Million Mile Club

MOODY (NOT SO) BLUES

Mark Moody first appeared in New Zealand Trucking magazine in June 2007 when Fay Laugher (in her first story for the magazine) wrote about his original Mack MH. That truck has since been sold, but it was inevitable Mark, who has been in the industry for 40 years, wouldn’t be long without another. He admits to being a bit of a Mack fanatic and “has always had at least one in his fleet”.

Two now, in fact… both of which have crossed the magic 1,600,000km figure and feature this month as inductees into the Bridgestone New Zealand Trucking Million Mile Club.

First in line is ‘Blue Mood’s’ (BLUMDS), the 1999 MH Ultra-Liner that recently clocked over 2,300,000km. Mark bought BLUMDS from Clinton Waipahi Holdings with about 1,200,000km on it.

The main line of business for Mark Moody Transport, based in Koputaroa, north of Levin, is stock transport in the lower half of the North Island. Mark also carts a bit of wool and fertiliser. BLUMDS is fitted with two-deck/three-deck stock crates – the crate being the original fitted to the truck from its days based in Southland, although Mark fitted a new dropsider deck in 2018.

About eight years ago, the truck was repowered with a later 470hp engine. “The original motor’s sitting in a shed knackered. We repowered it about eight years ago, and it’s probably done about 500,000km on the crate motor,” says Mark. BLUMDS sends power through a Mack 18-speed gearbox to Mack diffs on Hendrickson airbag suspension. “There are no automatics in this yard!” Mark quips.

CALLING ALL TRUCKS ON OR OVER

1 MILLION MILES

BIG MOOOV-ER

Originally part of the fleet of Fulton Hogan Central, Alexandra, ‘Mooov’ (MOODS5) is another 1999 MH Ultra-Liner and has covered 1,650,000km.

It retains its original 460 Etech engine while the rest of its spec is like that underpinning BLUMDS – Mack 18-speed gearbox, Mack diffs and Hendrickson airbag rear suspension. Its passengers ride in a set of two-deck/four-deck stock crates. The deck is original, built for it brand new, but Mark added the crates it has now.

While he drives both trucks, Mark spends most of his time behind the wheel of MOODS and has a part-time driver on BLUMDS.

Rural transport has long been a feature in Mark’s life. He grew up on a farm at Koputaroa and got his love of trucks driving with his late father. At 19, Mark got a job transporting potatoes for a local market gardener who leased a truck from Koputaroa Transport. Mark ended up doing more and more work for the transport company, and when owner Don Carl decided to retire and split the company into two halves, Mark bought the half that contained a house and the depot and has been there ever since.

Why the love for Macks? It’s simple, explains Mark: “I just like them – it’s a bit of a hard question to answer why – I can’t really put it into words. I like driving them; they are nice to drive, reasonably reliable and not too expensive to repair. That’s my biased opinion; other guys will tell you something different.”

What other reason would you need?

Photos: Faye Laugher.

Bridgestone and New Zealand Trucking Media want to recognise trucks that have achieved this milestone in the act of carrying the nation on their backs. Each month, up to eight trucks will be selected, and will feature in the magazine, as well as on our social media.

Those selected will get a Million Mile Club cap and badge for the truck.

Terms • Only owners can submit • NZ trucks only • Supply chain may affect the timing of cap and badge arrival

TO JOIN, EMAIL:

editor@nztrucking.co.nz • Quality image of the truck • Name of owner and driver • Basic spec (model, engine, trans, rear end) • Contact details