general manager

N

ewly appointed MyTrucking general manager, Gabor Szikszai, brings a wealth of expertise in technology, operations, marketing and sales.

Szikszai’s previous positions include 10 years at Telecom (now Spark) in various marketing and product-related roles.

“It’s where I found my niche, building products that people find useful and that help solve problems.”

He also worked for Grow Wellington, where he was first introduced to MyTrucking. His most recent role was with Trade Me, where he was one of their first product managers. He also has start-up experience, working with his brother at Snapper, the country’s first electronic payment system for

public transport.

The chance to move to MyTrucking and experience a new industry, one that is critical to the New Zealand economy, was a big attraction.

“MyTrucking is already in markets like Australia and the UK, and there is huge growth potential.”

Szikszai’s approach to business generally focuses on three things – people in the business, the culture of an organisation and, fundamentally, understanding the consumer and their needs.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out and talking to our consumers – understanding how MyTrucking works for them, what their pain points are, and how we can make life easier for them.”

Gabor Szikszai, general manager of MyTrucking.

Hammer robots boost New Zealand trailers

A

n automated robotic welding system installed at the Hammar factory in Sweden will help the sideloader company to

boost its production in New Zealand.

Registrations of new Hammarlifts here last year (2018) were hampered by production capacity, only

accounting for a portion of the total sales/orders received. The investment in Sweden, along with investments in expanded production facilities in

A chassis bound for New Zealand is completed by the new robotic welding system at the Hammar factory near Gothenburg, in Sweden.

20

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

Auckland, will help cut delivery time.

A number of Hammar sideloaders destined for New Zealand will now be shipped with a fabricated chassis using the new robotic welding system, thereby reducing assembly time at the Auckland production plant. The Auckland facility will continue to fabricate complete chassis as before.

Hammar New Zealand managing director Fred Sandberg said upon arrival, the first sideloaders manufactured by the new robotic welder were completed and delivered in around half the usual assembly time.

Each chassis fabricated on the robotic welding line in Sweden and destined for New Zealand is broken into two halves to fit into containers and reassembled upon arrival here.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

HIGHWAY TO HABITUAL FIX

Z

Energy has opened the first Habitual Fix on a highway, at the Bombay stopover south of Auckland. The healthy food franchise has until now been available only in urban environments.

There is ample space for truck parking, and the site’s refurbishment included upgrading the toilets. There is an ATM, and outside seating as well as a picnic area under trees.

The Caltex truck stop remains on-site so truckies can fuel up their trucks while fuelling up on food too, and they can use the Z app to pre-order coffees or smoothies.

If Habitual Fix proves to be a popular alternative to the fast food nearby, Z will look to roll out more Habitual Fixes in other convenient commuter locations.

“The upwards of 40,000 vehicles driving north and south on this stretch of motorway every day will now have a choice to get fresh, healthy food quickly instead of the traditional fast food highway options on offer nearby,” said Z’s general manager retail, Andy Baird.

Z Bombay is the first of Z’s new-look stores on a highway, where customers will also have access to ZEspress barista coffee, a picnic area, a New Zealand Post outlet, and forecourt service from 10am to 5pm.

eActros proves itself at work

M

ercedesBenz’s eActros all-electric truck has completed more than a year of real-world trials. As part of the eActros ‘innovation fleet’, in 2018 customers in Germany and Switzerland were provided with 10 18and 25-tonne trucks for testing under real-world conditions.

The evaluation of tens of thousands of kilometres driven by customers, as well as feedback from drivers, dispatchers and fleet managers, will flow directly into the further development of the eActros toward series production, which is due to begin in 2021.

Results from the practical tests showed the range of up to 200km is a realistic

figure, regardless of payload, route or topography. In terms of availability and performance, the eActros is not inferior to a conventional dieselengine truck under any driving conditions. The continuously available torque across the entire speed range has impressed drivers, as has the vehicle’s quiet operation and smooth driving experience.

The customers have used the eActros for tasks that would otherwise be carried out by diesel vehicles.

The body variants range from refrigerated and box bodies to bulk goods and tarpaulin bodies.

Soon, another 10 customers will take delivery of a first-phase eActros for further trials.

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The ELI-te™ (Electronic Lock Indicator – technology enhanced) system is an optional feature for the popular FW35 Series Holland Fifth Wheels.

• Successful couplings trigger white LED lights to assist the driver with visual lock inspection prior to performing a tug test.

• Unsuccessful coupling triggers flashing red LED lights to notify the driver of an issue prior to tug test.

ELI-te™ (Electronic Lock Indicator – technology enhanced) is designed for fleets looking to enhance driver coupling efficiency and safety.

• Promotes consistent and thorough driver coupling inspections.

• Robust electrical components: sealed one-piece harness, long-life LED lights, durable inductive sensors, and steel encased logic module ensure reliable operation in the toughest conditions.

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• ELI-te™ option for the FW35 Series is user friendly, requires minimal maintenance, and is backed by a 2-year warranty.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Fuso Fighter with a new arsenal

NEW DEALER PRINCIPAL FOR KAT HAMILTON

K

eith Andrews Trucks (KAT) Hamilton has appointed Erwin Stolze as dealer principal.

Stolze brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked in the industry since 2004.

He holds a BCom in marketing management and has been the general manager of a truck dealership in South Africa. He relocated to New Zealand in April 2018 with his family, joining KAT as a sales representative in August 2018.

Having only opened its doors last year, KAT Hamilton is already running at near capacity in its five-bay workshop. Purpose-built from the ground up, the Te Rapa dealership is fully equipped for heavy commercial sales, parts supply and service. The next stage of development will see construction of more bays to accommodate growing demand.

Keith Andrews’ managing director Kurtis Andrews acknowledged Shaun Crosswell for leading the dealership to this point.

“In Erwin, we have a very well-qualified and enthusiastic successor. We are lucky to have such strength in depth across our network that we have been able to promote from within.

“We have high standards and bringing people through who are already clear about those expectations and can lead on that basis makes all the difference.”

24

New Zealand Trucking

The new Fighter FK1125 Tipper features the model’s updated façade, with silver grille and dark shading under the windscreen.

F

uso NZ’s refreshed Fighter lineup has arrived in New Zealand, featuring a host of upgrades, an all-new, class-leading 11-tonne range with factory tipper option and a new Allison Auto 16-tonne model.

Highlights of the 2019 Fighter are: six new 11-tonne models, including a tipper option with limited slip-diff; new Allison automatic options, for greater efficiency and performance; improved safety features and enhanced driver comfort; and a five-year extended warranty and Easy Pay service contracts.

Significant upgrades in all models include a new Isringhausen airsuspension driver’s seat with multiadjust capability covering height, tilt, lumbar support, side bolstering and damping.

For added safety and convenience, a rear-mounted reversing camera and 6.2” touchscreen media unit (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) is now standard.

There are six 11-tonne Fighter variants in total, with four wheelbase options.

Fighter 11-tonne models offer power and torque figures of 186kW (250hp) and 761Nm from a 7.6-litre, 6-cylinder engine; front and rear axle ratings of

December 2019

4480kg and 8480kg, thanks to larger 19.5” wheels; and, for improved safety and reduced maintenance, full air brakes with rear spring park brakes.

A first for the entire Fighter family is the 11-tonne Tipper – a model that is ready to go right out of the factory, with a limited-slip diff as standard and 3.5m3 high-quality Kyokutosteel body with a payload just shy of 6 tonnes.

The 4000mm long, 2060mm wide, 4.5mm thick deck has 430mm drop sides and automatic release tailgate.

There is also space for a cabinet toolbox between the back of the cab and body.

To meet the demand for a middleweight 4x2 with spring suspension – particularly in a tipper application – Fuso NZ has introduced the new 16-tonne FM1628 short wheelbase model with a six-speed Allison 3500 automatic transmission.

This transmission requires less maintenance and is a viable alternative to the Eaton nine-speed manual traditionally used for tipper work, providing improved user-friendliness and delivering excellent 69% gradeability in first and reverse gears essential in this application. There is also a 12-tonne GVM de-rated option.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Art deco and hydrogen move Hyundai

H

yundai Motor Company unveiled a hydrogen fuel cell truck and trailer in October, indicating it was going to explore opportunities in the US commercial vehicle market.

The HDC-6 Neptune Concept styling is inspired by the Art Deco streamliner railway trains that ran from 1936 until 1959.

Due to increased cooling requirements, the grille of the

Neptune takes up most of the lower portion of the vehicle, creating a distinctive image while maximising airflow. The grille concept also integrates hidden retractable steps. The combination of both cabover and conventional truck formats achieves packaging efficiency and improved ergonomics.

Hyundai has other fuel cell trucks under development.

Through its joint venture with H2 Energy, Hyundai

is providing 1600 FCEV heavy-duty trucks to the Swiss commercial vehicle market.

Following this, the US market is an important next phase of the company’s FCEV 2020 vision.

Developed in collaboration with Air Liquide, the HT Nitro ThermoTech concept trailer’s carbon footprint is up to 90% less than a traditional unit.

Temperatures are reduced faster than a traditional refrigeration unit and

maintained with precise control. The control system and independent cooling power maximise thermal efficiency, and are not affected by outside temperatures. Maximum power is always available, even when the truck’s engine is off or idling.

The trailer is quieter than a conventional unit, which is an advantage for night-time deliveries in urban and suburban neighbourhoods.

Electric Volvos hit the market

V

olvo Trucks has begun selling its Volvo FL and Volvo FE electric trucks in Europe.

Electric trucks offer huge potential in urban areas, as the reduced noise levels make it possible to carry out deliveries and refuse collection at any time of the day or night.

One challenge of electric trucks is to maximise the payload while optimising the driving range.

Volvo FL Electric and Volvo FE Electric were developed in close collaboration with selected Swedish customers.

Drivers involved in the collaboration are particularly impressed by the responsive driveline, seamless acceleration and quietness of the trucks.

“While customer feedback has been positive,” said Jonas Odermalm, VP Product

26

Line Electromobility, “we do recognise that charging infrastructure is still under development in most cities and we are working alongside both public and private partners to agree on a long-term strategy

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

for the expansion of charging infrastructure. But it’s clear that the pace of development of charging infrastructure needs to increase.”

Odermalm said electric vehicles, charged with

electricity from renewable sources, are a step towards more sustainable city distribution, but there would not be one singular energy source that addresses climate change and all other environmental issues.

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Mercedes-Benz Actros. Voted the best.

For almost 20 years Trucks & Trailers have proudly sold Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks into the New Zealand transport market. We are happy to say that the current generation are the very best we’ve ever seen. brand newActros Actros55looks raiseslike thatit bar even further.

Offering exceptional levels of safety, reliability and economy, the upcoming will be even better.

Trucks & Trailers are the largest commercial Mercedes-Benz dealer in New Zealand.

Contact any of our sales specialists to find out more about these award winning trucks.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Fuso’s Tokyo stunners

M

itsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) displayed three new trucks at the 46th Tokyo Motor Show (which ran from 24 October to 4 November), premiering the Vision F-CELL, a concept fuel cell-powered light duty truck, and the 2019 Super Great heavy-duty truck – Japan’s first series-produced commercial vehicle equipped with Level 2 automated driving technology. The third vehicle was the ATHENA 4x4 light-duty rescue truck, which was jointly developed with Kokushikan University for use in disaster situations.

The vehicle is based on a fourwheel drive version of Fuso’s light-duty Canter.

The Vision F-Cell is MFTBC’s concept fuel cell electric truck and follows on from the eCanter, which entered small series production in 2017. More than 140

eCanters have been delivered to customers in Japan, Europe and the United States.

The Vision F-Cell is a fully drivable concept model created to explore the benefits of fuel cell technology. With maximum motor power of 135kW, energy storage is supplied by 13.8- to 40kWh high-voltage batteries and 5to 10kg of hydrogen (stored in three to four tanks).

The range is estimated at between 270 and 300km.

Gross vehicle weight is 7.5 tonnes.

Most relevant to current transport operations is the new Super Great. This is the third heavy-duty truck in the Daimler Trucks stable (after the Mercedes-Benz Actros and the Freightliner Cascadia) to be fitted with Level 2 technology, and is a step for the brand toward the release of Level 4 technology when Japanese regulation allows.

The Level 2 automation

is made possible by the incorporation of Active Drive Assist, along with Daimler’s updated Active Brake Assist 5 collision mitigation system.

Active Drive Assist uses a combination of radars and cameras to analyse road and lane conditions and control the vehicle’s accelerator, brake and steering, and works in conjunction with Proximity Control Assist adaptive cruise control (at all speeds) and Lane Keeping. The company says Active Drive Assist helps ‘reduce driver fatigue considerably and supports safe driving’.

The Lane Departure Protection system, a more advanced version of the

Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), helps bring the vehicle within the lane through steering inputs while driving at 60kph or more.

The high level of tech does not end there, though.

Other advanced driving safety support systems include Intelligent Headlight Control (IHC) that automatically switches between high and low beam, and Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) that displays upcoming traffic signs on the instrument display.

The Super Great is powered by the 10.7-litre 6R20 (T3) engine (290kW, 2000Nm) that drives through the 12-speed ShiftPilot transmission.

Nikola pioneers the next generation of EV batteries Nikola Corporation has announced details of its new battery that has a record energy density of 1100 watt-hours per killogram on the material level and 500 watt-hours per killogrm on the production cell level.

The Nikola prototype cell is the first battery that removes binder material and current collectors, enabling more energy storage within the cell. It is also expected to pass nail penetration standards, thus reducing potential vehicle fires.

Nikola plans to show the batteries charging and discharging at a Nikola World event in the northern fall of 2020.

This battery technology could increase the range of current EV passenger cars from 300 miles (482km) up to 600 miles (965km) with little or no increase to battery size and weight. The technology

28

New Zealand Trucking

is also designed to operate in existing vehicle conditions. Moreover, cycling the cells over 2000 times has shown acceptable end-of-life performance. The new cell technology is environmentally friendly and easy to recycle too.

In November 2019, Nikola entered into a letter of intent to acquire a world-class battery engineering team to help bring the new battery to pre-production.

Nikola Motor Company CEO Trevor Milton said Nikola was in discussions with customers for truck orders that could fill production slots for more than 10 years and propel Nikola to become the top truck manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue.

The new technology means Nikola’s battery electric trucks could now drive

December 2019 – January 2020

800 miles (1287km) fully loaded between charges, weigh 5000lbs (2268kg) less than the competition if same battery size was kept, and their hydrogen-electric fuel cell trucks could surpass 1000 miles (1609km) between stops and top off in 15 minutes.

The new battery will be the world’s first free-standing electrode automotive battery. It has a 40% reduction in weight compared with lithium-ion cells and a 50% material cost reduction per kWh compared with lithium-ion batteries Due to the impact this technology will have on society and emissions, Nikola has taken an unprecedented position to share the intellectual property (IP) with other OEMs, even competitors, that contribute to the Nikola IP license and new consortium.

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Euro 6. Protecting the environment is everybody’s responsibility.

The entire New Zealand range of Mercedes-Benz Trucks are designed with a rigorous focus on environmental conservation, effectiveness and performance. The benefits for our customers are low fuel consumption, long engine life, extended maintenance intervals and a major reduction in harmful pollutants.

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INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR

INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR

New Actros wins ITOY 2020 The competition was strong for the 2020 International Truck of the Year award, but the Actros with MirrorCam proved to be one step ahead.

M

ercedes-Benz’s new Actros has been awarded the International Truck of the Year 2020 by a jury of 24 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing 24 major trucking magazines from throughout Europe.

The prestigious award was handed over to Prof. Uwe Baake, head of product engineering Mercedes-Benz Trucks, during the press day of Solutrans, the biennial International Show for Road & Urban Transport Solutions in Lyon, France, during November.

With a winning score of 121 votes, the German flagship fought off the strong challenge posed by Iveco’s recently launched S-Way long-haul range and Volvo Trucks’ fuelefficient FH I-Save.

Based on the International Truck of the Year (IToY) rules, the annual award is presented to the truck introduced into the market in the previous 12 months that has made the greatest contribution to road transport efficiency.

Several important criteria are considered, including technological innovation, comfort, safety, driveability, fuel economy, environmental footprint and total cost of ownership.

Mercedes-Benz has built upon the technical strengths of its current range to deliver a new truck that introduces substantial improvements in crucial areas, such as partial automated driving, expanded cruise and transmission

30

New Zealand Trucking

control systems, digital human-machine interface and several state-of-the art safety systems. Among the latter, the jury praised the introduction of the MirrorCam system.

During a recent extended test drive in southern Spain, the IToY jury members appreciated the new Active Drive Assist system, which, in certain operational conditions, allows partially automated driving in all speed ranges.

They also praised the extended functions of the new Actros’ Predictive Powertrain Control (PPC) system and the totally digital Multimedia Cockpit. PPC, in particular, can now also be used on winding cross-country routes, saving fuel and reducing the driver’s workload.

IToY chairman Gianenrico Griffini commented: “Mercedes-Benz has delivered a state-of the-art heavy-duty truck that paves the way towards autonomous driving vehicles of the future.”

Hyundai scoops Truck Innovation Award Meanwhile, Hyundai has won the second International Truck of the Year (IToY) Truck Innovation Award for its Hydrogen Mobility Project, based on its H2 Xcient fuel-cell allelectric heavy-duty truck that promotes the introduction of a ‘green’ hydrogen-fuel road transport ecosystem in Switzerland, and other European countries in the future.

With a winning score of 80 votes, Hyundai’s fuel cell truck-based mobility project fought off competition from the Nikola Hydrogen truck range, Freightliner’s eCascadia, Volvo Trucks’ Vera, Scania’s AXL autonomous driving vehicles, and Renault Trucks’ Optifuel Lab 3.

December 2019 – January 2020

The trophy was awarded by the International Truck of the Year (IToY) jury – a group comprising 25 commercial vehicle editors and senior journalists, representing the major trucking magazines from Europe and one from South Africa – to Rolf Huber, chairman of Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, and Jihan Ryu, vice president of commercial vehicle electronics control engineering group of Hyundai Motor Company.

The Truck Innovation Award acknowledges the enormous technological changes and the energy transition evidenced within the field of commercial vehicles during the past few years.

According to IToY rules, a Truck Innovation Award nominee must be an advancedtechnology vehicle with a gross vehicle weight over 3.5-tonnes either fitted with an alternative driveline or an alternative fuel-system.

Otherwise, it must feature specific high-tech solutions with regard to connectivity (whether semi or fully-autonomous driving systems), a ‘platooning’ capability, or advanced support services such as remote diagnostics.

The IToY jury praised the comprehensive approach to clean mobility in the commercial vehicle sector, based on the partnership of several key players in supplying eco-friendly heavy-duty trucks.

We reported comprehensively on the Hyundai H2 Xcient and the Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility joint venture in the November 2019 issue of New Zealand  Trucking.

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ORBITUARY

Keith Andrews

New Zealand loses a

TRUCKING

GIANT Keith Ronald Andrews:

20 January 1954 – 13 November 2019.

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December 2019 – January 2020

T

he man who turned a single-garage operation in the 80s into what is today the country’s largest new-truck retailer, has died.

Keith Andrews passed away on November 13 following a prolonged battle with cancer.

He was 65.

In a statement announcing the death of its charismatic

founder, Keith Andrews Trucks Limited said Keith would be remembered as someone who would be universally acclaimed as a man who would never settle for second best.

“Staff knew that Keith would always beat them to work in the morning. First to arrive and last to leave, Keith led from the front; he had an amazing work ethic and a genuine passion for his people and his customers.”

Keith Andrews began selling trucks from his Whangarei garage in 1991.

From that provincial base, he quickly established a full Fuso sales and service business.

Later he also secured the New Zealand dealership for Mercedes-Benz buses and expanded his business to include Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga branches.

Today, Keith Andrews Trucks (KAT) employs more than 130 staff.

Keith’s absence from the business during his 12-month battle with cancer meant the KAT and Fuso New Zealand teams operated under the leadership of one of his sons, Kurtis, which the company said ensured Keith’s high standards remained at the forefront of the business and that all staff were committed to continuing Keith’s legacy.

Keith leaves behind his wife of 42 years, Vicki, sons Kurtis and Camden, and daughter Holly.

New Zealand Trucking Media extends its condolences to the Andrews family and to the KAT, Fuso and MercedesBenz teams.

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ There is always hope.

Mack, the Hopeful Black Dog, is TR Group’s initiative to give an expression of love and support for everyone who has struggled, and who are struggling with mental health issues.

As Mack travels New Zealand’s roads, we believe he will raise awareness that you can make a difference by checking on your mates and loved ones, by bringing them hope when they need it. It is our job to ask our friends and loved ones if they are okay and to offer them our time, our love, and our support.

We are all responsible for each other, and we can all help. All it takes is one question: “How are you?”

This simple question can open a conversation of hope, trust, love, and action. Let the action be that you check on your mates and ask them how they are–how they really are–and let them know that you’re always there to help.

You are not alone, there is always support, there is always hope. Hold On, Pain Ends.

Making heavy vehicle fleet management easy for you www.trgroup.co.nz

0800 50 40 50

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MAIN TEST

GIVING VALUE BACK Life’s a journey to be savoured, and the reality is at times it will challenge us to the extreme. The most important thing is knowing we’re all in it together and when traction’s an issue, help is never far away. TR Group, in conjunction with Mike King’s ‘I Am Hope’ charity, have come together to get that message out in a spectacular fashion, and it’s working in every way imaginable.

Story by Dave McCoid

Photos and video by Gavin Myers, Carl Kirkbeck, Izaak Kirkbeck and Dave McCoid

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Mack the The Hopeful Black Dog digs its teeth into the the Titiokuras.

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December 2019 – January 2020

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Loaded at Whitehall and checking to make sure all’s well for inclusion on the nation’s carriageways, and then cruising off.

All for one

“Can you just bring it and park it in the school grounds for an afternoon please?”

That was the request from one Waikato School principal on seeing Mack The Hopeful Black Dog. “Its impact has been immediate and that’s not the first time something like that has happened in the few short weeks the truck’s been out and about,” said Mark Harvey from the TR Group fleet operations team. “We had people walking up cold at the Hampton Downs ‘Mike King Cruise for Hope’ event, asking who they should contact for help. It’s been

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huge already.”

This month’s main test is a little different. Yes, we’ll take you aboard the safest Mack on New Zealand’s roads and give you the diesel-head’s dossier on the Bulldog’s bark, but we’ll also home in on the underlying message conveyed in every inch of this tuck. The truth is our time on the planet has never been at a more significant crossroads, nor have our answers been so hopelessly outweighed by questions. And it shows in the mental health stats. The 2017/18 New Zealand Health Survey found that one in six adult New Zealanders had been diagnosed

December 2019 – January 2020

with a common mental disorder at some point in their lives, including depression, bipolar, and anxiety disorders, and around 16.6 percent have at some point been diagnosed with depression alone. Add to all that the tragic irony of the added occupational and domestic pressure that comes on people at this time of year, and you’re left in no doubt this is one truck that’s met its booking time.

Helpful, that’s what dogs are

One of life’s sad ironies is that depression’s metaphor is one of man’s

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most loyal, trusted, and devoted servants.

We all know that when it seems no one else loves you, your dog’s devotion is unconditional.

“It was always going to be a Mack,” said Mark. “But we wanted it to be more representative of the solution rather than the situation, and ask the question ‘what are we doing to support our mate?’ A hopeful black dog. A positive message. We chose a Super Liner with the biggest motor to represent inner strength and presence. There’s two of everything: stacks, air cleaners etc. That’s intended to convey stability and balance.

Stu Wynd and the team at Mack, Murray Sowerby on the lead-up to his retirement, and the Brisbane plant, were just epic throughout the journey.

Mike Stevenson and Greg Cornes at Transport and General Transport Trailers did such a great job of…well, not hiding, but making the truck and trailer less obvious during the body and trailer build. It allowed us to present it with as minimal leakage through the likes of social media as you could hope for.

“And again, Jasen Matara at Oosh graphics in Hamilton was integral in

how we delivered the message, as well as wrapping the truck for us. He did the ANZAC truck and is an absolute legend with his passion and enthusiasm.

No matter who we approached, everyone wanted to be part of this and it was really only ‘out there’ once it was actually out there. Paul Livsey [TR Group national fleet manager] and I even picked it up from Hamilton late one weekday evening and snuck up to Auckland and hid it in the refurb shed.

The staff didn’t know it was there and we were able to have a big reveal with them first. It was great.”

When you can’t see the wood for the trees and it seems like an uphill battle, just keep chugging away.

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December 2019 – January 2020

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All you can be

The reality is the Hopeful Black Dog is a truck and it will spend the bulk of its life doing what trucks do. Carting stuff. A home has already been found for it at Winstone Aggregates Ltd, and speaking on behalf of the customer, head of transport Lee Thorburn said, “The importance of this truck is to open the conversation with all the people in our lives, those we work with as well as our family and friends.”

Day to day the Hopeful Black Dog will run Winstone Transport’s Auckland fleet under Paul Morrison.

The fact it will spend its life working hard is all part of the symbolism. Life goes on and sometimes winding it right back to doing the simple things, the things you know how to do, something

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that gives you a sense of meaningful achievement, helps the climb out of adversity. Trucking is great for that. A customer needs a pile of rubble – where there was a space, there is now rubble.

‘You’re welcome.’

But first things first. If happiness is a decision rather than a condition, then the TR Group team influenced our next decision immeasurably when they made the offer of a day out truckin’ with Mark Harvey in the Hopeful Black Dog prior to its official handover to Winstones. We were sprinting for the cab door.

Dean East, Winstone’s national fleet performance and development manager, was assigned the task of keeping us busy – no trouble there. We arrived at Winstone’s Whitehall Quarry at Karapiro at 8.30am ready to load aggregate for

December 2019 – January 2020

Firth Taupo. From there we would shoot over the hill to the Roy’s Hill site in Hastings for more rubble back to Hamilton. Easy peasy, but there was much talking and testing to be done along the way also.

Mechanically speaking the Mack’s a close cousin to last month’s Volvo FH16 of Ben and Leisa Reed, and again there are messages there also in terms of there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and not everyone likes the same shirt.

Looking at the broader platform picture it would be hard to find an OEM that provided a more contrasting route to resolve the issue of vehicle preference, almost to the point of being a step too far nowadays maybe. Even the upcoming Actros/Cascadia family ties will be far more evident than an FH and a Super

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ Liner, and you could argue it’s time for a new ‘Anthem’ in terms of refinement influences and architecture.

That’s not to say for one moment the Super Liner’s not a quiet and comfortable truck, especially with a load on, and this big dog is extra special as dogs go. It’s the third big Mack here to be fitted with the Bendix Wingman Fusion safety pack; again an intentional move on the part of the TR team, not just from the view of wanting to provide customers a safe truck, but also in terms of the theme.

It’s about recognising the warnings and acting, not to mention understanding there’s help all around, even if it’s not patently obvious.

Loaded at Whitehall we put our truckers’ hats on again and bid farewell to the ever-jovial Mr East. How much

more trucking Kiwiana does it get? A long nose Mack and Transport and General Transport Trailers bulk body and trailer. Immediately the cab was full of reminiscing on our respective careers in and around trucks without the underlying pressure of a seasoned old sorcerer scrutinising your gear-changing – the good mDRIVE took away all that tension.

What was blatantly obvious was the ease with which this truck got its 46 tonne GCM ‘boogying’; our minds immediately went back to Northland last month.

Under the snout is the MP10 16.1-litre 6-cylinder engine with single overhead cam, unit injectors, and variable vein turbocharger. It’s a Euro 5 power plant via SCR. Peak power is 511kW (685hp),

and max torque is 3150Nm (2300lb/ ft). Yes, all the numbers are less than the FH16 – 49kW (65hp) and 400Nm (318lb/ft) to be precise – but that’s like grizzling over the fact you only have Hulk Hogan to lift the drawbar off your foot rather than Andre the Giant. It’s all semantics really.

Behind the engine is the 12-speed mDRIVE TmD12A023 AMT, a bulletproof piece of kit whose origins we all know well and whose performance is sublime. The solitary front axle is Mack’s FXL 16.5 with unitised hubs and 7500kg capacity and it rides on parabolic springs with shocks. Rearward is a Mack 2370B single reduction bogey at 3.78:1 and 23 tonne rating that comes with diff locks on both axles and is carried along by proprietary 8-bag air

Next load on at Roy’s Hill and this time there’s hills.

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“This is a black dog with a golden heart.”

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suspension at 21 tonnes.

Yes, it’s a golden dog, meaning all proprietary driveline, but no it isn’t: the Bulldog on the snout of the Hopeful Black Dog is in fact – black, produced by our very own magnificent mavericks of Mack manipulation MTD! This is a black dog with a golden heart.

The truck’s kitted out with full disc brakes, ABS, ESP, and traction control. It doesn’t have the Grade Gripper hill start assist. As we said above, the inclusion of Bendix Wingman Fusion means it’s a big US brute with safety features you’d expect to find in something from the continent. Adaptive

December 2019 – January 2020

cruise control, collision mitigation, lane departure, blind spot protection and additional dynamic control in the form of Mack RSA (Road Stability Advantage) that mitigates rollover and loss of control on wet and dry surfaces.

All in all it’s a pretty hunky-dory set-up for carting aggregate and pretty much anything else you can imagine…unless the bonnet’s in the way that is. Maybe not metro freight, ha ha.

Talents unlimited – we all have them Coffee in hand – No! Holder…sorry – at the Tirau Wild Bean and all roads from there led to Taupo.

The Hopeful Black Dog was certainly a good luck charm as the minute we fronted up at the exit with our nose on the edge of State Highway 1 a miraculous gap opened up and off we went.

Much of the talk and energy around safety features in trucks tends to be focused on braking and stopping, with little thought for how much safety is actually encompassed in the driver’s true best friends, power and torque. We guess you could say always back your talents over your limitations. Imagine being in an older 350hp Mack with a 12-speed Maxitorque back in the day at 39 or 44 tonne and attempting to safely make the leap into such a

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ gap from a standing start.

The acceleration just wasn’t there, and it was always those times when the tension of the moment meant you jumped on the throttle just a smidgen early after splitting gears and there you were – cast with a box full of rattles in the middle of the road. Glory days. But nope, that’s all history and the Super Liner just took off and we were instantly part of the flow south.

Unlike the Aysha Logging Super Liner Titan we checked out last year, this unit won’t have the luxury of a 14.9hp/ tonne power to weight ratio for all of its life. Dean has a 53 tonne permit planned for the truck soon after it kicks

off life at Winstones and that will bring the ratio back to 12.9hp/tonne – heaven forbid! How will it cope?

The Mack kept pace in the queue effortlessly and making sure the trolley was there and happy in the mirrors required a corner more often than not, such was its clean crisp lines.

You can drive this truck with the lightest of touches on the throttle. Ninety kilometres an hour happens at about 1450rpm, but we often saw the tachometer bobbing around the 1100rpm mark or less as it crested hills. The big torque numeral is there from 1000rpm to 1550rpm and its power counterpart from 1500rpm to 1800rpm.

The ideal spot is 1250rpm to

1450rpm according the dog’s breeders, and that’s where we drove it. Zipping forward to day’s end for a moment, we ended up with 2.3km/l out of the truck. That’s with a couple of old ‘Larrys’ at the wheel reliving their past, a strange truck with only 1450km on the odometer, and the Napier-Taupo Road.

A pretty good number we thought.

Again, it’s very much a Jekyll and Hyde truck though, and like the Reed machine last month, put the wrong helmsperson on the tiller and my goodness, the accountant will not be happy, but the tow truck driver might. Push the ‘Mack-cellerator’ through the gate at the bottom of

the travel and a whole new world of performance – and consumption – opens up.

Heading across the plateaux at the top of Atiamuri past Tutukau Road, we gave it a dab through the gate as we climbed the next rise.

The truck dropped a gear, jumped in revs, and all of a sudden there was 511kW with impetus. It just stormed over the hill and fought for every rpm. Most certainly impressive and dangerously addictive.

Once insurmountable, now just a hill

Having tipped off in Taupo on what was a glorious day, we were more than happy the

How’s he getting those changes so smooth?’

Oh yeah! mDRIVE. Mark Harvey at the helm.

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Tipping off at Taupo in one of the prettiest settings any Firth plant could find itself.

old trailer backing skillsets aren’t too cobwebbed up at all. A quick rag around the wheels and other shiny bits, and east we headed. Jump forward a couple of hours and Andrew Petterson, the central region transport supervisor for Winstones, sent us on our way from the Roy’s Hill site with another 27 tonne of concrete aggregate.

‘Hopeful’ is a chunky fella, tipping the scales at 11,240kg, and with the trolley in tow the all-up tare is 19,000kg.

Once the real ticket to ride comes, it’ll be able to accommodate 34 tonne of product.

The truck’s shod with 295/80 R22.5 tyres on the front and 11 R22.5 tyres aft, and that was done to convey solid and significant

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grounding, a right of place.

With fewer than 2000km under its belt the tyres still had the vent spews on their tread surface so they were certainly not used to their new role under load, and as such the truck felt a little fidgety in both ends. Looking past all that newness, directional control was superb, and with such big solid feet there was no hint of anything untoward when you were hunting it along through corners. We think it’ll settle down just fine. As you’d expect the brakes were superb even with a pendulum brake pedal…it’s a personal thing, we get it. ‘Hopeful’ certainly stopped in the length of a dog biscuit.

Now it was time to head west. The trucking stories December 2019 – January 2020

that could be written about the Napier-Taupo Road would fill a library and their content would keep even non-truck types captivated with the level of adventure this carriageway has provided over time. It’s one of those sections of road that exemplifies the adage that it’s not the destination but the journey that teaches us most. Listening to people like the late John ‘Jumbo’ Mettam tell tales from almost six decades ago of having the engine cover off in the cab of his Leyland and squirting ether into the air cleaner to get the old girl over the Titiokura Summit is the stuff of trucking folklore. Over time we’ve seen man conquer the beast with ever more capable machinery, until today

when the Hopeful Black Dog lopes over in well under two hours. But rest assured, if your destiny is to traverse the Napier-Taupo Road on a regular basis, it will have an adventure that’s all yours somewhere in its crystal ball.

Like life, how that adventure goes will be determined by the choices you make at the time.

So, into the Glengarrys we charged and they were summarily despatched at a rate of 32km/h in 7th gear at 1600rpm, followed by Titiokura in the same gear at 36km/h and 1850rpm – that was a power trip for sure.

More interesting was the descent and the PowerLeash engine brake that held the Super Liner easily at 46km/h in 8th gear and 1950rpm. In

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fact Mark was alternating the engine brake between half and full because full would slow the truck up too much and half wasn’t quite able to hold it without help from the service brakes. At a full 2300rpm the PowerLeash will supply 435kW (570hp) worth of deterrent, so that’ll do the job on 46 tonne for sure.

No review would be complete without mention of the noise. The MP10 is such a superb sounding engine.

The cab’s not as ‘full’ as it is if there’s an X15 out front, but it’s rich, and ever-present, and forms the backdrop to extraordinarily satisfying days.

Simply glorious. It was one of the frustrations of the FH16, that there’s a monster under the floor with a gob-stopper that’s a shade too big.

For all its gloriousness, you’d have to say time is marching on in certain areas for the big dogs.

One thing that stood out was the lack of bits and pieces that make the modern truck the ever more

compelling proposition it is, particularly in a machine of this mechanical set-up and genealogy: things like a coasting function and full blended controlled descending. The Mack’s MP series engines and mDRIVE transmission were really the breakthrough combination in terms of delivering a modern AMT option that worked sublimely well in the US bonneted market. But it’s sort of stalled a tad, which is a bit frustrating when you consider this truck’s bloodlines. On big descents like the Titis and Turangakumu you can blend the crusie control and auxiliary brake but it won’t implicate the service brakes, that’s still your gig.

We left the big bopper in auto most of the day, which is ‘D’ on the mDRIVE controller (Drive). As we said last month, with this amount of power it’s easy motoring.

Mark was saying that he’d heard the reason Mack have never offered the mDRIVE shift control as a paddle or

“It’s not the intention, it’s how it’s received that matters” – Mike King.

But let’s peel the layers back a little more. Yes, there’s no argument whatsoever, the Hopeful Black Dog is a symbol for all, but ours is a unique industry and having this machine floating amongst us is an asset beyond measure. Truck driving is a largely solitary occupation and although some love it that way, it does come with a couple of warning lights. Truck drivers spend their days in a tiny office, ever more isolated from not just work mates, but also family. Where once fleet RT systems buzzed with party line communications, giving everyone a sense of place in the company’s day, and parents bonded and chatted with kids in the weekends and holidays, there is now largely silence. Issues and problems are worked through with little minuteto-minute support, and just as critical, counterargument. By the time a driver alights from the cab they’ve often had 13 hours of stewing time.

As truck drivers, neither does a solitary life tend to foster great

communication skills.

Reaction often forms the basis of any rebuttal, and the ability to counterargue transformative change with those more skilled in persuasive techniques invariably belies the foundation intellect from which a driver’s argument is derived.

Then there’s the whole succession thing. The general reality today is that handing the skills on to the next generation, once entrusted to a parent, or parent-approved mentor via the mechanisms touched on above, is no longer the norm. The speed with which that landscape changed and the lack of input those who held skills had in the cultural shift was irreparably damaging to self-esteem. The truck driver’s perception of their own value and selfworth has been under siege both externally and internally for some time.

You could argue via a simple adaptation of one of Churchill’s great lines, never has a single truck been so needed by so many.

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I-Shift type arrangement sitting ‘at the master’s side’, so to speak, is to deter the desire to dabble. Shifting the mDRIVE requires a conscious thought and then a reach. Makes sense to us. We can see how that would save on meddlesome intervention.

With Tarawera behind us the Mack popped out of the Waipunga and blasted across the Rangitaiki into a setting sun. You’d have to ask if trucking got any better.

Sadly, the level of adventure encompassed in this road today is more about the deterioration of its surface due to neglect; a tragedy considering the work previous generations put into making it safer.

The ride over the crude surface was great – as you’d expect in a bonneted 6x4

rigid – when loaded, and ‘lively’ when empty. Visibility was fine. Although the big dog’s snout is just that – big – it does fall away from the eye nicely and the raised air intakes are not as meddlesome in terms of vision as you’d think. That’s probably due to modern cabovers having horrendously thick A pillars; you’re used to it. With a visible bonnet and one of trucking’s most famous emblems standing at the end, if you’re having trouble placing the Mack on the road, then maybe conventional trucks aren’t for you.

Safe as houses

Three in a row. Like the Kenworth in October and the Volvo last month, we’re not going into exhaustive detail on the cab. The Mack

cab is one we feel extremely comfortable in for reasons of personal history. It’s a far quieter place today, with the noise meter bobbing around 69dBA. There was an annoying squeak in the dash panel separating the wrap from the passenger door, but hey, we’re not even at the 5000km health check and tighten up everything.

Dash-wise it’s an all-US gauge fest out front with the Co-Pilot screen and warning lights there too, and there’s a big wrap housing the Wingman interface, switches, gear control, entertainment and climate control, as well as brake valves and trailer control. The notable absence is of course infotainment (we can hear that Anthem playing again).

The dash has a woodgrain

backing and the rest of the cab is burgundy buttoned Ultraleather and hard grey plastic, with rubber on the floor.

The steering wheel adjusts in all planes and has no smarts, it just steers – no issues there for us. Indicator and dip are on the left wand and Co-Pilot navigation on the right.

The mirrors heat up, adjust and look traditional.

You wouldn’t say they are state of the art, but neither are we. We’re not that new breed who are apparently able to maintain exquisite concentration, transfixed on the windscreen with our hands glued at 10 past 10 on the wheel. We come from a time when you kept an active interest looking around the cab, so this type of mirror

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ works fine for us. The truck had the peep window in the passenger door and a downward spotter mounted on the left lintel – they should be mandatory.

Storage is minimal and without the central console it would be abysmal. There are some consolation cubbies and cup holders under the wrap, there are door pockets and a bit more overhead. The hoist controls were beautifully mounted on the front of the central unit.

Unless you’re Brodie Retallick, getting in and out of Mack’s biggies is a challenge. The grab handle on the A pillar is too high to be useful. But wait! Since Hopeful left the litter to head out and fend for himself Mack has started adding grab handles in places mere

“No one’s immune but everyone can help” – Carl Kirkbeck.

“Mental health is something we feel strongly about. It is something that as a business we’ve been touched by its darkest and worst outcomes,” said Brendan King, general manager at TR Group. “As individuals, so many of us have been affected personally, either directly or indirectly. We wanted to do something to extend a message of support, and how could we combine our love of trucks with our love of people. What we want to achieve with ‘Mack the Hopeful Black Dog’ is give love and support to all who have experienced or are experiencing mental health issues; again, either directly or indirectly, and to raise awareness in the community.”

It wasn’t long into the project that the core team realised the immense complexity and sensitivity of the task at hand. “We kept bringing it back to ‘What message will encourage, influence, and inspire others to help?’” said Mark Harvey, who was also part of the project team.

Brendan and national fleet manager Paul Livsey contacted Mike King to see if it was something he would be interested in supporting, and helping craft the message for. Mike won New Zealander of the Year in 2019 for his work in the mental health space via his hugely successful ‘I Am Hope’ charity. The answer was an emphatic “Yes!” The outcome of this collaboration was the Hopeful Black Dog and a message pitched at the friends and loved ones of

those suffering.

“For a long time the messaging in the media has been about encouraging people who are struggling to ask for help, messages like ‘it’s okay to ask for help’,” said Brendan. “This is largely ineffective and whilst well intended, is misguided.

Someone in the depths of depression already feels hopeless and they are not going to make themselves more vulnerable by asking for help. The messaging on our truck is aimed at the friends and loved ones – it is our job to ask our mates if they are okay and to offer them our time, our love, our support. One of the messages is ‘What are you doing to make it okay to ask for help?’ Another is ‘Have you checked on your mates today?’ It is our job as humans to look after each other! Love is not an emotion, love is an action; let the action be that you check on your mates and you ask them how they are, how they really are, and go with them to get help if it is needed.”

The vehicle that has resulted from all this is a stunning community contribution.

Jasen Matara’s graphic work has resulted in a spectacular presence with a clear message. The core messages are clear and instantly challenge the reader to act.

There are people shaking hands, walking and talking together; the Koru depicting strength, peace, new life, growth, and family, and the silver fern is a metaphor for guidance and direction, not just for those working through, but also for those who can help.

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December 2019 – January 2020

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mortals will find useful. How about that! We’re looking forward to sampling.

The Bendix Wingman kit is very much an addon with some sensors very apparent, like the ones on interior A-pillars and side of the diesel tank – don’t throw your foolscap folder across to the passenger side dash top, and careful with those clunky boots. It was certainly odd being in a Mack that slowed all by itself in order to maintain a safe distance from the car in front; pretty cool really. Like it had been

to dog obedience school.

We both thought the lane departure was a bit out, as it would blare away when we were plumb in the lane.

Again, 1450km old, and maybe someone had chucked a folder across the dash. The user interface was tucked away in the top right-hand corner of the wrap and quite small.

Back to a theme from above: there are some gaps starting to open up between OEMs in terms of the modern tech provided and how its information

is relayed. We know and understand certain things.

We know and understand the Mack Super Liner is a tough truck designed for the heartiest of applications.

We know and understand that when all you can see out the windscreen and in the mirrors is red desert or endless pine trees, then unnecessary complexity can be your nemesis. But we also know and understand that if you’re in a specific market with a specific product, you’re in the market, and even though having

a manufacturing presence in the region has all the good things in terms of community and bespoke market-specific development, it can’t be a ball and chain on your ability to stay at the pointy end of the race, be it tech, emissions, anything.

There’s no question OEMs the world over are finding the pace of change we’re confronted with now tough to keep up with, even when the robots are in the same precinct as the global R&D and admin HQ. If the big dogs are to stay in the

Handover day – 13 November 2019

Mike King engaged with the guests at the handover in his trademark inclusive and realworld manner, pressing home the message of mutual care.

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The forecasts for the 11th and 14th of November were not that flash, yet the maps showed a bright spot on the 13th for Hampton Downs, the day for officially handing over Mack the Hopeful Black Dog to Winstone Aggregates Ltd. Everyone who’d had a part to play in putting together the truck was there, along with invited guests and media.

The was an air of excitement, not just because the truck was about to go to work carrying both product and message, but also because it was already working as a messenger.

Every time it had been out in the community to date it attracted attention, and at least twice been a catalyst for someone to make the December 2019 – January 2020

decision to seek help. In fact, on the day we tested it you’ll recall we stopped at the Wild Bean in Tirau for a coffee. By the time we came out, there was a fellow and his wife walking around the truck, reading intently every word on it. They too had a mental wellbeing journey the truck made them comfortable enough to share with us.

Dean East from Winstone Aggregates has also experienced the truck’s power first-hand during the shakedown period prior to the official handover.

“I have experienced the effect of the truck first-hand while delivering and the effect on the people at the site was amazing. This will be nothing but a positive for all people

who come into contact with the truck and the meaning behind the concept. It is a great conversation starter.”

Speaking at the handover, Mike King said blokes make up 73% of the suicide statistics, and 80% of men having suicidal thoughts never ask for help, ever.

“This truck is huge. At ‘I Am Hope’ our job is to change the way messaging around depression is happening. We believe the message should be on people who aren’t struggling right now. Who aren’t in trouble right now, and put pressure on the rest of us, and ask the question ‘What are you doing to make it okay for others to ask for help?’

The fact of the matter is, none of us is doing enough.”

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After a break, walk around, and a chat at Wairakei, we rolled on up to Hamilton through the night. The conversation turned to lights. The Super Liner’s weren’t spectacular by today’s standards, but then we both agreed how much harder driving at night was compared with the days before glaring white modern

headlights with auto-dip that flicks full beam back up in your eyes before you’ve passed. Were they incredible?

No. Were they perfectly adequate? Absolutely.

Great days in the life book. We have more than we realise, we just let the ‘noise’ of living get in the way. We won’t forget this one for a while though. To spend a day with someone of our era doing what it was we loved to do – trucking – in a machine we utterly relate to was, well, joyous.

Truck driving is easier

than it’s ever been yet more complex than we could ever have imagined. The capability of the trucks in the second decade of the century is extreme, both in terms of their ability to move product and to catch us out when we leave the moment.

Sometimes it’s easy to believe the emphasis on what it is we do has changed also. Is it about picking up something from Bob and delivering it to Betsy and sending one of them a bill, or is it now about a swathe of compliance and administration that

Mike said the biggest onus is on friends and workmates because often family are too close. “Family have to love you, it’s in the contract.” He said mates have a far bigger influence on helping give those who are struggling “their value back”, which he defined as simply conveying their worth in your life.

“If you haven’t had a mate come to you in the last year

and talk about their feelings, then you’re the problem. You have to ask yourself, ‘What is it about me that makes my mates feel they can’t come to and talk to me without fear of backlash and judgement?’

“That truck is going to change people’s lives. Those messages on that truck are going to change people’s lives. That’s not just a truck, that’s a symbol that things

are changing. That we as men are going to be better men and better parents. That truck is going to give people permission to change, and I think that’s the biggest step forward in mental health we’ve ever had.

“It’s the Hopeful Black Dog and I’m hopeful that truck is going to save a lot of lives – and I’m positive it will.”

on-highway applications, then there’s a little work to be done shortly.

A feed and away for the night

New Zealand Trucking

occurs around that? The answer is ‘Yes’ to both. How you approach it or let it affect you is just a decision.

In terms of the truck, it’s an interesting machine. A bridge between two eras and if it’s to stick around as a model, more of the past will inevitably fade from its persona. When the short BBC model does arrive some way down the track, it’ll be interesting to see what it brings in terms of man/ machine interface. Will Mack be able to still produce a truck you feel part of? A truck you can talk to, and almost hear it answering?

They did it with this model, but time is moving on rapidly. Is it worth their while even trying? You bet.

Humans will always be creatures of emotion before anything else, and on that note we’re again down to two questions. Was it a joy to drive? Yep. Could we have happily stayed and kept loading and tipping stuff off for Dean for the next decade? Absolutely. 

TR Group general manager Brendan King talked about why they undertook the project, and the 100% percent buy-in from all parties who were involved.

December 2019 – January 2020

47

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Specifications Mack Super Liner 6x4R Tare:

11,240kg (operational ready to go)

GVM:

30,500kg

GCM:

70,000kg

Wheelbase:

5350mm

Engine:

Mack MP10

Capacity:

16.1 litre

Power:

511kW (685hp)

Torque:

3150Nm (2300lb/ft)

Emissions:

Euro 5 (SCR)

Transmission:

mDRIVE TmD12AO23 12-speed

Clutch:

Sachs CL801 single plate 430mm

Front axle:

Mack FXL 16.5 with unitised hubs

Front axle rating:

7500kg

Front suspension:

Parabolic leaf springs and shock absorbers

Rear axle:

Mack 2370B Single reduction, 3.78:1.

Diff locks on both axles

Rear axle rating:

23,000kg

Rear suspension:

Mack 8-bag air suspension/21 tonne

Brakes:

Disc ESP, ABS

Auxiliary braking:

Mack PowerLeash engine brake

Fuel:

2 x 350 litre

DEF tank:

125 litre

Wheels:

Alloy Dura-Bright

Tyres:

Front 295/80 R22.5

Rear:

11 R22.5

Electrical:

12 volt

Chassis:

9.5mm-thick frame

Additional safety:

Bendix Wingman Fusion (with blind spot protection and Road Stability Advantage – RSA) Traction control.

Cab exterior:

All-steel cab with air bag and shock absorbers mounting at rear and rubber front mount. Two-screen with peep window. Heated and motorised mirrors.

Cab interior:

Burgundy interior trim, pleated Ultraleather, full gauge pack, HVAC system, woodgrain dash, Mack AM/FM/ CD tuner with USB connector, ISRI Big Boy seat, air passenger seat.

Extras:

Black hood dog, stainless visor, high air intake snorkels, bug deflector, twin exhausts, Mack stainless kick plates, central storage box.

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P R O U D TO S U P P O RT T R G R O U P

‘The Hopeful Black Dog’

We were proud to supply TR Group with their first truck to hit the road in support of mental health in New Zealand.

‘The Hopeful Black Dog’ is about reaching out, talking to and caring for your mates — a cause that we strongly support.

T&G is proud to be associated with TR Group; an iconic Kiwi company that strives every day to be the world’s best at hiring trucks and trailers and to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

MIKE STEVENSON | MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRANSPORT & GENERAL ENGINEERING CO. LTD.

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.

www.tandg.co.nz . sales@tandg.co.nz .

TransportTrailers

Transport & General Engineering

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INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR

A MAN’s world Story by Dave McCoid • Photos Supplied

New Zealand has been a good market for MAN over the past 10 to 15 years.

Joining the International Truck of the Year jury on a tour of MAN’s recently upgraded assembly operations in Munich was an opportunity not to be missed.

It left no doubt the ‘big truck’ battle lines for the next decade or two are being drawn.

– family naming ties there). And, harking back to the impeccable timing thing again, they’ve nailed it.

“In Q1 this year we were number one in the German market for the first time,” beamed MAN Truck & Bus CEO and Traton executive board member Joachim Drees. He said it not just with a sense of pride in place, product, and people, but also

I

f you’re a truck enthusiast, it’s probably the best time in history to be alive. Right at a time when the truck itself is going through its biggest metamorphosis since it was invented, the battle for global domination between the two German giants Daimler and Volkswagen is ramping up. Both have produced rock star products in their recent history and that’s great timing because the R&D spend required to figure out what happens next in terms of propulsion and navigation has a scary number of zeros on the end.

What happens next at MAN in terms of the here and now will be revealed early in the New Year with the launch of their highly anticipated NewTG truck (New Truck Generation

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

Robot after robot is lined up along the production line for MAN cabs. Almost 200 robots will be used in the newly built body shop.

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ 2

1

1+2: Fastened to a tilting retaining device, the MAN cab is dipped into the EPD (electrophoretic deposition) bath. Excess electrocoating runs off as the cab emerges.

3:

Robots apply a PVC compound to the

3

edges and folds on the

4

MAN cab to protect it from corrosion.

4:

You can have any colour you like, as long as it’s…any colour you

P HOT OS : M A N

like; sorry Henry, things have changed. MAN offers 2000 different options to be precise.

isn’t referring to the NewTG as a ‘truck’, rather an “Integrated Transport Solution”, as Drees put it in a recent press release.

‘MAN cave’

It’s a fair ole shed on the northern outskirts of the big biergarten (Munich’s the home of the Oktoberfest). The MAN plant has been there since 1955 and today takes up a one million square metre footprint, a quarter of which is production dedicated. With 40,300 heavy trucks rolling off the line a year, it’s responsible for two thirds of the company’s build of heavy trucks, the rest coming from Krakow in Poland and Pinetown in South Africa, while the lighter TGL and TGM are built at the factory in Steyr in Austria.

The main assembly line operation at Munich is typically truck, and typically German. Typically truck meaning low on robots (cabs are assembled on their own line and introduced CBU), and the reason for that is variance. With trucks there’s a hell of a lot of options compared with knocking together the family A4 or Passat – think axles, suspensions, add-ons.

P HOT OS : M AN

with an air of confirmation and anticipation. The result has its roots in investment, both literal and metaphorical. Yes, there’s been significant coin spent on plant and product, but also in behavioural change via significant recalibration of culture and self-belief. Drees told us that historically, MAN hadn’t always been a company that trumpeted its wares from on high; rather it let the product do the talking. But now there was a different feel in the company, an energy and enthusiasm about what they build, and more to the point, what they’re about to build.

The level of investment at the Munich plant over the past five years smacks of a company with aspirations. A new €85m (NZ$138.77m) paint shop that stands 30m high, 30m wide and 150m long and can prep, electro protect, and paint 500 cabs a day. A new cab assembly line sporting 200 robots just like the ones used to ‘zap’ the Audi cars together has also been installed, as well as new lines alongside the existing main assembly specifically for the NewTG truck. On that note there’s also new parts racking required to house the 20,000 new bits in the NewTG. Oh, and because of its level of connectivity, MAN

MAN cabs are

The engine and

Right: A marriage on the

transported through

gearbox meet the

production line. The fully

the production process

chassis.

on automated towline

equipped MAN cab is attached to the chassis.

conveyor carts.

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

51

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There are 2000 potential options on the chassis rail setup alone. C-3PO soon gives up the ghost if you try and get him to build the 73 variations of the TGX and TGS currently in the line-up, so like truck plants the world over, they use the most intuitive computer of all time to assemble them – us. In terms of being typically German, that’s simply about quality, accuracy, and process. Here’s a good example.

Dr Matthias Meindl, manager of the Munich plant, said they did away with a huge parts warehousing facility 10 years ago in favour of what’s known as the Pearl Chain production model, a form of Just In Sequence ( JIS) operation. How it works is 11 days prior to build the production sequence is set. Suppliers from all over Europe then honour their commitments, loading components into semi-trailers in production line-ready racks. The trailers turn up on site and the racks are not unloaded until they’re ready to rendezvous with their truck on the line. Ninety percent of the componentry arrives this way, and the serenade of semis has to be seen to be believed. With a 97% production stability rate you’d probably put your money on the Germans, Scandinavians, or Japanese being the only ones able to pull off such a magic act on a yearin year-out basis.

The plant runs two shifts, producing 100 trucks in one and 90 in the other – they can do 100 in the second stint if required. The capacity of the new paint shop would indicate the forward-looking intention you’d have to say. Chassis run down the line in batches of five, so the team can get a groove on, creating a rhythm so to speak.

Munich also assembles rear axles, and engines come from the engine plant in Nuremberg. Transmissions are sourced from either ZF or Scania – the latter now account for about 50% of production. You can easily spot the big Swede’s shifters trundling down the line. They don’t have ZF stamped on the side obviously, and they look different up close, but from a distance the telltale sign is the chassis mounting cross member amidships as opposed to the ZF, which snuggles up to the engine. Of course there was no sign at all of anything indicating a human may have to change gears on the trucks we saw inching along the line.

MAN chassis are painted on-site as opposed to sibling Scania, which sources theirs ready painted.

As well as the cab, other subcomponent preassembling runs alongside and feeds into the mainline: things like doors, fenders, radiators and fifth wheels. Like barmaids at Oktoberfest, trolleys with these subassemblies and racks from the trailers outside turn up in the nick of time to maintain a continuous flow on the main line, and 950 metres after two rails from the press shop came together for the first time, another silver Lion roars out the door. It takes 67 workstations to make an MAN, in 4m 45sec cycles. Seventeen of those stations involve makeup (paint) and there’s a 98% first start, no-issues KPI. Currently 10 trucks a week come down the line with black and white mottled cabs that look like they’ve been painted by an angry child. No prizes for guessing what’s going on there, it’s NewTGs slotted in for practice, sorting out the final assembly line process tweaks, and identifying any components that may have intentions of being naughty on ‘go’ day.

52

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

Making great fabulous

In the relentless search for perfection and with the new truck on the horizon, the plant has taken some process cues from their car colleagues, particularly in pre-assembly functions, things like interior and door prep. It’s also ramped up quality control significantly in the past five years. The day starts with pre kick-off meetings where goals and aspirations for the shift are decided, and there are quality checks at strategic points in the line. One Lion a day is randomly selected and taken out into the world and given a good old thrashing on the road, then subjected to every test imaginable on return – seal, integrity, fit, finish, you name it.

And not surprisingly it’s all paid off. Since 2014 there’s been a 21% reduction in issues with sourced parts, a 21% reduction in production issues, and not surprisingly taking the previous two into consideration, a 56% reduction in customer issues.

One of the interesting things you notice walking around is the simplicity of the communication and clarity of assembly information delivered to assemblers. One of the reasons for this is that everyone in the factory is qualified in some way. It’s also apparent in the issue resolution procedure. To the observer there’s no exhausting process flow charts with endless Yes/No loops; the one we looked at simply said: • • • •

Identify – Audit Visualisation – Cluster focus Systemic – Cause Analysis (CA) Present CA – Decide action.

How German is that? We saw a ‘cluster focus’ in action as a few clever people stood around and discussed a recalcitrant wiring loom from a NewTG. There’s nothing complex about German automotive issue resolution. Start with an issue, insert some bright people – resolve.

The German approach to health and safety seemed refreshing also. It doesn’t appear to be based around accommodating the lowest common denominator. There was one area of cab assembly where we were required to put toe-protecting cups on our shoes, and yes, maybe they knew we were an assembly plant-savvy group, but there was an assumed maturity on their part in regard to us. We undertook outrageous acts like crossing active assembly lines – achieved by looking to make sure there was nothing within cooee and stepping through.

Lo and behold, everyone who exited the bus at the start got back on at the end. Interestingly, there didn’t appear to be a productivity issue in Munich. It’s worth noting that we encountered much the same approach in the Freightliner assembly plant in North Carolina in July.

Every time we come to one of these places we realise just how far under the skin trucks get, even today’s cyber-souled servants of carriage. Will they lose their soul completely when coils replace combustion? To some degree you’d have to think so. There’s something about that moment at the end of an assembly process when pistons are thrust into life for the first time, and a truck that was merely a mannequin five minutes ago suddenly drives off in search of its first load to satisfy a society that is sadly no longer satisfied with it. 

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THE RIGS OF

2009

A lot can happen in 10 years, and in the world of trucking a lot of mileage can be racked up.

However, the New Zealand Trucking class of 2009 seems to have done quite well in that time. We’ve tracked them down to see how they’ve gotten on, and what they’re up to now.

THEN

Story by Gavin Myers and Carl Kirkbeck

T

he arrival of 2009 for the business sector was broadly restrained. It started amid the onset of a prolonged hangover generated by the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). This destructive vortex began spinning in September of the previous year thanks to the subprime crisis in the USA. This had many battening down the storm hatches in preparation for a rocky financial ride ahead.

Barrack Obama was in the process of taking office after winning the presidency race; he was probably also reaching for the medicine cabinet to help ease the pain upon realisation of exactly what he had just inherited. Fortunately, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis had us in stitches laughing at another kind of Hangover.

Nationally, sales of new heavy vehicles continued to plateau throughout 2009, and were aligned with global trends postGFC. It is only now 10 years on that we understand the impact and fallout of the GFC, and it’s fair to say it’s only recently that the industry has regained momentum, with sales figures again touching pre-GFC levels.

March of 2009 brought forward the announcement from the then Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, of how the National Government had identified the first seven Roads of National Significance.

These roads were singled out as essential routes that required priority treatment. Terms like ‘reducing congestion’,

‘improving safety’, ‘supporting economic growth’ and ‘nationally significant’ were used in Joyce’s address – clearly words chosen wisely with an understanding of how our fair nation moves.

While some of these projects are still under construction, most are now fully operational and have been extremely well received by our industry, although some now already await maintenance budgets from the incumbent, who, at the time, were in opposition.

Within the industry we were enjoying the horsepower race, with both Scania and Volvo hitting the magical 700hp (522kW) mark. Offering performance figures on a scale that only ever existed in our dreams, we now find them fast becoming standard specification.

Emission control equipment in various guises continued to leave operators parked on the side of the road, and sent diesel mechanics back to the classroom to drink percolated coffee and eat mints while they attempted to make head and tail of the chemistry experiments they had become unwittingly involved in.

Throughout 2009 we certainly visited a colourful spectrum of new rigs in varied applications.

Chasing them down, we are pleased to say most are still operational and continue to turn a wheel. We also found nearly half of our subjects are proudly with their original owners.

It is time to welcome back the New Zealand Trucking Class of 2009.

January/February

COOKIE’S MONSTER Volvo FH16-660

Then: BAAA – Farmers Transport Now: Transport Waimate Ltd When we tested the Farmers Transport FH16-660 for our first issue of 2009, it was one of the world’s most powerful trucks. The outright muscle of its 660hp (492kW) was a driving factor in its purchase by owner-operator Peter ‘Cookie’ Cooke – and so it was for Transport Waimate Ltd. “A 660hp truck isn’t at the top today, but it’s still pretty strong,” says BAAA’s current driver, Ken Clunie. Ken’s boss Barry Sadler bought it off Cookie at around 270,000km during 2011 and kept the rig on a stock run. It was fitted with a bigger 37-foot, 5-axle trailer,

NOW

Photo: Ken Clunie

running Delta Stock Crates, though.

Today, Ken has run the FH16 all the way to 1.3 million kilometres without the motor being touched. Transport Waimate takes care of day-today maintenance, with anything major seeing the truck sent off to Truckstops in Christchurch.

That said, the only real speed bump in a million-odd kilometres has been a broken shaft in the I-Shift transmission that put the truck out of action for a day.

“This is a very good truck. It has big horsepower, and typical of Volvo it’s comfortable to drive and handles well,” he says.

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THEN

March

April

ACTROS ACTION

Mercedes-Benz Actros 3 2648LS Euro 4 Then: ERF863 – Mercedes-Benz NZ demonstrator Now: BELL3 – D. Bell Distributors Having just scooped the 2009 International Truck of the Year award, this test was an important one and we were happy to jump into a demonstrator unit being trialled by Hilton Haulage at the time.

ERF863, as it was at the time, was fitted with the OM501LA 11.9-litre V6. This unit was Euro 4-rated but went the route of Daimler’s BlueTec SCR emissions system that mandated the fitment of an 85-litre AdBlue tank. It offered

THEN

up 350kW (470hp) and a respectable 2300Nm (1635ft/lbs) and drive went through Daimler’s 12-speed Powershift transmission.

Records indicate that this unit clocked up around 30,000km in two years as a demonstrator, but more than that, we can’t really tell you as the current owners declined to comment…

Still, good to know the truck is still on the road and in use.

DOUBLE ACT

Kenworth K108

Then: EQZ979 – Clinton Waipahi Holdings Now: Same owner It’s hard to believe that the Kenworth K200 has been in the market for the better part of a decade now, but before it hit the market, SCR and all, there was the K108e – with EGR – and the K108 – the last of the classic K-cab look.

“Clinton Waipahi shied away from ordering the Cummins with EGR […] The engines in their next Kenworth will most likely be SCR, but […] at the very least, they’ll have leapfrogged the EGR issue” we wrote when we featured EQZ979 and its sister truck ELJ323 in April

NOW

2009. EQZ979 was the cover star of that issue, so gets the follow up now…

And, it would seem, the company made the right decision all those years ago. “It’s done around 900,000km with only a little work to its motor, common for Cummins’ engines of the time,” says Bruce Robertson of Clinton Waipahi Holdings.

“Kenworths are rugged, reliable and strong. They’re good trucks. nice-riding, and have only gotten better with each model generation,” he says of the brand.

Only now coming up for replacement, EQZ979 has done livestock transport – with a bit of milk here and there – its whole life, and Bruce says the truck is still as tidy today as it’s ever been. “It’s a credit to the drivers,” Bruce says.

Photo: Bruce

NOW

Robertson

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

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THEN

THEN

June

May

GOING BACK TO EURO Iveco Stralis AS-L

Stralis undertakes today is driven by the cranage work Agtrans is contracted to do, mostly around the North Island, centralised around Taranaki.

“Coming out of a big transporter to work on gravel roads for a number of years, it’s handled that very well despite being a highway-oriented truck,” says Phil. “It’s easy to drive, the most comfortable truck in our fleet, and still a neat-looking truck.”

It would seem to be reliable, too. Having just clocked 1.2 million kilometres and maintained in-house, Phil says it’s just flown through its most recent COF. “The kilometres are high but the truck is robust.

We’ve just had a couple of electrical issues, like having to replace the gearbox ECU.”

NOW

Photo: Phil D’Ath

EGR IS THE FUTURE Scania R480 LB6x4MNA Then: R0CK52 – Winstone Aggregates Now: JJK285 – ???

Then: ESB66 – Freight Lines Now: Agtrans Ltd Testing the Freight Lines Iveco for the May 2009 issue, the Stralis name had been in the market for four years already.

However, what made the test of this 417kW (560hp) unit unique was the switch to Euro 4 and – just as importantly for the Stralis – an all-Euro design.

Since its time in the green and white livery of Freight Lines, the Stralis has worked in the fleets of two other companies, the latest of which is Agtrans Ltd of Hawera.

Phil D’Ath, director at Agtrans, says that the Stralis was originally purchased for use in heavy haul work because of its 90-tonne GCM. “It originally carted on an overweight permit and still does some of that now,” Phil says.

Most of the transport the

Bulk Commitment

The first of two trucks that would prove enigmatic and elusive in our search for its whereabouts a decade after featuring it, the Winstone Aggregates Scania R480 6x4 that appeared on the cover of the June 2009 issue appears to have disappeared without a trace. Or, at least, the company that apparently owns it has…

The Scania had clocked up more than 600,000km on the gravel shift before being reregistered JJK285 and sold off by TR Group

NOW

(from whom Winstone leases all its vehicles) in September of 2015.

One reason this unit was initially put into action was its 6x4 configuration, which allowed it to more easily work in tighter conditions than an 8x4. The DT12 17 6-cylinder lump put out 353kW (480hp) and achieved Euro 4 compliance with the use of EGR. If you have any info in this truck, we’d love to hear it.

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THEN

THEN

August

July

A STERLING PERFORMANCE

MACK SUPER LINER – first look

Sterling LT9500

Mack Super Liner CLX

Then: ETN102 – ATL Haulage Now: Same owner

Then: SUPRDG – Pokuru Farms Now: Wilson Brothers Earthmovers Ltd

Our July 2009 test of the ATL Haulage Sterling LT9500 was a bittersweet one. At the time of the test, the Sterling brand had just reached its demise as parent company Daimler Trucks North America focused its operations on the Freightliner and Western Star brands. Just 12 years prior Daimler-Benz had bought the marque from the Ford Motor Company.

Since new, ATL’s LT9500 has covered 964,738km running the same daily linehaul route from Alexandra to Christchurch, as well as more recently some local metro work in Christchurch,

and the odd linehaul run to Central Otago.

Routine maintenance has been undertaken by Transport Repairs Cromwell and HDPS Christchurch. “It’s been nicknamed by the ATL staff as ‘old faithful’ as it’s never let us down,” says owner and general manager of ATL, Paul Rait.

High praise for a vehicle we summed up as one that’s “a fine truck and an example of classic American engineering. And as a casualty of an economic crisis, that is still remapping the world.”

Our test of the Pokuru Farms Mack Super Liner back in August 2009 was our first look at the new bulldog, and we were eager to see if it would be just as iconic as the original model that launched 32 years earlier.

A decade later and we think it’s safe to say the Super Liner has proved itself, and the current proprietor of SUPRDG, Harry Wilson, couldn’t agree more. “Out of all the American trucks, Mack Trucks has been our preferred truck; this one running the Cummins

Signature engine and 18-speed gearbox.” Harry says the truck is still in the same spec and was put to work on the roads of the central North Island, either transporting with a 5-axle MTE widening transport trailer or doing some bulk metal cartage in forestry work.

The truck’s clock is currently showing more than 800,000km and its 448kW (600hp) EGR motor just recently (773,148km) had an in-frame rebuild by East Coast Heavy Diesel, which should ensure the ks keep clocking up.

Photo: Paul Rait

Photo: Harry Wilson

NOW NOW New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

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THEN

THEN

October

September

FUSO SETS THE BENCHMARK Mitsubishi Shogun HT530 Then: EQZ970 – McKey Distribution Now: ???

Appearing in the September 2009 issue having already completed 142,000km in service with McKey Distribution New Zealand Limited, this particular Shogun proved to be yet another enigma when it came time to compile this feature. Some digging indicated that it moved on through the hands of three other operators between December 2015 and August 2018, however the one who was reachable (the most recent apparent owner) indicated having never owned or operated the vehicle.

Sources suggest that it clocked up just shy

of 1-million kilometres in operation with McKey, but records seem to stop around July 2018.

Bizarre stuff! Like the Winstone Scania, we’d love to know what happened to this unit … if you have any knowledge of this truck, feel free to get in touch!

It ran the last of the Euro 4 engines, before the switch to Euro 5; its 13-litre 6M70 High Torque motor putting its 390kW (523hp) through the infamous 16-speed Fuso INOMAT M200S16 automated-manual transmission.

EAST MEETS WESTERN STAR Western Star 4900 FA Stratosphere

Then: JRL55 – Jennings Roadfreight Now: FJH575 – Odlum Plant Rental Limited Now in the custody of its third owner, FJH575 has clocked the 1.1-million kilometre mark, indicating that it was worked pretty hard in its previous two applications (both linehaul).

Nonetheless, according to its current minder Daryl Trotter, workshop manager at Odlum Plant Rental Limited, Morrinsville, it’s still as strong as it ever was.

Odlum Plant Rental bought the truck from Trucks and Trailers a year ago and uses it for in-house transport of plant equipment. It “rolls

around diggers and drills”, says Daryl, on a triaxle gooseneck low bed, generally in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.

Mileage, therefore, has been kept pretty low over the past year.

“It’s been pretty bloody good actually. It’s relatively comfy to ride in, a nicelooking thing,” he adds.

With its 410kW (550hp), 14-litre Series 60 combined with an Eaton Fuller and Meritor drive train, the 4900 FA has proved reliable and easy to take care of, Daryl says.

NOW NOW

Photo: Odlum Group

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

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THEN

THEN

December

November

IVECO STRALIS PRETTY NEAR BULLETPROOF Iveco Stralis ATi450

Then: EYB17 – Aratuna Freighters Now: JAR694 At the time of this main test Aratuna Freighters already had 11 Ivecos in its fleet, most of which were fitted with the 13-litre Cursor rated at 373kW (500hp). They were all performing well given the extreme terrain of the West Coast, so the arrival of the ATi450 with the new 10-litre version of the Cursor at 335kW (450hp) certainly raised a few eyebrows.

However, 10 years on and with 1.2 million West Coast kilometres on the clock, the ATi450 is still proudly wearing its original colours. “The ATi450 has done all that we asked of it and more,” general manager Andrew Havill is quick

NOW

Photo: Andrew Havill

to comment.

At 600,000km it had an engine rebuild and now at 1.2 million it is currently in the workshop being rebuilt again.

“Unfortunately the main front seal let go before we could get to it,” Andrew says.

Otherwise, apart from a few front diff niggles it has needed only routine servicing. The tractor unit now spends its days in semiretirement; alongside general yard duties it has a regular run down to Hokitika delivering bulk chemicals to Westland Milk Products.

The Iveco product has certainly proved itself in the Aratuna fleet and JAR694 has played its part.

HARD ACTROS TO FOLLOW

Mercedes-Benz Actros 3 2660 Then: EUF131 – Courier Post Now: MEGMVR – Hanham Transport Our second test of the Actros 3 in 2009 upped the ante with V8 power and 448kW (600hp); this 26-tonne 6x4 had recently been put to work in the South Island by CourierPost. Our opening lines read that this unit was expected to “clock up a million kilometres in the first 33 months of work”.

Indeed, in the first three years of its life (2009 to end of 2011), EUF131 covered approximately 823,000km on the courier run down south from Christchurch. From there it went to Southern Commercial Vehicles (Prestige) before being picked up by Christchurch-based Hanham Transport. While its new role would not see

Photo: Grant Hanham

NOW

it covering the same kinds of distances (it’s only done 76,000km since), it was beefed up for some heavy lifting.

“Kim Harris at Prestige had the GCM uprated to 90-tonnes and added an oscillating turntable for use in the heavy-haul side of our operation,” explains Grant Hanham.

Incidentally, that’s where the new rego came from – MEGMVR is a play on the Actros Megaspace cab name and a reference to the large loads Hanham Transport specialises in moving.

MEGMVR is mainly used for occasional out-of-town work and Grant says it’s still like new inside, and it’s had no real issues to speak of.

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IMAGES FROM THE LONG LAP 2018 Wayne Osgood took this 1976 Kenworth LW924 originally owned by Pan Pac. It sports a 13-speed Roadranger and a 350 Cummins.

No wonder it’s the world’s favourite forklift.

0519-15

Costs less to run.

And run. And run…

60

Centra Forklifts (NZ) Ltd New Zealand Trucking December 2019 Ph: 09-6348500

Powerful, reliable & precise, our 1.5 to 16 tonne trucks are friendly to everyone; the environment, your operators and your fuel economy too.

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SMART FUEL EFFICIENCY & ENVIRONMENTAL CARE

ESCOT-VI for enhanced fuel efficiency

Being the best is a big claim to make. But when you have created a truck like the All New Quon, you know you can back it up. Refinements to the driveline have achieved a high level of fuel efficiency that contribute directly to savings. The fuel efficient, powerful, and clean ‘GH11 Engine’ exceeded heavy-vehicle fuel economy standards during testing in Japan by 5%, while also complying with stringent pPNLT Emissions Standards that exceed Euro 6 emission requirements. These two innovations combined create a cleaner, more powerful vehicle. Smart Fuel Efficiency and Environmental care is just one

of the many reasons why we think the New Quon is the best UD Truck ever.

To find out more, contact your nearest UD Trucks Dealer:

1219-09

Northland/Auckland/ Waikato 09 250 1800 | Rotorua/Thames/Coromandel/BOP 0274 912 793 | Manawatu/ Horowhenua/Wanganui/Taranaki/Hawkes Bay 027 446 6374 | Wellington/Hutt Valley/Kapiti Coast/Wairarapa 021 284 7788 | Nelson 027 589 5552 | Blenheim/Canterbury/Timaru 03 349 0044 | Southland 03 215 8250

Going the Extra Mile

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Just Truckin’

Around

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Rikki Wilson When Faye Lougher stopped Rikki Wilson for a chat in Otaki one night, he’d only been working for Clive Taylor for three days.

Driving a 2015 Mack Super Liner with an 18-speed Roadranger, Rikki had spent the day carting precast concrete panels to Wellington for the new Toll building by Wellington’s Cake Tin. The question of what got him into driving brought a smile.

“It’s in the blood. My father and my uncle drove trucks so it was pretty much in the family.”

Rikki has been driving for 10 years and said what attracted him to the industry – apart from the family history – was “the alone time

to yourself ”.

He was very diplomatic when asked what he saw as the main problem in the

industry – “overenthusiastic compliance!”

Choosing the ‘what is your favourite song?’ question saw

Rikki jump back in the cab to check his phone.

“Magic (What She Do) by DD Smash.” A classic!

South Island.

When asked what his dream truck would be Jordan replied, “Whatever I’m driving”, and with the Argosy’s reputation for being a good-looking, dependable rig with a well-appointed cab,

who could argue?

He rates the variety of work, the people you come across, and the scenery as the best aspects of the job, while the diminishing condition of New Zealand’s roads as the worst.

The mention of scenery led to our light-hearted vexing question: did he prefer to truck through the mountains or cruise alongside the coast? “The mountains,” was Jordan’s reply.

Jordan Hillier The distinctive blue Freightliner Argosys of Canterbury-based Burnell & Son Transport are a common sight on Kiwi roads.

A tidy load of roundwood on one of the Burnell trucks caught the attention of Craig McCauley and he persuaded Jordan Hillier, driver of ‘Optimus Prime,’ to have a chat.

His Detroit DD15powered Freightliner operates as a 9-axle dropsider tipper, carting a mix of bulk and general cargo anywhere in the country.

Jordan’s career behind the wheel began in the City of Sails driving a Nissan Diesel with a truck-mounted crane for Swanson Transport before taking up residence in the

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

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Around

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Royce Bowler The mobile burger bar on SH1 in Otaki was a magnet for truck drivers when Faye Lougher passed through recently.

Royce Bowler from Cox Heavy Salvage was there getting dinner with his fiveyear-old son Archer.

The bright yellow 1981 Mack Super Liner tow truck that he drives has an 18-speed Roadranger and is used for recovering heavy vehicles.

Royce says his grandfather, Shorty Collins, started driving tow trucks in the 1940s and owned JW Collins & Sons Towing in Titahi Bay, and his father, Dave Bowler, was also a towie.

“I’ve been towing for the best part of 20 years and remember being in a Mack just like this with my father when I was about the same age as Archer,” Royce says.

“I love to get out and about

and help a lot of people.

You get to meet some nice people.”

When asked what he saw as the main problem in the industry today, Royce said, “where do you start?” saying it

was hard to narrow it down to one thing.

The question of his favourite food was an easy one – “Dutchy’s Man Burger”.

JUST TRUCKIN’ AROUND – Overseas

Ingemar Karlberg Our international Just Truckin’ Around is probably the most Swedish one we’ll ever bring you. Ingemar Karlberg, from Gothenburg, drives a Volvo truck that transports Volvo cars all over Europe!

The 66-year-old was taking his weekly 24-hour break at the famous Joost Truckstop at Meer on the Belgian/Dutch border north of Antwerp when Paul O’Callaghan nabbed him. The highly regarded facility features a bar and restaurant, along with a comprehensive truck accessories shop. For years it has been a recognised stopoff point for trucks from all over Europe, especially those travelling from the warmer Mediterranean countries to the colder Scandinavian ones.

Indeed, Ingemar loves getting down to Spain,

especially to escape the harsh Swedish winter. Today, he was returning from Seville in the south of Spain with Volvo test cars. “My employer, Scan Global Logistics, has 10 Volvo trucks transporting Volvo cars

for tests and exhibitions all over Europe, although I have driven to Asia and Africa once also.”

Although Ingemar has been doing this line of work for 40 years now (direct for Volvo up New Zealand Trucking

until 2013), his enthusiasm has not waned one bit. “Sure there are some things which were better back then, but overall I think we have it better now. I still love my job!”

December 2019 – January 2020

63

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Just Truckin’

Around

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JUST TRUCKIN’ AROUND – Overseas

Steven Preston Steven Preston was just putting the finishing touches to his 2019 Western Star, 7900SF at the Show & Shine being held at the Mission Raceway Park, British Columbia, when Mike Beesley caught up with him.

This charitable show was supporting the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and is held each year at the Mission Raceway.

Steven had come across on the ferry from Vancouver Island, where he drives for Jerry’s Transport. The company is part of the Centurion Lumber Company based in Chemainus on the

Steven Preston

island, which is where the timber he was loaded with had come from.

The 304mm x 304mm (12” x 12”) chunks of timber were all bolted together across each layer and were destined for

a construction project down at Sea-Tac, the large airport in Seattle, Washington State, where they were going to be used as a mat for a large crane to sit on. This load grossed the B-train out at 63,500kg,

which certainly gave the Detroit Diesel DD16 and 18-speed Roadranger something to work on.

When asked about vehicle preferences, Steven said he is a Ford man to the end.

Nationwide Sales, Service & Parts

Phone: 07 849 4839 Email: hiab@trt.co.nz Address: 48 Maui Street, Te Rapa, Hamilton

www.trt.co.nz

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1219-015

MADE FOR NEW ZEALAND

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TOP TRUCK

Eagle Rock Story and photos by Carl Kirkbeck

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

As if it had fallen from the

pages of an early American transport magazine, this

month’s Top Truck proudly wears classic stripes and signage that salute its pedigree and lineage.

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B

ack when Fred Botica was manning the Radio Hauraki studio from the top of Caltex House, spinning a vinyl pressing of Daddy Cool’s’ Eagle Rock on 1476AM, young truck nutters were drooling over the centrefold images of American Overdrive magazine; those well-stacked models sporting classic curves and lines that would cause many young hearts to race. The

International TranStar 4070, Peterbilt 352, Mack Cruise Liner and Kenworth K100 would all etch images into the minds of young truckers around the world, dreaming of owning their own all-American cabover rig one day.

This month’s Top Truck owes its place as pride of fleet with Counties Bulk Haulage to owner Boyd Young’s very own aspirations brought about by those images he vividly remembers.

“As a kid I would pore over the pictures in those magazines, and when it was finally time to stripe up the Eagle I knew how I wanted it to look, and with John Moulden from The Sign Shed’s help, I feel we have captured the old skool American cabover look,” he said.

Boyd’s interest in trucks and the transport industry has its roots firmly placed in the Franklin district. Boyd’s father was a local stock agent and had connections with the resident rural carriers and transport operators, the likes of RW Howard and Tuakau Transport. “There was always a passenger’s seat to fill, and no phones back then, so at the end of the day I would head straight to the Tuakau Cossie Club because that’s where you would catch the stock agents after the sales, so it wasn’t hard to find Dad to grab a lift home,” Boyd shared with a laugh.

Riding shotgun in the stock units led to an opportunity working for Vernon Farms, where at the age of 18 Boyd learnt to drive both a J4 Bedford and a D series Ford. Passing his H/T licence, Boyd worked his way up to a new Mitsubishi stock truck. It was 1990 that saw a move to work for James Chapman and Colin Irvine at Pukekawa Bulk Fertiliser. This shift found Boyd driving a mix of spreaders and bulk units, including a stint on a Ford N5032 and then a W924 Kenworth. In 2000 James presented Boyd with the opportunity to purchase Pukekawa Bulk Fertiliser. This began a five-year journey that transitioned the business into Counties Bulk Haulage as it is known today.

Boyd’s fleet has grown organically as the needs and opportunities presented themselves. As well as the International there are two DAF 6x4 units, both with 4-axle trailers, a 460 Isuzu 6x4 with a 3-axle trailer, and a Fuso Enduro 6x4. The business of moving bulk commodities places the fleet in many challenging situations and this in part is the reason for the addition of the 9870 Eagle.

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

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1

2

4

3

5

1) Owner Boyd Young (left) and driver Adrian Norris are both extremely pleased with the new ride in the fleet; 2 & 3) Another crisp build by the team at Transfleet Trailers; 4) Every bit an iconic American place of work, with modern day twists; 5) Classic American stripes and signage, straight from the centrefolds of the 1980’s Overdrive magazine.

68

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019

“I was looking for a unit that could cover all the bases for us,” said Boyd. “Carting off the wharf this configuration with the 6-wheeler and the 5-axle can be heavy permitted, as well as giving the flexibility and agility of the 6-wheeler for when we are running fert to airstrips or metal and aggregates into hoppers. I was also looking for the torque and horsepower that the Cummins X15 offered, alongside the ease of operation speccing the Eaton UltraShift MXP 18-speed AMT transmission. For tight situations and around town city traffic it just cannot be beaten; it takes the sweat out of driving and allows you to concentrate on what’s up ahead.

It really does have everything we needed.”

Chatting with full-time driver on the Eagle, Adrian Norris, we receive a big thumbs-up from him as well.

“I have been with Boyd here at Counties Bulk Haulage for seven years now and this is my third new truck and I love it. I had both the DAFs from new and now have moved on to the Eagle; you won’t get me out of it,” he says with a smile. 

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THE CLASSICS LOCKER

Faye Lougher unearths trucking treasures from all over New Zealand in our new regular section – The Classics Locker.

Mike Uhlenberg with the rare 6x4 KB6 International he’s restored.

FOR THE LOVE OF TRUCKS

Story by Faye Lougher | Photos by Faye Lougher and as credited With the family firm now in the hands of the next generation, a humble man who founded a Kiwi transport icon still loves nothing more than being immersed in a vehicle or machine restoration.

70

M

ike Uhlenberg was born in 1939 at Eltham in Taranaki, the eldest child of five born to parents who farmed at Mangatoki. He spent his early years at the local convent school before being sent to St Patrick’s College in Silverstream for two years.

“I hated school, and I wanted to leave, and my father said I could not leave until I’d got an

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

apprenticeship and had a trade.

I really wanted to be a motor mechanic but the local garage here only took on apprentices every second year and had done that the year before.”

The owner of the local triweekly newspaper, the Eltham Argus, heard Mike was looking for a job and got in touch.

“He said, ‘well, it’s sort of mechanical but it’s not cars, it’s machines, would you like a job?’

So I took it. I was a linotype

operator, but I was lucky, I did everything in the printing trade, from newspaper printing to all sorts of stuff. When I went to trade school each year, I was one of the few who knew every aspect of the printing trade.”

Mike’s apprenticeship was 10,000 hours or five years, whichever came first. Desperate to gain his qualification so he could then do what he wanted, he did overtime and

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Credit: Uhlenberg collection

Credit: Uhlenberg collection

Right: The Kenworth W923S2 in its prime on gas haulage. Left: Midway through rebuild.

back-to-back shifts to get his 10,000 hours.

“About two months after I got out of my time, I left the printing trade, and went driving milk tankers. Is that a surprise?

I just love trucks – my father was probably one of the first around here who had very early wheel tractors on the farm, and he had a little Caterpillar bulldozer, a 15 I think.”

Mike’s first driving job was for the Eltham Dairy Company, driving a Thames Trader 75 with an 1800-gallon articulated tank on the back, a combination that was classed as a big unit in those days.

In a dairy off-season in the early 60s, Mike and a friend went to Australia and went truck driving.

“I did the Nullabor Plains a few times, but did mostly local around Wollongong to Crookwell. We carted fertiliser to there from Port Kembla, which is down near Wollongong.”

After a few years, Mike’s father developed lung cancer and his mother asked if he would come home for a visit.

“It was just coming on to the flush of the season, and the manager of the dairy factory said, ‘how long are you back for?’ I said I didn’t know how long, and he said ‘well, we’re busy, would you come down and drive a tanker for me, help us out?’ I never went back to Aussie! I stayed there until

1966 and then I bought my first truck, a C7 Commer.”

By this time Mike was an owner-driver, carting metal and other products for the Ministry of Works, working out of their depot in New Plymouth.

“We ranged between there and halfway through the Awakino Gorge, which was the end of our boundary north, and the end of the boundary south was Patea, round the mountain, State Highway 45, the road up through the Waitaangas to Ohura, which was all metal – it still is metal for most of that road today.”

Mike had just the one truck, and says in those days you had to have a vehicle authority (VA) for the truck.

“About 68, 69, I bought out general carrier Denis Butler in Stratford. He had another C7 Commer, but it was on a general goods licence, which meant I could work for anybody. With the Ministry of Works licence you could cart anything – and that meant anything – but only for the Ministry of Works and/or their contractors.

“A change in direction by the government and poor economic climate saw us get laid off from the Ministry of Works. I had just purchased a brand new Commer from W.R. Phillips in New Plymouth. I took it back and told Neil Phillips that because we had been laid off I wouldn’t meet the payments.

He told me to keep the truck and see what happens: ‘you look like the sort of guy who will make a go of it, just pay us when you can’. I knew a fair few farmers from my milk tanker driving, so I brought the trucks from New Plymouth down to Eltham, and started carting metal around the farm tanker tracks and so on.

“And I managed to meet the payments for the Commer.”

Mike says all the drivers who worked for the Ministry of Works were very experienced in metal spreading, something a lot of the general carriers weren’t.

“We got pretty good at it because we were doing it all day every day.”

To protect the rail, the government limited the distance trucks could carry goods, initially to 30 miles (48km) in 1936, extended to 40 miles (64km) in 1961, and then 94 miles (150km) in 1977.

Carriers were licensed to carry specific types of freight, within particular areas. Between 1983 and 1986 the government removed the limits on longdistance trucking, and the licensing system, which had controlled which goods could be carried and where, also ended.

“Across the road from here there used to be a bulk spreading outfit called Worthington Bulk Supplies.

When the distance got lifted to New Zealand Trucking

40 miles that meant we could cart between New Plymouth and Eltham. Before, all the fertiliser used to come in a railway wagon and be offloaded with a clamshell, and carted across into the bulk store. I went and saw the owner, Edgar Worthington, and said, ‘I reckon we can do a deal here, and I can cart it into your store cheaper than the rail and the clamshell costs combined’. We made a deal and that got me going again. We eventually bought that bulk store some years later.”

In 1971 Mike sold one of the trucks and bought a White 2064.

“It was a used truck and that White made our business.

It had a GM in it, and it just never stopped.”

Soon after Mike was asked if he was interested in carting logs for another client.

“I said, ‘yeah, I’d do anything’. I got involved in native log cartage from out Whangamomona way into the local mill in Stratford for E.H. Fazackerley. So we ended up with a bit of metal, a bit of manure, and a bit of logs! We still only had a few trucks.

“We did anything – because I had a general goods licence.

With the native logging, some were one-log loads; they were big logs.”

In 1974 Mike bought his first new Kenworth and started carting LPG to Auckland.

December 2019 – January 2020

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“The Kenworth was a W924,” says Mike, pointing to a photo of it on the wall.

“That’s a photo of when it was new, and it’s when we changed our colours.”

Mike goes on to explain the reason for the company’s change from dark green to its now iconic bright green and white.

“A few times I’d be heading back into town with a log on and it would be a dusty day and I’d have local people nearly hit me. And I would

72

say, ‘hell, couldn’t you see me, what’s wrong?’ They’d say they couldn’t see me and I’d say ‘bullshit! You know, a 40-foot log on, you must see me!’ but they’d say they didn’t.

“Anyway, I had the misfortune of blowing two tyres out on the pole trailer one day, and my driver was bringing me out a couple of spare wheels for it. He came around a corner and just about buried the ute under the front of the truck.

I said to him, ‘didn’t you see me?’ and he said ‘no, I didn’t

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

see you’.”

At a loss to understand why the trucks were seemingly invisible, Mike and the driver walked back up the road and looked back, discovering the dark green truck was blending with the bush.

“About the same time, Chrysler brought out a twodoor Valiant Charger. My first wife, Carol, and I were driving into Stratford and we saw this Charger at the far end of Broadway. We had just ordered our first brand new Kenworth,

which was going to be our flagship, and we both said at the same time, ‘that’s the colour it’s got to be, look at that car’.

You could see it from one end of Broadway to the other. And that’s when our colour change came.

“That colour has probably been our best marketing tool, because it stands out so much.

It’s changed a little from the original, just by way of different painters, but it’s basically the same. You can see them a long way off.”

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ The gas haulage side of the business expanded and Mike says they still had to have VAs, and for the first 18 months or so they had to have a permit to cart against the rail.

“I think if the road distance was one-third less than the rail, you could compete against them. There were also special permits for stock and loads that rail couldn’t cart – and LPG was one of them. They had a few rail tanks that they used but it wasn’t enough.

For 18 months we worked on monthly permits, and to get these permits Carol went to the authorities in new Plymouth each month and waited for hours while the guy decided if they were going to renew them, something not many people know.”

An International Transtar 4070 with four two-ton skid tanks chained to a 36ft flat deck was put into use as a tanker.

“Rex Wood Truck and Tractor in Tauranga brought that in as a used truck from America. Along with the Kenworth, we had those two trucks on that job pretty much all the time then.”

In 1978 Mike and Carol bought Eltham Transport, immediately selling the stock side of the business to Mack Brothers at Kaponga and retaining the general goods side of the business.

“We started to grow, quicker than I could actually keep up with it. We bought Eltham Transport to get the VAs really.

They had a fleet of Bedfords and Ford Traders, and all sorts of small stuff. We put them into the fleet and then started getting rid of the small trucks and putting bigger ones on.

“I was buying all sorts of secondhand Kenworths, ex loggers, all sorts of stuff. We had about 15 trucks at that stage. We were into everything bar livestock; we never carted stock. Not because I disliked stock, I just wasn’t a handler of stock.”

Mike says the business just ticked along with the gas and the fertiliser, then later the bulk spreading side was sold to Gary Hooper and the log side to Mike’s cousin, Dave Uhlenberg.

Throughout the late 80s and 90s all three of Mike and Carol’s sons began working in the business. Sadly, in 1997 Carol was killed in an accident, and Mike admits her death hit the whole family hard.

“I didn’t want responsibility any longer; I just wanted to be a driver really. I was pretty lost there for a while. Carol had run the office and when the drivers came home they all came to her. She was really the mother of the place, and she ran all the trucks.”

After a couple of years during which Mike was still out on the road, doing 800km a day as well as running the trucks, he decided to step back a bit.

“I buggered off to Canada for a bit, and put the boys in the driver’s seat of the business. We all decided that it would always be a family member in charge

of the place; it won’t be a general manager or something.

Daryl had also done his time as a motor mechanic, so he ran the workshop and the office, Chris looked after the despatch and operations, and Tony picked up anything else that needed attention. To this day they all run different aspects of the business and they work well as a team, they’re pretty close.”

Mike says upon his return from Canada the boys asked if he was going to take control of the business again.

“I said, ‘What for? You guys look to be doing good job.’ So I just went back driving and left Daryl in the office and Chris and Tony running the trucks and it’s just carried on from there. The boys, in my eyes, have run it tremendously well since that time, and they’ve driven it to where it is now.”

Mike says when the gas side of the business was doing well, he let a lot of the general work slide away due to not having enough time to look after everything.

“If the phone didn’t ring, I didn’t worry; we had plenty else to do, it didn’t worry us.

But the boys have now built up the general side of the business quite big again, as you can see by looking out at the yard.”

Uhlenberg Haulage now has approximately 30 trucks and 35 staff.

“We go up as far as Whangarei, down to Wellington, sometimes it used to be Nelson too, and over to Gisborne. We travel everywhere

New Zealand Trucking

in the North Island, with gas and that. We’ve had the gas distribution since 1973, and while there have been a lot of business changes over the years, we’ve survived and have still got some of it after all that time – and there are not many guys in New Zealand who have had a contract that long.”

Mike says although he hasn’t worked as a driver for about 16 years, he hasn’t lost his love of trucks.

“I just love the comradeship with the other drivers. The old days of being out on the road doing long-distance haulage was great because there weren’t that many of us in those early days. You got to know so many people around the country, different characters, and I loved all that. I loved my truck, I just loved my truck.”

Although he’s a confirmed Kenworth fan, Mike says his favourite trucks are the 378 Peterbilts. The company has run many of this model over the years, and it seems that because they are so fond of them, they are quite hard to part with.

“I enjoyed driving the Peterbilts, you sit in the driver’s seat and everything is where you drop your hand, it’s where it should be. That’s why the drivers here who have had the same trucks for a few million kilometres don’t want to get out of those trucks; they’re just so nice to drive.”

Mike says in those days the extent of the electronics in the Peterbilt was electronic

December 2019 – January 2020

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What most people think of when they think Uhlenberg. A Pete delivering gas.

injection for the motor and power mirrors, which made them very reliable because there was nothing to break down.

“And if it did, you could fix it – nowadays you break down and you don’t know what the

bloody hell is wrong. And it’s always two o’clock in the morning when it’s hosing down with rain!”

Since Mike stepped back from the day-to-day running of the business, he’s got stuck into

rebuilding trucks.

“I did quite a bit on the S2 restoration [the 1981 Kenworth KW923S2]. That little dump truck, we’ve owned that truck since brand new, it’s never left the yard. I would hate to think

Looking resplendent on the far right with its SAR and W924 brethren also beautifully preserved.

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

how many ks it’s done.”

The first six or so years of the truck’s life Mike says it was operating at 38 tonne as a tractor unit, carting gas to Auckland six days a week.

“And it went every day.

After it had done I don’t know how many ks – it would have done heaps – we decided to retire it to an around town metal delivery truck. We put a tipper body on the back of it and carted metal locally, then we put a trailer on it, which was never the intention, and it did that for many, many years.

The boys decided they were going to sell it and then Daryl in his wisdom came up and said ‘well I’ve always wanted to restore one, let’s do this one’.

“We took that truck right to pieces, it had what they call chassis heave, so we pulled it down to every last nut and bolt. Jeff, one of the mechanics at Uhlenberg’s at the time, took it to pieces, storing every last piece in boxes.”

Unfortunately Jeff ’s father had a serious accident, meaning Jeff returned to the South Island, and the

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ dismantled truck sat around the shed in pieces for quite some time.

“Then I decided we better get it back together, so it was a pretty big joint effort between Peter Jackson from McCurdy’s and myself, also Tony had quite a bit of input into it too. And it’s come up better than brand new.”

In the early days of his driving career when Mike worked at the dairy company, the early morning starts meant he had time to do some parttime driving elsewhere when he had finished for the day.

A regular was driving a KB6 International for a local carrier.

“It was one of their older trucks in those days, and that was the truck I always drove if they wanted someone to do a bit extra.”

When he retired, Mike decided he was going to rebuild one of those old Internationals.

“I got talking to Jim Wilkinson, who used to own Cambridge Transport, and a big part of his fleet were KB6 Internationals. He had the remains of three of them under

a tree at Cambridge and I bought them off him and I was going to build up this truck I used to drive.

“One of the three was a tandem drive one, which was obviously a rarity so I decided rather than build exactly the same truck as what I used to drive, I’d rebuild this tandem drive because it was a little bit rarer than the others. That took me quite a while, used up a fair bit of my spare time!”

Mike said he had three complete chassis, engines, and gearboxes, but the tin work (cab, bonnet and guards) were all pretty buggered.

“I found another KB6 in the South Island which had good tin work but the engine was buggered and so was all the other stuff. So it took about four trucks to build what I’ve got. It took me about five years, because I only did it when I felt like it.”

The rare KB6 was put back to a 6-wheeler, but Mike says what he did next would horrify the purists.

“When I got it going and it was driveable, I thought ‘how

the hell did we used to drive these things with a load on?’ because it was struggling empty.

So I repowered it with a little wee Cummins engine out of a late model 3500 Dodge. The purists probably wouldn’t like it, but at least it’s an American engine in an American truck.

A lot of people said to me ‘why don’t you put a little Isuzu in it or something?’ And I said ‘No! Like hell I’m going to!’”

Uhlenberg Haulage has just the one Japanese truck in the fleet, but Mike would love to see that replaced with something American.

“We had an earlier model Japanese truck, and when the boys were replacing it, I said ‘well, why don’t you put a wee single drive Kenworth in its place?’ They reckoned it would be too hard on it because it does the awkward little jobs, and said we had to go to the cabover.

“There’s only one out there that’s not American, and my wish before I pass on is that I end up with a total North American fleet. I don’t think I’ll see that thing gone; it’s actually been quite reliable. But I would like to see a little Kenworth in there.”

Once Mike got the KB6 going, he continued doing various bits and pieces around the yard, rebuilding an old Cat D6 bulldozer and doing a few bulldozing jobs.

“I sort of went off the highway. I’ve sold the D6 and I’m working on a Terex 8230, quite a big bulldozer. That’s currently in the sandblaster’s getting painted. I’ve got it mechanically good. It’s quite a big machine.

“I love the sound of GM engines – and because anything that’s powered with a GM had to be good, in my eyes, that’s one of the reasons why I’m rebuilding it.”

Mike’s also into classic cars, owning a 1949 Buick convertible and a 1941 Buick Club Coupe, the latter the only one of its kind in New Zealand.

New Zealand Trucking

He also raced a Jaguar Mark 2 on tarmac and at car club events before selling the race car some years ago.

In 2017 Mike was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame, something that came as a surprise to him.

“I still feel there were a lot more worthy people than me who could have had that nomination. I still don’t know why I was nominated really.

There are a lot of carriers around who have done more than I’ve done.”

Always humble, there is no denying Mike put in the hard yards getting his business established. Even he admits there weren’t many operators carting long distance in the early days.

“You could drive from Eltham to Auckland at night and not see another truck. And there were some characters amongst the drivers too! In those days the Ministry of Transport thought it was a privilege that they were issuing you with a temporary permit, and I suppose it was. We were favoured with good staff, and maybe that’s part of it as well, because your business is only as good as the people you have working for you.”

Mike says the success of Uhlenberg Haulage today is down to the fact his three sons all get on well together. As mentioned earlier, Daryl looks after the admin side of the business, while Tony and Chris are picking up other bits and pieces as well as being out on the road as drivers.

Family means a lot to Mike, and in his retirement he loves spending time with his grandchildren.

“If you ask me what I do with my time, well, in the summertime I’ve got six grandkids and out of the six, five of them race speedway, so I have plenty to do! They’re all good kids, it keeps them off the streets, and it teaches them things.” 

December 2019 – January 2020

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PRIDE POLISH Story and photos by Ken Bell

AND

Southland Transport Invercargill Truck Parade – 2019

The last weekend in October is truck show weekend in Southland, and once again the locals turned out in force to celebrate a vital contributor to local prosperity.

Cole Frew alongside the Kenworth K200 he drives for Dunedin Bulk Haulage on contract to Mainfreight that won the King Rig title.

H

eld on the Sunday of Labour Weekend, the country’s southernmost show works well for the local trucking industry, being at a time of year when workloads are low, enabling good participation from the local road transport fraternity.

All the weather forecasts for most of the week leading into Labour Weekend were

for intermittent showers on the Sunday, following a brilliant day on Saturday.

This caused many truck show participants from out of town to arrive in the city early to avoid road grime. Although predictions were correct, it didn’t dampen the atmosphere quite so much as the defeat the previous night of the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup semi-final.

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ D T King Transport always display a good number of trucks. Bronson McLean’s Mack Granite was a definite head turner.

Bradley Curtis quite deservedly won the best stock truck title with this Hokonui Rural Transport Freightliner Argosy.

There were 107 trucks registered to compete in the 35 classes, which were well supported with prize packs and trophies. A few more trucks also joined the street parade that started at PGG Wrightson’s wool store, then skirted the outskirts of Invercargill’s city centre, delighting the huge crowds of people lining the route, finishing at the Newfield Tavern where the prizegiving function was held. The convoy took about 45 minutes to pass by.

The standard of presentation of those competing posed a difficult job for the judges and required several revisits in order to attain a fair

Ryal Bush Transport has always been a great truck show supporter and this new DAF drew plenty of attention.

New Zealand Trucking

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WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ RUNNING ON SCR?... outcome. The King Rig title was won by Cole Frew with the immaculately presented Kenworth K200 he drives for Dunedin Bulk Haulage, contracted to Mainfreight on mostly floating work nationwide. Close runner-up was Bronson McLean from DT King Transport with a Mack Granite log truck.

Eden Haulage featured highly in the prize listing and was chased hard by DT King Transport to take out the best fleet award. DT King came with a good mix of log and rural trucks from several of their depots, as well as their superbly restored International KB7, which was entered by Dave King.

A huge vote of thanks must go to the Purdue family from Invercargill who are really the engine room of this event. Mark Purdue organises most of the event including traffic management plans and sponsorship, as well as coordinating the venues for the show itself and the prizegiving function. The family affair is completed with Mark’s wife Dianne and mother Sylvia behind the limelight collating all the judge’s decisions and scoring the various classes, as well as other administrative duties.

SOUTHLAND TRANSPORT INVERCARGILL TRUCK PARADE – 2019 Results Category

Owner

Company

King Rig

Cole Frew

Dunedin Bulk Haulage

Runner-up King Rig

Bronson McLean

D T King Transport

Best new truck < 20000km

Tegan Cartney

Ryal Bush Transport

20,000km - 100,000km

Blair Chambers

Eden Haulage

100,000km – 300,000km

Nathan Reynolds

R & J Snowdon Transport

300,000km – 600,000km

Sean Doyle

Eden Haulage

600,000km – 1,000,000km

Isaiah McLellan

McLellan Freight

>1,000,000km

Corbyn Cook

A & L Coombes Contracting

Best Fleet (3+ vehicles)

Eden Haulage

Best Paint/Artwork

Blair Chambers

Eden Haulage

Best Rubbish Truck

Stacey Chamberlain

Easy Bins Southland

Best Working Truck

Reagan Brown

McNeill Distribution

Best Linehaul

Aaron Callendar

McLellan Freight

Best Logger

Daniel Diack

D T King Transport

Best Fert Spreader

Jason Nimmo

Waituna Transport

Best Stock Truck

Bradley Curtis

Hokonui Rural Transport

Best Tipper

James Matheson

McNeill Distribution

Best Curtainsider

Adam Turner

TIL Freight

Best DAF

Mouse Moore

Wilson Contracting

Best Freightliner

Hayden Livingston

Eden Haulage

Best Fuso

Danyon Cleaver

Otautau Freight

Best Hino

Dan Herman

McNeill Distribution

Best International

Mark Wilson

McNeill Distribution

Best Isuzu

Rob Highstead

Doug Symons Contracting

Best Kenworth

Cole Frew

Dunedin Bulk Haulage

Best Mack

Bronson McLean

D T King Transport

Best MAN

Murray Phillips

Phillips Transport

Best Mercedes-Benz Best UD

Angus Drummond Brad Spice

Cromtrans Central Southland Excavating

Best Scania

Shawn Houghton

Milnes Transport

Best Volvo

Darryl Shand

Freight Haulage Ltd

Best Other

Nathan Bates

Jim Bates Contracting

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MITRE 10 MEGA RIDE IN A TRUCK DAY

Hastings does it again Story and photos by Gavin Myers

The 2019 Mitre 10 Mega Ride in a Truck Day attracted thousands of people and hundreds of trucks, all to get kids into cabs and raise some money for charity.

T

he show this year was held for the first time at the Hastings A&P Showgrounds, which turned out to be the perfect venue to host the 240 vehicles and approximately 6000 visitors that attended. According to past chairman and organising committee member Sandy Walker, the venue will host the event in future but at a slightly later time, following the Hawke’s Bay A&P Show.

With the kids lining up to jump in the cabs as the trucks continually lapped the grounds, the adults could enjoy the truck tug-of-war or walk among the show’s exhibits. And boy, were the trucks displayed in all their splendour.

Once again, the show raised funds for the Little Elms Charitable Trust and the Hastings Cancer Society Wellness Centre. This year, $20,000 was raised.

Walker explained that the event, which has been held

It wasn’t only the kids who had fun on the day – the adults were also given the opportunity to unleash their competitive spirits in a tug-of-war drag race. Of course, the kids loved that some of the teams got some sneaky assistance…

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New Zealand Trucking

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To you this might be a Mack Super Liner but to many suffering from mental health afflictions, this is Mack the Hopeful Black Dog. Turn to page 34 for our road test.

biennially since 1992, originally started as a nationwide Ride in a Truck Day and Hawke’s Bay is one of the regions still running it successfully. “It’s a great chance for the industry to show off with positive community backing. The funds raised, along with some serious charitable contributions, saw the Little Elms Charitable Trust formed in 2005. The complex, built in 2008 to house families who have a very sick child in the Hastings Memorial Hospital and are in need of urgent accommodation, features six chalets, an office complex, storage and a three-bedroom respite house.”

Walker expressed his gratitude for the continued support received by the event. “The organisers would like to thank the transport operators, professional drivers and the many volunteers for their continued support for such a great event.” 

Buckeridge Transport was among a few fleets in attendance, showing off their support in force.

More photos overleaf

The procession of trucks circled the showgrounds almost non-stop!

RESULTS Best Truck Awards Category

Company

Rego

Bedford

Efficient Carrying Company Ltd

EN1462

DAF

Waharoa Transport

KBW464

Freightliner

Stephenson Transport Ltd

JLL518

Hino

Conroy Removals

LDE85

International

Twist Trucking

MFF268

Isuzu

J.R.P Limited

MBN584

Kenworth

DC Trucking

MAG352

Mack

TR Group

H0PEFL

MAN

Pacific Fuelhaul Ltd

JWD751

Mitsubishi

Edmonds Transport and Earthmoving

KRA852

Nissan - UD

Farmers Logging

KPY625

Mercedes

Tomoana Warehousing

LUZ592

Scania

DGT

DT01

Sterling

Central House Movers

SSQCAT

Volvo

Buckeridge Transport Ltd

LZU286

Western Star

Muggeridge Tranasport Ltd

MJH799

Vintage

Allen Mills

1974KW

Over 500,000km

Hermansen Logging Ltd

GJK795

3rd

Whitfield Transport

MHS130

2nd

CMT Limited

MLK97 MAG352

1st

DC Trucking

Best Fleet

Stephenson Transport Ltd

People’s Choice

R&L Beale Log Transport Ltd

New Zealand Trucking

01KW

December 2019 – January 2020

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Could climbing into the cab ever be any easier? The famous TR Group Anzac Kenworth K200 swaps passengers.

Over-size? This Tomoana Arocs is massive with a capital M!

One of two lovingly restored Pan Pac Kenworths that were present on the day sits But if you had to pick just one?

next to a restored NZFP unit. Wonder what today’s kids will restore 50 years from now?

A truck show on Bathurst weekend … no prizes for guessing who the Lake SelfLoading boys were supporting.

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

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ALEXANDRA BLOSSOM FESTIVAL 2019

The standout green of Summerland Freight was well presented again this year. ‘Green Trump’ took out best Freightliner.

Rumbling of the blossoms Story and photos by Craig Andrews

T

his show never fails to satisfy. Highways into Alexandra were graced by some of the finest trucks from around the south as they assembled for the 2019 Alexandra Blossom Festival.

Once again, they lined up at the Fulton Hogan depot on the outskirts of Alexandra where the judges had the challenging job of finding the star of the show. It was Isaiah McLellan who took this year’s top honours with his incredibly presented Kenworth T904 running McLellan Freight colours from Balclutha.

It was a popular win and with nearly 800,000km on the

From left: Roxburgh-based contractors, Harliwich Earthmovers and Wilpower Contracting.

NuRoad Civil was well presented with its always immaculate gear. The only non-Kenworth it had on display for the day was this T-Line, which took the best International prize back to Queenstown.

Beautifully presented LT Super Liner from Wanaka’s Jolly Earthworks fleet.

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New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

clock, the truck still looked new. No surprises it took out the best Kenworth award as well.

The best fleet award went to Jolly Earthworks, who also cleaned up best Mack with one of its Tridents, and best pre-1995 with its Mack Super Liner.

Big thanks must go to all who continually make this a standout event. The support from the teams at Southpac Trucks, Fruehauf trailers, ATL Ltd, and Fulton Hogan, was greatly appreciated. And, of course, those owners and operators who made their gear available on the day. 

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ

RESULTS Alexandra Blossom Festival 2019 Isaiah McLellan and his T904 Kenworth, scooping best Kenworth and the ultimate prize, Star of the Show.

Star of the show Best Kenworth Best DAF Best Volvo Best Mack Best Scania Best MAN Best Western Star Best International Best Hino Best UD Best Isuzu Best Mercedes-Benz Best Freightliner Best Stock Best Curtainsider Best Fleet Best Pre-1995

McLellan Freight T904 Kenworth McLellan Freight T904 Kenworth Otago Polytechnic Cromwell Transport Jolly Earthworks Beckers Transport R and H Transport ATL NuRoad Civil R & R Hiab Services SouthRoads Fulton Hogan G and T Nichols Summerland Cromwell Transport FH Volvo TP Buchanan Transport Kenworth Jolly Earthworks Wanaka Jolly Earthworks Mack Super Liner

904C16 904C16 GUC561 KEN180 LEC334 LPL371 LTE 3 JLA400 UH1537 MKD860 LWB569 MCJ592 LDS114 LUP661 KEN180

RTL had three Scanias in Becker’s livery for the show this year. It was their latest acquisition that scooped best Scania this time.

More trucks overleaf

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

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d

C N o r p

N b i a f e

Above: Although not taking away any awards, this Mack duo from the Road Metals fleet was a highlight for many on the day. The MC on the back was one of three on show.

Right: Best Volvo and best stock truck went to Cromwell Transport’s FH16.

Below: ATL had a number of trucks on show including a couple of Western Stars in the company’s familiar purple. It was fleet number 122 that took home the Western Star award on the day.

86

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ

days late in June 2018, according to Xero.

Cash flow issues can bring business to its knees. With the New Zealand small business sector making up 97 per cent of our workforce and a strong economic driver, the potential repercussions are far-reaching. When small business productivity slows, the whole economy does too.

didn’t suit many of these business owners, who just needed to bridge the gap so they could keep operating while they waited for their invoices to be paid.

Cashflow help enables Buffer, Helping Small tobig Medium Businessfirm Cashflow win for haulage

Nick O’Connor knows how stressful it can be for businesses to try to maintain working capital between invoice payments. The Kiwi entrepreneur, who has owned and run several ventures himself, first identified the need For manyform small of to medium cash flow issues for an alternative invoice business finance owners, while based in postare a fact of life.

Becoming a preferred supplier to a national earthquake Christchurch.

“After the earthquakes, I faced cash flow issues in my

“We’ve been able to win ongoing contract businesses, as did many of myan friends and contacts.

infrastructure heavyweight is a key success which Xero’s recent Small Business Insights survey showed that Grays Haulage uphalf to working with invoice in the year to Junechalks 2018, just of New Zealand small

with a large operator because fulfil Businesses justnational needed some extra help to staywe afloat

businesses cash flow positive in any given month. factoring were company Buffer.

On average, New Zealand small businesses were paid 8.3 days late in June 2018, according to Xero.

disruption which had hit the local we economy,” he says. contractors.

Without Buffer, wouldn’t have had

“

Chris and Yvette Davis, who own and operate the

the meticulous standards they their between invoice payments, given therequire massive from unforeseen Traditional invoicetofactoring via banks just the resources secure services this keyprovided competitive edge.”

“Buffer isissues allShore-based about helping small to smallflow North trucking Cash can bring business to its firm, knees.engaged With the

didn’t suit many of these business owners, who just needed

New Zealand small making upflow 97 per Buffer earlier thisbusiness year tosector provide cash tocent medium businesses continue growing, of our workforce and a strong economic driver, the potential

waited for their invoices discounts to be paid. from suppliers, and of prompt payment

to bridgebenefits the gap so they could keep operating they Other include being able to takewhile advantage

bridge the gap between invoice payments.

having the agility to operate in the most efficient

repercussions are far-reaching. When small business productivity slows, the whole economy does too.

way possible, Chris adds.

by maintaining cashflow until invoices are “Because we’re a small business, we often had to

paid.Nick Unlike invoice factoring, we don’t and O’Connor knows how stressful it can be for put off things like non-essential maintenance businesses try to maintain workingour capital between servicing.toBuffer has increased liquid cash flow, invoice payments. The Kiwi entrepreneur, who has owned meaning we can now address issues as they come and run several ventures himself, first identified the need up,” says Chris. for an alternative form of invoice finance while based in postearthquake Christchurch.

“We’ve found Buffer fantastic to work with – they’re a breath of fresh air in an industry that can be

take over all your invoicing or lock you into

Nick started working with several businesses to address this

a minimum period with a monthly fee.

issue by buying their unpaid invoices – providing a muchefficient at paying and very approachable

We simply allow you access to cash when

needed cash advance – and then debiting the amount back

“

”“

you need it, for a one-off fee each time” “Buffer is all about helping small to medium businesses continue growing, by maintaining cashflow until invoices are “We’ve found Buffer paid.

Unlike invoice factoring, we–don’t fantastic to work with

take over all your invoicing or lock you into

they’re a breath of fresh a minimum period with a monthly fee. air in an industry that can Nick O’Connor We simply allow you access to cash when beneed fullit,of and red you forbarriers aManaging one-off fee each time” Director tape. They are extremely efficient at paying and very approachable whenever we O’Connor need to call onNick them.”

”

“

Managing Director

full of barriers and red tape. They are extremely whenever we need to call on them.”

once their customer had paid.

This was the precursor to Buffer, a low-hassle service which allows businesses to stay cash positive and the flexibility to call on an advance only when it’s needed.

Nick started working with several businesses to address this issue by buying their unpaid invoices – providing a muchneeded advance – and of then debiting theinamount With a cash growing number businesses variousback sectors once their customer had paid.

nationwide now using Buffer, Nick says the feedback he

This was the precursor to Buffer, a low-hassle service which

hears most often is how much his clients appreciate the

allows businesses to stay cash positive and the flexibility to call on an advance only whenand it’s needed. confidential, hassle-free fast service.

With a growing number of businesses in various sectors nationwide now using Buffer, Nick says the feedback he hears most often is how much his clients appreciate the confidential, hassle-free and fast service.

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AUSSIE ANGLES

Newcastle Hunter Transport Awareness Day Story and photos by Howard Shanks

More than 200 big rigs lined up for the 25th annual Newcastle Hunter Transport Awareness Day convoy and fun-filled family truck show held at the Maitland Showgrounds in November.

T

he Transport Awareness Day began in 1994 as a way of educating the local community about the role of the transport and logistics industry. Today this awareness day and truck show is one of the country’s leading truck shows, attracting trucks and industry personalities from around the nation, like celebrity Outback Truckers’ Glenn ‘Yogi’ Kendall and his wife, Amanda.

The event is organised by a dedicated group of volunteers.

President Ray Williams wanted to personally thank the committee members, who all worked tirelessly to make the event such a success.

“For more than two decades most of these people have volunteered countless hours to make Newcastle Hunter

88

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

Transport Awareness Day a leading industry event,” he said. “Each year this day has helped to promote the transport industry to the public, through fostering a greater understanding and awareness of its role in our community.

“We are grateful to all the transport providers, employees and subcontractors who assemble at the event to learn more about the latest practice, network with peers, and promote safe road practices to the public.”

Williams said the event presented a unique opportunity for industry employees and employers, regulators and suppliers to interact with the general public in a casual and fun environment.

“It is the largest transport industry event outside of metro Sydney and provides attendees with an improved understanding of the transport industry, and the role we all play in keeping our roads safe.”

The proceeds of the day are distributed between the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service and Ronald McDonald House Newcastle.

The day kicked off early on 10 November at the Sandgate Market where 200 trucks lined up to take part in the 24km annual convoy parade to the Maitland Showgrounds. Well before the trucks began lining up, the team from O’Neill’s

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Above: Neat Ford UTL More than 200 trucks

looking distinguished.

joined the 24km-long convoy parade.

Celebrating 25 years.

Super shiny Cumminspowered T900 Legend.

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; January 2020

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Models lined up.

Firestorm Fire Protection demonstrated its Fogmaker water mist protection system. The 900° diesel-fuelled fire was instantly extinguished.

The Bandag Bullet, now called the ‘Bullet Burnout Truck’, once set the record for the World’s Fastest Truck. Today it makes flames and burns rubber.

Starting ’em young!

Heavy Haulage was on hand to cook a BBQ breakfast for all the drivers, as they’ve done every year since the event’s inception.

Once the convoy arrived at the Maitland Showgrounds, the trucks were quickly parked in neat rows and the judges began the massive task of checking over all the entries. Meanwhile, there were plenty of activities for the kids and a large selection of food vans and stalls to keep everyone fed.

One of Australia’s biggest country rock bands, Hurricane Fall, took to the main stage and belted out some top tunes, which kept the crowd entertained.

The former Bandag Bullet, now called the ‘Bullet Burnout Truck’, made a guest appearance thanks to owner Laurie Williams from Beerwah. Laurie entertained the crowd every hour or so, starting up the big V16 GM and putting on a fire show.

For the younger readers who have never seen this truck in action, it set the world’s fastest truck record on 21 July 2005, blasting down the Bundaberg Airport runway at 305.5kph – all on standard issue Bandag cold process retreads and new Bridgestone tyres.

The Bullet is powered by two V8 92 series engines linked together with two superchargers and four turbochargers, which give it 24 litres (1500 cubic inch) capacity. When injected with nitrous oxide, the power is boosted to an amazing 2088kW (2800hp). The truck weighs in at eight tonnes and has some 7592Nm (5600ft/lb) of torque on tap.

While there were plenty of well-deserved trophies handed out at the conclusion of the activities, the big winners of the day were the transport industry and the two charities supported by the event.  This is the largest transport industry event outside metro Sydney.

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INTERNATIONAL TRUCK STOP

Know thy customer Story by Will Shiers • Photos supplied

The S-Way is a huge step up from the Stralis it replaces, but could Iveco have done more?

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nternational supermodels could be doing naked cartwheels around the truckstop I pull into on the outskirts of Turin, Italy, and nobody would notice. That’s because I’ve arrived in a new Iveco S-Way, and all eyes are firmly on that. At the time of writing there are only 200 of them on Europe’s roads, so they’re very much a novelty.

Now I start to hear the rustling of shell suits and the flipping and flopping of cheap plastic footwear (the truckdriving uniform of choice for many European truck drivers) on the urine-drenched tarmac. A crowd of them climb out of their ageing cabs, and gravitate towards me, enchanted, jaws dropping and drool pooling on bottom lips. They all want a closer look at Europe’s newest truck.

The S-Way is the first truck to be launched in the manufacturer’s Way heavy range. Although initially only available in one size, a narrow cab and different roof heights will be added in 2020. These will be joined by the X-Way light construction truck, and the T-Way Trakker replacement.

Following a flurry of smartphone photo activity, the crowd finally dissipates, and I’m left with one driver who won’t go away. He’s asking me lots of questions in what I assume is Bulgarian, but I can’t understand a word of it. He (from now on I’m going to call him Ivan) points to the front of the truck, gives a thumbs-up, smiles broadly, and says the word “Scania”.

I nod enthusiastically to let him know that I understand he’s telling me it looks like a Scania. Most of social media seems to share his view, believing the S-Way to be some sort of Scania copy. I can sort of see where they’re coming from, as they do share a few styling cues.

As for it being a copy, definitely not! I’ve seen pictures of the S-Way on the drawing board from almost a decade ago. But

Now we see you, now we don’t The S-Way has a pair of rather large rear-view mirrors. Rearwards visibility is unsurprisingly great, but their size does create a slight blind spot on the approach to roundabouts. A gap between the main and wide-angle mirrors would certainly help in this respect.

However, an insider tells me the mirrors will soon be replaced by cameras and screens, similar to the MirrorCam system offered in the new Mercedes-Benz Actros. “But ours will be better, as they will record too,” he reveals.

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Ivan is right to give the S-Way a big thumbs-up, because this is undoubtedly a fantastic-looking vehicle. In fact, I believe it’s one of the smartest trucks on the road, and reckon the Iveco stylists can give themselves a pat on the back.

The S-Way’s cab is new and shares very few components with the Stralis it replaces. One of the more notable features is a new, longer door, which has been extended to cover the second step. As well as improving security, this also enhances the aerodynamics and contributes to a 12% improvement in drag reduction. This equates to up to 4% better fuel economy.

Now Ivan wants to look inside the cab, and gestures for to me to open my door. I oblige, and he climbs up the three well-spaced steps, and holds onto the grab handle as I slide my seat back to give him a better view. He immediately clocks the leather-stitched multi-function steering wheel with its 22 switches and flat base, and nods enthusiastically. Judging by his waistline he enjoys a pie or two, so would appreciate the squared-off wheel.

Then he points at the 7” infotainment screen, which is in driver evaluation mode and is currently displaying a less than impressive percentage score. Instead of attempting to explain that I’ve been testing its acceleration, I switch modes, and demonstrate the Apple CarPlay and sat nav. Then I point out the new stop-start ignition button, show him the redesigned dashboard, and attempt to explain with numerous arm gesticulations that the cab sits higher than it used to.

This means the engine tunnel has been reduced from 205mm to 95mm. It’s not a flat floor, but it’s not far off being one. A new roof gives an impressive 2.15m standing height. Ivan nods towards the lockers, which are bigger than they used to be, and have a combined 250 litres of space. There is a new storage console on the floor in the centre of the dashboard too, which features cup-holders and an A4 drawer. The door pockets are deeper, and will each accommodate a 1.5-litre bottle.

The one-piece lower bunk is wider, and comes with a choice of 14cm mattresses with two levels of comfort. The bed module – which controls the lighting, heating, radio and door locks – is

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Connection Iveco S-Ways come with a connectivity box as standard, which works off a service platform developed in partnership with Microsoft.

Hauliers can tap into a number of free services, designed to optimise uptime, fuel efficiency and total cost of ownership, or pay a fee for a more comprehensive package.

The system records driver behaviour too, which, as well as being accessed via the infotainment screen, can also be monitored by the new myIVECO EASY Way app. Using the app, drivers can additionally control the truck’s electric windows, door locks, heating, lighting and audio.

S-Way’s ride is a world better than the outgoing Stralis.

positioned centrally. Pockets and USB ports are located at both ends, meaning the driver can sleep either way around.

Embracing my new role as an Iveco ambassador, I decide that it’s best not to point out that the S-Way retains the Stralis’ mechanical parking brake. Instead, I press my finger firmly into the centre of the dashboard, showing him that it’s soft, and hoping that this distracts him from noticing some of the lowest-bidder plastics used elsewhere in the cab. That said, I don’t think he would have minded, as he is clearly smitten.

Personally, I find the S-Way’s interior to be a bit of a letdown, and think it lacks flair and imagination. Yes, it represents a huge improvement over the Stralis, but that bar wasn’t particularly high to begin with. Iveco is Europe’s smallest truck

maker, and had a budget of just €250 million ($434 million) for this truck. I suspect the lion’s share of it went on the exterior.

Then again, if it had access to a larger pool of money, would giving the truck Scania S-Series levels of refinement have done it any favours? Iveco knows who its customers are, and more importantly, it knows what they are prepared to pay.

Ivan probably wants to know what it’s like to drive, but seeing as I can’t speak any Bulgarian, I can’t tell him that the S-Way uses the identical driveline to the Stralis, which is great news in my opinion. The Cursor engines are fantastic, and the Hi-Tronix (ZF TraXon) gearbox is quick and precise.

Iveco is having a massive push on natural gas in Europe, and the 4x2 NP tractor I’m driving runs on LNG. It pulls just like

Cursor powertrains ex-Stralis remain.

NP models running on either CNG or LNG offered for Europe.

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Iveco S-Way styling, almost a decade on the drawing board.

Some cheap plastics and a lack of imagination let the cab down for our author.

a diesel, only revs slightly higher, is noticeably quieter at tickover, and more refined when working hard. Diesel-powered S-Ways get a choice of 9-, 11- or 13-litre engines (330hp to 570hp), while CNG and LNG trucks have either the 9- or 13-litre (270hp to 460hp). A few extra horsepower here and there would have been nice, and it’s a shame that rumours of a 16-litre option never materialised.

I recently spent a day in the passenger seat of a Stralis, and twice during the drive my pedometer watch buzzed frantically to congratulate me on achieving 10,000 footsteps. That’s how rough the ride was. The S-Way has new cab suspension, and it successfully irons out most of the bumps. After two hours of driving I’m still on the measly 1750 footsteps I was on before setting off.

Iveco is the only major European truck maker to still use

mechanical steering, but that’s not necessarily a negative in my view. It’s precise, with plenty of positive feedback, and copes admirably with the ‘tram-tracks’ carved into the Italian motorways by heavy traffic. Overall, I find it to be an incredibly easy truck to drive, comfortable, and strangely familiar too. It’s a bit like putting on your favourite pair of work boots.

Ivan can’t hold on any more, so he mutters something favourable, grins again and climbs down the steps. He wanders to the front of the truck, takes a selfie in front of it, and gives me a double thumbs-up this time.

I like the S-Way a lot, but clearly not as much as Ivan does.

He begins to walk away, then turns around and gives the truck one final look of admiration, before climbing into his 10-yearold Renault Premium and driving off. 

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MANN versus MACHINE PART 2

Story by Will Shiers • Photos by Will Shiers or as credited

Will Shiers continues his movie location treasure hunt, completing his search of Southern California for where Steven Spielberg’s debut film, Duel, was shot.

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he premise of Duel is beautifully simple: David Mann (played by Dennis Weaver) leaves home in his 1970 Plymouth Valiant Custom, en route to an early morning meeting on California’s highways, when he tangles with an anonymous truck driver in a 1952 Peterbilt 281. Along each leg of the journey, the menacing Peterbilt is never far behind, as David makes his way from location to location along his route…

“If you think you can just take that truck of yours and use it as a murder weapon, killing people on the highway, you’re wrong.”

‘Chuck’s Cafe’ has become a popular pilgrimage for Duel fans.

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David arrives at Chuck’s Cafe at 90mph, skidding into the parking lot and destroying a picket fence in the process. In contrast, my arrival is rather more sedate, but I still attract plenty of attention. There are a couple of guys in the parking lot tinkering with an old Dodge truck, and they’re extremely excited to see mine. They’re even more impressed to learn that it has more than US$22,000 of options, giving it a cost price of US$74,435.

Although the distinctive building is still standing, today it’s

December 2019 – January 2020

called Le Chene – a fancy French restaurant – and not at all what you’d expect to find in the desert. Over a glass of the local IPA (America gets a lot of stick for its beer, but these days there are some great alternatives to Bud and Coors), the barman gets out an old photo album. He’s got some great shots of when the 100-year-old building was a filling station.

He tells me that quite a few tourists visit because of the Duel connection. Just last week a German couple turned up, but apparently I’m the first ‘Australian’ (Will is, in fact, British! – Ed) he’s met!

Having ordered himself a ‘cheese on rye’ and an aspirin, to his horror David suddenly notices the truck parked outside.

This means the driver is in the cafe with him. He studies everyone, in particular their boots, and tries to second guess which one of them is hell-bent on killing him. He approaches someone, demanding that he stops using his truck as a murder weapon. But he’s got the wrong man, and gets beaten up as a result.

“That truck driver is crazy, he’s been trying to kill me.”

The tunnel scene is one of the most iconic parts of the movie.

A yellow school bus has broken down in a gravel layby by the tunnel entrance, and the driver asks David to give it a push with his car. Reluctantly he agrees, and then gets stuck on the bus’s bumper. At that moment we see the stationary Peterbilt’s lights illuminate the tunnel. It’s a tense moment.

Although the tunnel hasn’t changed at all, the layby is far smaller than it used to be due to half of it being lost to a quarry. In the movie the Peterbilt does a U-turn here, but the Ram can’t. The other thing that’s changed is the traffic density.

Trying to recreate the scene by stopping the pickup truck in the tunnel proves to be a real headache.

My next stop is a posh country resort by a railway line. The rural retreat is brand new, but the level crossing at the entrance isn’t. It was a movie location. This is where the truck attempts to push the car into the path of a passing freight train.

“I’d like to report a truck driver who’s been endangering my life.”

Who can forget the Snakarama scene? This is where David stops at a remote desert gas station to make a 911 call. As he

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Truck, car, train… Will he, won’t he? The suspense!

The infamous tunnel.

walks to the public pay phone the owner tells him to check out her collection of reptiles. While he’s on the phone a young Steven Spielberg makes a surprise appearance as a reflection in the glass. Presumably this is a mistake, and not an intentional cameo.

Suddenly the truck appears, and it’s aiming for the phone box. David escapes a split second before the truck smashes the phone box to smithereens. Much to the owner’s horror it also destroys her snake tanks, and suddenly David also has rattlers to contend with.

Although there’s still a gas station on the site, it looks very different today. And the grumpy owner doesn’t approve of anyone filming anywhere near his property. Not that this stopped me!

“The highway’s all yours Jack...I’m not budging for at least an hour.”

Towards the end of the film David leaves the highway, finding a spot by a railway track that’s completely hidden from the highway. He falls asleep, but is rudely awakened when a

passing freight train sounds its horn. Initially he assumes it’s the truck, but laughs hysterically when he realises his mistake.

After many hours of looking I eventually find the exact spot.

It’s at the end of a rough dirt track. While I have no doubts that the Ram will make it down there, after all it has fourwheel drive, I’ve noticed a couple of ‘No Trespassing’ signs. In this part of the world they tend to shoot first and ask questions later, so I don’t venture off the highway.

“You can’t beat me on the grade. You can’t beat me on the grade.”

Towards the film’s climax there are some tense chase scenes.

Despite having a V8 under its hood (and a top speed of 112mph), the one-year-old Plymouth is apparently no match for the Peterbilt’s souped-up diesel. Initially David is correct in assuming that the truck can’t beat him on the grades (of which there are many in this area), but that changes when the car’s radiator hose blows. With steam billowing out from under the hood, the badly damaged car limps to the movie’s final scene.

Spoiler alert! The Peterbilt and the Plymouth both end up going over a cliff, but unlike the truck driver, David jumps out to safety at the last second. It’s one of the most dramatic and exciting film endings ever.

With the help of Google Earth I manage to find the exact spot where this was filmed, but unfortunately it’s on private property, and a locked gate stops me from getting too close.

Incredibly the truck’s cab is still down there (there are some great pictures on the internet), but unfortunately it is too windy for me to fly a drone down there to see the remains for myself.

And, as tough as the Ram is, I decide it’s probably best not to drive it over the cliff. After all, I don’t really want to get a reputation for destroying press test vehicles, especially not when I’m planning a trip from Texarkana to Atlanta – eastbound and down! 

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PRODUCT PROFILE

CLASSIC VAN 2 SET TO BE A

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CLASSIC

he first MaxiTRANS MaxiCUBE Classic Van 2 trailers to hit New Zealand roads are impressing M&R Transport owner Reagan White.

Reagan and his wife Marie started M&R Transport in Taupo 20 years ago, doing Restaurant Brands distribution with Barber Logistics, continuing on for several years even when parts of the business changed hands numerous times.

“That’s consumed the past 20 years of our lives. We’ve always just kept to ourselves, head down, bum up. We’ve always tried to have reasonably good,

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well maintained, and clean gear, and to have the right sort of people working for us.

We’re pretty lucky that we’ve got some reasonably long-term guys.”

Reagan says they now have a loyal team of drivers who go out of their way to make sure things are right and that the company provides the level of service that is expected.

“We’re very lucky to have the team that we’ve got, because without them, we don’t have a business. They’re a very important part of the business and I’ve always had the philosophy that I’ll never get

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

our guys to do anything that I won’t do myself.”

M&R Transport’s new trailers are contracted to Goodman Fielder and they have two units dedicated to this contract.

“It is a seven-day-a-week operation and you’ve got to keep your finger on the pulse as we’re running linehaul throughout the North Island.”

M&R Transport has been based in Taupo from day one.

Reagan says they did have a unit based in Palmerston North for a period of time with another contract, but found it reasonably tough going with

remote staff and ended up moving away from that.

“We had three units with MaxiCUBE bodies on when we started our last contract.

We had them for five years and we had a good run out of them. When we were looking at getting these two new trailers, we did have a bit of a look around at other makes. I think that’s a prudent business decision to do that.”

Reagan says the decision was an easy one to make after Mat Story, product manager (NZ) at MaxiTRANS, showed him a PowerPoint presentation that included the Australian

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M&R Transport has two Classic Van 2 trailers in the fleet, the first now over 200,000km old. Insulation properties are significantly up on the Classic Van 1.

research and development that had gone into the new trailers and the improved thermal efficiency gains they had.

“We had two 9-axle truck and trailer units with MaxiCUBE bodies on them.

We also had a MaxiCUBE quad as well too, which, if you compare apples with apples, the quad was the Classic Van 1 and the ones we’ve got now are the Classic Van 2. The insulation is a lot thicker all over the trailer; it’s had a full design change from the older trailers we have owned.”

The new design front wall and cross members in the floor of the trailers reduce tare by more than 450kg and MaxiTRANS say it improves

thermal efficiency by up to 13 percent.

“The roof is substantially thicker, and so is the thickness of the insulation in the rear doors, front wall and the floor,” says Reagan.

“MaxiTRANS say it’s increased thermal efficiency by up to 13%, but I’d say it’s possibly a little bit more than that. The reason I say that is we had our Classic Van 1 running alongside our Classic Van 2 for a week or so while the second one was being finished off. We were swapping at the yard one day, and it took a bit longer because we were catching up about a few things because it was the first week of operation on the new

contract. We run our fridge units on Cycle Sentry – the unit will run until it reaches the correct temperature and then turn off, only turning on again when the temperature goes up three degrees, so you’re not using as much diesel. We had the same volume and type of product on board so was a good opportunity to compare them both. Our old unit cycled on twice and the new unit didn’t even cycle on, so I believe there’s quite a substantial difference there.”

Despite the thicker insulation throughout the new trailers, Reagan says this has not affected the loading capacity.

“They were built to the new regulations that came out a

year or two back. We could go out to 2.55m wide so we can still get two pallets in side by side, so it’s still a 30-deck unit, there’s been no load sacrifice.

Because they’ve lifted the roof up to where the pod of the evaporator unit used to be, you’ve probably got a little bit more room. We don’t take any palletised product so for us there was no real gain, but for someone who does have racks I believe there would be a bit of gain there.”

Reagan says the new trailers are proving to be substantially better than the older model.

“The first one of the two new ones has already done nearly 200,000km, and pretty much hasn’t missed a beat. The second one went on the road a week or two later and isn’t too far behind in the kilometres we have done with the first one.

We’ve definitely done a few kilometress with them with trouble-free maintenance.”

To go with the new trailers, M&R Transport is also putting two new 8x4 700hp Volvo tractor units on the road.

“That will be nice for the boys as well too, to be going into a bit of a step up with our tractor units.

“We’ve currently got our old DAF, which is a 510hp unit, and a 500hp TR Group Volvo FM, a little FM. They have both been really reliable, but it’ll certainly be nice going into those 700 Volvos with Globetrotter cabs.”

Reagan says MaxiTRANS was quick to respond when

Thermal qualities mean less precious fuel is burnt to maintain temperature.

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M&R Transport found there was an issue with the location of the rear tail lights on the trailers potentially hitting some of the loading docks they use.

“They fitted a surrounding protection frame around the lights connecting into the rear subframe of the light assembly, and that fixed the problem straight away. Little things like that we’ve been operationally proactive with. I suppose it’s just getting those little things right for the New Zealand side of things and making slight adjustments on the new model.”

Reagan is impressed by features such as the fullwidth galvanised apron plate across the front section, which improves durability and is less likely to damage the outer corner rails.

“So if you’re backing in under the trailer on a bit of an angle, there’s no risk of hooking the unit up into the cross members or corner posts.

They’ve actually made some reasonably substantial changes to this design. The big thing for us is the thermal efficiency, so we can make sure we’re looking after our customers’ freight as well as we can, and being as cost-effective as we possibly can be. Another thing we’ve found a positive is the galvanised chassis. To keep them clean you run the water blaster over the chassis and they come up well, whereas with painted surfaces you generally have to scrub them quite hard.

There is a whole host of other smaller things within these new trailers too that helped us make our mind up to proceed with the purchase.”

Reagan says the rapid build time was one of the other things that convinced them to go with MaxiTRANS. “They produced the first one in just a few weeks, and Easter was involved in it as well. I was impressed with how quickly they got the first one

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out, and the second one rolled off the line only about eight or 10 days later. It was definitely a quick scheduled turnaround, whereas with some of the other suppliers we were looking at more than a few months in lead times.”

The MaxiCUBE Classic Van 2 was researched and designed in Australia, where significant testing was completed over a period of about two years.

“They’ve tested it in the many road conditions in Australia and in all sorts of different frozen applications

and believe this all went well with this improved design.

From what I’ve been told, they’ve definitely pushed it to the limit to see how well it would perform,” says Reagan.

“When you look at the dust and different conditions that they run through from one side to the other side in Australia and also the changing temperatures they have to deal with, it’s definitely tough going. If they can survive that, well, we’re not going to have any problems here in the New Zealand market.” 

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The pride of Traton Group from MAN, Scania, Volkswagen, and distant cousin Navistar International.

Traton: story of innovation and collaboration Reporting by New Zealand Trucking Media

Traton’s recent Innovation Day was – as its name implies – all about new developments.

However, it was equally about collaboration.

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he Traton Innovation Day event in Södertälje, Sweden, was fascinating because it provided insight into the future of the group. And this will be all about innovation and collaboration, dished out in equal doses.

It goes without saying that any major player in the commercial vehicle world must innovate in order to survive.

Like most other companies, Traton is fully aware of this, as its CEO Andreas Renschler pointed out: “Innovation is a state of mind. Innovation means always striving to be better – to offer our customers and their customers added value.”

The group showed an impressive range of highly innovative products from its three brands – MAN, Scania, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus – on the day. The star of the show was undoubtedly the Scania AXL, an autonomous truck that has no cab. Powered by renewable biofuel and designed for use in mines, quarries and construction sites, the extremely eyecatching vehicle uses cameras, radar, GPS receivers, sensors and Lidar to ‘see’ where it is going. This appears to work extremely well; journalists attending the Innovation Day witnessed the AXL driving itself around quite happily, and even neatly

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manoeuvring around a parked car.

But Traton clearly has no intention of resting on its extremely innovative laurels. And it made a number of major announcements in this regard. It intends playing a major role when it comes to e-mobility, for instance. In fact, Renschler said that Traton aims to “become the leading provider of e-trucks and e-buses”. He’s putting his money where his mouth is too, devoting an increasing share of his research and development budget to this field and working towards a situation whereby – in the next 10 to 15 years – a third of Traton’s trucks and buses can have an alternative drivetrain, most of them fully electric.

Renschler is working off a strong base; Traton brands already hold more than 1000 electromobility patents. MAN has already delivered nine fully electric 26-tonne MAN TGMs to Austrian companies for testing, and its eTGE van is in series production. Plus, it’s about to commence testing of autonomous trucks within the port of Hamburg and on neighbouring highways.

At the Innovation Day, it was announced that Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus had signed the world’s largest purchase intention agreement for e-trucks – 1600 trucks have been ordered by the Brazilian beer and beverage producer Ambev.

The Volkswagen 10.7-tonne e-Delivery 11 – which boasts a 200kW electric motor that generates 2150Nm of torque – has a range of 200km and costs from two to two and a half times the price of an equivalent diesel.

Not wanting to be left out of the e-mobility party, Scania is

WWW.GOCLEAR.CO.NZ An International LT Series was on hand to show off the American side of the family.

going to start operating an electrical and autonomous bus in the Stockholm metropolitan area later this year and it will soon start testing a battery-electric truck in Norway.

But the Traton CEO clearly wants to do much better in the field of e-mobility and he’s willing to invest big bucks in this area; at the Innovation Day he revealed that, by 2025, Traton will have spent a total of more than €1 billion (NZ$1.75 billion) in electro mobility.

Another area of focus is digitalisation: by the end of 2024, Traton will have spent more than €1 billion on research and development expenditure in this area. It’s already been hard at work on digitalisation, and one of the results will be MAN’s New Truck Generation, which will make its global debut on 10 February in Bilbao, Spain. This was announced at the Innovation Day by MAN CEO, Joachim Drees, who noted that it will be the “most digitised MAN truck ever”. Drees revealed “it will set new standards in terms of user-friendliness as well as connectivity”. (See page 50 for more details on the MAN NewTG - Ed.) Connectivity is an important area of focus too; Traton intend having more than a million connected vehicles on the roads by the end of 2025. All three brands are embarking on a joint connectivity journey; since the beginning of this year, most Scania and MAN trucks are already connected. Volkswagen has also (in October 2019) begun equipping its vehicles with the relevant group connectivity solution.

Which brings us onto the next message that we got loud and clear at the Innovation Day: collaboration. We interviewed Drees, Scania CEO Henrik Henriksson, and Roberto Cortes, CEO of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus during the event, and they all sang off the same hymn sheet, saying that their companies could all greatly benefit from collaboration within the group.

Now some may find this concept strange. After all, in many

MAN has delivered nine fully electric 26-tonne TGMs to Austrian companies for testing.

Alternative fuels are central to Traton’s future focus.

Star of the show – the autonomous Scania AXL.

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INCOMING CARGO

Scania and MAN will jointly work on the

Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus has signed the world’s largest

development of an all-new 13-litre engine.

purchase intention agreement for e-trucks – 1600 ordered by the Brazilian beer and beverage producer Ambev.

markets, the brands are arch rivals. And they have vast cultural differences too. But, at head office level anyway, it certainly does appear as though they’re quite happy to work together. Scania and MAN will even jointly work on the development of an all-new 13-litre engine that will probably be fitted to the new generation MAN as well as to future Scania models. The group is also already working on a common platform for autonomous driving. Plus, it’s developing a common modular electric powertrain toolkit that will be used in the first series production all-electric city buses made by Scania and MAN in 2020.

As Renschler noted, this collaboration makes sense.

“Innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Engineers quickly realise that the range of new technologies cannot be implemented with one brand’s budget. That’s why cross-brand development partnerships are crucial for our success,” he stressed.

And the brands certainly appear to be best buddies on all fronts. We wondered if this would extend to sharing trade secrets and so, perhaps somewhat cheekily, we asked Drees if Henriksson had seen his top-secret new truck. “But of course,” he responded with a big smile.

Welcome to the new world of Traton – where innovation and collaboration clearly go hand-in-hand.

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Charleen Clarke is editorial director of South Africa’s FOCUS on Transport magazine. She represents South Africa on the International Truck of the Year jury, judges the Truck Innovation Award, and has been writing about trucks for longer than she cares to admit. 

Defining transport’s lunar mission The global transport industry faces one of its toughest challenges yet: to substantially reduce carbon emissions amidst rising consumer demand on the industry.

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artin Daum, member of the board of management of Daimler AG responsible for Trucks and Buses, speaking about ‘the road to CO2-neutral transportation’ at the International Supply Chain Conference in Berlin, likened this challenge to the Apollo lunar mission.

“The Apollo mission was so ambitious that it seemed unreachable. How was the seemingly impossible made possible?

One thing was decisive: the right mindset,” he said.

Daum admitted that even changing the mindset within

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Daimler Trucks was a struggle – but it’s been decided that by 2050 the European economy should be climate-neutral. “By 2050 we aim to – and must achieve – CO2-neutral transport.”

In reality, 2050 is just two model cycles away. As such, explained Daum, three considerations need to be addressed concurrently: an attractive range of CO2-neutral trucks, the cost of CO2-neutral trucks, and, finally, policy measures to make CO2-neutral trucks economical and competitive.

Starting with vehicles, Daum said Daimler Trucks’ ambition is to have all of its new vehicles in Europe ‘tank-to-wheel’ CO2-neutral by 2039. Why 2039? “If all trucks on the road are to be CO2-neutral by 2050 – and we assume it will take a decade to completely renew the fleet – then new vehicles will have to be carbon-neutral by 2039,” he explained.

How will Daimler achieve this? Daum said natural gasses are nothing more than an expensive transition technology and will therefore not be pursued further by Daimler Trucks.

“We are convinced that electric batteries and hydrogen technologies can coexist and complement each other very well.

In the end, the total cost of ownership will determine which

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technology is better for which purpose. We will heavily invest in battery-electric and hydrogen-based drives and build a wide range of vehicles with them in the coming years,” he said.

This will happen by as soon as 2022, when Daimler will offer series-production vehicles with battery drive in all its key regions. Regarding hydrogen, Daum projects a longer timeframe – to the late 2020s.

“In all market segments we will offer CO2-neutral trucks that will be attractive to our customers. Our next-generation production vehicles will have the longevity and range our customers can reasonably work with,” he promised. So will diesel completely disappear? “Apart from a few exotic applications – such as the Unimog for forest fire fighting or super-heavy load transport up to 250 tonnes – we’re doing everything to no longer need diesel engines in Europe by 2039,” was the official answer.

This moves the conversation to the second key consideration: cost. Carbon-neutral vehicles are expensive and, even by 2040, Daum warns that “the acquisition and cost of ownership of battery- or hydrogen-powered trucks is still likely to be even higher than that of diesel trucks”.

“Costs will be critical to how fast CO2-neutral vehicles gain ground in the marketplace. The fact is that CO2-neutral trucks are not yet and will not yet be competitive. Nevertheless, we’re now investing substantial sums in these technologies.”

Daum said that Daimler has bundled all its worldwide activities for eTrucks and eBuses into one organisation to achieve economies of scale.

“CO2-neutral trucks will not be self-starters. This market has to be created. That brings me to the third point: in order to make CO2-neutral trucks truly competitive we need government incentives.

“CO2-neutral transport – measured in cents per kilometre – must not cost more than diesel-based transport. That’s the prerequisite for our customers even to be in a position to be able to buy next-generation sustainable vehicles in large numbers,” he said, urging politicians to enable this through

suitable initiatives. Naturally, he called on governments to provide start-up assistance for the development of the required infrastructure.

“The math is simple,” said Daum, “we have 30 years to make transport carbon-neutral by 2050. We can only achieve CO2neutral transport by working in broader cooperation.”

He warned that the switch to CO2-neutral propulsion drives will make transport and logistics – and therefore goods – more expensive, which is something to which the industry and society will have to adjust. He also warned that the transformation would not be easy.

“But that’s no reason not to take it on. On the contrary, that’s exactly why we have to tackle the decarbonisation of transport all the more decisively. We must understand it to be the moon mission of our industry, which is not only absolutely necessary, but also full of entrepreneurial opportunities, and in pursuing it we cannot lose any time.”  GM

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Make sure you have the correct licence

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the truck. There are two qualifications for this. The first is the ome years ago, my husband and I used to recruit F endorsement on the driver’s licence. This will expire when truck drivers for a couple of transport organisations. the driver’s licence does and can be renewed by ticking the box.

Our adverts always included the type of the work and The other is the operator certificate. This certificate shows that the licences required. Amazingly, a large number of the driver has been trained and assessed in forklift operation applicants would turn up without their driver’s licence. Often, by an approved provider. The client they would have no boots and would be should be provided with a copy of the surprised when we wanted them to go for How can Safewise help? certificate before the driver uses the a test drive. forklift.

If an unlicensed driver drives your truck We work with organisations that need more health and safety There is a very easy system for and the driver is stopped by the police, knowledge, or more time, than managing workers’ driver’s licences. the truck and its load are likely to be they have in house. For more NZTA provides a web-based system impounded for 28 days. This is not the information, check the website called TORO for organisations best way to run a business. In addition, www.safewise.co.nz that hold a transport service licence there will be no insurance if there is an (TSL), or Driver Check for other accident. Regardless of who is at fault, the organisations. The organisation applies to NZTA, gets unlicensed driver will be held accountable. permission from their drivers, and loads the information onto the website. The nominated administrator will be emailed The four main reasons a driver is not when a driver’s licence status changes. Check www.nzta.govt.nz licensed are: and search TORO or Driver Check to access the application • The driver has never held the licence; information.  • The driver has accrued too many demerit points; • The driver has been DIC; • The driver’s licence has reached the 10-year expiry and needs to be renewed.

There are several licences and qualifications that may be required. The most obvious is, of course, the appropriate licence for the truck – class 2, 3, 4 or 5. This needs to be a full licence, otherwise the driver is only able to drive with a supervisor.

Depending on the load, a D endorsement may be required.

This indicates that the driver has attended and passed a course on transporting dangerous goods on the road. The driver is expected to know how the load must be carried, secured and placarded. This endorsement expires every five years and must be renewed before the driver can carry dangerous goods.

Often, a driver will use the client’s forklift to load or unload

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Tracey Murphy is the owner and director of Safewise Limited, a health and safety consultancy. She has more than 10 years’ experience working with organisations from many different industries. Tracey holds a Diploma in Health and Safety Management and a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Safety and Health. She is a graduate member of New Zealand Institute of Safety Management and is the Waikato branch manager.

3:12:58 PM

Danielle L. Beston Barrister At Law Log Book & Driving Hours Transport Specialist Work Licences Nationwide Road User Charges Contributor to New Zealand Trucking ‘Legal Lines’ Column Telephone: 64 9 379 7658 mobile: 021 326 642 danielle.beston@hobsonchambers.co.nz Referral Through Solicitor Required and Arranged

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DRUG-FREE WORKPLACES

STRUCTURED ROUTINE COMBATS ADDICTION Story by Kirk Hardy, CEO The Drug Detection Agency

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aving a structured routine is necessary for people recovering from a drug addiction, and most importantly it hugely reduces the possibility of a relapse.

The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA) believes a structured routine, such as paid employment or voluntary work in the community, is an integral part of maintaining a drug-free existence, and this sentiment is also shared by multiple studies and academics.

Professor Robert E. Drake of Dartmouth University’s Geisel School of Medicine recently said, “employment always has been intimately intertwined with psychological health”.

The Aborigines, Torres Strait and Maori peoples share a common belief similar to Professor Drake’s – that social, mental, physical and spiritual health are all interlinked.

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TDDA agrees that employees need social, mental and physical support, and a sense of purpose, to remain happy and effective at work.

This holistic view leads to healthier workplaces.

Last year the Mental Health Commissioner reported that one in five New Zealanders lives with a mental illness and/or an addiction. According to the Australian government agency Health Direct, one in five Australians experiences mental illness during their lifetime, with substance use disorder being one of the most common.

A literature review by US social work academics Matthew T. Walton and Mark T. Hall found that 92 percent of the studies they reviewed showed a positive link between employment intervention and substance use treatment outcomes.

The studies suggested that a regular salary was a

New Zealand Trucking

December 2019 – January 2020

worthwhile incentive for helping those in recovery to stay clean.

A 2009 study published in the Journal of Substance Use and Misuse, of 500 people who suffered from substance use disorder and went through the US court system, found that those who received intervention and help with their career were less likely to relapse. It also found a reduction in criminal activities compared with those who did not.

Another US study, published in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, researched physicians recovering from opioid addictions. Under the national Physician Health Program, medical professionals must submit to random drug testing over a five-year period. If a participant tested positive, there was a chance they could lose their licence.

The incentives of money and retaining their medical

licences proved enough for most to abstain. Only 22 percent of physicians tested positive over the five-year timeframe.

There are many ways an employer can help employees stay accountable for their sobriety. One method is drug testing. It is the single most effective weapon to combat adult substance abuse.

Drug testing is an essential tool for cultivating and maintaining safe and healthy employees and workplaces.

Drug testing is no different from a high vis vest, a hard hat or a seat belt; they all prevent injuries. A worker under the influence of drugs or alcohol at work represents a risk to themselves and others, one where the worst potential outcome is death.

Drug testing is a critical part of a compliant, health and safety-focused work culture. Sober employees are safe and effective employees.

It is important for business owners to invest in the wellbeing of their employees; as we all know, a company’s people are essential to the success of any business. 

TDDA currently conducts more than 200,000 drug tests a year in the workplace in New Zealand and Australia, and has trained more than 4000 managers and supervisors in identifying the signs and symptoms of drugs in employees, and how to deal with these delicate situations. TDDA has ISO 15189:2012 accreditation for workplace drug testing (see NATA and IANZ websites for further detail). TDDA is a drug and alcohol testing leader with more than 64 operations throughout Australasia.

Visit www.tdda.com.

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TRUCKERS’ HEALTH

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED

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ooking after your health and fitness is paramount in getting the most you can out of your life. When you take care of yourself, both your physical and mental wellbeing benefit hugely. What is equally important is supporting friends and family who are trying to improve their health and make better decisions towards their wellbeing.

Speaking from personal experience, it is extremely difficult to undertake a lifestyle transformation on your own. When I was on my 25kg weight-loss journey I didn’t have a trainer, a gym membership or anyone to work out with or motivate and encourage me with my training or healthy eating.

Although I succeeded in turning my mental and physical health around, it was extremely hard to do it all on my lonesome.

If you have friends or family who are

trying their best to become a healthier version of themselves, don’t scoff at their efforts. This can be disheartening and discouraging for someone who is already out of their comfort zone trying to make positive changes in their lives.

Here are some easy and positive ways to help your friends and family become healthier and happier people: 1. Offer to go for a walk, bike ride, hike, round of golf, game of touch or do anything active with them. Having someone to exercise with can help you feel more motivated and comfortable. If you don’t feel like exercising, knowing that you’ll let someone else down (and not just yourself ) gives you that extra push to commit and get it done.

2. If you have knowledge about nutrition, offer to help them with the eating side of

Setting off on the journey of a healthier lifestyle can be daunting. Supportive friends and family can make all the difference.

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Laura Peacock Personal trainer TCA Fitness Club

things and guide them toward an eating plan that will work with their lifestyle and be an improvement on their current eating style. Trying to negotiate your way through the nutrition minefield and the overload of information online can be daunting and confusing. If you can help a friend or family member with some simple advice or guidelines, that could be an absolute godsend for them.

3. Give compliments and encouragement.

If someone looks like they have lost weight, gotten fitter or achieved a health milestone, let them know! Sometimes, when you’re struggling in your health and fitness journey, all you need is a small compliment to pick you up and get you back on track.

4. Offer to join a gym, club, exercise class or sports team with them. Having a social environment to train in really helps with motivation levels. If they aren’t a gym person that is totally fine; there may be a sport they really enjoy but they have felt too shy or self-conscious to join on their own.

Team sports are social and positive, and you don’t even realise you’re working out because you’re having so much fun.

5. Organise social activities that support their new lifestyle. It’s no use planning a fish and chips night and making your friend or family member feel guilty for either partaking or not partaking in the fish and chips meal. Instead, organise an activity that will encourage their healthy lifestyle, such as a massive picnic with plenty of salads and healthy foods for everyone to enjoy.

Socialising doesn’t have to mean eating unhealthy foods. You can still have fun and enjoy yourselves without creating an awkward atmosphere around someone who is trying to eat healthy with a massive pile of fish and chips in front of them.

It is extremely hard to make changes to your lifestyle to improve your health and fitness. It takes a great amount of dedication and discipline. But the support of friends and family offering to do workouts, sharing nutritional knowledge, offering to join sports teams and organising social activities that support their new lifestyle, can help immensely in their health and fitness journey 

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LEGAL LINES

Your safe driving policy

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safe driving policy is exactly that: a policy to help manage work-related road safety and to keep employees and vehicles safe on the road. It’s important to think carefully about what to include in your safe driving policy to achieve these goals. Some policies will be optional but there are aspects that are vital to having a robust, effective and efficient safe driving policy that will keep workers safe while saving businesses a lot of stress and money.

The NZ Transport Agency has helpfully published guidelines to assist in developing a safe driving policy. NZTA divides its list into two sections, the ‘must-haves’ and the ‘could-haves’. Before including any of these suggestions in your policy, you may wish to consult an employment lawyer to check them against the Employment Relations Act 2000 and your employees’ contracts, as they may require specific agreements to be written into contacts.

The ‘must-haves’

Choose vehicles with high safety ratings. These include features such as electronic stability control, four-star minimum ANCAP crash rating, head-protecting side or curtain airbags.

When buying, hiring or equipping vehicles, choose easily visible colours such as red or white, speed warning devices, a cage to protect drivers from loose loads moving forward in a sudden stop, and automatic daytime running lights. A recent innovation is the installation of alcohol interlocks that prevent a vehicle being started if alcohol is detected when the driver blows into a breath-testing device.

Maintain company vehicles properly, as well-maintained vehicles use less fuel. Don’t risk being fined up to $2000 for operating an unsafe vehicle. The basics for vehicle maintenance include: following the manufacturer’s maintenance requirements and schedule, tyre checks, safety belt checks, rust checks, exhaust system checks, and special equipment such as fire extinguishers, first aid kit, torch, a reflective vest, and emergency triangle.

Address driver behaviour by having procedures in place to deal with poor driving behaviour. Incorporate the safe driving policy into the company’s health and safety policy and make it a vital part of the company’s code of conduct.

Undertake disciplinary action when procedures aren’t followed, and consider a test to ensure employees can perform basic manoeuvres such as parallel parking and reversing.

Create safer drivers through training and education. There are many courses to consider, but overseas experience suggests companies should provide regular training sessions because they are more effective than one-off sessions. Internal courses can be tailored by having regular meetings to discuss driving issues.

There are also corporate defensive driving courses, courses for special vehicles, first aid courses, or the NZTA can conduct a 40-minute driving assessment followed by a recommendation as to training requirements or suitable programmes.

Ensure all drivers are licensed and trained to operate the vehicles they drive. Employers are responsible for ensuring that drivers hold the right category of licence and that it is valid.

To meet this obligation, operators can subscribe to the NZTA’s Driver Check (https://drivercheck.nzta.govt.nz/). Remember, the police can impound vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers,

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even if they are company vehicles.

Help to lower speed by making sure staff have enough time to travel between destinations; make staff responsible for their own speeding tickets; and ensure managers communicate that meeting deadlines is no excuse for speeding. Prohibit drinkdriving and other drugs, provide food and non-alcoholic drinks at functions, provide courtesy vans for work functions, and encourage the use of taxis and designated drivers.

Promote the use of safety belts and other safety features.

Minimise driver distraction by encouraging staff to switch off mobile phones while driving; ensure windscreens and mirrors are clean; make sure that goods are properly secured; and if unfamiliar with a route, look at a map before commencing a journey.

Address driver weariness or exhaustion, otherwise known as fatigue. It affects a driver’s reactions by slowing them down, reducing their judgment of risk, and they take longer to understand what is happening on the road.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: even if a driver is within the maximum work time hours, they can still be fatigued. Compliance with the worktime rules might not be a defence for employers. The obligations in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 make it the employer’s responsibility to schedule drivers’ work so that they have time for rest breaks and recovery. So, watch out for staff who are not getting adequate, good-quality sleep, who show signs of stress created by family or personal circumstances, or who work shifts or extended hours. Most importantly, remember that the only cure for fatigue is quality sleep, not caffeine, winding down the window, or turning up the music.

The ‘could-haves’

The above list is not exhaustive and there is additional material that could be included to make the safe driving policy even more wide-ranging and thorough. This could include: • Some focus on fuel efficiency. Although the link may not appear obvious, overseas studies have shown that there is a direct, positive connection between fuel-efficient driving and crash reduction.

• Employee incentives for safe driving behaviour and procedures to deal with poor driving behaviour.

• Encouraging employees to maintain a healthy diet, together with sleep, work and exercise habits that assist safe driving.

Overall, remember that what is put in the policy should address the problems identified specific to your business. Don’t forget to include your staff, especially when looking at how to raise awareness of driver safety and efficiency or fatigue. 

Please note that this article is not a substitute for legal advice and if you have a particular matter that needs to be addressed, you should consult with a lawyer. Danielle Beston is a barrister who specialises in transport law and she can be contacted on (09) 377 1080 or

Danielle Beston

021 326 642.

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BUSINESS PROFILE

Tyre testing with laser precision Reporting by New Zealand Trucking Media

A new standard in retread testing is on the block. And you have Hamilton-based Michelin Recamic retreading operation Tyreline to thank for it.

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even-point-three-eight millimetres. That’s the exact height of a string of staples. How do we know this? We recently taped some to the side of an old truck tyre and demoed the only tyre testing machine of its kind (so far) to use lasers for inspecting tyre casings for damage.

Pressure testing machines are nothing new in the tyre retreading industry.

They’ve been around for 20 years or so, and Matteuzzi, the Italian company that made this G100 SLS (sheet laser system), is one of the best in the game.

However, it was with a bit of Kiwi influence that this new machine came to be.

Kevin Sigston, retreading technical consultant to Tyreline, explains that the concept has its roots at the Tyrexpo Asia 2017 trade show where he had a conversation with the director of Matteuzzi.

“While looking at their pressure testing machine, I asked for something that could do more than destroy tyres. I wanted to be able to measure whether a tyre is true, has bulges, and any movement as pressure increased,” Sigston says.

“It’s the first machine of its type in the world. We’ve turned the old school into something that takes away a lot of the guesswork. It lets us know that a tyre will work.”

How does the machine work? Taking the concept of the usual, destructive testing machines, the G100 SLS adds a bank of 2500 laser points either side of the tyre from bead to crown shoulder.

These measure the changes to the surface of the tyre as the pressure is increased from two bar (29 psi) to the general truck tyre inflation point of six bar (87 psi) and then to the accepted burst pressure of eight bar (116 psi).

“First at two bar the tyre rotates

A bulge of 1.9mm on the left-

The G100 SLS had to be enlarged to

hand side of the tyre.

accommodate the lasers. It weighs six tonnes.

The magic (deadly) eight bar.

A sneaky view inside as the tyre spins through its scan.

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through the sheet lasers measuring, checking, calculating and storing the information. At six bar, the process repeats itself and any growth or movement in the tyre casing will be picked up. Again, at eight bar, any distortions caused by impact damage or movement from old age, for example, will show,” Sigston says. If the machine identifies any defect (as small as 1.7mm) at any stage, the process will automatically stop and it will display a description of the defect on the control panel, while highlighting it on the tyre with a laser pointer. It’s probably fair to say that our staple experiment was the most obvious ‘defect’ it’s yet had to point out.

In the three months that Tyreline has been using the machine, five casings have destructed during testing.

However, Sigston points out that these are the exception which only a pressure test could find, as there was no casing movement before destruction.

Once a tyre has been through the machine, it receives an individual record that allows for it to be compared should it need to be retested. The machine has been set up to check all incoming tyres for 19.5, 20 and 22.5” rims, although the machine’s range starts at 16”. Tyre widths up to super singles can be tested.

“The machine gives us the ability to test the tyre after the retreading process as well, say if we have to make a major repair to a tyre, or if a tyre goes through final inspection and there’s something we’re not happy with.

“We’re really impressed with this machine. It’s the next generation of what started off as the basic tyre-casing pressure tester concept. All the highly technical types of non-destructive inspection machines that are in the market are good, but this machine is something that is practical and gives both the retreader and the customer greater confidence in the end product.

It adds a new practical side to casing inspection,” says Sigston.  GM

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On behalf of the Patchell Group we would like to thank all our valued customers for their continued support & business in 2019.

We wish you all safe & enjoyable holidays and look forward to an exciting year ahead with our current and prospective new clients.

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CONFERENCE 2019

Technology – helpful tools or a big stick?

Reporting by New Zealand Trucking Media

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hris Carr, director, Carr & Haslam, said the biggest change for them was in administration. Because the trucks now ‘talk’ to the office more than they did before, they only need three admin staff (excluding line managers and dispatchers) to run their back office.

Carr & Haslam has been part of a trial process with Fuso, and through the change to a new Euro 6 engine, fuel economy had improved by 25%. A significant portion of this improvement was achieved through moving to automatic transmissions, which Carr said didn’t sit too comfortably with some people.

“We’ve had to change driver habits – because you’re a big hairy-arsed black singleted truck driver and a manual’s what you need – I’m sorry, that won’t wash any more these days. And you have to raise the skill levels to make that work.”

Carr said lots of other things had contributed to safety, such as autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warnings, adaptive cruise

Chris Carr, director of Carr & Haslam, said cameras in trucks are a useful tool and shouldn’t be seen or used as a big stick.

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control, and vehicle stability systems, but they all take a bit of learning and a bit of adjusting to.

“We’re putting cameras in the cabs so we can see what is happening with the drivers. Most drivers get it – some don’t – we use the cameras as a tool to protect the driver and nothing else. We’ve got driver monitoring systems and you can stop them braking so often, you can help them accelerate more smoothly; a whole series of little things that if you use them as tools, and not as a big stick, they’re really, really helpful.”

James Smith, group transport manager Halls, said the two years between IRTENZ conferences had seen changes in technology used, largely driven by customer demand and regulatory intervention. He said when running a fleet that undertook multiple tasks, all trucks had to meet all customer requirements.

Smith said technology has added significant cost to both the price of the unit coming on the road, and its ongoing operation.

“Make sure every piece of technology you’re deploying has a purpose, that you actually understand why you’re putting it in, and then make it accountable for that purpose. Fully understand both the initial and ongoing cost of the technology. $283 a month doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re running a fleet our size, that’s over a million a year, which is hitting your bottom line and it’s got to come from somewhere.”

Smith said Halls was holding back on substantial investment in its fleet because of uncertainty as to where technology was going.

“The problem is we’re in a rapidly changing space of technology. We’re also waiting for the HPMV proforma designs to settle down because we didn’t want to get caught building the wrong type of equipment. There is going to be substantial investment in the fleet;

December 2019 – January 2020

This month we fea ture the Panel Discussion from Da y 1 of the 2019 IRTENZ conference . The discussion topic was ‘New Tec hnology – What are we doing differently two years on?’

we will potentially see the introduction of alternative powertrains, but they are most likely to be restricted to metro configurations.”

Smith said he felt there needed to be a regulatory environment that would allow operators who were investing in new, leading-edge technology to test the technology in real world situations without the fear of overzealous regulatory intervention, because there would always be things that need adjusting for New Zealand’s environment.

Gareth Pert, general manager, Tranzliquid, said the information garnered from a GPS system is so data rich that it can be overwhelming, but it was important to understand it in order to determine how well a business was running.

Pert said over the time they had been using GPS telemetry, there had been a steady decline in the average fleet speed, which could be attributed to a few things.

“Probably the biggest one for us to be fair is traffic congestion, either travelling to Auckland or through Auckland, just service provider workloads and delays there, and hold-ups throughout the work day. The tangible outcome for this is we require more people and more equipment to do the same amount of work than we would have historically, and there is a cost to that.”

Pert said Tranzliquid also used a lot of GPS telemetry as an operator training tool.

“When combined with the likes of a SAFED course, this results in real savings – mostly through fuel savings, but also in other intangible areas.

However, purchasing a GPS system doesn’t provide the platform that will

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From left: Dom Kalasih (IRTENZ president), Chris Carr (Carr & Haslam), James Smith (Halls Group), Gareth Pert (Tranzliquid), Ian Emmerson (Emmerson Transport), Brendan King (TR Group), Alan Pearson (TIL Group), John Woodrooffe (University of Michigan Emeritus), and Warwick Wilshier (Williams and Wilshier).

drive change in operator behaviour.

It’s imperative that that platform to facilitate behaviour change is in the company culture.”

Pert was sceptical of Level 5 autonomous vehicles arriving, but said in striving to get there, the safety functionality developed along the way would be incorporated into OEM equipment, which was good for the industry in general.

reporting to customers when required.

An upside of this is the reduced likelihood of revenue leakage by jobs being under- or overcharged, or not charged at all.

“A consideration is that we want the driver to be committed to delivering freight and not spending time accepting and completing jobs. This is an area where most IT suppliers don’t seem to have a lot of focus.”

Ian Emmerson, managing director, Emmerson Transport, said about two years ago the company embarked on a project that mandated all jobs flow from the transport management system (TMS) to the truck PDA, but the greatest challenge they’ve faced in refining this progress was the culture of the people using the system.

“One of the other influences is an aging driver workforce. Obviously the younger drivers are much more IT literate, but sometimes lack the commitment of the old. Our internal culture has been on the continuous training and testing for understanding, along with demonstrations at staff meetings as well as toolbox talks to show the operators how important their input is. These applications are now being monitored by employee log-on and graphed by percentage successfully completed.”

Emmerson said timely transfer of consignment details and delivery timing by leg or when delivered allows both status of freight movements and default

TR Group’s Brendan King told the audience that now one actually knows what the total cost of ownership of EVs is.

TR Group, general manager, Brendon King said customers and suppliers don’t want to use a company’s system – they just want the data it contains.

“You don’t want to log into multiple systems and have different capabilities and features, different looks and feels, you just want the data coming out of

those multiple systems into a common system – your own – and be able to play with the data from there.”

King said TR Group had built a customer portal called My TR, which enabled customers to access all their fleet information quickly and easily. My TR is soon to be joined by a TR app.

TR Group has some electric trucks on order that should be here by Christmas.

“There’s a lot to learn – how long batteries last, how much maintenance will we spend on an EV versus a diesel, what will a used EV be worth, what will happen to the cost of EVs, what are the advantages and disadvantages of electric trucks. The real answers are that no one knows the real answers to these questions, particularly with regard to trucks.”

TR Group owns driver training business Master Drive and last year purchased online learning specialist DT Training.

King says the advantages of online learning are that people can repeat what modules they do not understand, and receive language and literacy help.

“TR’s online learning courses are produced in 103 languages and the questions and statements are given in audio as well as visual written format.

There is a consistent delivery, time after time.

“They tend to be more cost-effective and training can be delivered over time in line with the operator’s ability to learn.”

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CONFERENCE 2019

Alan Pearson, chief executive officer, TIL Group, said because the group has chosen to self-insure, they have to make their trucks safer, protecting both their drivers and the community.

“We’ve made a commitment to AutoSense and have introduced that across the fleet. It’s not cheap, but if you take the type of rollovers we’re expecting to prevent [which can cost about $500,000], we think it will have a significant payback.”

TIL Group has more than 20 warehouses across the country with about 245,000 pallets of storage, and Pearson said having a new, paperless warehouse management system was important to them.

Over the past 12 months they have also been investing heavily in tablets.

Previously they had an old legacy transport management system, which while good, was antiquated. The old system couldn’t communicate with the tablets either, so the group has gone to a new system with in-cab technology, where they can upload and download information – including pickup and consignment notes. Pearson said revenue leakage in a large organisation could be substantial, and the new system will prevent this.

TIL Logistics has agreed to investigate hydrogen fuel options with Hiringa Energy.

“We’re pretty agnostic, in terms of what technology evolves as being the best motor or power in the future. We’re not married to diesel, we’re not married to electric, and we’re not married to hydrogen, so we’re keeping our options very much open.”

Pearson believes the internal combustion engine is going to be around for a while in terms of diesel powered trucks on linehaul, but thinks there will be a gradual migration to electric vehicles or hydrogen on metro applications.

Warwick Wilshier, managing director, Williams & Wilshier, said while all the technology they use has been helpful, a compliance audit by NZTA illustrated the downside.

“They try to get you to selfincriminate and find faults in the way you’re managing your drivers.”

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Tranzliquid has used GPS telemetry as an operator training tool, but it’s only a tool. Real change is about culture, said general manager Gareth Pert.

Wilshier said during the audit he was asked what evidence the GPS data had provided of drivers offending.

Something the company had invested in as a safety feature to warn drivers when they moved from one speed zone into another was viewed as a way to prove offending.

“What it’s made us do is put more effort into compliance management, around driving hours, around fatigue, around rest breaks, and that sort of thing. It’s quite a big issue, and it has shifted the responsibility to the operator, particularly managing that sort of thing, and we need to use all the technology we’ve got to make sure we’re compliant.

It’s a new world and like it or not, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

As for electric vehicles, Wilshier was sceptical they’d be suitable for logging.

“The good thing is in the past few years the logging industry’s moved as fast as we could invest in new equipment and technology. Within the next few years everything will be Euro 5 or Euro 6. I don’t know that we’ll ever have an environment for an EV truck in the logging industry, but at least we’ll have the most emission compliant vehicles we can have.”

John Woodrooffe – University of Michigan Emeritus, had been involved in a study to discover how technology influenced safety, looking at the operations of seven top fleets in the US. “I looked at the performance of the various technologies, consulted with

December 2019 – January 2020

the management, consulted with the safety people and also the drivers.

“One of the things we’ve learned about improving safety culture within a fleet is that as long as the driver feels that the technology can help him and help with his progress – they appreciate that. Whereas if it’s seen as a punitive reaction, then of course they resent it and they don’t like to use it.”

Woodrooffe found that the more technology and the more involvement in driver coaching, the lower the crash rates were in these fleets.

“Interestingly, there is a strong correlation between drivers who value the presence and benefits of forwardlooking and in-cab cameras with better fleet safety performance. That’s a bit of a head-scratcher, but it’s probably the safety culture of those companies that install these systems is such that they’ve educated the drivers to understand how this benefits them in the long term.”

Electronic logbooks have been instituted in the US and Canada and Woodrooffe said the feedback had been very good, from both the fleet owners and also the drivers. Drivers felt they could not be exploited or intimidated into working longer hours, and owners had better control over driver performance and that drivers were working at the permitted level of hours of service.

If electronic logbooks were mandated in New Zealand, Woodrooffe said there would need to be a universal platform that all systems could be linked to.

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CONFERENCE 2019

(Mental) health is safety The Road Transport Forum held its annual conference for 2019 at Wairakei during September. The theme this year was ‘central focus’ and the conference attracted 13 highprofile speakers who presented on a range of topics pertinent to business, the economy, and the industry itself. Over the next couple of issues we’ll discuss some of the most pertinent.

D

r Tom Mulholland, founder of the Healthy Thinking Institute, has worked in various emergency departments over the past 30 years and has a keen interest in risk management. That is, a particular kind of risk management – that of how much of a risk we are to ourselves.

“Health is safety – if you’re not measuring and managing it, you’re putting yourself at increased risk,” he said.

Mulholland wasn’t referring to physical health alone, but mental health too. In any regard, he said that most of what he’s seen over the years has been preventable.

“The transport industry has been one of the most critical industries to engage in this space. Wellbeing is not about fluffy shit, it’s about stopping a crash, stopping you and your loved ones from dying when you don’t need to,” Mulholland commented.

Unfortunately, a problem with many members of the transport industry is that they don’t take the topic seriously enough. Mulholland gave the example of a 53-year-old bus driver (among others) who didn’t take his blood pressure seriously.

“Despite funding for free checks and free talks, no one stops driving to actually engage.”

Then there’s Bill, the 48-year-old stock truck driver who suffered from ‘mudguard syndrome’. “It’s called the ‘mudguard syndrome’ because while everything seems shiny on the top it’s quite shitty underneath,” Mulholland explained.

A physically fit, normal-weight bloke, Bill had a heart attack running a marathon because he ignored the warning lights of high blood pressure and cholesterol. “Would you drive a truck with the warning lights on?” Mulholland asked.

However, those are not the only health and wellbeing warning lights that need taking note of.

Take John, the 55-year-old log truck driver whose red lights flagged depression, anxiety and stress.

“Mental health is a big issue [in the trucking industry] and a lot of that is because we’re designed to walk; when we don’t move it has a massive effect on our mental health,” Mulholland said.

Sitting in a cab all day is not the only cause, obviously. Long hours on the job, alone, and a lack of exercise, all play on a truck driver’s mind.

“Twenty percent of ACC claims today are for mental health, and it’s just going to keep going up. The key is to see which people will submit an ACC claim, which are at risk of an accident, or which are at risk of not turning up to work…

“I can tell you that one third of your staff are in this position and are vulnerable, with very poor mental health,” he told the RTF delegates. “Probably 100% of 20- to 24-year olds have poor mental health [they are also at the biggest risk of suicide, which spikes again when people enter their 40s].”

Mulholland said that we do need something more than just asking if someone is okay. Much like blood pressure or cholesterol, mental health needs to be measured and the warning lights need to be monitored.

Recounting his own mental health problems, attempted suicide and subsequent recovery, Mulholland realised that it’s not what happened to him that was important, it was his attitude towards it.

“I thought, my perspective on [everything] is making me feel miserable so if I change how I think I can change how I feel, and if I do that I can change how I act.”

Incidentally, Mulholland went from being suicidal to doing stand-up comedy in six months. However, he cautions that mental health is a complicated issue and there’s a distinction between a person’s hardware – their brain – and their software – their mind.

“Look after your hardware. There are 10 trillion networks in your brain, so if you wake up every day and think how hard your life is, you’re reinforcing that message. If you wake up each day and think of five things to be grateful for, that’s more effective for mild to moderate depression than taking antidepressants. If you’re exercising, getting the right nutrition, lots of love, rest, all this stuff, you can put a lot of deposits into your neurological wellbeing.

“I thought, my perspective on [everything] is making me feel miserable so if I change how I think I can change how I feel, and if I do that I can change how I act.”

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“However, you can’t tell someone who’s clinically depressed just to cheer up or change their thinking. That’s a software problem. But, if you want to change how you feel, start with changing what you control. Triggers create thoughts, which create emotions, which create actions, which create consequences. I’m, constantly immunising myself with healthy thoughts, making my brain a lot more useful. There’s a process to manage your thoughts, like defensive driving – defensive thinking,” he said.

Mulholland noted that, at the end of the day, it’s the individual’s responsibility to act on their warning lights.

“I’ve noticed that people don’t know their own numbers. We look after everything else except our most important assets, ourselves. More than 80% of workplace incidents are related to fatigue, aggravation, stress, frustration, anxiety or anger.

“If you’re not worried about your own wellbeing, maybe your kids are and maybe they want you to be around a little longer,” he concluded.  GM

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

The Hall of Fame attracts the who’s who of New Zealand road transport to both its roll of honour and its awards evening, but who will be the first woman inducted, and when?

No shortage of choice

By Faye Lougher

N

ew Zealand is pretty advanced as far as recognising women’s rights goes. We were the first country to give women the vote 126 years ago, and here in 2019 we’re on our third female prime minister, our third female governor general, and our second female chief justice. There are also rumours circulating that we could soon have our first female police commissioner.

Women are represented in every occupation, often at high levels. We’ve got an increasing number of women in the transport industry today, and there are some who have

been working in the industry for many years. There was even a female transport operator in New Zealand in the early 1900s (Margaret Ivory), so it’s not a new phenomenon.

In September at the New Zealand Road Transport Industry Awards, women walked away with three of the five awards – and the runner-up in one category was also a woman.

A week later I sat at the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame dinner in Invercargill thinking how wonderful it would be if 2019 was the year we saw the first female inducted.

The NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame was initiated in

Margaret Ivory was an early pioneer of road transport in New Zealand and there have been any number of prominent females since.

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2012 as a means to honour and applaud the outstanding contribution many individuals have made to the New Zealand road transport industry.

In the eight years the event has been running, a total of 45 industry stalwarts have been inducted into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame.

While there is no argument the inductees are all deserving of recognition, every single one of them has been male.

I have it on good authority that women have been nominated, but so far none of the nominations has progressed to the induction stage. I’m curious as to why this is so, because I find it hard to believe that in the more than 100 years since Margaret Ivory ran her own transport business in Wellington, there have been no women equally deserving of recognition.

I asked a leading woman in the industry what she thought of this, and she said a good start would be positive recognition of contributions made in commercial road transport by both sexes.

“We will do this by increasing our positive image in the community and getting our message out there that we’re an equal-opportunity career provider. Congratulations to the RTF and Teletrac Navman for this first step, but I must mention the Hall of Fame awards in Invercargill, because unfortunately they are lagging behind. Many women contribute to the award the husband/partner gets – and to their credit they sometimes attribute the award as a joint effort in their speech. I applaud the recipients doing that and also look forward to the day the judges of the Hall of Fame follow the leaders on this. Never fear – we will get there and we will mature as an industry as the acceptance of diversity travels down the latitudes of our fair nation.”

I have absolutely no doubt that the women who have been recognised at the New Zealand Road Transport Industry Awards in recent years (including Jackie Carroll from Tranzliquid who won the NZ Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety Award in 2017) will be among those recognised at the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame in the years to come. More women who see the transport industry as a great career option will hopefully join them. But where is the recognition for the pioneers and those women who have been working in the industry for many years?

I can’t be the only one who thinks their recognition is long overdue.  Faye Lougher graduated as a journalist in 1995 and also has a Diploma in Publishing and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism Studies. She has been a freelance journalist, editor and photographer since 2002 and her first article appeared in New Zealand Trucking in 2007. Today she writes news and features for the magazine and is also its subeditor.

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NZ TRUCKING ASSOCIATION

Have you booked your trip to Christchurch yet?

T

he 2020 TMC Trailers Trucking Industry Show (20 to 21 March) is shaping up to be an epic event.

The team at the NZ Trucking Association works behind the scenes to organise this show. Supported by the executive board and an industry committee, Rebecca Dinmore and Carol McGeady manage the event, come up with exciting new ideas, and create a show that truly celebrates the entire industry.

Their hard work ensures that it is affordable, for the smallest of transport suppliers right through to the Gold Sponsors, to participate.

The Christchurch show has a lot of heart and that’s something that makes the show such a success. With Christchurch being so accessible for visitors, the show will remain in the location and continue being held every two years.

Keeping the show fresh by adding new attractions and activities has been a fun part for the organisers. We wanted it to be a fun day out for the whole family, so children’s activities have been planned throughout the showgrounds. The Safety MAN will take prime spot within the new Road Safety Hub. Located next door will be The Valvoline Road Safety Scooter Track. Scooters and pedal karts will be available so children can ride around a loop track, learning about road safety as they go.

The 9-Hole Mini Golf transport village is a new attraction and suitable for both children and adults, as is the Tyre Fitness Obstacle Course. The Giant Sandpit is back, this time with buried treasure to search for. The show has a new 22m-long bouncy truck, and the colouring-in tent will be a great attraction for the young ones.

The Show Shop will be packed with large remote-control trucks sourced from overseas that have not been available in New Zealand before.

We wanted to give the young ones an experience that they will never forget, inspiring them and hopefully attracting them into the industry in the future. Keeping all the activities free means that families can afford to come and stay all day. Entry is just $10 for adults and free for children 18 and under.

The stars of the show are the UDC Show & Shine trucks and drivers. More than 400 are expected, however we are hoping that we get more than 500. To help North Island drivers attend, Interislander is offering a 20% discount off its customers’ current rates, or cash rates (if not a current customer) for trucks travelling to the show to compete in the UDC Show & Shine competition.

Make sure you vote for the Mega Pacific People’s Choice and Driver’s Choice; voting can be done next to the Show Shop.

All the hard work undertaken to organise the show is worth

it when we see those truckies rolling in at 5.30am to showcase their gear with pride. More than 45 awards will be presented at the Teletrac Navman Industry Show Dinner on the Saturday night. With the awards ceremony now happening at the show dinner, we can properly celebrate the huge effort put in by drivers and companies.

The Classic Trucks Showcase has been developed to showcase the amazing classic trucks that have been preserved and are still fully functional. This area is so important to the industry, to show off the history and proudly display what has been preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Another new activity is the Heartland Bank Cash Grab; just head to the Heartland Bank Lawn, grab some food from the various vendors, and spin the wheel for your chance to go into the money-blowing machine. Real and fake money will be thrown in and you get to keep whatever you can grab in seven seconds.

The 2020 show will see the addition of five National Industry Competitions. The TR Group New Zealand Truck Driving Championships has been overhauled and is going to be a fantastic spectacle. With three courses running simultaneously at the showgrounds, drivers will compete in what is going to be a fun competition with fantastic prizes. Prize packs worth $5000 will be awarded to the winner of each category, with special recognition awards for the Young Driver and Woman Driver of the Year 2020.

Mimico is sponsoring the Excavator Competition, which has an amazing prize pack that includes $1000 cash plus a week-long, all-inclusive trip to Japan, including a Kobelco factory tour. The industry relies heavily on forklifts, so it’s fantastic that Hyundai is sponsoring the Forklift Championships to celebrate operators in a national competition. This will be a chance for forklift drivers to compete for the 2020 title and $1500 prize money. Liebherr is sponsoring the All-terrain Crane Championships and we have been told a model crane will be in the prize pack, along with cash and merchandise.

Another thing that keeps the industry trucking is tyres, and we want to celebrate those professionals who are responsible for keeping the wheels rolling. Bridgestone, Carters Tyres, Kiwi Truck Tyres, Tyre General and SuperTyre are sponsoring and organising the Tyre Technician Competition. The winners of these industry competitions will be celebrated and presented with their trophies and prizes at the Teletrac Navman Industry Show Dinner.

Careers Transport 2020 is happening on Friday 20 March and high schools have been individually invited to attend.

Careers Transport 2020 is happening on Friday 20 March and high schools have been individually invited to attend. Scania New Zealand is helping schools get to the careers day and will be running free Scania buses from Timaru to Kaikoura.

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Scania New Zealand is helping schools get to the careers day and will be running free Scania buses from Timaru to Kaikoura. This reaches all the rural schools that might not have the resources to get their senior students to Christchurch.

We are working with the schools’ careers advisors to help the students plan their visit. An information pack will go to each school early in the New Year, highlighting the companies and exhibitors taking part in the showcase. The students will have a barbecue lunch sponsored by New Zealand Trucking Media.

More than 80 sponsors and trade exhibitors are taking part, featuring everything from parts through to new trucks for sale. There will be new product launches and new companies exhibiting for the first time.

This is the ultimate trucking weekend, with lots of opportunities to network and catch up with the industry. We have a trucking quiz night planned for Thursday 19 March, an exhibitor barbeque Friday 20 March, and then the bar opens at 5pm for those who have tickets to the Teletrac Navman Industry Show Dinner and want to head straight there after the show on Saturday.

There are a few surprises in store so keep your eye on social

media. Yogi from Outback Truckers will be circulating and we might even put him in a truck in the competition area and see how he goes against some of New Zealand’s best.

This show truly has something for everyone, even if trucking is not your thing. Plan to stay the whole day, as there are plenty of areas to sit and relax and so much to see and do. This event is a fantastic showcase of the industry’s professionalism and is only held every two years, so don’t miss it.

All proceeds of the show are donated to these well-deserving charities: Ronald McDonald House SI, Child Cancer Canterbury, Riding for the Disabled, Westpac Rescue Helicopter, Men’s Health NZ, and St John, and also helps support local organisations and clubs in Canterbury. 

NZ Trucking Association, 23 Islington Avenue, Waterloo Business Park, Christchurch 0800 338 338 www.nztruckingassn.co.nz

By Carol McGeady, executive officer NZ Trucking Association

2019

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ROAD TRANSPORT FORUM

Auckland speed limits a result of lazy policy

A

uckland motorists and transport operators will be in utter confusion when new reduced speed limits come in across 700km of the region’s roads.

Nobody can argue against genuinely safer roads and the RTF supports road safety measures where all consequences are well considered. A city-wide reduction in speed limits such as this,

though, is not well-considered policy.

It’s cheap, lazy, dog-whistle-style policymaking that Auckland Transport knows will fit well with the anti-road agenda coming out of Wellington.

Unfortunately, it seems as though AT is using reduced speed limits and the associated shrill drumbeat from the anticar lobby to cover its significant lack of investment in roading infrastructure.

Addressing unfair commercial practices In much better news, the government recently announced a commitment to introduce legislation that will address the lingering issue of unfair commercial practices.

RTF was first in the door to see Ministers Faafoi and Nash on this problem in early 2018. At that stage unfair commercial practices and unilateral deferred payment were barely on the government’s radar, although the issue did gain considerable traction in the media and across the Tasman.

That fact was that a number of transport operators and other independent contractors who relied on servicing large primary sector companies had been suffering from 60- to 90-day payment terms for some time and were under stress because of it.

Smaller transport operators and small- to medium-sized businesses in general do not hold large reserves of cash, meaning they rely on money coming in regularly to pay for overheads like vehicle maintenance or just to pay the monthly wages!

In many parts of New Zealand, particularly in rural areas, the reality is that there is often only one game in town for a transport operator and there is little choice but to agree with the contract terms presented, which put those operators in a very difficult position.

The simplest solution (and the solution we took to the government back in early 2018) was to simply

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New Zealand Trucking

extend existing provisions within the Fair Trading Act, which protect consumers from unfair contract terms with businesses, to also apply to business-to-business contracts.

The government’s recent announcement included a specific commitment to do this for businessto-business contracts with a value below $250,000. While the cases of unilateral deferred payment have dropped, probably due to a few instances of public shaming, introducing this change will protect small businesses from this insidious practice in the future so we must make sure we get it over the line.

Unfortunately, the way government works and the various interests that it must juggle means you very rarely get everything you ask for and unfortunately this time it seems the union movement has muddied the waters by convincing the government to try to legislate to prohibit ‘unconscionable conduct’ also. RTF doesn’t believe this will be effective as it is extremely hard to prove in court and is probably not even usable for small- to mediumsized businesses that don’t have the legal resources to pursue it.

Nevertheless, the government’s intention is to introduce the Fair Trading Amendment Bill early next year and you can be sure that RTF will again be knocking on doors around Wellington to make sure we get it passed before the 2020 election.

December 2019 – January 2020

As we know, all AT’s money is going into expensive rail projects such as the City Rail Loop and the basket-case that is the light rail project, instead of improving the region’s roads.

The fact is that the vast majority of Auckland road users, while being frustrated by the doctrinaire new rules, will not be willing to raise their head above the parapet for fear of being characterised as cold-hearted and uncaring. We have basically been backed into a corner.

The AA’s Barney Irvine, one of the few motoring commentators alongside the RTF to criticise the plan, makes the very valid point that, “the big-bang, blanket reductions that AT is proposing are too much, too fast. If people don’t see a speed limit as credible, they are unlikely to stick to it; and where compliance is low, you don’t get the safety benefits – all you get are higher numbers of infringements. That all adds up to a really poor road safety outcome.”

The economic impact of these reduced speeds will be significant.

Policymakers may think it only adds a few minutes per journey here and there, but that adds up extremely quickly in our industry and will force trucking operators to completely rearrange schedules and push drivers to work longer hours.

All those changes result in a loss of productivity and a drag on the economy.

The costs, of course, won’t be borne by transport operators, they will be passed on down through the supply chain to consumers. What happens in Auckland affects the whole of New Zealand – so we will all suffer. 

Nick Leggett Chief executive officer

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Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui International 9870 day cab 8x4 Driver Frank Richards Driver Frank Richards Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Operator: The Green Gorilla Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Transmission Optidriver Engine: Cummins X15 448kW (600hp) Transmission Optidriver Rear axles Renault P2191 hub reduction Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Transmission: Eatonwith UltraShift MXP AMT 18-speed Truck body deck with frontRT46-160 mounted PK12000 Truck body Rear axles: FlatFlat deck with front mounted PK12000 Meritor Palfinger crane Body/trailer: Palfinger crane Transfleet Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features: Aero roof kit Dura-Bright alloy wheels Extras: Dura-Bright alloy wheels Scales Operation Carting roofing material around Operation Carting roofing material around Operation: the Bay ofRefuse ex Auckland to Hampton Downs Plenty area

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Operator Roadex Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Operator logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Driver Frank Richards Driver Richards Operator: Frank Krishna Transport Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Engine 460hp Engine: 0Xi11, Cummins X15 392kW (525hp) Transmission OptidriverEaton UltraShift MXP AMT 18-speed Transmission Optidriver Transmission: Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear axlesaxles:Renault P2191 withMT40-14X hub reduction Rear Meritor Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Truck body Flat deck with front mounted Features: Aero roof kit and PK12000 side skirts, DEF tank

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DAF CF75 Roadex 4x2 tractor Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Operator logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Driver Frank Richards Driver Frank Richards Operator: REL Group Ltd Rakaia Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Engine: PACCAR PX-9 269kW (360hp) Transmission Optidriver Transmission Optidriver Transmission: ZF AS-Tronic 12-speed AMT Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear axles: Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 DAF SR1344 Truck body Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 DAF 4-bag ECAS Rear suspension: Palfinger crane Palfinger crane Operation: Disc SiloBluetooth, deliveries nationwide Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features brakes, Jeff Blackburn Driver: Dura-Bright alloy wheels Dura-Bright alloy wheels Operation Carting Carting roofing material around Operation roofing material around

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November 2015

128 New Zealand Trucking December 2019 – January 2020 10 10 NZNZ TRUCKING TRUCKING November 2015