NZ TRUCK & DRIVER
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| September 2026
September 2026
BIG TEST Big Trev, trucking entrepreneur and legend | FLEET FOCUS Corporate Culture... East Coast Style | FEATURE: Driverless Trucks
Issue 304
trucking entrepreneur and legend
ISSN 2703-6278
BIG TREV
The Official Magazine of
Trusted protection. Proven performance. As one of New Zealand’s largest commercial vehicle dealers and distributors, commencing business thirty years ago and growing to a team of 380 professionals today, Keith Andrews operates by an ethos based on listening to customers and forging partnerships to create a seamless service and support network for commercial vehicle operators. With a focus on premium vehicles and premium service, Keith Andrews relies the trusted protection and proven performance of Castrol for all their lubricant needs. Castrol - trusted no matter the challenge.
Keith Andrews and the industry that keeps NZ moving In New Zealand’s transport industry, nothing stands still for long. Trucks are on the move, freight is time‑sensitive, and livelihoods depend on wheels turning. For Brad Phillips, GM of Aftersales at Keith Andrews, success in this environment comes down to understanding customers and building an offering they can depend on. Representing Fuso, Freightliner, Mercedes‑Benz Trucks and Vans, Keith Andrews supports operations with demanding workloads and an absolute need for fleet reliability. “Trust is imperative,” Phillips says. “It’s about being responsive, getting customers back on the road in a timely manner, and really taking the time to understand their businesses,” he says. Head of Service and Technical at Keith Andrews, Michael Hanright, points out that vehicles can be anywhere in the country at any given time, and the team must always be ready to provide support. “You’re not just always working inside the workshop. It’s very dynamic.” With an engineering background, that dynamism is part of what drew Hanright into the sector. “The industry itself is linked to so many other industries, so you really feel the impact of the work you do,” he explains.
A people‑first business built on trust For Phillips, who started his career as an apprentice diesel mechanic in Nelson and has been with Keith Andrews for years, the appeal is just as much about the people in the industry as it is the machinery. “I love the industry, I love the people, it’s a good network.” Phillips says. Hanright also notes that people sit at the centre of everything. “We have exceptional people... some people have been here since the company was founded 35 years ago.” In an industry where downtime is costly and expectations are high, the combination of technical capability, responsiveness, great people, and genuine connection is what keeps customers coming back. Phillips says the secret to business success is simple: “Listen to your customers, do what you say you are going to and build lasting partnerships.” Hanright echoes this, adding that trust is earned over a long period of time. “It’s the small things you do all the time that make the difference.” He says the business has longstanding, trusted relationships not only with customers but with suppliers as well. “Castrol would be a good example of that,” he adds. “They’re critical to our operation.”
A strong partnership, decades in the making Castrol has been part of the Keith Andrews story from the very beginning, built on decades of product performance, reliability and support. “The person who chose Castrol was Keith Andrews, the man who founded the company,” Hanright explains. “There is a lot of trust in that relationship, there’s a lot of equity that you build up in a relationship when you work with someone for decades.” For Hanright, Castrol is almost synonymous with the industry itself. “It’s a very reputable brand. If I had to describe Castrol in a word, it would be ‘reliable’,” he says, adding that the benefits go well beyond premium products. “The primary support that we get around the product is important, but all the other ancillary support, in some ways, is just as valuable.” Phillips shares that view, describing the relationship as multi‑level and easy. “Anyone in the business can talk to the people they need to talk to… everyone is accessible, very responsive.” The partnership with Castrol became even more visible in 2026, with the Keith Andrews logo prominently displayed on Thomas Randle’s Castrol‑backed Mustang for the ITM Christchurch Super 440 at Ruapuna Raceway. For Phillips, it was a visible symbol of a decades‑long partnership spanning products, people and shared passion; a moment of real pride for the entire team. “Seeing that and the connection with Keith Andrews and the Castrol brand, it’s something that they can buy into.” Hanright agrees: “The amount of fans of motorsport we’ve got in our company, let alone in our customer base, it’s massive, so anything that involves racing… it’s great to see the Keith Andrews brand alongside it.”
Finding continued success in a fast‑paced industry For all the history and success, there’s a deliberate reluctance within Keith Andrews to ever feel satisfied. That mindset, Hanright believes, is one of the organisation’s greatest strengths. Hanright says delivering high‑quality service starts with a mindset of never being fully satisfied. “We’re always looking at how could it be done better,” he explains. “Probably being quite hard on ourselves to be honest… but I think it’s the secret to making it better.” Looking ahead, Phillips sees that drive for improvement as central to Keith Andrews’ future, shaping the focus for the next five to ten years: deepening customer understanding and building on their strong momentum. As he puts it, it’s about “really cementing the business and providing premium customer service to the transport industry in New Zealand”.
castrol.com/nz
Driving the economy
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Above from left: ACT’s transport spokesperson Cameron Luxton; Green Party MP and former Associate Minister of Transport, Julie Anne Genter; Andy Foster, NZ First MP and Chairperson of the Transport & Infrastructure Select Committee Rail investment The panel then received a question about the viability of rail freight. Utikere started off, essentially saying that with better investment will come better returns. Foster had a similar view, and disagreed with the premise of the question, saying KiwiRail’s performance and revenue has increased this year. Genter said that the rail network was asset-stripped during its period of privatisation, “so there’s a lot of catch-up maintenance and investment that needs to happen,” for it to reach its potential. Foster nodded along. Luxton supported fair competition and suggested that support for rail subsidisation where the public aren’t getting their dividends was ideological. Genter pushed back, saying it’s the opposition to rail that is ideological. “The economics of it absolutely stack up,” she argued. Speed limits Next, the panel were asked about their party’s policy on open road speed limits. Luxton said “Go faster!” before qualifying that with, “if it’s safe to do so, go faster.” “When I’m sitting at 110 on a beautiful day on the Waikato Expressway with AC/DC blasting – I mean, why is it only 110?” However, he pointed to the training of New Zealand drivers and the licensing regime as being key issues. “We do have a problem with the attitude of drivers on the road.” He said a tougher look at road users, rather than speed limits, should be considered. Genter began, “Can we talk about the cost? I know it feels good to drive fast, but it doesn’t really get you anywhere any faster most of the time.” “Most of our roading network isn’t designed to take higher speeds. All of our two lane, undivided highways – the reality is the safe speed on a road like that is 70 or 80 kilometres an hour,” which she said would be the standard in countries like Japan, Ireland or Norway.
“If something goes wrong at a higher speed, it’s much more likely to result in a fatal or a serious injury crash.” She also added that faster driving consumes more fuel. “Sensible speed limits just make sense from a productivity point of view, but also from a valuing life point of view.” She opposed the idea that higher speed limits correlate to better productivity. “When a road gets closed for hours and hours because you’ve had a major fatal crash, that’s not good for productivity.” “If you really want to drive fast, go to a racecourse!” Hamilton vehemently disagreed with all her points. The two of them verbally sparred over whether or not the previous Government had imposed blanket speed reductions, and tension was high. “We all agree, we want safe roads, no one wants to die, but we saw no material impact on road toll deaths under the last Government… you can’t just impose blanket speed rules,” said Hamilton. “Some of these roads are designed for speed… They’ve gotta be fit for purpose.” Genter replied, “It’s easy to appeal to the base desire to race around everywhere, but it will cost us.” She said that rather than imposing blanket speed reductions, “we enabled councils and communities to decide what the appropriate speed limit was.” Hamilton came back, saying his administration also had a consultation process. Foster was eager to jump in too, but unfortunately, time was up. The MC, comedian Jeremy Corbett joked, “Alright, they’re both lying,” as he closed the panel. “Amazingly, we’ve wrapped up all those topics and found a solution!” Perhaps not, but we hope to see those unfinished threads of conversation re-examined in the coming months as election campaigning ramps up. The polls show it’ll likely be a very close race, so Transporting New Zealand will continue to make sure every party is aware of the road freight sector’s cruciality to our economy, and the conditions in which it thrives.
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand’s team is available to assist our members around New Zealand Ia Ara Aotearoa – Keith McGuire, Membership Manager Transporting New Zealand Upper North Island PO Box 1778, Wellington 027 445 5785 • keith@transporting.nz 04 472 3877 | members@transporting.nz Lindsay Calvi-Freeman, Membership Dom Kalasih, Chief Executive Manager, 04 471 8285 • 027 441 4309 Lower North Island & Upper South Island Dom@transporting.nz
027 556 6099 • lindsay@transporting.nz Jim Crouchley, Membership Manager Lower South Island 027 261 0953 • Jim@transporting.nz John Collins, Membership Team Manager & Upper South Island Membership Manager 021 572 375 | john@transporting.nz
www.transporting.nz
46 | Truck & Driver
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The half-size cab is a combination of steel frame and panels, MDF and fibreglass to create the classic Freightliner style. vehicle and scoured the internet to locate a well-used example in Palmerston North. He trailered home his $600 initial investment, dismantled it and had the 1990-spec 1.3-litre engine, gearbox, wheels, rear axle, front suspension, wiring loom and seats he would need. He sent the parts not required to a scrap dealer, located another rear axle and bought two lengths of 4x2 RH channel steel to construct the chassis. It wasn’t entirely a journey into the unknown. John and his brother Peter had previously built several hot rods, and Peter’s welding expertise and advice proved invaluable during the construction of Wee Haul. Among the modifications required were shortening the front springs and shock absorbers, modifying the drive shaft and re-engineering the brakes and steering. John says he didn’t have any formal plans to work from. He used photos and sketches to adjust the proportions. “I used the wheels to get the scale right,” he says. “I drew a sort of sketch on a sheet of MDF on the wall [of his garage] to give me the height and angle of the roof.” John remained mindful that the truck might be small, but it still needed to be able to fit under a standard-size garage door. A key part of the build was making sure the half-scale cab still
John photographed the build process to show the detail and the plans he used. 82 | Truck & Driver
had enough space inside for a driver and passenger. The half-scale dimensions do however mean the doors are small and access is tight but there is room for two adults in the Suzuki seats. The cab is fabricated from steel and then lined with MDF. This was fibre-glassed over to create the distinctive Freightliner FL shape. “I put a lot of attention into reproducing the Freightliner swage lines as accurately as possible,” John says. The stainless fuel tank is custom-made to half scale, and the Suzuki rear bumper was modified to become the front bumper. The door latches are modified locker openers while the Suzuki centre console with gear lever and hand brake is modified to fit. “Every bit can tell a story,” says John. The half-size Freightliner grille is custom-made using mesh from an old air conditioning unit. John discovered he could order Freightliner badges from Ali-Express and the four round motorcycle headlights, motorcycle indicators, the small roof marker lights, and the gauges are also Ali-Express purchases. The windscreen and side windows are safety glass, drawn on cardboard templates and then sent to Metro Glass to be cut out. John built the dash from plywood, the wiper motor is from a boat screen, and the stainless steel stacks are from a demolished cow shed. The left side is the exhaust, and the right is the engine intake.
John Thorpe says his half-scale Freightliner dream has been fulfilled. John says that by mid-2025 work had stopped as he dealt with some health issues. The project initially went to storage on in daughter’s farm at Ngahinapouri and then the decision was made to offer it for sale. “Enter Nick, and he fell in love with the truck too,” says John. “With a handshake he took over the project to finish it.” Also a retired truck driver, Nick is now a Te Awamutu school bus driver and found a few hours each day to continue the finishing work on John’s dream. Among the jobs for Nick to complete was the interior. “I hadn’t done upholstery before,” Nick says. The baby Freightliner has a padded roof lining and has carpet on the interior door trims. Unquestionably the eye-catching finishing touch to the mini truck is the charcoal paint and the red and gold graphics – the work of Fleet Image in Te Awamutu. “Nick has been a driver for us dropping off and picking up trucks. He sold us the story and we’ve supported it,” says Glen Tervit from Fleet Image. “I’ve never seen anything like it before. When I was sent the first photos it looked small, but when I saw it in the metal it’s tiny. “The charcoal is 8-litres I had here because I’d ordered a wrong
paint code,” says Glen. Wee Haul will attend truck shows and community events where it is certain to be an attention grabber. Jodie Tervit says Fleet Image has already experienced a taste of the interest the mini truck generates. “When it first arrived here, we had it out front and so many people stopped to look at it that we needed to get it around the back,” she says. The charcoal, red, and gold are a period correct custom colour scheme for a 1980s cab-over American truck. And among the details is the Wee Haul name with the font being a variation on the American U-Haul hire truck fleet logo. “Fleet Image came up with the colour scheme and the graphics. Jodie and Glen were a huge help, I just left it to them,” says Nick. Nick has some ideas to complete the build including adding a barbeque and a chilly bin behind the cab. “I’ll take it to some truck shows and community events. I think it will be a popular display and something the kids will enjoy,” he says. John Thorpe also loves how his unusual idea and hours of work have been completed. “I’m rapt with how it’s turned out. It’s ended up way better than I thought it would and I love the colours,” says John.
Nick and John with Jodie and Glen Tervit from Fleet Image.
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