New Zealand Trucking July 2020

KERLEY MAN LIKES TO ‘MOVE IT, MOVE IT’

JULY 2020

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NEW ZEALAND

JULY 2020

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MADE FOR NEW ZEALAND

CONTENTS WATCH T HE V IDEO IN T HE DIG ITAL EDIT ION

24

68

Life saver – Taylor’s ‘can-do’ Hino

Kimberley Crusaders – trucking’s great frontier

54

Those mighty midgets – a trip down a little lane

INTERNATIONAL TRUCK OF THE YEAR

Official Sponsor

Associate Member

EDITOR

Dave McCoid

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Gavin Myers

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

Faye Lougher

Georgi George

CONTRIBUTORS

PUBLISHER

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

Long Haul Publications Ltd

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Ricky Harris

OFFICE

Long Haul Publications Ltd 511 Queen Street Thames 3500 PO Box 35 Thames 3500

ART DIRECTOR

John Berkley

42

Zetting the precedent – monster in the valleys

DIGITAL IMAGING

Willie Coyle

THE REST

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.

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06 Editorial 08 Road Noise – industry news 38 What a journey – W Model is King

84 Moving Metrics 87 Better Business – Replacement

48 Just Truckin’ Around

88 Incoming Cargo

50 Top Truck – herd immunity

94 Business Profile –

92 IRTENZ – 6x2 for you?

Straitline Canvas

58 UDC Virtual Show and Shine – winners

96 Truckers’ Health

64 International Truck Stop – once were warriors

98 Health and Safety 100 Legal Lines

74 New Rigs

104 Road Transport Forum

76 New Bodies and Trailers

106 The Last Mile

102 NZ Trucking Association

B R OUG HT T O YO U B Y

78 Little Truckers’ Club 80 What’s On – it’s back!

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ABC Audited circulation 7092 as at September 2017 Nielsen audited readership 95,000 as at 01–2016

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EDITORIAL

Dave McCoid

IT’S ONLY MONEY

N

umbers, numbers, numbers, they’re just numbers. But numbers count … excuse the pun. At the end of the day we still live and die by numbers; they’re still ‘the’ yardstick we use as the measure of success or failure.

If you can’t generate enough of the right numbers, you end up homeless.

The trouble with numbers is we get too used to them. Big numbers trip off the tongue as easily as little numbers, and we become numb to the joy or horrors encompassed within their zeros. So let’s have a quick look at numbers.

Earning a dollar a second, how long would it take you to become a millionaire? Answer: 11.57 days.

Earning a dollar a second, how long would it take you to become a billionaire? Answer: 31.7 years.

Big difference, yeah? Some pundits believe that in the next decade the globe will likely see its first trillionaire; don’t even do the maths on that, it’s abhorrent.

But the reality for most of the planet’s citizens exists in the opposite direction, and the vexing question of our time

is, just how broke is the world generally?

Bringing it back, closer to home, the government’s $50 billion Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund. Before I go on, I want to clearly say that this is about numbers, not politics. Anyone in the Beehive would have found themselves in a similar position given events this year. I also want to make it clear I understand that the mechanics of an economy and the maths of money is an intricate and complex beast, with multiplier effects and various nuances. But, the GFC showed many who thought it was all illusion that if you owe it, at some point you pay it. We’ve learned in the past month how many individuals and businesses live from hand to mouth, and just how big domestic debt is. People don’t as a rule understand the value of money, nor the true potential cost of debt.

Given that, I’m not sure the national situation and what it represents are inherently understood either.

If we clear away the illusion, every man woman and child in New Zealand now owes $10K more than they did in February. Taking an arbitrary

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timeline, we as a nation have to earn $10 a second for the next 158.55 years to repay the principle amount in the relief package. Again. I know the boffins will argue it’s not that simple, but at some level, it is. Ask someone who’s gone bust how quickly paper numbers suddenly manifest themselves as a man on your front doorstep holding the title to your home. Ask someone from Greece at the moment if debt is real and try convincing them the chickens never really turn for home.

It’s also worth remembering that much of the Covid money is different, because it is real, liquid, intended to just keep people going, and if you listen to reports, a portion of that at least has increased domestic debt further, having been spent in retail shops, car yards, etc. Borrowings used as pure handouts have to be paid back.

That all means the thinking and evaluation behind the invested dollar, the spending that will do the work that turns things back in the right direction and keeps the chickens where they should be, must be more rigorous than ever.

Moving Ports of Auckland north? Forget it. It was always ‘forget it’, now it’s case of not even being stupid enough to mention it.

Interestingly, Covid has placed the whole planet in the same unenviable basket the automotive OEMs were in prior to February 2020, meaning central administrations have to keep the planet functioning while finding money to invest in a new future – quickly.

Yes, we absolutely need to invest in that future, but there’s a crippled economy not yet at its lowest ebb that needs resurrecting. We can’t really afford failed experiments on a path to a new tomorrow, yet we know that’s the very nature of creating a new future. That in itself will put even more pressure on the remaining investments to earn a return, significantly. If we get it wrong, $10 a second will quickly turn into $100 a second, or $1000, and we might understand what ‘all for naught’ really means, socioeconomically and environmentally.

Dave McCoid Editor

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ROAD NOISE NEWS NEW MODELS

Iveco’s medium-duty Euro 6 Eurocargo range now suits a wider range of applications.

Iveco Eurocargo gets new powertrain options

8 New Zealand Trucking

benefits compared with EGR and SCR equivalents, including reduced fuel consumption and reduced tare. The system also uses fewer components for increased simplicity and does not require driver regeneration, providing reduced vehicle downtime.

The new transmission option that is available across the range including ML120 models is the proven ZF ‘Eurotronic’ 12-speed automated manual. This is the fourth transmission option in the range; the other three choices are the ZF 6-speed automated, 9-speed manual, and the Allison 5-speed full automatic.

Iveco New Zealand dealer principal Jason Keddie said the new specifications would increase the appeal of the Euro 6 Eurocargo models and open up some new applications for the range.

“The availability of a 320hp/1100Nm engine option, July 2020

The new Tector 7 produces 239kW (320hp) and 1100Nm from 6.7 litres. combined with the 12-speed Eurotronic AMT, provides a great package for operators wanting to tow a trailer (32 tonne GCM available – subject to application approval),” he said.

The added output, plus broader spread of gears, delivers improved gradeability performance and makes the Eurocargo ideal for operators engaged in a range of metropolitan and regional work.

“For general freight and more specialised applications,

such as car carrying, container or construction, where operators may need to transport extra vehicles, cargo or small to medium machines, there’s now a Eurocargo to suit,” Keddie added.

Prior to making the new specification options available in New Zealand, Iveco Australia conducted local trials over a two-year period during which time four vehicles covered more than 400,000km over a range of operating conditions.

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I

veco has added a new engine horsepower and transmission option to its medium-duty Euro 6 Eurocargo range, offering more power and more transmission choices to suit a wider range of applications.

The new, higher power Tector 7 engine (6.7-litre, 6-cylinder) is available on ML160 and ML180 variants and produces 239kW (320hp) at 2500rpm and 1100Nm of torque at 1250rpm. This new engine option ups power and torque by 29kW (40hp) and 100Nm over the standard engine.

As with the other engines across the Euro 6 Eurocargo range, the latest addition meets the stringent Euro 6 (Step D) measure using Iveco’s HI-SCR system, a single after-treatment system featuring a passive diesel particulate filter.

The HI-SCR system is simple, lightweight and efficient, and provides many

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

Michael Zankel, regional manager East Asia/Oceania at Gebrüder Weiss.

Gebrüder Weiss announces new facilities Down Under From 1 July, globally active transport and logistics company Gebrüder Weiss will be represented in the Southern hemisphere for the first time, with the opening of national subsidiaries in Australia and New Zealand.

The future air and sea locations are situated in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. This move is part of the company’s global strategy to develop new markets, extending its existing network of locations in East Asia/ Oceania.

“As we enter the markets

in Australia and New Zealand, we will focus primarily on import business from Asian, American, and European markets,” says Michael Zankel, Gebrüder Weiss regional manager East Asia/ Oceania.

To offer customers in its newest market one-stop logistics solutions, the global transport company has a presence in each of the region’s top trading partner countries, which includes China, the USA, Japan, Germany, and South Korea.

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Australia’s busiest container and general cargo port – the Port of Melbourne.

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such as vehicles and automotive parts, machines and electronic products, and goods from the food and chemical industries, are imported from the USA, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

“The important thing here is to establish compelling delivery chains in the future, based on our long-standing experience in the logistics market. In this context, we also make sure to tie in with fast-growing transport activities within Asia, and create synergies when it comes to the efficient use of transport capacities,” says Zankel.

Earlier this month, Gebrüder Weiss opened another new office location in Seoul, South Korea. The new sites are an essential addition for the company within East Asia/ Oceania, which currently contains 35 locations.

Roading projects under way in Northland On 9 June Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones turned the sod on the first regional transport projects of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme.

This marked the beginning of construction of roundabouts at Puketona and Kawakawa, two of the most significant intersections in Northland’s road network.

“Both of these intersections are vital connection points but they can cause travel delays and safety concerns for people travelling to and from the Bay of Islands and along the Twin Coast Discovery Route,” Jones said.

“These are Northland’s main

routes and by improving them we are not only creating jobs and economic stimulus for the area, we will also make the region more attractive for domestic tourism, which is suffering in the current global environment.”

The intersection improvement projects are part of the $12 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme announced earlier this year.

“The New Zealand Upgrade Programme will modernise our infrastructure and bring it up to a standard that will prepare us for future growth,” Jones said.

“The programme invests $6.8 billion in transport and

will support New Zealand’s recovery as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic by providing a stream of major construction industry work for the next decade.”

The estimated cost of the SH10/SH11 Puketona Intersection Improvements project is $15 million.

Construction is expected to start in July with an indicative completion date of March 2021.

The estimated cost of the SH1/SH11 Kawakawa Intersection Improvements project is $6 million.

Construction has an indicative completion date of June 2021.

Talk to our experts first!

0800 518 006 48 Maui Street, Te Rapa, Hamilton 3241 hiab@trt.co.nz

www.trt.co.nz

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 11

ROAD NOISE NEWS

Teletrac Navman’s new electronic distance recorder ready to roll

Scania Finance New Zealand is offering interestonly payments on loans, for orders taken from 1 June to 30 September on stock trucks and used trucks (terms and conditions apply).

“We are seeing a tightening in credit criteria across the finance industry, so we wanted to provide an initiative to enable greater flexibility for our clients to rejuvenate their trucks and fleet without compromising vital cashflow,” said Scania New Zealand sales director Deon Stephens.

“We’re proud to be able deliver a solution like this, given that Scania Finance New Zealand has only been operating for a couple of months now. It’s proof that we have the tools in the toolbox to support our customers when they need it most,” he said.

Scania Finance New Zealand was launched with the goal of providing total solutions to all Scania New Zealand customers.

“As the Scania business grows and develop across New Zealand, a tailored financing opportunity to our clients felt like an obvious and timely extension of our service,” said Stephens.

12 New Zealand Trucking

“In the development of this solution, we spoke with our transport operator customers to get feedback on exactly what they needed – and this solution is a result,” said Ian Daniel, vice president and managing director Asia Pacific.

“Automated RUC management is a very popular technology. Our customers wanted something they could easily install themselves, that was self-contained and selfpowered, and had a large clear screen. This device ticks all the boxes for a busy operator.”

According to Teletrac Navman, feedback from customers shows that electronic RUC saves them hours of admin time and even brings in a steady flow of rebates for off-road travel.

“With the upcoming increases in road user charges, every kilometre left unclaimed

Teletrac Navman’s electronic RUC system gets increased versatility.

It can now automate RUC licence payment and display, and calculate off-road rebates for heavy trailers, independently of prime movers, with the electronic distance recorder for trailers. represents even more lost value to a business. Staying on top of regular rebates also assists a business with its cashflow,” said Daniel.

Ruakura Inland Port and new Waikato Expressway to link Tainui Group Holdings (TGH), the commercial investment arm for Waikato-Tainui, has welcomed the government’s financial support through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) for a roads package to activate the Ruakura Inland Port.

The $16.8 million grant announced by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will be matched by $16.8 million from TGH and a $5 million contribution from Hamilton City Council (HCC). The investments will collectively fund a new city link to the expressway (Ruakura Road West) and a new port access connection. These roads will connect the Ruakura Inland Port, currently in

development, to the new Waikato Expressway, and add much needed roading capacity for the rapidly developing Hamilton East.

“With this funding confirmed we are now, jointly with HCC, moving ahead to finalise contracts and invite tenders from contractors for construction work on the roads package,” said TGH chief executive Chris Joblin.

Ruakura is amongst New Zealand’s largest developments, spanning industrial, commercial, retail and residential development areas totalling 490 hectares.

Located at an emerging ‘sweet spot’ for New Zealand’s supply chain, it will include a

30-hectare inland port, with the first 17-hectare stage now in development by TGH and Port of Tauranga, who announced a 50/50 joint venture earlier this year.

The inland port will be serviced by high-capacity rail and roading infrastructure, with the East Coast main trunk rail line running along the port’s northern boundary and the new Waikato Expressway on the eastern boundary. The Ruakura precinct is estimated to accommodate 6000 to 12,000 jobs once it is fully developed (in about 2061) and will have significant social and economic benefits for Waikato iwi, Hamilton, the region, and New Zealand as a whole.

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SCANIA FINANCE NEW ZEALAND EASES BURDEN ON CUSTOMERS

Teletrac Navman’s new, custom-built electronic distance recorder for trailers has secured NZTA approval and will be available from July.

The device was designed with practical input from Kiwi transport operators and uses locally developed technology.

The device is part of Teletrac Navman’s electronic road user charges (RUC) system, and will automate RUC licence payment and display, and calculate off-road rebates for heavy trailers, independently of prime movers. Operators can self-install the device and use it as part of their Teletrac Navman RUC management solution. It is a self-contained, sealed device that generates power directly from the wheel’s rotation, meaning there are no wires and no interference with the trailer ABS, EBS or other systems.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

ROADING PROJECTS TOTAL $27.215 MILLION

New Hino trucks traditionally receive a warranty service at the 5000km mark, however this is being done away with – to the benefit of the customer.

This important warranty service, which has been required as part of the Hino warranty conditions, will now be integrated into the pre-delivery inspection before the truck is delivered to the customer. Hino NZ and Truckstops say this is to give a much better customer experience, simplify the process, and align with industry standards “The resulting changes will see the customer no longer having to pay the cost of the service or return the truck to the dealer so soon after the predelivery inspection, meaning less downtime and no cost to the customer. Far better for our customers!” Hino NZ has stated.

14 New Zealand Trucking

$60m for nationwide job creation The Provincial Growth Fund is providing $60 million to councils and KiwiRail to create employment for local workers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced.

“This is made up of $27.2 million for local roading projects, $26 million for rail projects and nearly $6.8m for the Ministry of Social Development to support workers into training to take up these jobs,” Jones said.

“This means at least 800 New Zealanders most in need of employment due to the economic effects of Covid-19 can be employed into work in their own communities.”

Workers throughout New Zealand have been significantly affected by the economic impacts

July 2020

of Covid-19. This latest investment is in addition to the $100 million earmarked for worker redeployment, of which $28 million has already been allocated to Tairawhiti, $6.2 million nationally for forestry workers and $36.7 million to other regions hard hit by the effects of Covid-19.

The $27.2 million for roading projects means work will start almost immediately on improving roads, cycleways, tree maintenance, and water projects in seven regions. These are in the Bay of Plenty, the West Coast, Manawatu-Wanganui, Wairarapa, Taranaki, top of the South Island and Waikato.

The $26 million rail investment means work can start early next month on culvert clearing and drainage

•B ay of Plenty – $12.55 million for footpaths, the Motu cycleway extension, a horse trail, tree and pest removal, track and park maintenance, water projects and roading (291 jobs).

•M anawatu-Wanganui – $5.52 million for roading, cycle trails, tree removal and firewood supply (159 jobs).

•W est Coast – $1.9 million for planting projects in the Buller district and work on the Greymouth Reservoir Replacement Project (30 jobs).

•W airarapa – $1 million for tree removal and maintenance on high-risk roads (10 jobs).

•T aranaki – $1.12 million for road safety (12 jobs).

•T op of the South – $2.73 million for roading, cycleways, drainage clearance, tree clearance and planting (65 jobs).

•W aikato – $2.39 million for cycleways and tree removal (72 jobs).

improvements on regional railway lines. KiwiRail will be working with the Ministry of Social Development to take on and train new regional rail workers.

0720-20

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

TRUCKSTOPS LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE COF SERVICES Truckstops has been working on several initiatives aimed at helping customers get their businesses moving again as things return to normal. One of these initiatives is a nationwide CoF reminder service that has been implemented to help customers stay on top of their CoF requirements.

Truckstops has also launched a new CoF offering called Pre-CoF Plus. The Pre-CoF Plus combines a pre-CoF inspection and an A-Service, meaning the customer only has to bring their truck in once and enjoy a reduced cost as a result.

The inspection includes all the checks required to ensure the truck meets NZTA safety standards, with a brake adjustment, driveline level check and greasing all included.

You can find more information here: https://www.truckstops. co.nz/service/pre-cof-plus/

16 New Zealand Trucking

CablePrice expands network into Timaru CablePrice (NZ) Ltd continues to expand its Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Fuso Truck sales, parts and service network with the addition of a Timaru branch.

This latest addition to the CablePrice network will be fully open later this month and follows on from the announcement earlier this year that CablePrice had been appointed as the South Island’s authorised sales, parts and service dealer for Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner, as well as the Fuso truck authorised sales, parts and service dealer for Christchurch, Greymouth and Invercargill.

“We see Timaru as an important hub and gateway to the South Island, with its large agricultural diversity, significant manufacturing operations and increasing commercial traffic,” said CablePrice New Zealand managing director Keisuke (Ken) Okuzumi. “It has been our intention for some time now to expand our offering and support to the regions. We see Timaru as an important hub and gateway to the South Island, with its large agricultural diversity, significant manufacturing operations and increasing commercial traffic.”

The new Timaru site will service the wider south Canterbury region and offer customers full workshop support along with 24/7 mobile

July 2020

support, should the need arise.

Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific aftersales and network operations director, Greg Lovrich, says Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner customers will benefit from CablePrice’s addition of the Timaru site.

“The quality of the staff at this location is of the highest order and we know that our customers will appreciate their support. It is great to have the best products but to have them backed by the best people is critically important,” he said.

Fuso New Zealand CEO Kurtis Andrews said Timaru is a key location in the Fuso dealer network.

“We’re delighted that CablePrice has secured a new site from which they will provide Fuso genuine parts and service and now also new truck sales. Fuso operators in South Canterbury, and those who operate up and down the South Island, can expect a high level of specialist service from this new Timaru dealership.”

Okuzumi says CablePrice had aimed to open its new location earlier, but this was delayed due to health and safety restrictions relating to Covid-19. Progress with the building fit-out is now well under way and will be fully open later this month.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

SUPPORT FOR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY WORKERS AFFECTED BY COVID-19

18 New Zealand Trucking

Ford and VW team up Following plans first announced last July, Ford Motor Company and Volkswagen AG have signed agreements that expand their global alliance to leveraging complementary strengths in midsize pickup trucks and commercial and electric vehicles.

Through the alliance a medium pickup truck will be engineered and built by Ford, for sale by Volkswagen as the Amarok in 2022. As lead partner on this project, Ford will in future produce the new version of the Amarok for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV), based on the Ranger. The Amarok’s successor will then be made at Ford’s Silverton plant in South Africa.

In 2021 Ford will reveal the next Transit Connect city delivery van based on the latest VW Caddy and built by VWCV in Poland.

A 1-tonne cargo van will be developed and produced by Ford. VWCV says the ‘1Ton’ project will provide an extra boost for the brand in the business customer sector, while keeping the development,

July 2020

production and marketing of the successors to the current 6.1 model range for private use (Multivan, Caravelle and California) in-house.

Finally, a highly differentiated Ford electric vehicle for Europe will be built on Volkswagen’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) Toolkit, expanding on Ford’s zeroemission capabilities in the region by 2023. Contracts on cooperation in the area of development of autonomous driving were also signed, and Volkswagen Group subsidiary AID incorporated into ARGO AI. Both partners will in future be able to use the software and the selfdriving system in their own bespoke ways. In 2022 VWCV will deploy a selfdriving vehicle fleet in real conditions for the first time.

The cooperation between Volkswagen and Ford is in no way a merger and all vehicles are being marketed independently of each other, with the two companies remaining competitors in the marketplace.

0720-27

Like many organisations, National Road Carriers Association has had members affected by employment changes due to Covid-19. To support its members, NRC is collaborating with Manawatubased Talent Central to actively assist those people affected within the transport industry throughout New Zealand to connect with new employment opportunities in the industry and/or for additional training.

NRC provides professional support to its members who choose to make a living in the road transport industry. Talent Central fosters collaboration between education and business communities. NRC members include anyone from a single truck or courier van operator, through to large transport operators transporting everything from fresh fruit to LPG. Associated industry businesses can also become members of NRC. Having worked together previously to engage more people in the transport industry, the collaboration now sees the two groups supporting those affected to get back working again.

“What we have planned is a huge step in the right direction to help support our industry and those people in it who are now looking for work because of Covid-19, and also for people from other sectors who may now look at the transport industry as an opportunity for future employment,” said NRC commercial transport specialist Richie Arber. “So watch this space.”

Check the New Zealand Trucking website for more details as they unfold.

Daimler

The ultimate truck range is here We are excited to announce the arrival of the latest products out of Daimler factories in Europe and the United States, with the new Actros and all-new Freightliner Cascadia available in New Zealand.

With exceptional levels of safety, fuel efficiency and a number of industry first features, we have an extensive range of heavy-duty prime movers to suit a variety of applications.

For more information, contact an authorised Dealer near you.

Authorised North Island Dealers

Authorised South Island Dealers

KEITH ANDREWS TRUCKS LTD Ph: 0800 487 825 www.keithandrews.co.nz

CABLEPRICE LTD Ph: 0800 555 456 www.cableprice.co.nz

TRUCKS AND TRAILERS LTD Ph: 0800 327 777 www.trucksandtrailers.co.nz

0720-27

Mercedes-Benz is a registered trademark of Daimler AG. Freightliner is a registered trademark of Daimler Trucks North America LLC. Published by Daimler Truck and Bus Australia Pacific Pty Ltd ACN 86 618 413 282.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

GOVERNMENT BACKING BUSINESSES TO UPSKILL NEW ZEALAND

20 New Zealand Trucking

Supported training for road transport to aid Covid-19 recovery People wanting to become heavy vehicle operators will get a helping hand from the government to assist New Zealand in recovering from the economic fallout from Covid-19.

The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay the costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training. The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects post-Covid-19.

Apprentices working in all industries will have costs paid, and high demand areas, including in regional New Zealand, will be targeted.

“We know as a result of Covid-19, many New Zealanders will be looking to retrain, and employers in key sectors will need more skilled people,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

July 2020

“We’re working hard to connect the two sides of the equation by making this process as simple and practical as possible. It’s designed not just for school leavers but also for people in a range of circumstances and stages of their lives.

“We’ve removed costs for learners, apprentices or employers for the next two and a half years, and are targeting courses and programmes that are more likely to lead to jobs. We will also be deliberate in promoting vocational education for all ages.”

Hipkins said every course is different and the costs for learners vary, but in many cases they will save between $2500 and $6500 per year.

Apprentices and learners whose courses started earlier in the year but continue beyond 1 July will be eligible for a partial refund.

The list of targeted areas of training covered by the fund will be available, with more detail, on the TEC website: https://www.tec.govt.nz.

“All apprenticeships, including those outside the targeted areas, will be eligible for fees support. This is aimed at industries expected to be particularly hard hit by Covid-19, such as hospitality, tourism and food, where employers can keep their apprentices on.

“These responses to Covid-19 supercharge the big changes we are making to the vocational system.

“We are making a significant paradigm shift from seeing learning as a system or institution that learners need to fit their lives around, to seeing learning as something that needs to flex and fit around each person and the lives they live,” Hipkins said.

0720-08

The government is providing businesses with up to $16,000 to help pay the cost of each apprentice for the first two years.

“The apprenticeship support scheme, Apprenticeship Boost, is part of a wider government programme to keep apprentices in jobs and support employers to invest in new ones, as we rebuild the economy from the impact of Covid-19,” Education Minister Chris Hipkins said.

“Apprentices are significant investments for firms, particularly in the early years of their training, and can be the first to be laid off when companies have to tighten their belts. This investment is key to helping businesses keep people on and give them more confidence to take on new apprentices.

This is essential as we roll out and fast track infrastructure projects.

From August 2020 to April 2022, up to an estimated 18,000 employers will be able to apply for funding of up to $12,000 per apprentice in their first 12 months of training, and up to $4000 in their second 12 months.

“The government has budgeted $380.6 million for Apprenticeship Boost.

We’ve also removed costs for learners and made apprentices free for the next two and a half years,” Hipkins said.

Apprenticeship Boost is a cornerstone of the government’s Apprenticeship Support Programme.

Employers of apprentices will also have targeted financial support available from three other schemes depending on the circumstances.

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ROAD NOISE NEWS

TOTAL LUBRICANTS EXPANDED

22 New Zealand Trucking

Covid-19 presented haulage companies and their drivers with extreme challenges.

Haulier Joachim Fehrenkötter with truck driver Erlenfried Galuba and his new MercedesBenz Actros.

The SaniStop story: sanitary facilities for essential German truck drivers “Usually we are allowed to use customers’ washrooms,” said Erlenfried Galuba, a driver for the Fehrenkötter haulage company from Ladbergen. “But since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, many hygienic facilities have been closed to us truck drivers. The first thoughts of every company were for their own employees. We just fell through the system!”

Galuba’s boss Joachim Fehrenkötter is the managing director and owner of Fehrenkötter and also the chairman of DocStop e.V., an association which has been committed to providing outpatient medical care for truck drivers since 2007. Now, DocStop has found another field of activity in the sanitary emergency triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. Within a week DocStop had created a network of 150 companies in Germany that were prepared to make their washrooms available to truck drivers during the pandemic. This was the birth of the DocStop initiative SaniStop.

July 2020

“It is with great respect that everyone talks about the heroes of the road, who during the crisis are making sure we are supplied with the things we need daily, and yet no one will let our staff use their sanitary facilities although that is of the greatest importance in the current situation,” said Fehrenkötter.

Just days after the lockdown was announced the SaniStop activist found a partner in Ralf Merkelbach, key account manager for large fleets in Europe at BPW Bergische Achsen KG, whose idea it was to install mobile sanitary containers at important locations. They were joined by the Federation of Road Haulage, Logistics and Waste Removal, the Logistics Alliance Germany, and the Ministry for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, as well as a series of business donors including Daimler Truck AG. Despite this solution the Covid-19 pandemic has and continues to present great challenges to road

haulage companies and their staff. There has been, for example, a massive drop in orders in some sectors, which is threatening jobs and sometimes even companies.

“We have been hit too, our orders have dropped by 25 percent,” said Fehrenkötter, whose haulage company has 125 trucks and specialises in the transportation of agricultural machinery and cars. Just as serious are the changes to daily processes within haulage companies from scheduling to the workshops and warehousing, quarantine, working from home, staff who are in high-risk groups – no company remains untouched.

“We have achieved a lot with SaniStop and #LogistikHilft and I am delighted to see increasing recognition of truck drivers as a professional group during the crisis,” said Fehrenkötter.

“But we can’t stop now.

Even after the crisis there will still be considerable need for improvement regarding parking and sanitary facilities for truck drivers.”

0720-24

With 20 years as the authorised importer and distributor of Total lubricants for New Zealand, Oil Intel has announced a 50/50 joint venture with Total Marketing & Services.

The joint venture signals strong confidence in the New Zealand market and represents a strategic drive for proximity to be close to customers in industries such as mining, industrial, food production, agriculture, automotive, construction and transport, Oil Intel has stated.

“Achieving growth by being the best at what we do has always been my key focus, it is what the business was built around,” said Reuben Thickpenny, managing director and co-shareholder of Oil Intel.

“We always felt well supported in this vision by Total.”

An example is the Lubricant Container Stewardship Programme, whereby New Zealand oil companies collectively work towards a sustainable process of recycling lubricant containers.

Oil Intel is one of the leading parties in pushing this project to successful completion, and this is in line with Total’s ambition to be the responsible energy major, supported by initiatives such as programmes on used oils recycling partnerships or biodegradable lubricant ranges.

“I am proud of our collective achievements over the past two decades. Our customers have come to rely on the consistency of quality services and we are fully committed to deliver innovative and responsible solutions to the New Zealand market,” said Christine Richard, vice president, Specialties & BtoB for the Asia Pacific and Middle Eastern region, Total Marketing & Services.

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COVER FEATURE

LIFE SAVER

In CR Taylor’s world, ‘can’t’ is never an option. Their key attribute of dogged persistence proved its value beyond measure when Dave Taylor decided it was time for the truck he’d been mulling over for years.

Story by Dave McCoid

W

here on earth do you start a story on CR Taylor Ltd in Gisborne – with owners Dave and Glen Taylor as the central characters? There’s managing director, full of energy and enthusiasm, “love a challenge” Dave, and stand back, watch, say little, Glen Taylor, his immensely capable brother and crane manager.

Putting this one together made us think what a shame it is that cities and regions don’t know more about the talents, abilities, wisdom, and rich stories within their bounds – like the one that

S E E THE V I DEO I N THE DI GITA L E DI TON

Photos and video by Gavin Myers and Dave McCoid lies behind the humble CR Taylor building on Stanley Road in Gisborne. When there’s a crisis, ‘experts’ are often flown in, but the truth is they’re probably already there; there’s just no register at the local council titled ‘history of talent and local knowledge, a.k.a. who to call when it hits the fan’.

What’s brought us here is sitting in the yard outside the office and workshop. A beautifully presented Hino FY3248 Air 10x4 crane truck. Not necessarily an earthshattering discovery, until you look a little closer. Under the rear-mounted Palfinger

SE E T H E G AL L E RY I N T H E D I G I TAL E D I TO N

63002 EH-D PJ170C crane is a steering axle shod with super-singles, still nothing too mind-bending – the refuse truck industry hasn’t lifted an eyebrow yet – but behind that rearmost axle, sitting happily between the chassis rails, is a trailer coupling. Yes, now it just got interesting.

“It’s a Gisborne thing,” says Dave. “Here it’s always about versatility; you have to think outside the box. There’s not the work here for super specialist gear, and it costs so much to get in. Here we think about it, solve it, and then do it. It’s about having tools that do everything.”

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 25

It was a philosophy we heard time and time again from many and varied people while we were once again in New Zealand’s remotest city! Like South Westland, it’s a place where people still innovate, adapt, and modify, because there’s no other choice. Gisborne, to use the PM’s Covid catch-cry, is actually a team of 35,000.

What I really want is...

(Top) There’s the requirement right there! Super-single caster steer high lift axle and a trailer coupling. (Bottom) The Hendrickson Composilite SCT20 SCT20 Steerable Lift Axle, happily at home in the Taylor Hino.

26 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

Dave Taylor’s need seemed simple enough, and he’d been seeing the exact thing for years on the internet. A 10x4 crane truck with a rear axle that steered and lifted up out of the way: not just a little bit out of the way, a lot.

A dual-wheeled lifting axle was not an option as the lift clearance he was after meant when lifted, the wheels would clash with the ‘coffin’ the crane is mounted in. Oh, and there was a trailer to tow from time to time, not often, but

sometimes.

As it turns out, a couple of those requirements eliminate the word simple from the radar. Firstly, there weren’t any rear lift axles available in New Zealand that cleared to the distance he wanted, and then there was the wee issue of the trailer requirement. The NZTA rules stated he couldn’t have a rear castor steer axle on the truck and tow a trailer.

Enquiries to an engineering friend resulted in a reply along the lines of, ‘Yep, been trying to get that over the line for five years. Given up! If it’s not in their rulebook they don’t want to know about it’.

Dave went home, a little deflated, but kept seeing them online working around the world.

“Bugger it. I’m going to give this a go.”

To understand the significance of that thought, you first need to know a little more about CR Taylor Ltd, and what they do.

You think you’re persistent?

“Dave is an energetic and clever guy,” said Peter Wilkinson, proprietor of Wilkinson Transport Engineers in Cambridge. “But it’s his persistence that got this over the line. He just keeps going and going, and won’t give in.

He would drive from Gisborne to Cambridge on a Saturday, just to discuss the project.”

If turning up to work day after day knowing exactly what it is you’ll be doing is your gig, then CR Taylor is definitely not your place.

But if you’re smart on your feet, a problem solver, skilled in many of the machinery and construction arts, and just revel in adventure and challenge, then Taylors just might be your utopia.

The combing rail on the truck says ‘crane hire, house removal, bridge repair, heavy haulage, certified piloting’.

Dave himself is a builder and so there’s a bit of that also, and we’ve not even touched Gisborne’s tight roundabouts pose no issue.

on things like pipe laying, tank moving… The point is, at Taylors you simply can’t give up. If there’s a house that needs relocating to the top of a hill up a valley in the backblocks, with a new pipeline and utilities trench to the site as well, plus three bridges that need constructing and placing in order to make it all happen, then that’s it. That’s what the customer wants.

You might be halfway through the job and it’s been raining for four days, there’s a slip that’s destroyed half the access road, the ‘bully’s’ stuck, and your foot’s just sunk in the mud and half-filled your boot with shitty water.

It’s just a case of remain calm, assess, make a plan, carry on.

“I just love the challenge in it all,” said Dave. Glen grins, rolls his eyes, says nothing.

So, you can imagine in Dave’s world, putting a lifting steer axle in the back of a truck that can also tow a trailer should be about as difficult as

asking Graham Dingle to stand on the kitchen chair.

730 days ago, to now...

“It all got serious just under two years ago really. I guess one of the things about the whole thing is how busy trailer and body builders have been over the past few years, The one-off special jobs either haven’t been on the radar, too hard, or there’s just no time.

I’m asking about this thing and what I want to do, and it was just in the ‘too hard’ basket for a lot of them,” Dave chuckled.

“My original plan was actually to have the axle modular like on a transporter.

Give the axle its own hubbo and rego and just pop it in if you’ve got a big concrete tank or heavy container, and leave it off when you don’t, but I was told in no uncertain

terms, ‘No! You can’t have that’.” Dave illustrates the level of decisiveness in the exchange with a pointed and wagging finger gesture. We can only assume he must have had a good go at it, but ‘poked the bear’ so to speak, one too many times… LOL. “I have a mate in Christchurch in the same business and he reckoned Adams and Currie were the ones to fit the crane and build the deck, so I flew down and met with them. They were keen, and did a great job.

Did what we wanted. Then I was pointed towards Peter Wilkinson in Cambridge by one of the bigger builders who didn’t have the time for a specialist build. They said he’d be the man for the axle

28 New Zealand Trucking

and getting it over the line.

Man I can’t say enough about Peter. He was really keen and so helpful. It wouldn’t have happened without him.”

Interestingly, both are humble men and both said the same of each other’s resolve.

Dave continues. “The certifying engineer, Marin Vujcich, is in the same building as Peter and he also said it could be done, that certificates and exemptions should be doable, but we first needed to find the axle we want to put in there. So I searched online for the axle, and I found the Composilite on the Hendrickson website.

It was just what I wanted, able to take a super-single, steer, and clear the ground to 9” [230mm]. With all the steering July 2020

and lift gear it was heavier than other options, it weighed 615kg, but they lift right out of the way so if we’re on a boggy track or lumpy ground, it’s not causing as many issues. Problem was, they weren’t available here. Getting the axle has been the longest part of the whole thing.”

Dave contacted Dave Jarrett, regional sales manager at Hendrickson in New Zealand. After a briefing on the requirement and then looking at some other options sourced ex Asia, they arrived back at the Composilite SCT20 Steerable Lift Axle rated at 9066kg, ex the USA. “It turns out the axle had to go to Melbourne to be certified as there wasn’t anyone in New Zealand able

to do it, so that all took time.

While that was going on I bought the truck and the crane, and Adams and Currie got going.”

Dave and Glen chose a Hino 700 Series FY3248 Air. They had two Hinos in the fleet already, another 700 series 8x4 crane truck and a smaller 500 series with a low flat deck used for tanks and things.

“We’ve had a good run from Hino and when I was asking around about the best truck for the project, the 700 Series Hino was one of a couple that kept coming up.

The builders I talked to said it’s a simple truck, not full of electronics that can often complicate jobs like this. That suited us, plus they were the

best value for money.”

The brothers would have liked the retarder that came with the ZF AS-Tronic AMT but it wasn’t available on the 8x4 due to available space in the truck’s bowels, and Glen wasn’t too keen on the AMT, with the business having had trouble with them previously.

“I think gears are best thing for around here anyway,” said Dave.

The truck was sourced from Hino New Zealand’s Scott Hadabora in Napier. It was delivered to Gisborne, painted, sign-written, and sent to Peter Wilkinson at Wilkinson Transport Engineers where they moved the drive wheels back a tad. Then it was sent to Peter Laurenson at Adams and Currie in

Christchurch to have the deck built and crane fitted.

“It’s a fantastic project, a one-off,” said Scott. “We didn’t have too much to do, the truck was already a great fit for Taylor’s requirements.

An Ali Arc XH2090 bumper and rerouting the tailpipe for forestry work, but we’re certainly getting lots of enquiries about the finished truck.”

Adams and Currie made a lovely job of the deck. There were lots of ‘Taylorisms’ in the build. The bearer rack at the rear of the deck is completely modular so loads just longer than the deck’s base 6.5m can be accommodated.

The rear tailboard and pole rack is mounted behind the crane rather than in front;

this reduces rake on long items, and again allows use of the life-saving half a metre between deck-end and crane.

The housing that protects the front landing leg towers is home to a toolbox where the attachments for spreader beams used on concrete tanks live, and even the in-deck chain locker has a false floor so the gearbox can be easily accessed. Lessons learned over the years.

The truck and crane were ready, now they just needed the axle. As it was the unit was legal, although a little odd to behold with the crane perched way out back and nothing under it.

“To weigh in the fly jib had to be on the deck up by the headboard,” said Dave’s

son, Logan, who was sent to Christchurch to bring the truck home. “It got some looks like that.”

There was an air of tense excitement. Yes, the truck was built, but the axle hadn’t turned up, and the permitting to operate it all was still in progress.

We asked Dave Jarrett about sourcing and prepping the axle at the time.

“The SCT20 was coming as a new model in our lineup, which caused some delay. It went through the application approval process at our engineering department in Melbourne. This process checks out if the axle/ suspension will physically fit, and considers the best product for the application.

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 29

1 3

2 4

There are many ‘Taylorisms’ in the deck build. 1) Toolbox on the stabiliser leg towers with tank lifting gear. 2) Deck lockers with the central one also having a false floor so the gearbox can be accessed. 3) Dunnage rack is modular so it can come out, allowing the deck to be used. 4) The tail gate is rear mounted to allow more load room and less rake on longer lengths.

“The product is truly state of the art and worth the wait.

Dave was the first in New Zealand to get it, and we have high hopes for its potential in the marketplace. We think the product is ideal for New Zealand truck configurations and conditions.”

And then one day, there it was, the crate with the axle in it.

“It was very stressful because the axle had been built from measurements supplied and you know how that goes sometimes,” laughed Dave. “I ripped open the box, and measured the gap between the mounting brackets … it was 1mm different! I was so happy I went and got a feed of fish and chips! I was rapt.”

Dave was instructed by Peter Wilkinson to bring it all straight to Cambridge. “Peter had the axle up and in place within a day.

“All this was going on and we still didn’t have the exemptions and certifications.

It really was a stressful time,” said Dave. “Our local NZTA

30 New Zealand Trucking

lady, Lynn Williams, has been very helpful all the way through, and she directed us to Don Hutchinson, NZTA principal engineer for heavy vehicles.”

Dave’s dealings with Don reflect that of TTE’s Craig Gordon in the development of the 27m long four TEU B-train for Napier Port (New Zealand Trucking magazine October 2019). A can-do guy, Don has a track record of willingness to understand the needs of both the operator and the communities they live in, finding solutions that work for both. His proactivity was again key in all this.

“Don was really helpful, enthusiastic, and positive. He required some things to be done – ‘do this, this, and this’ – and we did them.”

Of course the other bigticket item was the need to tow a trailer, and that was never going to happen with a castor rear-steer. The solution the team came up with was a mechanism that locks the rear axle in place when the coupling pin drops, rendering July 2020

the back end a fixed tri. In doing so it also moved the wheelbase back 663mm, bringing the rear axis to coupling length into the green zone.

Finished, resplendent, certified, the Hino was ready to roll. Permitted to 35 tonne GVM, the truck can cart 13 tonne, coming in at just on 22 tonne tare without the fly jib in place.

“We’re rapt. I really would have loved the axle to unclip, because losing that and the fly jib would get rid of almost 2 tonne. You don’t need them for every job, but hey, it’s awesome. And man, it’s caused some interest.”

Does it work?

Does it ever!

How often do the little jobs in trucking ‘dag’ you, to use classic Kiwi vernacular.

Imagining the axle coming into its own, your mind instantly turns to boggy forest roads or a construction site in the wet, but ask any trucker and they’ll tell you time and time again it’s the wolf in

sheep’s clothing that has the potential to ruin your day. A classic case in point was our first job, a 90km run out to a residential building site in Mahia, with a long laminated lintel and steel support beams.

Dave came out for a look, but official driver on the day was Dave’s son, Logan.

We say ‘driver on the day’, because Dave, Glen, and Logan drive whatever’s best suited to whatever job is on the go. Both Dave and Logan said the truck takes a little getting used to on the road.

“You can feel the back axle.

It makes it very direct,” said Logan.

At the destination, the truck had to be located so the stabiliser legs were in good placement, but with the unit close enough to the construction so Logan could place and hold the laminated beam while the chippies attached it. Backing in off the road there was a small bund fronted by a surface drain that could have been an issue when locating the Hino in its

OLE MATE What’s not already been said about the Hino 700 Series?

It’s featured a number of times through the years so this is not a road test in our normal guise, it’s obviously the story of a successful collaborative project and one family’s persistence to see it through.

The 700’s longevity in our tough market speaks for itself and it’s a truck that rarely elicits a negative comment from those who have handed over the pingas for one.

Obviously in terms of modern tech-based, safety-focused driver aids it’s now coming up short, and it’s not alone in that issue; Japanese stablemate Isuzu is the same. Although things are unlikely to stay that way, both marques prove there’s still a strong demand for a good, affordable truck with less technology and a larger displacement motor, and Rising Sun peers UD and Fuso have pretty much left Hino and Isuzu to it.

Outside of applications like the Taylor truck, Hino – and Isuzu – are also filling that stepping stone role to bigger things for many operators, a role trucks like International’s T- and S-Line filled years back. Being part of the Sime Darby family here in New Zealand, those bigger things are potentially visible to Hino operators looking ahead, so it gives the truck a definite place or role in Sime Darby’s suite of offerings.

Powering the 700 Series is the overhead camshaft turbo intercooled 12.9-litre E13CVG motor with electronic common rail with Euro 5 clean air via EGR and SCR. It develops 353kW (480PS) at 1800rpm, and peak torque of 2157Nm (1590lb/ft) at 1100rpm.

Behind the motor is an Eaton Roadranger RTLO18918B 18-speed manual transmission.

Two MF781 front axles at 15,000kg combined rating are up front on semi-elliptical taper leaf springs and shocks, and out back a THD18 rear bogie at 21,000kg rating rides on Hendrickson HAS 460 air suspension, with doubleacting shock absorbers. Way out back is Hendrickson’s Composilite SCT20 Steerable Lift Axle bearing some of the load, helping steer clear in the tight spots, and getting well out of the way when needed.

The 700 Series rides well, steers well, brakes well; we know that. Regular readers will also know we think it’s a well designed cockpit, with a clear dash and nice wrap set-up in the usual manner, with gauges and warning lights in the binnacle, and infotainment, climate, the bulk of switches, and comms on the wrap. Shifter is well placed on a tower, and the handbrake and minor switchgear like loading lights sit behind it in a console.

The left wand manages the wipers, and the right indicator, dip, and cruise. The trailer brake is a bit horrendous in terms of visual appeal, rearing out of the dash just under the binnacle like a snakecharmer’s Cobra, and the binnacle and the wrap are a bit disconnected in terms of design language.

The negative has always been and still is the ‘cosiness’ of the cockpit for big Kiwi blokes. It works, but it’s all extremely ‘close’. As Dave said unprompted in the course of conversation, “I have to move the wheel up, my belly doesn’t really fit in

The 700 series has been a such a trooper for operators everywhere. Its interior is functional, however the cockpit is a little ‘cosy’.

here. I don’t drive it a lot.”

There’s plenty of light, but it’s light on storage, with no cab-side lockers even though the cab’s fat enough to be home to a small bunk.

Materials are mainly plastic and vinyl, with felt panels in the ceiling and a bit of imitation woodgrain on the wrap. Cleanability is great.

Fit and finish is fine, although there are some big gaps that appear to come as standard, not in terms of workmanship, but looking up into the truck

from the ground when you open the door and look in.

Some additional panelling under the dash to close it up nicely and give the entrant a feeling they’re climbing into a first-rate environment would do wonders. Getting in is not a difficult task, with four good steps and grab handles.

As Hino works its way through the range we look forward to the 700’s leap forward. It’s served the brand so well, and deserves the respect.

ideal possie. Had the rear axle not been able to lift as far it may have caught the bund and taken some of the truck’s weight, leaving the drive wheels scratching for grip.

“It’s working really well. See how far it comes up?” Dave pointed as the axle lifted. He showed us a patch of netting over a hole in the rear alloy guard. “It’s there because the wheels poke through when they’re right up.”

Logan fired up the Palfinger 63002 EH-D PJ170C and in no time flat the lintel was off, in place, and the builders went to work.

“I went for Palfinger again.

There are two things I like about them. When the boom’s travelling on the deck they have good clearance at the rear for carrying long lengths, and the other is their parts warehouse. It’s like Santa’s cave,” laughed Dave. “If something happens and we need any part, it’s always there the next day. We could have had a longer boom with this one, but it’s always a trade-off between tare and payload, so this setup with the fly jib is ideal.”

At full stretch with the fly jib, the crane will place 1320kg just over 22m away, and without, 3700kg at 13.75m. Tare is 6236kg for the crane plus 1395kg when the jib’s on, so she’s a fair old chunk of kit.

TAYLOR-MADE “Glen and I were around the business from day dot.

I remember a crane in the yard and Dad saying to us ‘if you kids can get it going you can play with it’. We were off! It needed a battery so we flogged one from one of the other trucks and put in it, but we dropped the crescent across the terminals and blew the battery up! Dad was not happy I tell you!” Dave Taylor laughs out loud.

“Our uncle owned a farm and had a bulldozer, so if we weren’t here we were out there driving that around.

It’s so sad kids today can’t do that. Can’t learn from the older guys. It’s still the best

way I reckon. Gets them interested.

“Dad was a very clever man. He could do so much.

Glen’s like Dad, really clever, knows lots of stuff, knows all about steel and engineering, what to use where. I’m a builder so I’m useful there, and I do a lot of the pricing and planning, meetings, and making it all come together.”

Just over 50 years ago, Robbie Taylor founded the business his sons Dave (55) and Glen (54) run today.

Initially a building company, Robbie quickly realised other things were needed to get a building finished, and in Gisborne he had to be that

‘T’ for team, ‘T’ for Taylors Working together is obviously part and parcel on the day, and although this was a simple job on the face of it, there was still plenty of cooperation and signalling.

A true sign that people are comfortable in their own skillsets is when someone is happy to take cues and guidance even when backing into somewhere they think they can see clearly. Likewise, it’s when someone is willing to step in and help direct a workmate rather than stand

(Top) David Taylor is managing director of CR Taylor. The ‘never say die’ attitude it takes he and brother Glen to run their business, got them the unique crane truck they wanted. (Bottom) Logan is Dave’s son. He’s working in the business currently; succession is still an open question.

guy, so cranes, removals, amenities to builds, crept in where the opportunity presented. That diversification led to more opportunities, and things like municipal pipelines, bridge relocation, and heavy haulage were all soon part of the portfolio.

“It’s just thinking about solutions. I remember a bridge years ago, a 40m span, and they were going to get in two big cranes from Napier at huge cost. The spans were welded up on the bank and we built a big pontoon to support them. We then pushed with the bully, and winched from the other side with the house truck.

Easy!”

But no Kiwi start-up is without character-building moments and tragedy.

“We had the depot burn to the ground, that had to be rebuilt from scratch, and 26 years ago Dad died of a heart attack,” said Dave. “Glen and I hadn’t been in the game that long and you could say we were thrown in at the deep end.”

But as we’ve said, persistence is in the family genes, and again it saw them through. Dave is heavily involved in surf lifesaving in the local area, himself a national and world titleholder, and son Cory has gone on to international notoriety.

“It’s no different from everything else,” said Dave.

“I wanted to be a world champion, so I just thought ‘right, who do I have to see to learn how, what do I have to do’, and I just started ticking the boxes. Eventually you’ll get there.”

Business in the region has never been easy and adaption has been the key.

When different industries have been flourishing, Taylors has moulded itself

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1) A long-nose Hino in the early days with a boat on for the wharf. 2) The Mitsubishi with a huge wine tank en-route from Corbans Winery to Montana.

3) Fixing a washed-out bridge in the backblocks. The F1800 International being towed in by the tractor. 4) The Actros picks its way through town with a 26m fibreglass storage tank on board. around the opportunities: wine, horticulture, forestry, infrastructure; they support whatever needs their skills.

“In the heyday we had 25 staff, today there’s five: me, Glen, Logan, Claire and Marylin, who’s been with us 24 years. She’s an integral part of the Taylor team, keeping the office side of the business in order and even piloting the odd load. Anyone else we need for specific jobs is contracted in as required.

“It’s certainly tougher than ever. Nowadays the government has its preferred suppliers. The Provincial Growth Fund money often misses the locals, because the preferred suppliers will come in from hundreds of kilometres away with no local knowledge. They might be here for a day or two, and then go again. We could easily have done the work, and had the money in the local economy. It’s crazy.”

But as has always been the case, the Taylors adapt,

and are enjoying a positive working relationship with the local council.

“We understand that jobs don’t always go to plan and it’s about working together and getting it done,” said Dave. “It’s no use slamming each other with penalties when some little aspect is out of whack. Our local knowledge from having worked on so much of the regional infrastructure means we can work together about how to do something. We won’t lower standards and if we think the end result won’t be up to it, we’ll say so. It’s our name that’s associated with the job.”

The best sign of this family’s skills and ability though is realised with a simple wander around the yard. There’s the 1994 Mitsubishi FV402J bought new and now with a genuine 300,000km on the clock, the Hinos, two crane trucks, and a 600hp Mercedes-Benz Actros that was new in 2016,

all without a single bent panel, dinged guard, smashed light; every one of them as straight as a die. Looking at the photo albums soon shows how often they’ve all been up to their guts in muck, maybe with a house on the back and a tractor tied to the front, but here they are, clean, straight, no issues.

Then there’s the new Hino, with alloy wheels and shiny Ali Arc bumper looking really

smart in company livery.

It’s a beautifully presented symbol of adaptability, innovation, thought and application. The 700 Series itself is a survivor, a truck that persists and persists, delivering so much to so many in such an honest way.

The whole package, the truck, the crane, it’s the Taylors to a tee in all reality.

The condition of the 1994 Mitsubishi FV402J says a lot about CR Taylor Ltd. Although it only has a genuine 300,000km on the clock, the truck has seen some challenging situations, yet it’s faultless, with not a bent panel or guard to be found.

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July 2020 33

back and see if the other guy stuffs it up. In this context, it was great to watch the family work and it helps explain why none of the gear has bent panels or guards etc. They’re all in this together.

The steel beams got two rides on the Hino and were delivered back to the supplier for reasons we won’t elaborate on.

Back at the yard the next task was a 20’ container

relocation from an engineering workshop to the proprietor’s new location on the outskirts of town. It gave us the opportunity to talk to 24-yearold Logan.

“I’ve been working for

Logan swings the beam into place and holds it there so the chippies can secure it permanently.

(Top) The back axles lift up to 230mm. (Bottom) In place and ready to lift.

Dad for about three years.

I’ve been in the bush all my working life, starting on the skid with a chainsaw, tape, and can of paint, working my way to cross-cutter, and then on the machines. I enjoyed

the life.

“I came back to help Dad and Glen out; like everyone they were finding it hard to get people.”

Quizzed about succession, Logan was still leaving his options open.

“Yeah maybe, I’m not sure though, eh? Dad’s got endless energy, just won’t stop. We all say ‘you’ve got nothing left to prove, you should take it easier’, but he’s full-on,” he laughed.

Soon we were onsite, and Logan manoeuvred the Hino off a service lane into position, sidling carefully alongside the box amid the shrapnel that typically comes

Container on and container off. Some days the Hino’s so busy darting from one job to the next around Gizzy a casual observer might think there’s two or three of them.

with a half-moved business.

Having the steering lift axle certainly helps manoeuvring in the tight spaces. Obviously going forward the rear axle is keen to help and Logan says it’ll go around Gisborne’s many tight roundabout intersections with no trouble, cutting a much tighter line than the 8x4 700 Series.

“The first time I came up to one I thought ‘how’s this going to go?’ I took a wide entrance like I would in the other truck but it didn’t need it, it just whipped around. You can really feel the back axle doing its thing.”

Going backwards the axle locks, but lifting it reduces

the wheelbase from 7118mm, to 6455mm, still 500mm longer than the standard truck, but it improves turning immeasurably.

Once again the Palfinger made short work of the job, and Logan placed the load carefully on the twist locks. It was a short haul to the destination, and as our customer’s new neighbour wandered around his paddock randomly shooting passing ducks with a shotgun, the container was placed on a

lovely concrete pad, a far better home than the dirt yard it had been in.

Owner happy, and we were off. Mission number three was inside a shed, lifting a Detroit motor and transmission into a refurbished log hauler. Backed into position, the engine had to be kept level so that when placed, all the mounting holes lined up. As such, extra time was taken with strops, and chain pulleys, followed by some small test lifts to get things just so and make sure

Lift the Detroit motor into the refurbished hauler, inside a building.

Finesse is really the key here.

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July 2020 35

S P E C I F I C AT I O N S

HINO FY 3248

Air with Hendrickson Composilite SCT20K rear axle Tare: 22,000kg (minus fly-jib) GVM: 32,000kg (standard) 35,000kg (permitted) GCM: 72,000kg Wheelbase: Axle unlocked – 6455mm, Axle locked – 7118mm Engine: Hino E13CVG Capacity: 13 litre Power: 353kW (480PS) Torque: 2157Nm (1591lb/ft) Emissions: Euro 5 (EGR, SCR) Transmission: Eaton Roadranger 18918B manual Clutch: Hino CR380 Chassis: 300mm x 90mm x 8mm (main) Front axle: 2 x MF781 Rev Elliot, I-Beam Front axle rating: 15,000kg (pair)

Summary “It’s a great project,” said Peter Wilkinson. “That axle lifts so far, it’s really impressive. We fit a lot of Hendrickson HLM lifting tag axles and they come up about 80mm, but this thing is really impressive. I think it’s got real potential.”

CR Taylor – no two days, no two jobs are the same, and in all reality we were barely scratching the surface. There’s nothing this family won’t have a crack at, and their combination of experience and innovative gear makes them such an incredible asset in a difficult region.

But the real story here is Dave not walking away at the

first ‘No’. As New Zealanders, giving up at the first hurdle is not supposed to be in our DNA, and it’s so refreshing to find such resilience alive and well. It’s how we push the boundaries on development, it’s how we get the machines we need, it’s how we get a 10x4 Hino with a lifting castor-steer tag axle that happily tows a trailer.

How appropriate it is that New Zealand’s only commercial rocket launch facility is out in this part of the woods, it’s a great metaphor for the region. It’s equally fitting CR Taylor supplies craning services to Rocket Lab when called upon. In their own unique way they’re both superb examples of can-do innovation, and a belief that nothing’s impossible.

Acknowledgements Thanks so much to Dave, Glen, Logan, Claire and Marylin for their help and accommodating all our wishes while in Gisborne. A fantastic crew. Thanks also to all the suppliers and people involved in the Hino project for their enthusiastic help.

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July 2020

Rear axle: Drive – THD18 tandem, hypoid with diff and cross locks Rear axle – Hendrickson Composilite SCT20 Steerable Lift Axle Rear axle rating: Drive – 21,000kg standard 8x4 Rear axle – 9066kg Rear suspension: Drive – Hendrickson HAS-460 air and double acting shocks Rear steer and lift axle – 2-bag air Brakes: Drum with ABS Auxiliary braking: Compression brake Additional safety: ABS Fuel: 400L DEF tank: 28L Wheels: Alcoa alloy wheels Tyres: 275/70 R22.5 Electrical: 24V Cab exterior: Steel construction, air suspension with electric tilt. ECER29 compliant.

Electric and heated mirrors.

Can interior: ISRI 6860 driver’s seat, fixed passenger. Single bunk with blackout curtains. Air conditioning. Remote keyless entry. Audio – DAB+ AM/ FM radio/CD & DVD player with Bluetooth.

Option: Ali Arc XH2090 bumper

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all the stars aligned. Job done, back to base.

Front suspension: Semi-elliptic taper leaf springs and shocks

AUXILIARY

TRUCK

MAKE THE MOST OF

0720-21

PBS

©2020 Hendrickson USA, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks shown are owned by Hendrickson USA, L.L.C., or one of its affiliates, in one or more countries.

NEW ZEALAND’S 50-YEAR FAVOURITE

WHAT A JOURNEY! A bright idea in lockdown spawned a fun and fantastic ‘through the decades’ online competition. The champion of champions shootout came down to some of history’s heavy hitters, but nobody can really knock the eventual winner!

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his’ll be interesting,’ we all thought in the New Zealand Trucking Media offices. Consult a group of respected truck-heads from an industry cross-section, a sample group generous in terms of breadth and strata, and ask them for a base list of favourite truck models for each of the past five decades.

Then take their selections and throw them to the lions and lionesses in the online world for a vote on who wins each decade, followed by the grand accolade of favourite of the favourites.

The deal was nothing to do with individual trucks owned by specific people, but

models, and neither was it relevant to a model’s release date, it was about proliferation – ‘when was it King?’ so to speak.

At the end of it all, when the dust had settled, the decade winners’ list read as follows: 70s – International 3070 80s – Kenworth W Model 90s – Mack MH 00s – Mack CH 10s – Volvo FH Grand Champion – Kenworth W Model There’s not much you can say that knocks the final winners’ list. Scania came so

close in both the 80 and 90s, and International’s mighty T-Line almost upset the W Model apple cart in the 80s.

Trucks we thought might feature in the 80s – trucks like the S26 Scamell and Foden S108 – didn’t really light up

the voting, but that’s probably a sign of how old some of us are getting. So many truck fans nowadays never knew the roads when they were a lolly scramble of truck brands from all around the world in a kaleidoscope of company

In its day it dropped the jaws of anyone peering through the window.

(Above) Like a Phoenix from the fire, literally! W Models are getting a new lease of life all over the country and Ed Solly’s ‘Rocky’ is a classic example, having been completely rebuilt following a devastating fire in 2010.

A 1980 model W924AR, the truck was originally owned by Mytton Bros in Nelson operating under Grey Valley Contractors licence. A beautiful example, Rocky is no show pony, working most weeks on machinery relocations, and overflow work for Sollys Contractors Ltd.

said ‘Right, give us your list’, everyone had the W Model Kenworth in their first three or four names, whether or not their personal preference included what is arguably the most famous truck to ever carry the bug emblem.

Get a group of people together and if they’re old enough they’ll tell you where they were when Neil Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind, where they were when they heard about Lady Di, Erebus, or us winning the America’s Cup for the first time. If they’re truck people in their 40s or older, they’ll also tell you where they saw their first W Model Kenworth, such was the impact the truck had.

When it landed on our shores in the early 70s, the W900 Kenworth, or W Model as it would come to be known, was in a different

league from any highway truck that had preceded it. It would raise the bar on what operators could rightfully expect from a truck, both in terms of performance, and on return for dollar spent.

But the W Model brought with it a look, a presence, a new dimension – literally. For most of those early buyers, the truck ended up as much a marketing tool as it did a productivity one, and when the first round were eventually sold into their second owners, most were traded for more than their purchase price when new.

As we said in the Satherley Kenworth T900 Legend test (New Zealand Trucking magazine June 2018), the W Model had a Pied Piper effect on a generation of kids, and did much to lift the perception and value of

both the truck and those who drove them. Adults who had never shown an interest in man’s mechanical beast of burden now peered inside the driver’s window, and for the first time the imagery that sprung to mind was that of an aeroplane cockpit. Gone were the two or three gauges in a Bakelite mould hose-clipped around a steering column; here was woodgrain, door-todoor gauges, chrome, and a view from a windscreen that will only ever be ‘that view’, unique and unsurpassed.

The Kenworth W Model was the first true celebrity truck, drawing onlookers wherever they turned up. They starred on the small screen in shows like Movin’ On, and the silver screen in the likes of Smokey and the Bandit, and it largely instigated the horn-toot arm action still used today by kids the world over when they petition a driver to wake the neighbourhood as they pass.

This then is a celebration of one of the world’s great machines. A truck that heralded what would be a golden era for trucking on our shores.

“We are delighted to hear that the trusty old W Model is the champion of the past 50 years,” said Southpac general manager for sales, Richard Smart. “What a great honour for the Kenworth brand and all the great New Zealand customers who make it the bestselling US truck in New Zealand year after year.”

So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we give you New Zealand’s favourite truck of the past 50 years … the W Model Kenworth.

Dalhoff and King in Rotorua was the original franchisee for the Kenworth brand.

Ken King had been to the States in the early 50s, seen the Kenworth product, and loved its custom-built nature.

Although he knew his young country was screaming out

for such a capable machine, import duties at the time made competitive pricing almost impossible, and sales were slow, more often than not into boutique applications.

Two things changed all that.

Firstly, an easing of duties for Commonwealth-assembled

vehicles brought the trucks produced in Kenworth’s Vancouver factory into play, and secondly, their sheer capacity for work and whole of life cost began to realign the investment proposition in the minds of operators. This was particularly so in regions

Arguably the most iconic configuration the W900 had in New Zealand was that of a dedicated ‘longs’ log truck towing the classic 3-axle pole trailer. This beautiful example was owned by Barry Towler, and was new at the time the photo was taken in the Bay of Plenty’s Rotoehu forest. liveries. The 80s truly was the greatest decade to be a truck enthusiast.

It was heartening to see the International 3070 slam dunk the 70s; what a great machine to so many, and although Kenworth’s K200 carried itself with aplomb in the 10s, the head and shoulders winner was the FH Volvo, and that’s certainly a reflection of what a winner that Viking’s been for them.

‘…and the winner is?’

But there can only be one winner of winners, and the title of New Zealand’s favourite truck of the past 50 years went to Kenworth’s W Model.

And what a deserved recipient.

Harking back to the start of the piece, when we first mooted the idea with our sample group of experts, and

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 39

They were big rugged and tough and changed the game on what an operator could expect from a truck. This 1974 example was one of three run by Baigent Sawmills in Nelson. Photo Credit: Richard Lloyd.

40 New Zealand Trucking

the streamlined T600A was launched.

But were the classic lines of the W900 over once and for all? To lean on a Star Wars classic, the force was still strong, and in 1993 Kenworth released the T900, a modernised rebirth of the classic big bonnet line on the back of a strong demand for such a truck. New Zealand’s own Mike Lambert ran a considerable log cartage and wood processing business at the time in Mount Maunganui, and was himself a diehard W Model fan. He proved an influential voice in the new truck’s genesis. When the requirement came to increase the frontal cooling capacity of trucks to cope with new emissions systems, Kenworth made sure to retain the critical elements of a classic look in the higher bonnets of the T900’s successors over the years, the T904, T908, and today the T909.

Then of course there was 2017 and the T900 Legend, the commemorative model of the 1993 truck. Kenworth sold 256 of them in the 24 hours the phone lines were open for orders. The reality was, people weren’t paying for a truck, they were paying for a shape.

So, the question has to be, will the T909, today’s custodian of the classic Kenworth look in our part of the world, be the last?

If history holds tomorrow’s greatest lessons, then you’d certainly hope not.

July 2020

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where the demographic, commercial, and infrastructure stars aligned. Places like the Waikato, Mount Maunganui, Auckland, and Hawke’s Bay. By the time Kenworth’s most famous profile arrived on our shores, the W900 highway truck with its trademark onepiece tilting fibreglass snout had been carving up the young interstate network in the US for a little over a decade.

Our first example ex Canada was a W925 purchased by J. V. Geany Ltd in Rotorua, and the first W924, by Road Haulage (Lendich) in Auckland.

The Canadian trucks came in SKD (semi knocked down) and final assembly was finished here in New Zealand.

In terms of deciphering model nomenclature, the last two digits designate the rear end, the 25 being a torsion bar, 23 being Hendrickson Walking Beam with 38,000lb rears, and 24 being Hendrickson Walking Beam with 44,000lb.

By the late 70s, Kenworth required New Zealand builds to be sourced ex the Australian plant in Bayswater, Melbourne, with those trucks suffixed AR for Australian right-hand drive. The first W900AR for New Zealand was again a ‘25’ truck that went to the NZ Lumber Company, and the second, a W924AR, was Barry Butterworth’s famous sleeper-cabbed ‘Black Bitch’.

Bayswater continued building the W900 model until the mid-80s, about the time

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ZETTING THE

PRECEDENT Photo Credit: Trucks & Trailers.

Story by Gavin Myers

Photos by Gavin Myers, Dave McCoid and as credited

New Zealand is fast becoming a market that takes full advantage of the Special Trucks range from Mercedes-Benz (that’s the Zetros and Unimog). They’re made for the most obscure operations in the toughest environments, and are proving ideal for just that over here. Now the country can lay claim to a Zetros that has few peers, if any.

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t’s not as though we haven’t seen a Zetros before – there are a few buzzing around, spreading in the South Island and the like, and we’ve seen them overseas – but it’s impossible to not be taken aback when that rather large three-pointed star, set in that chunky, blunt nose, is staring you square in the face.

“God, she’s big!” we quipped, wide-eyed and

slack-jawed, as we walked into the shed on Arran McKinnon’s section just outside of Gisborne and took in the sheer presence of his latest acquisition, a Mercedes-Benz Zetros 2733 A 6x6. That ride height and those 365/85 R20 front tyres, too… And the overall length of the thing, accentuated by the extra drive axle and Fassi crane stuck way out at the rear… It is a beast.

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Photo Credit: Trucks & Trailers.

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1) Rear-facing camera for visibility. Cup-holders for coffee. 2) Three-up – if needed. 3) Office environment familiar Mercedes-Benz. 4 & 5) Pull-out step makes climbing onto or under the bonnet easy. 6) Load-sensing pads ensure safe loading of basket. 7) Implements on, implements off. 8) This is mild stuff compared with Arran’s usual graft…

Indeed, Zetros is as much a byword for presence as it is for specialist work, and the work Arran does is rather specialised. He and his brother are both linesmen, maintaining the Eastland Network’s subtransmission lines, more often than not pulling out the old hardwood poles from the most challenging of terrain and upgrading them with new concrete ones.

He needed one truck that could make its way to some frankly ridiculous spots of the land, carrying 12.5m-long poles, and able to do the job of a digger, a crane truck, a basket truck, and a winch

truck (or a helicopter at $3000 an hour).

That’s no small ask and as Arran laid out in meticulous detail the requirements of the job, the potential candidates began to drop off the list fast.

“Getting the truck started with the need for a bigger crane, really,” explains Arran.

The Hiab mounted to his loyal and long-standing 4x4 Isuzu was too small, too old, overworked, and doing too big a job for what it was designed. He’d known as long as 10 years ago that he was going to need a replacement.

The crane he needed had to be a really solid piece of kit.

Arran had originally

considered going the 8x8 route with two cranes, a big one at the front for the basket and a small one on the back to handle the rotten poles when changing them over. It soon became apparent that that setup would be too big and difficult to manoeuvre.

He did more digging, and with the help of the team at Allcrane Sales & Service, settled on a Fassi F275.0.25 with one manual extension.

“It really required a double rear axle; you could fit it to a 4x4 truck, but you then couldn’t carry anything else apart from your lunch on the front seat. And you also wouldn’t be able to get the

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Photo Credit: Trucks & Trailers.

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1) Arran (left) takes delivery from Damon Smith of Trucks & Trailers. 2) Arran drives the crane from the sky. 3) 4800mm wheelbase and 600mm extended overhang, weight distribution spot on. The pole, by the way, measures 12.5m.

crane folded with a pole on, meaning it would have to be extended forward to the headboard, and that puts a lot of weight on the front axle,” Arran explains.

Doing his research, Arran began to take notice of the Zetros. Among the things that really appealed to him were the massive ground clearance and the low cab roof height, which meant he could lay the poles above it as flatly as possible.

“I went to check out some of them doing spreading in Methven for Philip Waring. I rang him up and drove down to see the trucks on the job.

He said they were bloody awesome and very difficult to get stuck with all the diffs locked.”

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Photo Credit: Arran McKinnon.

One of a kind The decision was made and Arran’s next port of call was Trucks & Trailers, which is beginning to build up a reasonable reputation when it comes to MercedesBenz Special Trucks. Last year, for example, Damon Smith, Mercedes-Benz brand manager at Trucks & Trailers, put eight Unimog 5023s on the road for GO Orange in Queenstown, and there are five more currently being built for various roles around the North Island.

“We jumped all over it when Arran came to us,” Damon says. “We roped in Phil Lesley who works on Special Trucks based in Australia. He’s got the experience with Unimogs and the Zetros, which is

reasonably new to us. He was a huge help.”

Getting the final spec right was quite a process, says Damon, especially so in this instance because the ‘standard’ Zetros (if there is such a thing…) comes off the line with just two axles and single tyres. If Arran could have an extra axle tacked on to maximise his weights he’d be away, and so once the truck went through the ordering process and came off the assembly line, it was sent to the Customer Tailored Trucks (or CTT) division for the dual wheels and 6x6 conversion.

“From our initial conversation with Arran the process took quite a long time because we had to get

the spec right, make sure we could run the dual tyres, communicate with the crane guys and ensure we had the right wheelbase and overhang dimensions, and be sure we could build it,” he says.

Once the order was locked in it was about five and a half months until the 6x6 Zetros arrived in New Zealand, at which point it was off for bodywork and fitting.

“The truck turned up for us as a basic cab chassis,” says Karl Leonard-Rogers, service and technical manager at Allcrane. Allcrane not only supplied the Fassi crane and all its fittings, but also built the bodywork and framing to support the poles.

“We designed it about a year ago. Arran came to

Photo Credit: Arran McKinnon.

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1) Arran’s view – winch supporting wires as they get fixed in place. 2) Big grille. Big crane. 3) A quick-release hydraulic connector and dry changeover system ensure implements can be changed over without fuss. 4 & 5) Controls mounted on the basket and on a waist belt have programmed functions specific to Arran’s operation. us with all the weights and dimensions, from poles to chains and the other gear he needs on the job, and said ‘that’s what the truck needs to carry’. It was quite a process of trying things out, figuring out wheelbases, where the crane was going to sit, getting the deck length right. In the end, the centre of gravity was a little further back than we designed, which helped us even further, and it came out just 12kg off the original calculation. That was what the design work was all about!”

We were certainly blown away by the quality of work and attention to detail in this build, and by all accounts so was Arran when he first saw the finished product.

“I’d been shitting myself

the whole build, thinking if it turns up and it’s no good then I’m in big shit. But weighed out with everything on as I use it, it comes in at 5800kg on the front (it can take 7200kg with those tyres), so I was away. All up it’s 16.6t, and the poles are 1600kg each, so it comes to 20,380kg with the poles. I’ve got about 1.3t up my sleeve,” he says.

“It motors along beautifully, especially compared with the Isuzu. The roads in Gisborne aren’t the most flash, but in this it’s like a flying carpet.

Also, when you’re on the hills, this feels like a rock.”

Learning curves Interestingly, for a man whose crane driving skills form a larger part of his occupation than his truck driving skills, Arran’s needed more tuition getting to grips with the leap in technology presented by the Fassi than by the Mercedes.

“The crane is the crane – the F275 structure is the same all over the world. But behind the scenes there’s a bit more going on here; we’ve specced it for this application,” Karl explains.

“The crane is all new to me, all computerised, not manual like the old one,” says Arran. The remote has various functions programmed in specifically for Arran, including an engine

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start and stop and remote tamper operation. Allcrane worked with Arran on many scenarios where he may need assistance – especially when he’s in the wops with no cellphone coverage.

“We had to think about all these things for Arran’s application. He was great with feedback, telling us what he needed to be able to do and what he couldn’t have going wrong. He has no phone connections out there and we have no radio in our office, so we had to think outside the box and engineer in failsafes,” Karl notes.

Given the varied terrain Arran has to contend with, the whole unit was also designed to be over-stable as a basket truck. With a full reach of 16.5m, Arran is able to park the Zetros in the ideal position and leave it there for the whole job, whereas the old unit would need to be moved and set up three or four times for different tasks. This is a boon, as repositioning the vehicle is often difficult – never mind

trying to get two different vehicles in alongside each other.

Arran’s new process in brief: pre-drill the hole, go up in the basket and undo the wires (one truck dealt with), set up the winch to lift the wires off the old pole and suspend them out the way (two trucks), then, once he’s safely back on terra firma, hook the new pole to the winch and position it in place (three trucks).

“I also get a nice view from above, instead of having to do a lot of it from the ground,” he says.

Naturally, the compromise is having to swap out the drill and basket, but Allcrane tried to make the process as easy as possible. “We have used a multi quick-release hydraulic connector and dry changeover system, so it doesn’t drip any oil. There’s a nice big lever so it’s easy to operate with cold hands, and all the tools use the same fitting. We tried to simplify it as much as possible,” Karl says.

Thinking poles Simplifying the job not only meant making the crane as user-friendly as possible, but the whole vehicle too.

“We designed the whole body thinking poles,” Karl says. Therefore, not a single potential lashing point was wasted, all points on the headboard are certified and rated, and there are chain spots for heavy-duty chains under the deck.

From the driver’s seat, Arran wanted to be able to see as much of the deck as he could through the mirror.

To aid visibility, there’s a handy rear-facing camera installed with a display mounted atop the dashboard, while floodlights were specced and sit perched atop the cab.

Powering the beast along is a surprisingly modest 240kW (326hp) BlueTec 5 6-cylinder, coupled to a 9-speed manual transmission with PTO, and a 2-speed transfer case. “The Special Vehicles share a lot of the same components with many of our other

bigger trucks. The engine and gearbox are common to a lot of our trucks,” Damon says. “It has some uprated suspension, and of course the tyres, but it’s a pretty strong truck so we don’t see many failures.”

“Once I had a trial run and was shown my way around the diff locks, I was good as gold. It was like going from a Cessna to a Boeing,” says Arran, attributing that analogy to Gary Walker who was his first point of contact regarding the crane. “Gary put a lot of hard work into it right to the end, and still keeps in contact with me to see how it’s going.”

Arran’s only full of compliments for the teams at Trucks & Trailers and Allcrane. And rightly so. After all, this wasn’t a simple tickbox order for a familiar truck in a common application.

There was no precedent for a vehicle just like this – but, thanks to meticulous attention to detail on the part of customer and suppliers, it’s fair to say that there is now.

6x6 configuration a unique Zetros conversion. Photo Credit: Trucks & Trailers.

July 2020 0720-29

46 New Zealand Trucking

Mercedes-Benz Logger Spec In-Stock.

Trucks & Trailers have a range of options ready to roll.

We have a number of 630hp, Euro 6, Cab Chassis and fully built up Mercedes-Benz Arocs 8 x 4 loggers available.

To find out more about these units contact any of our sales specialists.

Damon Smith, Auckland/Waikato, Adam Corbett, Upper North, Callan Short, Central North Island, John O’Sullivan, Lower North Island,

0720-29

Trucks & Trailers

021 623 219 021 771 335 021 403 959 021 970 930

damon.smith@trucksandtrailers.co.nz adam.corbett@trucksandtrailers.co.nz callan.short@trucksandtrailers.co.nz john.o’sullivan@trucksandtrailers.co.nz

0800 327 777

www.trucksandtrailers.co.nz

Just Truckin’

Around

www.trt.co.nz

Bradley Curtis Craig Andrews caught up with Bradley Curtis from the Hokonui Rural Transport stable recently in Gore. It was the end of a busy spell, and as always, his 2013 Argosy was spotless.

He wasn’t even aware it was getting its photo taken, not that it mattered, as he likes keeping it in that condition.

It’s incredible to think it has covered 630,000km.

Bradley grew up around trucking. “It’s in my blood,” he says. His Dad worked at Trans West Freighters and Bradley was often away with him in the school holidays. At one stage there were six family members working there.

“What’s not to love, eh? The driving, the trucks, the people, the banter, the freedom, and something different every day.”

He’s not a big fan of all the technology going into gear these days.

“Just too much of it.” He believes it does make things a whole heap safer and easier, but it’s taking away some of the common sense. “The ability to stop and fix it yourself aspect is going out the

window and it takes away the thinking for yourself aspect a bit,” he says.

He would like to see more people getting into the industry especially before “all the old school knowledge disappears”, saying it’s this knowledge that’s got him to where he is today.

Bradley started off at the bottom as a wash boy for Steve Murphy and says he owes a lot to Steve and Chris Murphy, both for putting up with him and getting him through his licences.

He says he feels very humbled for the

opportunity. Steve James, Graeme Dempsey and Stu McKenzie are names that spring to mind when talking about people who have helped him get where he is today.

Brad has been with HRT now for five seasons and really enjoys it.

“Good gear, good bosses, and good workmates make a brilliant combo,” he says. “There’s a lot to be said for starting at the bottom mucking around the yard and working your way up; it’s amazing what you can learn.”

Blair Thomson Thirty-year-old Blair Thomson from Mosgiel has been in and out of the trucking scene since he was 15. His dad had a couple of Nissans on the family farm that were also used for some general cartage work.

When he left school Blair trained as a diesel mechanic, but he loves driving and he is currently with McEwan Haulage, based in Dunedin doing all sorts of work. On the day Craig Andrews caught up with him Blair was driving a 1992 ex Mike Lambert T900 Kenworth, but he can also be found in a Mack Superliner, or a CH Mack.

The T900 is coming up to 30 years old, has 2.1 million kilometres on it, and is in incredible condition. In the summer it was pulling an emulsion tanker but a swap body goes on for other duties in the off-season.

Blair has little to dislike about the industry but believes the roads could be better, and that some of the health and safety is getting a bit out of control.

He does understand that if he wants to get home at the end of the day then health and safety does play its part, but so does common sense. Careless drivers sharing the road with him can also be irritating.

Blair enjoys meeting new people, and seeing the countryside, something he does plenty of working for McEwans. He also appreciates children trying

48 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

to make the truckers give a blast on the air horns, and he says he always returns the request. It makes their day and it makes his. He hopes that these kids will retain their love of trucks and find their own way into the industry somehow.

Blair’s vexing question was who would he most like to meet and why?

“Shane van Gisbergen” was his answer. “To do a hot lap with him in a V8 or even drive the car.”

alic

Just Truckin’

Around

www.trt.co.nz

established. Dennis was in his eighties at the time of writing and still going strong.

Leonard loved the adventure the international work brought when he was doing that, heading for a new destination, admiring the sights and meeting drivers from different countries along the way. Nowadays, he is always

keen to meet people in the same position as him, to find out how they run their operation and deal with the same problems he encounters.

As well as rallying his Mark II Ford Escort, Leonard loves travelling to truck shows in Europe and cites the north of Norway as one of his favourite places to visit. 

Just Truckin’ Around – Overseas Leonard Downey Fittingly for Ireland, it was a case of four seasons in one day and at the time Paul O’Callaghan met Leonard Downey, the rain was blowing hard across the glen.

Despite Leonard Downey being involved with his family’s haulage business from day one, his passion for trucks has not diminished over the years.

The 50-year-old who hails from County Cork in the Republic of Ireland is a big Volvo fan, a brand that makes up about 75% of the 28-truck fleet engaged in national and international transport.

Having obtained his licence at 19, Leonard spent a number of years driving Volvo, Scania and MercedesBenz models, before being summoned to the office to join his brother John in running the business their father Dennis

I would like to thank BOP Groundspread, and the rest of the ground spreading industry for working tirelessly to get fertilizer down, helping our farmers to get through this drought season.

Jason Fox - Branch Manager Bay of Plenty 021 369 015 Jason@creditone.co.nz

www.creditone.co.nz || info@creditone.co.nz || 0800 300 500

TOP TRUCK

‘The Lion King’ Story by Carl Kirkbeck

For young and impressionable twin brothers Dion and Hayden Kerley, growing up in Atiamuri was the catalyst that ignited their passion for trucks and cemented their joint future as transport operators.

50 New Zealand Trucking

Photos as credited

U

pon meeting up with Dion and Hayden Kerley at Atiamuri’s famous Bull Ring cafe for a coffee and chat about this month’s Top Truck, they recollected a time before the name Bull Ring, when the business was then owned by their father Ray Kerley and known as ‘The Old Lantern Tearoom’. It was a favourite lunch stop back in the day for the local loggers carting for Carter Holt Harvey. Both Dion and Hayden described how they would wait for the drivers to pull in for a hot steak and cheese toastie and percolated coffee, and then seize the opportunity to bail them up for rides in the passenger seat. There were the likes of Rodney ‘Bongo’ Dahm in his LW Kenworth, Sonny Moko’s T143 Scania, and Eric Hall’s

July 2020

Poster photo: Rob van der Hoek

awesome International Eagle.

“There was always a seat to fill and we loved every opportunity,” says Dion.

The transport industry was further embedded in the brothers’ DNA, with their Dad holding a goods service transport licence, operating a small fleet of general trucks that worked alongside local stock agents and farmers.

Both brothers earned their HT truck and trailer licences using trucks within the Ray Kerley fleet, however the call of the open road eventually had Dion and Hayden venturing off in their own employment directions.

The boys both enjoyed diverse driving career beginnings, including a stint at Godfreys for Hayden in a T400 Kenworth B-train combination, and brother Dion working a

couple of seasons for Otapiri Transport out of Winton in the South Island. It was then a return for both brothers to their logging roots, this time as drivers, with Dion in a 425 Catpowered Foden for the late Arnold Hema (for whom Dion has great respect and said was an awesome boss to work for) and Hayden in a K model Kenworth for Trevor Doidge.

Around 1999 the brothers returned home to Atiamuri to join their father Ray in his business. All three Kerleys remember three years of interesting father and son conversations that were rather colourful and vocal. “Trying to tell Dad how to run his business was never going to end well,” says Hayden with a laugh. Through this the brothers went owner-driver to their Dad, purchasing from him

An outstanding representation of their business and the industry. Kerley Brothers Transport Ltd MAN 35.640.

Photo Credit: Rob van der Hoek.

the pair of FY380 Hino general units they were operating for him. This move eventually led to the formation of Kerley Brothers Transport Ltd as Ray started stepping back from the day-to-day operations towards retirement.

The FY Hinos did an admirable job but after some hard years of solid toil collecting local stock destined for the Hawera works every second day, something had to give, and Dion’s FY finally blew. This incident had the brothers both thinking that to stay in the game they needed to invest in modern equipment that was efficient, reliable and designed to maximise productivity. A visit to the yard

by Mark and Wayne from TCV Trucks (now Penske) with a brochure for the newly released TGX 540 led the brothers to the dealership in Mount Maunganui for a test drive, and in turn an order was placed. The purchase of this

(Top) Brothers in business and still loving the industry they loved as kids, Hayden (left) and Dion Kerley. (Above right) A couple of larrikins – standing in the same order – on ground that today is outside the front door of the Bull Ring, with State Highway 1 in the background. Any truckie who stopped for a cuppa soon had company.

first MAN has been followed with a second 8x4 TGX 540, as well as a 6x4 TGS 540.

“The backup support and warranty claim service has been second to none,” says Dion. “Brent Warner [Penske dealer principal], Tim Geenty [Penske service manager], and Chris Greenwood at Dudley Mechanical and Parts Ltd in Taupo, have all been brilliant.”

It is the strength of this

business relationship that led to the ordering of this month’s Top Truck, the mighty TGX 35.640, to replace Dion’s old 540 TGX. The 640 receives a glowing report card from both Dion and current driver Adam Stokes, with both describing how the mix of Adaptive Cruise Control, ABS and EBS braking, and the AMT transmission make for a

complete and extremely well balanced combination to operate.

“Both Adam and I would love to have a go pound-forpound up the Titiokuras on the Napier-Taupo against the higher horsepower trucks and see who comes out on top; the torque in this thing is out the gate, the 15-litre just growls and you’re gone,” says Dion with a smile. We definitely

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 51

(Left) One of the two FY380 Hinos that Dion and Hayden went owner-driver on for their Dad Ray. The brothers eventually cut out on their own under the Kerley Brothers name. Photo Credit: Kerley Family collection. (Right) The Kerley’s positive approach extends to public interaction. The King Julien graphic and song lyric is there not only to convey their passion for the industry, but also to get families singing along in the car following. Photo Credit: Rob van der Hoek. concur with this statement. longstanding relationship here When we tested the Waiotahi with Roadmaster that the Contractors Ltd 640 from brothers are thankful for. On Whakatane in May of last year top of the Roadmaster decks we experienced the same there is a pair of Nationwide astounding deep locomotivecrates, a Cattle Box on the like assertive rumble from trailer and a three-deck on the under the floorboards; this is truck. The entire package has an engine that lets you know it been adorned with a dramatic is up for the task. modern twist on the classic Behind the 640 you find a Kerley fleet colours that Ray matching Roadmaster 5-axle made famous, designed and high tensile steel trailer that applied by the creative Cliff was built to complete the Mannington and team at Truck package – and it is also a NZT2033SpartanFinanceNZTHalfPage_full-bleed.pdf 16/06/20 2:23 Signs of Mount1 Maunganui.

Talking with both Dion and Hayden you quickly appreciate the level of passion these two characters possess for the transport industry. We mention this to them and the pair agree that they truly enjoy what they do for a crust, however they both immediately acknowledge longstanding business relationships and friendships that help them every day to do what they do. “There are good mates that we work together PMwith on the bigger jobs, as

well as Lyn-Lee Parker who keeps a tight rein on the office and organisation for us. Adam has done an amazing job of keeping the unit immaculate as well; they all play a huge part in making it happen,” say the brothers.

We could not agree more.

In this day and age, in the current economic climate, it certainly does help to have strong business alliances; they sure do help keep you out of the lion’s den.

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ENGINEERED, DESIGNED, INNOVATION

The team at Roadmaster want to thank Hayden and Deon for their ongoing support.

RoadMaster Ltd is customer focused with a nation-wide service agent network coupled with our company service facilities in Manukau and Rotorua. We produce the best truck trailers in New Zealand

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w w w. r o a d m a s t e r. c o . n z

nz

0720-30

0

CONTACT

0800

THE

BULL

MINI BIG RIGS

THOSE

MIGHTY FUNMIDGETS HO!

Three absolute troopers in the fight for maternal sanity in the 70s. The Bedford TK artic, The Ford D Series artic, and the Bedford TK milk tanker entertained for hours and hours. (I had no issues with the CAT D8 on the step-deck Ford D Series because I made up a wide-load sign – Ed.)

Readers of a certain age will share fond memories of the Fun Ho! range of cast models. Locally produced and hugely popular for decades, we revisit some of the company’s ‘kings of the sandpit’.

Story by Christopher Moor

O

nce upon a time in the 1960s – and it does seem like a fairy tale in the deregulated economy of 2020 – New Zealand had tight import restrictions that saw customers queuing outside shops advertising the arrival of an infrequent shipment of Matchbox Toys from Britain.

New Zealand toymaker Fun Ho! realised there was a gap to fill in the domestic market and plugged it from 1964 with the Midget range of zinc models, in a similar scale to

54 New Zealand Trucking

Photos supplied

Matchbox 1-75.

Streamlux, an Australian company, had discontinued production of miniature vehicles by 1962, and the firm sold its dies to Underwood Engineering, whose castings from these moulds produced the original Fun Ho! Midgets.

Despite lacking the perspex windows, detailed plastic interiors, silver-painted trim, and in most cases, the moving parts of the imports from Britain, the Midgets took off.

Models produced from the July 2020

Streamlux dies were: Massey Ferguson tractor, Holden EK saloon, Austin truck, Austin Mobil tanker, Volkswagen Combi or Kombi Bus, Mercedes-Benz racer, BOAC Commer bus, Austin tip truck, and a Volkswagen sedan.

Interestingly, the Massey Ferguson tractor was actually a Massey-Harris, and the Holden EK an FE saloon.

The early chrome and copper-plated finishes began being replaced by brightly coloured paint around 1967/68, and from the Ford

Falcon saloon in 1965, the moulds were New Zealandmade. An exception was the Austin articulated truck, which was a half and half, with the cab a Streamlux die and the trailer unit one by Fun Ho! General Motors’ Bedford trucks had several models in the Midget series with TK cabs. These first appeared in the catalogue during 1966 as the articulated truck. Some artics left the factory with only two wheels fitted to the trailer end, instead of their usual dual set. Other variations

It was inevitable that ‘Ole mate on the Fordson ended up driving around like a headless chook.

include trays or decks without markings. A rigid tray Bedford truck followed the Bedford articulated petrol tanker into the catalogue. The tanker came in Mobil livery until it was succeeded by Caltex variations in about 1967.

A marketing arrangement that ran between about 1964 and 1967 saw the Midgets sold in Mobil packaging, a connection that lasted at least until the introduction of the Bedford articulated milk tanker. From 1977 the articulated tanker casting in army finish was listed in the catalogue with the other Bedfords.

Before Fun Ho! produced the Ford D series trucks, a White heavy-duty tip truck had one of the shortest catalogue lives of just five years, from 1966 to 1971. The tray was held in place by two shallow ball and socket joints that caused several problems during the assembly.

Examples of this model with the tray attached are rare because it was known to break off with play.

Ford had an established presence in the Midget range by 1970 when it added four Ford D series trucks to the range, a Ford truck, Ford sand dumper, Ford dump truck, and Ford articulated truck. Their vibrantly coloured paint finishes appealed to youngsters, and they sold well in the increasingly deregulated market of the 1970s, which now included Corgi Juniors and Majorette as more competition for the

Two Fun Ho! toys from the original Streamlux casts. 1 – Austin tip truck and, 2 – Austin Mobil tanker.

The International King Size Tip Truck of 1973.

(You had to have a King Size or you were nobody – Ed.)

Midgets. Army finishes for the articulated truck, known as army transporter, and the dump truck, went into the shops during 1977.

Some collectors found the low-loader of the Ford articulated truck did not easily transport the Caterpillar bulldozer. A model that

definitely wouldn’t have fitted is the Aveling road roller.

The Fordson Major tractor was the only Midget tractor made at the time, and like its predecessor the Massey Ferguson, after a bit of hard play the driver would be headless and the tow bar broken off.

The Caterpillar D8 tractor, Caterpillar front end loader, and Caterpillar bulldozer introduced in 1969, pointed the way that Fun Ho! planned to have a greater future emphasis on construction and action models.

Fewer new castings entered the catalogue during the

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 55

1970s, the last being the grader in 1978.

The breakdown truck, with a cab based on an American Dodge, was one of three new additions from 1971, and 1972’s sole release was the tractor shovel, a.k.a. front end loader. A gap of four years between this model and the civilian finish Jeep in 1976 indicates just how the greater variety of imports affected Fun Ho! sales. Customers wanted the sophisticated toys from overseas with features not found in the Fun Ho! Midgets or the larger, even more basic Cast Aluminium range.

Yet the Jeep sold sufficiently well for Fun Ho! to bring out the armoured Jeep in 1977. It was the first of the military movers in the Midget series. The plastic gun could elevate to 45° and rotate in a full circle. A righthand drive for a toy with US army decals brought a touch of the absurd, but youngsters playing with the toy probably were only interested in firing the gun.

As competition for the Matchbox Super Kings and Speed Kings, Fun Ho! manufactured four International trucks in a small range of King Size models.

They began in 1973 with the International articulated truck, followed by the dump truck three years later. Both the army articulated and the army dump truck were added to the catalogue in 1978 and were still listed when production

FUN HO! MADE IN NEW ZEALAND

Beddy TK truck and the Ford D Series tipper – and it was a 6-wheeler!

Original Fun Ho! toys were made in Wellington from around 1935 to 1945, then New Plymouth from 1945 to 1949, and finally at Inglewood from 1949 to 1982. Their distinctive trademark with the exclamation mark was designed by E. Mervyn Taylor in 1939. No lead toys were made at New Plymouth or Inglewood, although cast aluminium toy manufacture continued from both sites. All Midget series models came out of Inglewood.

The first home for the Fun Ho! National Toy Museum was at the former factory in Mamaku Street, Inglewood, from 1990 to 1999, before relocating under new ownership to 25 Rata Street, Inglewood.

YO HA YO WA

HAMMAR

of the original Fun Ho! toys ceased in 1982. The factory could no longer compete with the influx of often cheaper imported toys.

The Volkswagen Combi, sometimes referred to as the Kombi, remained in

production for 18 years, from 1964 to 1982, the entire time the original Midgets were produced. With glazing – blue tinted plastic windows fitted – the Combi formed part of the Midget Repro range produced by the Fun Ho! National Toy

Big time construction.

We all had them.

Museum in 1996. Those Repro models were made from stocks of castings stored after the factory closure.

For more information about Fun Ho! toys visit: www.funho.com.

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56 New Zealand Trucking

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HAMMAR HAMMAR HAMMAR 130: 130: 130: HAMMAR 130:HAMMAR HAMMAR HAMMAR 130: + Versatile + Versatile + Versatile – handles –130: handles –130: handles two two 20’ two 20’ containers 20’ containers containers or or one or one one

+ Versatile – handles + Versatile +two Versatile + Versatile 20’ containers – handles – handles –container handles two ortwo one 20’ two 20’ containers 20’ containers or or one or one one HAMMAR HAMMAR HAMMAR 195: 195: 195: 40’ 40’ 40’ container container via via 3via cranes 3 containers cranes 3 cranes HAMMAR 195:HAMMAR HAMMAR HAMMAR 195: 195: 195: 40’ container via 3 40’ cranes 40’ container 40’ container container via via 3 via cranes 3 cranes 3 cranes + Versatile + Versatile + Versatile – PrecissionLeg™ – PrecissionLeg™ – PrecissionLeg™ forfor optimal for optimal optimal stabilising stabilising stabilising + Unique + Unique + Unique – middle – middle – middle crane crane crane folds folds folds into into into chassis chassis chassis to to to

+ Versatile – PrecissionLeg™ + + + – – PrecissionLeg™ – PrecissionLeg™ stabilising forfor optimal for optimal optimal stabilising stabilising stabilising + Unique + Versatile Light + Versatile Light + Versatile Lightfor – PrecissionLeg™ low –optimal low – tare low tare tare + Light – low tare + Light + Light + Light – low – low – tare low tare tare + Strong + Strong + Strong – 36-tonne – 36-tonne – 36-tonne Safe Safe Safe Working Working Working Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) or or or + Strong – 36-tonne + Strong + Strong + Safe Strong Working – 40-tonne 36-tonne – 40-tonne 36-tonne – 40-tonne 36-tonne LoadSafe (SWL) Safe Safe Working Working orWorking Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) or or or option option option 40-tonne option option + Stable + Stable +option Stable– 40-tonne legs – 40-tonne legs – 40-tonne legs extend extend extend foroption for firm for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer + Sliding + Stable – legs extend + + + for firm – – legs – legs extend and extend extend transfer for for for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer + Stable Weighing + Stable Weighing + Stable Weighing – legs by –base by –each by each each crane crane crane orfirm or total or total total + Light + Weighing – by each + Weighing + crane Weighing + Weighing or – total by – by – each by each each crane crane crane or or total or total total + High + High + High liftliftlift – ideal – ideal – ideal forfor stacking for stacking stacking option option option + Strong + High lift – ideal + for High + stacking High + High lift lift lift – option ideal – ideal – ideal for for stacking for stacking stacking option option option + Reach + Reach + Reach– long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes + Stable + Reach – long outreach + Reach + Reach + Reach cranes – long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes + Ease + Ease + Ease – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design + Reach + Ease – crane/stabiliser + Ease + Ease + Ease side-by-side – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser design side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design + Safety+™ + Safety+™ + Safety+™ – computer – computer – computer monitored monitored monitored handling handling handling asas std as stdstd + Ease + Safety+™ – computer + Safety+™ + Safety+™ + monitored Safety+™ – computer – computer handling – computer monitored as monitored std monitored handling handling handling as as std as std std + SDS + SDS + SDS – Hammar – Hammar – Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System + SDS + SDS – Hammar + SDS + SDS Soft-Drive + SDS – Hammar – System Hammar – Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System + Flex + Flex + Flex – Trailer – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted + Flex + Flex – Trailer + Flex or + Flex +Truckmounted Flex – Trailer – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted

– middle + Unique crane + Unique + Unique folds – accommodate middle –into middle – accommodate middle chassis crane crane crane to folds into into chassis chassis chassis to to to accommodate afolds single afolds single ainto single 40’ 40’ 40’ accommodate a single accommodate accommodate accommodate 40’ a single a single a single 40’40’40’ + Joiners – handle two containers simultaneously withwith joiners + Sliding + Sliding + Sliding – for – for –maximum for maximum maximum payload payload payload with with a single a single a single 20’20’20’ – for maximum + Sliding + Sliding + Sliding payload – for – for with – maximum for maximum a maximum single payload 20’ payload payload with with a single a single a single 20’20’20’ – only – only 7.57.5 tonne 7.5 tonne tonne tare tare tare with + Light + Light + Light – only – only 7.5 tonne tare – only – only – only 7.5 7.5 tonne 7.5 tonne tonne tare tare tare + Light + Light + Light + Strong + Strong + Strong – 16-tonne – 16-tonne – 16-tonne Safe Safe Safe Working Working Working Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) – 16-tonne + + Strong + Working 16-tonne 16-tonne 16-tonne Load Safe (SWL) Safe Working Working Working Load Load Load (SWL) (SWL) (SWL) + Strong Stable + Safe Stable + Strong Stable –– legs –– legs –– legs extend extend extend forSafe for firm for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer – legs extend + Stable + Stable + Stable for firm – legs – base legs – legs extend and extend extend transfer for for firm for firm firm base base base and and transfer and transfer transfer + Reach + Reach + Reach– long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes – long outreach + Reach + Reach + Reach cranes – long – long – long outreach outreach outreach cranes cranes cranes + Ease + Ease + Ease – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser – crane/stabiliser side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design – crane/stabiliser + + + –– crane/stabiliser –– crane/stabiliser –– crane/stabiliser design side-by-side side-by-side side-by-side design design design Hammar Hammar Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System + Ease SDS + Ease SDS + Ease SDS side-by-side – Hammar Soft-Drive – Hammar – System Hammar – Hammar Soft-Drive Soft-Drive Soft-Drive System System System + SDS + SDS + SDS + Flex + Flex + Flex – Trailer – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted – Trailer + or Flex + Flex + Truckmounted Flex – Trailer – Trailer – Trailer or or Truckmounted or Truckmounted Truckmounted

HAMMAR 110:

+Fast –new SledgeLeg™ technology, 50% faster +Narrow – SledgeLeg™ use for confined spaces +Light –from 8.4-tonne tare +Safe –optimal crane geometry +Reach – long outreach cranes +Weighing – by each crane or total

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NEWNEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND ZEALAND MADE MADE INMADE INNew INNew Hammar Hammar Hammar New Zealand Zealand Zealand Ltd, Ltd, 16 Ltd, 16 Marphona 16 Marphona Marphona Cres, Cres, Cres, Takanini, Takanini, Takanini, Auckland.

Auckland.

Auckland.

0800 0800 0800 2 HAMMAR 2 HAMMAR 2 HAMMAR sales.nz@hammarlift.com sales.nz@hammarlift.com sales.nz@hammarlift.com www www www hammarlift.com hammarlift.com hammarlift.com NEWNEW ZEALAND NEW ZEALAND Hammar New Zealand Hammar Hammar Ltd, Hammar 16ZEALAND New Marphona New New Zealand Zealand Zealand Cres, Ltd, Ltd, Takanini, 16 Ltd, 16 Marphona 16 Marphona Marphona Auckland.

Cres, Cres, Cres, 0800 Takanini, Takanini, Takanini, 2 HAMMAR Auckland.

Auckland.

Auckland. sales.nz@hammarlift.com 0800 0800 0800 2 HAMMAR 2 HAMMAR 2 HAMMAR sales.nz@hammarlift.com sales.nz@hammarlift.com sales.nz@hammarlift.com www hammarlift.com www www www hammarlift.com hammarlift.com hammarlift.com 0720-02

MADE IN NEW ZEALAND

THE UDC 2020 VIRTUAL SHOW AND SHINE WINNERS

THEY ENTERED IN

DROVES

Although Covid-19 denied us all a great few days at the 2020 TMC Trucking Industry Show, fast thinking on the part of the organising committee meant the UDC Show & Shine could still be held in a world the bug couldn’t get to … the virtual one.

A

nnouncing the UDC Virtual Show and Shine undoubtedly lifted spirits during lockdown.

The team at the New Zealand Trucking Association was swamped with 592 individual truck entries and 33 fleet entries.

“The first ever UDC New Zealand Virtual Show & Shine competition has been a huge success. The effort from everyone was absolutely amazing, showcasing the professionalism in the trucking industry. A big thank you to all the industry sponsors for donating

PEOPLE’S CHOICE Special Categories – People’s Choice award went to Steven Gardiner – NUP Logistics.

such generous prizes. The team at New Zealand Trucking Association is humbled, and thank everyone for their support.”

Here is a gallery of the winning entries in the various categories. Enjoy.

SPECIAL CATEGORIES

FLEET

CLASSIC TRUCK

Faulks Ltd

VIRTUA

ERS L WINN

58 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

Kerry Gavin – Gavins Logging Ltd

WOMEN IN TRUCKING

CHROME

Kerry Inns – K & T Trucking Ltd

Samantha Fraser – NZ Express Transport

GRAPHICS

WOMEN IN TRUCKING

Caitlyn Lynch – K & T Trucking

Tow Works Ltd

HELPING NZ TRUCKING SHINE Congratulations to all the entrants and winners of this year’s Show & Shine. We are proud to sponsor this event and support New Zealand’s trucking industry through thick and thin.

TALK TO OUR TEAM TODAY

udc.co.nz/fleet | 0800 500 832

LOG

CURTAIN SIDE

WORK TYPE

Glen Ireland – RLH Ltd

TRANSPORTER

CONCRETE AGITATOR

Jeremy Hodson – McAuley’s Transport Ltd

Matt Kendrick – Pollock and Sons Crane Hire

TIPPER

CONTAINER

Dave Nuttall – Firth Concrete

Mark Carter – Conroy Removals

STOCK

TANKER

Jacob Swain – Midlands Rural Transport/Gordon Transport Ltd

VIRTUA

Graeme Parks – Buckeridge Transport Ltd

ERS L WINN

Callum Vigus – Tranzliquid

(Alphabetical order)

FREIGHTLINER

DAF

BRAND WINNERS

James Yorston – Yorston Transport Ltd

Amy Edmonds – Edmonds Transport & Earthmoving Ltd

Brett Flower – The Tyre General

KENWORTH

IVECO

Joe Garrett – Eden Haulage Ltd

ISUZU

INTERNATIONAL

Dean Power – NZ Express Transport

HINO

FUSO

Craig Stephens – Zealandia Horticulture

Dean Chadwick – D & K Trucking Ltd

Shane Downey/Graham Redington – Northchill Ltd

VIRTUA

ERS L WINN

(Alphabetical order)

MAN

MACK

BRAND WINNERS

Nick Welbeloved – R & H Transport

SCANIA

MERCEDES–BENZ

Curtis Mabey – Buckeridge Transport Ltd

Terence Howard – Terence Howard & Sons Ltd

A & L Coombs Contracting Ltd

UD

VOLVO

Mitchell Lyon and Nathan Kruskopf – A & L Coombs Contracting Ltd

WESTERN STAR

Rossco Higgins – Rossco Bobcats

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL 592 TRUCK ENTRIES CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 30 WINNERS Joe Garrett – Summerland Express Freight

ERS L WINN

0720-23

VIRTUA

NZT 20

“If You Drive It We Can Wash It” Valet Pick up from Yard / Hotel Wash & Return option Available • Loyalty Programme for Regular Washes • New Truck Pre Delivery & Used Truck Detailing Service

“If You Drive It We Can

CALL LEE TO MAKE A BO 10 Tenahaun Place Sockburn C Email: lee@parkhousetruck Phone: 03 348 7161 | Mobile: 0

0720-07

• Valet Pick up from Yard / Hotel Wash & Return option Available • Loyalty Programme for Regu

Let us clean your fleet so you can be proud to be seen!

CALL LEE TO MAKE A BOOKING 10 Tenahaun Place Sockburn Christchurch Email: lee@parkhousetruckwash.nz Phone: 03 348 7161 | Mobile: 027 284 4641

www.parkhousetruckwash.nz

INTERNATIONAL TRUCK STOP

T RUST IN PEACE If you leave the more urban areas in Southern Europe and trundle along a back road it is possible to stumble upon some historic surprises. Behind an old barn or some bushes, a real gem could be hidden – a forgotten car, truck, bus or some other mechanical contraption. Sometimes it is still in remarkable condition, at other times not more than a wreck…

Story and photos by Niels Jansen

Fascinating view of ‘faded glory’ in the Spanish Girona region. This unknown bonneted truck dates from the 1930s.

64 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

rusty workhorses that spend their last days alone somewhere in a shed, parking lot or field can still be seen regularly in countries with a dry and hot climate. The victim could be sitting in a public domain or on a piece of land that belongs to a private party, garage or scrap dealer.

Be it in Europe, North America or elsewhere, some owners are not keen to see visitors on their property.

However, when you are welcome, it is fascinating to stroll around a place where all kinds of mobile heritage are slowly passing away. The more unique the discovery, the greater the kick. And that half the body or the mechanicals are missing does not make a difference when it concerns a model or make that has, long ago, disappeared from the market.

As far as truck brands are concerned, the European transport scene is nowadays quite boring. Contrary to New Zealand, the market is dominated by only seven European names, not counting

a few specialists that produce a limited number of chassis for niche markets. Apart from the latter, due to EU regulations most truck and trailer combinations look the same. That is also the case for superstructures and liveries.

Gone are the colourful cargo trucks that plied the highways and byways of notably Southern Europe some 30 or 40 years ago. Take France, for example, where respected names such as Berliet, Bernard, Latil, Unic and Willème became only a memory by the turn of the century. Only very occasionally an elderly model can be spotted on the road that has been lovingly refurbished by its owner.

Or, more often, at one of the classic truck events that are held each summer all over Europe. At such meets the owners share often fascinating stories about the discovery and the restoration of their pride and joy. But the chance to find a genuine old-time commercial vehicle becomes more difficult with the years.

Today, since the economy

Looks like a scene from the past but this is in the South of France today! has experienced an enormous setback worldwide due to the coronavirus crisis, few people can afford to keep up an expensive hobby. Even so, in more remote areas there are many worthwhile vehicles from the past to be rescued.

But be careful entering private land without first asking permission – most people living in the country have a watchdog to protect their property. And so do junk yard owners, and used truck dealers. It helps to speak a few words in the local

“Only very occasionally an elderly model can be spotted on the road, which has been lovingly refurbished by its owner.”

tongue. This way you also get to know something more about the derelict vehicle. Such as what make, model and year of build it is, and how it ended up there.

Strolling around all kinds of ancient vehicles that are slowly rotting away is both an exciting and comforting experience. The term ‘automobile graveyard’ is very appropriate.

However, due to stringent European environmental regulations, it’s becoming

A nicely refurbished Jailbar Ford and Berliet GLA brighten up a classic truck festival near Paris.

This big WWII Ward LaFrance Model 1000 was spotted in a junkyard in the Verdon more than 75 years later.

Not much is left of this Renault Galion from the 1950s! more difficult to leave discarded equipment in the open field. And that sometimes even applies to private ground, nowadays the case in all Mediterranean countries. Also, gone are the days that you could still see numerous old trucks working hard.

If you crossed the Pyrenees into Spain some 30 or 40 years ago, it was still the Valhalla of commercial vehicles. The national routes were crammed with noisy

and smoky vintage diesel wagons. They trundled behind each other like elephants, along oil- and rubber-stained two-lane highways, across endless plains, over steep mountain passes, and through picturesque medieval villages.

Most of these routes are now banned for heavy through traffic. Trucks are forced to use the new multi-lane toll roads.

In the 1960s and 70s Spain was a truck-spotter’s paradise, with – elsewhere seldom seen on the continent – Barreiros,

Contractor Romain Vogels still uses his 1983 MAN 4x4 tipper for local haulage work.

A complete rebuild of a wreck such as this 1927 International requires a lot of patience (and money!).

View of a trio of classic trucks in a French mountain village. The flatbed is a locally built Ford from the 1950s.

Ebro, Pegaso and locally built Dodge and Leyland trucks doing their daily duties. The majority of these wagons are owned by small transport companies and owner operators.

Noisy and bellowing smoke, the diesel ‘camiones’ [truck or wagon] were recognisable for their magnificent colours, chromed add-ons, and typical Spanish sun visors that proudly displayed the owner’s name. The steel or wooden cargo body was often custom built and just as colourful as the truck itself.

When the country joined the European Union in 1986 a lot changed, and not all for the better. Around the turn of the century transportation by road was a completely different picture. Taken over by multinationals such as Iveco and Renault, the Pegaso and Barreiros/Dodge names

disappeared from the truck front. Today, you have to look very hard to find, for example, a Pegaso still in working order.

Unfortunately, contrary to countries like Germany, France, Holland and the UK, there is only some recent interest in preserving old commercial vehicles on the Iberian Peninsula. But it must be said that a few larger hauliers are now showing an interest in saving and rebuilding historic motorised vehicles. There are even some annual oldtimer events now, such as Camiones Clasicos, that are held at various locations.

So, when you are a truck buff and spend your holiday in this part of the world, make sure you leave that cosy terrace or sunny beach for a couple of hours to have a closer look at some of Europe’s rarest and more colourful diesel ‘dinosaurs’.

Spanishmade, beautifully restored, Dodge Kew and Leyland Comet 5-tonners at the Camiones Clasicos Show.

MACK TRUCKS BORN READY

MACK STOCK CLEARANCE Variety of models. In stock. Priced to sell.

Call the Mack team now.

WHILE STOCKS LAST

STU WYND | Mack Trucks National Sales Manager | stu.wynd@mtd.co.nz | 0274 999 807 CARL CAPSTICK | Auckland/Northland Regions | carl.capstick@mtd.co.nz | 027 491 2333 NICK KALE | Auckland Area Region | nick.kale@mtd.co.nz | 027 235 4416 GLEN KEANE | Bay of Plenty/Central Waikato/Coromandel Region | glen.keane@mtd.co.nz | 027 442 7947

0720-23

PAUL BENNETT | South Island Region | Paul.Bennett@mtd.co.nz | 027 220 6640

NZT 2032 Mack Ad - A4 V4.indd 1

16/06/20 4:23 PM

AUSSIE ANGLES

Kimberley Crusaders When you are running a transport operation based more than 2000km from the nearest main truck dealer, your trucks really need to be up to the job. Factor in that they will spend a lot of time on rough outback tracks and your choice is even more limited.

Story and photos by Paul O’Callaghan

H

ailing from New Zealand’s South Island, Glenn Smith has been manager at the Broome depot of Road Trains of Australia since 2003 and he knows a thing or two about running trucks in extreme conditions. Since the arrival of Hampton Transport in northwest Kimberley

following their takeover of Road Trains of Australia (RTA) in 2005, Glenn has overseen expansion in the northwest Kimberley region, taking the fleet from four double deck triple trailer road trains to 14. The blue and yellow Kenworths have become synonymous with cattle haulage, having established a reputation

Left: An RTA Kenworth on the Myroohda, Crossing Western Australia. for reliable transport in the Kimberley region.

The fertile plains of the Fitzroy River have facilitated the growth of large cattle stations across its wild landscape. Indeed, the settlement of Fitzroy Crossing could be regarded as the main hub for the work carried out by RTA. Located 400km east of Broome, a regular run sees the trucks leave the yard throughout the afternoon or evening, ready to load in the Fitzroy Crossing area at daylight. Primarily, the cattle are transported back to Broome for live export, where they are held in feedlots until a ship docks.

Broome is known for

its huge 10-metre tides, something that in the past had slowed the loading of ships – when the ship sits too high or too low in the water, the ramp gradient becomes too sharp. However, modern vessels have various loading points, meaning that there is generally no interruption to loading. These efficient vessels hold 3000 head and can be loaded in about six hours. To see this happening is quite impressive, particularly as the tiny wharf in Broome is not large enough for triple road trains to turn around on, instead, an RTAbranded CAT loader pulls the back two trailers around after they are unhooked from

KIMBERLEY CRUSADERS

K IM BE R L E Y

Australian-built Kenworth trucks are the preferred make for the harsh conditions of Western Australia. the lead trailer. In a matter of minutes, the trailers are again hooked up and the trucks head back to the export yards for another load.

That’s not to say it is all short runs here. Given there are no significant meat works in the north of Australia, a regular trip sees the trucks

load in Broome and head south to Perth, a distance of 2200km. When you factor in washing out the trailers before reloading with palletised feed, each trip takes about a week.

Regular runs are also made eastwards into the Northern Territory, either via Kununurra and the Victoria Highway, or along the notorious Duncan and Buntine unsealed tracks. These Broome-based trucks travel far and wide, occasionally ending up as far away as Queensland.

But it is work referred to as ‘paddock carting’ where the trucks really take punishment.

These jobs, where a truck is on exclusive contract to a station, can last anywhere from a day or two up to a fortnight, in which time the trucks might not see a bitumen road. Unsurprisingly, they usually return to base with a long list of repairs needed. Subcontractor Paul Slager, a highly experienced

Kenworth T904 on the Tanami Road.

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 69

auto electrician, immediately deals with electrical issues generally caused by wires rubbing. Even the favoured Kenworths succumb to the harshness of Mother Nature in this remote corner of Australia and nothing is left to chance, with all trucks being thoroughly checked over and repaired before they head out bush again.

“We can’t afford to cut corners as it’s prohibitively expensive to recover trucks once they are out bush,” says Glenn. “If we maintain them properly here, it works out cheaper in the long run.”

Neither does Glenn discriminate between the brands. The Western Stars that have joined the fleet in recent years must endure the same punishment and no quarter is given.

It is the Kenworth however,

that currently holds the crown as the king of outback cattle haulage, and until recently, the Bayswater, Melbourne-built trucks dominated the lineup in the RTA Broome yard.

The current line-up includes T904s, T908s, C509s, and a solitary T909. Glenn is a fan of Kenworths, adding that he has ageing T904s that “just keep coming back, season after season”. When asked what his truck of choice is, he replies, “Probably the C509.

They are built specifically for the conditions we operate in.”

Just as we are chatting, one of the Western Stars heads out the gate, off to load six decks near Halls Creek.

There are three Western Stars based in the Broome yard, one from 2015 and two from 2016. The trucks are a darker shade of blue from the fleet standard Hampton

The Kenworth C509 is the perfect bush truck. “Built specifically for the conditions we operate in,” says Glenn Smith.

Western Stars working as hard as they will anywhere else on earth.

70 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

blue, and were originally ordered by Heavy Haulage Australia before that firm ran into difficulty. In total, RTA now operates 10 6900 series Stars, all with the largest Stratosphere cab available, domiciled throughout West Australian, Northern Territory, and Queensland depots.

Wandering down into the busy workshop, the boilermakers were fabricating their own heavy-duty bonnet mounts for the big Western Stars. “The original ones have been replaced and keep getting flogged out, so we’ll see how these ones work out,” says Glenn.

In an effort to reduce the damage caused by vibrations on corrugated dirt roads, all trucks are equipped with ‘spider’ air lines. This allows four drive tyres to be inflated or deflated at the same time,

although two of the 509s driven by long-serving drivers are equipped with Aussiedesigned CTI (Central Tyre Inflation), controlled by a dial on the dash.

Interior-wise, the Western Stars are cavernous and beat the Kenworths hands-down for living space.

“The guys who have them love them,” says Glenn.

“They have an upright fridge, which we didn’t want, but that’s just how they came”.

The upright fridge is basically the same as the household design and just about every one has failed. Chris Hansen, originally from Waikaka (also in New Zealand’s South Island) drives Western Star No. 47, and says, “I never use that fridge now, it’s too unreliable. We all have 45-litre Engels, and I can still walk around it even though I have

it placed between the seats.”

The shorter gear sticks in the Stars were also a source of annoyance: “The gear stick is too low, so I’ve put an extension on which makes changing much easier,” says Chris.

All of the trucks are well specced, and RTA was the first to run the big 60” bunks behind their Kenworth T904s back in 2007. Icepack secondary air conditioning systems are standard fare when operating in the North of Australia, going hand in hand with 2000-watt inverters, fitted to allow drivers to run microwaves and kettles etc.

HID (High Intensity Discharge) and LED headlights and spotlights have become commonplace, even on the older trucks. Anybody who has travelled the Great

Northern Highway east of Broome at night will testify to the need for good lighting power up front!

Both the Kenworths and Western Stars have Cummins engines set at about 448kW (600hp). While this does sound like a modest power output, the trucks pull admirably well, and longevity of engine life is paramount.

The current generation of ISXe5s have been performing well, and are certainly more reliable than the EGRs they replaced by all accounts. For pulling power though, it is the old Signature Gen-2 motors which have the upper hand, according to some of the drivers.

Aside from major work like engine transplants and electrical work, everything else is handled by in-house

mechanics and boilermakers.

Pounding roads mean that there will always be one trailer in the welding bay for repairs.

“We buy the toughest trailers available, then rebuild them when necessary,” says Glenn. “That set over there is 30 years old, although you would never tell apart from the old style chassis design, which looks tough enough to last another 30 years.”

Rebuilds are done in-house, while resprays are carried out in Perth, also done by company-employed painters.

In terms of configuration, a 7-deck unit was briefly trialled with a permit in the 90s, but was eventually abandoned.

Adding an extra A-section means drawbars and run throughs need to be shorter to keep the outfit within the length restrictions, meaning

interchanging with other fleet trailers isn’t possible. Also, with rough creek crossings and steep jump-ups, the work doesn’t really suit the setup, which adds a lot more drag.

In the cattle haulage game, you need to be in it for the long haul and roll with the ebbs and flows of a constantly changing tide.

“Every season is different.

One year we might have a big wet and not start shifting cattle until April. The following season, if it’s dry, we may begin in early February,” says Glenn.

“We are always on the lookout for good drivers.

I’ve had some great drivers come over from New Zealand over the years. Chris Hansen for example, has done 10 seasons here. It suits Kiwis as you can escape the New

Stopped on the bed of the Fitzroy River under a full moon on the way to Fossil Downs.

Cash flo New Ze of our w repercu produc

Nick O’ busines invoice and run for an a earthqu

Hailing from Waikaka in Southland, Chris Hansen has done 10 seasons for RTA.

RTA Broome Fleet 2017.

Zealand winter, then return home for the summer. While some may find it a daunting prospect or think they wouldn’t be up to the task, I’d encourage anyone who’s interested to give it a try. It’s all about having the right attitude here and being willing to learn. Accommodation is provided and we have a couple of Toyotas that the drivers can use.”

In an industry constantly facing challenges, it’s a delicate balancing

act between moving with the times and keeping abreast of legislative requirements, while still staying true to the outback traditions that are associated with the iconic Road Trains of Australia brand.

One thing is for sure though, the famous blue and yellow cattle trucks that have been plying the tracks of the Kimberley for the past 25 years will be at the forefront of whatever lies in store for the future.

“

m

by m

pa

take

Originally from New Zealand’s South Island, Glenn Smith has been manager of RTA’s Broome operation since 2003.

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to bridge the gap so they could keep operating while they waited for their invoices to be paid.

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In post-Covid NZ, trying to maintain earthquake Christchurch. operational cash flow is a common Xero’s recent Small Business Insights survey showed that in the year to June 2018, just half of New Zealand small problem. Keeping staff on, keeping up businesses were cash flow positive in any given month. with maintenance and just keeping your On average, New Zealand small businesses were paid 8.3 business running during days late in June 2018, according to what Xero. is likely to

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We’ll buyas your recently-raised invoices, Businesses some extra help to stay afloat give youjusta needed same-day advance against between invoice payments, given the massive unforeseen

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repercussions are far-reaching. When small business by maintaining cashflow invoices are Often it’s just a case ofuntil needing a shortproductivity slows, the whole economy does too.

term bridge for a cash flow gap. You’ve paid.Nick Unlike invoice factoring, don’t O’Connor knows how stressful it canwe be for

completed the job, raised the invoice but

businesses to try to maintain working capital between now have to The wait before yourwho customer invoice payments.

Kiwi entrepreneur, has owned and run several ventures himself, first identified need pays you. This is where Buffer canthehelp. for an alternative form of invoice finance while based in postearthquake Christchurch.

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medium businesses continue growing, by maintaining cashflow until invoices are paid. Unlike invoice factoring, we don’t take over all your invoicing or lock you into

Nick O’Connor Buffer for Managing Director Business

a minimum period with a monthly fee.

We simply allow you access to cash when you need it, for a one-off fee each time”

“

8 z

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.

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non-traditional flow waited for their invoicescash to be paid.

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

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New Rigs New ON THE ROAD ON THE ROAD

Bug among the Vikings Kenworth T410 6x4 tractor The TheSky’s Sky’sthe theLimit Limit

Operator: 460.32 Baillie Renault Lander 8x4 Transport Ltd Renault 8x4 Engine: Lander 460.32 PACCAR MX13 381kW (510hp) Operator Roadex logistics Ltd,PO-18F112C Mount Maunganui Transmission:

PACCAR 12-speed Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Driver Richards Rear axles: Frank Frank Richards Meritor RT46-160 with diff and cross locks Driver Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Rear suspension: Airglide 460 Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Transmission Features: Optidriver 600mm integrated sleeper Transmission Optidriver Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Extras: Additional lights, Kenworth mud flaps, Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 stainless rear bumper, dress-up kit Palfinger crane Trailer: Fairfax Palfinger crane Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features Operation: Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Foodstuffs deliveries Waikato and King Dura-Bright alloy wheels

Dura-Bright alloy wheels Country Operation Carting roofing material around Operation Carting roofing material around Driver: Steve Murch thethe Bay of Plenty area Bay of Plenty area Sales: Mitch Redington Photo: Baillie Transport

Concrete companion Fuel Hauling FH Fuel Hauling FH Scania G500 6x4 rigid

Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 Renault Lander 460.32 8x4

Operator: McGregor Concrete – Winton Operator Roadex Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Operator logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Engine: DC13 373kW (500hp) Driver Frank Richards Driver Frank Transmission: Richards Scania 14-speed Opticruise Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Rear axles: Optidriver Scania Hub Reduction Transmission Optidriver Transmission Suspension:

Scania full air suspension Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Features: Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Predictive Cruise Control with road Truck body Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 learning

Palfinger crane Palfinger crane Extras: Disc Proprietary Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features brakes, Bluetooth,Scania scales trailer with trailer

Dura-Bright alloy wheels Dura-Bright alloy wheels Body/trailer:Carting Carting roofing material around TES (Transport Engineering Southland) Operation Operation roofing material around Operation: thethe Bay of Plenty area Bay ofAggregate Plenty areaand metal deliveries Sales: Kere Menzies

November 2015

74 New Zealand Trucking July 2020 10 10 NZNZ TRUCKING TRUCKING November 2015

Twin TwinTippers Tippers Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 in the garden Splash red Renault Landerof 460.32 8x4 Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui UD Quon GW26-460 6x4 rigid Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Driver Frank Richards Driver Frank Richards Operator: 0Xi11, Earthworks and Paving Ltd – Engine 460hp Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Transmission Transmission Optidriver OptidriverChristchurch Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub Engine: GH11-TD Euroreduction 6 343kW (460hp) Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Truck body Flat front mounted PK12000 Transmission: deck with UD ESCOT-VI 12-speed AMT Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 crane Palfinger crane UD RTS2370A Rear axles: Palfinger Features Disc brakes, Rear suspension: UDBluetooth, spring rear suspension Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Dura-Bright alloy wheels Engineering Repairs 2012 Ltd Body: Dura-Bright alloy wheels Operation roofing material around Operation Carting roofing material around Operation: Carting Fill and aggregate around Christchurch the Bay of Plenty area

the Bay of Plenty area and Port Hills

Sales:

Richard Lloyd

Seaside treat DAF CF85 6x4 rigid Shooting Star Shooting Star Operator: Kaiaua Transport – Hunua

Engine:

PACCAR MX13 381kW (510hp) Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 Transmission:

ZF AS-Tronic 12-speed AMT

Sales:

Mitch Redington

Operator Operator logistics Mount Maunganui Rear axles: Roadex Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui MeritorLtd, RT46-160 with diff, cross locks Driver Frank Richards Driver Frank Richards Rear suspension: Airglide 400 Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Engine Features: 0Xi11, 460hp Super single front wheels Transmission OptidriverPolished alloy wheels, additional marker Transmission Optidriver Extras: Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear axles Renault P2191 reduction lights,with sidehub skirts, stainless steel kick Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Truck body Flat deck panels, with frontDAF mounted PK12000 mud flaps Paint: Palfinger crane Palfinger crane Painted steps and grille by Fleet Image Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Manukau Body/trailer:Dura-Bright alloy wheels Dura-Bright alloy wheels Transfleet

Operation Carting roofing material around Operation roofing Operation: Carting Earth material cartagearound great Auckland and Waikato Driver: the Bay of Plenty area the Bay ofRoland Plenty area Spencer

The perfect UNION Mellow Miles & Michelin Men International 9870 R8 day cab 8x4 rigid

Renault Lander 460.32 8x4

Carperton Argosy Renault Lander and 460.32 8x4 Sorted rolling!

Operator Ltd,X-15 Mount Maunganui Engine: Roadex logistics Cummins 448kW (600hp) Driver Frank Transmission: Richards Eaton UltraShift PLUS 18-speed 2-pedal Engine 0Xi11, 460hp AMT Transmission Rear axles: OptidriverMeritor 46-160GP Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Rear suspension: IROS GP Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Extras: Air management kit, tinted windows, Palfinger crane headlight covers Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Body: Transfleet Dura-Bright alloy wheels Operation: Carting roofing Wastematerial cartagearound Auckland and Waikato Operation Driver: Helu the Bay ofVula Plenty area

Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui UD Quon 32-420AS 8x4 rigid Driver Frank Richards Operator: 0Xi11, 460hp Sorted Logistics Ltd – Christchurch Engine Engine: OptidriverGH11TC Euro 6 313kW (420hp) Transmission Rear axles Renault P2191 with hub reduction Transmission:

UD ESCOT-VI 12-speed AMT Truck body withRTS2370A front mounted PK12000 Rear axles: Flat deck UD Palfinger Rear suspension: crane UD air suspension Features Disc brakes, Extras: Air Bluetooth, management kit alloy wheels Body/trailer: Dura-Bright Fruehauf (36 pallet unit) Operation materialChristchurch around Operation: Carting roofing Distribution and the Bay ofsurrounding Plenty area area

Operator:

Union Contractors Ltd – Penrose

Sales: Photo:

Rob Byers Prestige International Ltd

Driver:

Pete Morris

Tipping gets no tougher!

Kenworth T659 6x4 rigid Operator:

Burnetts Transport – Riverhead, Auckland Engine: Cummins X-15 410kW (550hp) Transmission: Eaton Roadranger RTLO22918B 18-speed manual Rear axles:

Meritor Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 RT46-160, diff locks and cross locks Rear suspension: Airglide Operator Roadex logistics460 Ltd, Mount Maunganui Features: Frank Richards Super single front wheels, SI-Lodec scales, Driver Nilac coated bins, painted tanks and air Engine 0Xi11, 460hp cleaners Transmission Optidriver Extras: alloy wheels, RedDot air Rear axles RenaultAlcoa P2191Dura-Bright with hub reduction conditioning, extra marker lights, Kenworth Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 mud flaps and bug deflectors Palfinger crane Paint: Fleet Bluetooth, Image Features Disc brakes, Body/trailer: Dura-Bright Transfleet alloy wheels Operation: Carting Earthmoving based out of Riverhead to Operation roofing material around and Northland the BayAuckland of Plenty area Driver: Mark ‘Macka’ McLachlan

Superb Super Liner

Dew’s Jewel Renault Lander 460.32 8x4 Top-notch timber taxi

Operator Roadex logistics Ltd, Mount Maunganui Scania R620 Frank day/rest cab 8x4 rigid Driver Richards Engine 0Xi11, 460hp Operator: Rotorua Forest Haulage Transmission Optidriver Engine: Scania 16-litre V8 463kW (620hp) Rear axles Renault P2191 14-speed with hub reduction Transmission:

Scania GRS0905 Opticruise Truck body Flat deck with front mounted PK12000 Rear axles: Scania RBP662 Palfinger crane Suspension: Front: Spring. Rear: Scania air suspension Features Disc brakes, Bluetooth, Body/trailer: Roadmaster Dura-Bright alloy wheels Features: interior,around fridge Operation CartingPremium roofing material Operation: the BayTimber distribution North Island of Plenty area

Sales:

Andrew Lane

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

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New Zealand Trucking JulyNZ 2020 75 11 November 2015 TRUCKING

new kiwi bodies & trailers New Zealand Trucking brings you New Kiwi Bodies & Trailers. Bodies and trailers are expected to last twice as long as trucks. What’s more, there’s new technology and advanced design features showing up almost every month.

New Zealand has a rich heritage of body and trailer building and we’re proud to showcase some recent examples of Kiwi craftsmanship every month. If you want a body or trailer included on these pages, send a photo, features and the manufacturer’s name to trailers@nztrucking.co.nz

Keep it simple and cool A trailer that exemplifies the adage: simplicity done well is always cool. The novelty of seeing a new 3-axle trailer in 2020 is pretty cool in its own right, but the stainless steel detail and alloy wheels makes this little treasure ex Mill-Tui for Bowers and Son of Te Awamutu all the more appealing. The trailer is equipped with twist lock beams and will be used for the delivery of concrete tanks.

Features: Hendrickson disc brake axles and air suspension, Knorr-Bremse EBS, and Mill-Tui alloy wheels.

Mills-Tui

Wellsy will go far This latest build from Patchell Industries is again testimony to what a lifetime of product refinement brings the paying customer, in this instance Wellsy Express Ltd in Whangarei, running in the GC Stokes livery. The truck has a galvanised cab guard, fixed stanchion layover bolsters with load restraint chains, anti-spray mud flaps, Hella and Trailmaxx LED lighting. The new 5-axle trailer has hand-slide bolsters, the increasingly popular Hendrickson TIREMAAX inflation management system, Hella and Trailmaxx LED lighting, and shines brightly with Alcoa Dura-Bright wheels.

Features: (Trailer) Low height EVO4 I beam chassis, Hendrickson INTRAAX disc brake axles and air suspension, WABCO EBS, Boto tyres.

Patchell Industries

76 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

Keeping it Kiwi There’s no doubting KiwiTrans’s belief in all things Aotearoa, and its latest build out of the Dometts facility in Tauranga takes the clarion call to a whole new level. This magnificent unit, built on the back of an FH16 Volvo, sports a 7.2m curtainside tipping truck body with round-top cover system, and 10.4m 5-axle curtainside tip trailer, also with a round-top

cover system. The rig has twin toolboxes and North/ South bearer racks, as well as Alcoa Dura-Bright alloy wheels.

Features: (Trailer) SAF INTRADISC 19.5” axles and air suspension, WABCO SmartBoard.

Domett

Making Hayes sunshine or not Alex Hayes Log Transport has just commissioned a stalwart New Zealand log trucking combination – Kenworth and Patchell. The front end has a steel painted cab guard, anti-spray mud flaps, fixed stanchion layover bolsters with chains and winches, and lights courtesy of Hella and Trailmaxx; while the new 5-axle stepped trailer comes with Bridgestone rubber and Alcoa Dura-Bright alloy wheels.

Features: (Trailer) EVO3 stepped chassis complete with bolster riser, Hendrickson INTRAAX disc brake axles with shockless wide bush air suspension, WABCO EBS. Patchell Industries

Spec your trailer on KIWIs – the new tyre of choice for KIWIs KIWI 16

KIWI 17

KIWI 175

Wide grooves will not hold stones

The KIWI 16’s tougher twin

Multi use tread pattern

Heavy duty case

Super heavy duty case

Urban/highway/off road

Excellent mileage performance

Puncture resistant

Puncture resistant

17mm extra deep tread

17mm extra deep tread

17.5mm extra deep tread

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 77

JOKE OFNTH: THE MO

LITTLE TRUCKERS’ CLUB

lled I’m in a bandtica .

Transporta on aces! pl We are going

ACRONYM PUZZLE 1) Used to start the truck 2) Gives the truck power to move 3) These are turned on at night and look cool 4) Go around and around 5) Tells the driver how far he has travelled 6) Plays music 7) Carries the freight 8) The driver holds these to climb up

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

K___ E_____ N___ ______ W_____ O_______ R____ T______ H______

RAINY DAY PUZZLES

A nswe rs to a c rony m p uz z l e: keys , en gi ne, n eon l i ght s , w hee l s , od om eter, ra di o, t ra il er, h an dl e s

FIND-A-WORD G E A A T B H T V I N D U 0 V T S T G E A S A N T T C E E W R H J E K U O Z A

R G W I P E R B L A D E S

S S I C Q E B W U X I X C

T I C K E R U C R M N D S C R A T O R S P W P M N R I N G W O X K D O D P X F Y T C H W L Y B S T A E S E L G H A U S T F V T I H

78 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

Y I E A O H L F M N E X E

S L E E S E B R A K E S A

Q J K A T B D O O R N D L E A R I A L N J K J I S E L R U M E I T O I G G H M S N H X Q S S T Q Z I D S Y A O E N G I N T E R C W

G P F H I V L R N Z B E D

AERIAL BRAKES CLUTCH DIESEL DOOR ENGINE EXHAUST GEARSTICK GEARBOX HEATER INDICATORS KEYS LIGHTS SEAT STEERING WHEEL OIL TRANSMISSION WIPER BLADES WINDSCREEN TANKS

Answers for spot the difference: ladder, rear side light, nut on front tyre, roof light, sparkle, raised wheel hole

SPOT THE SIX DIFFERENCES

Hi Little Truckers, school holiday time! I’m sure you all have some fun things planned; it could be going to work with mum or dad, visiting friends or family – whatever you get up to I would love to hear about your adventures. You could write me a story, take photos or draw me a picture.

Send them to me and you could get your adventure printed right here at Little Truckers’ Club! I’ve drawn up two puzzles this month for those rainy days when you can’t get outside, and don’t forget last month’s colouringin competition – there’s still time to get your entries in.

Ask your parents to photocopy it and get your friends to do it with you. You can either scan them or take a photo and email your entries to me at rochelle@nztrucking. co.nz. The winner will be printed in our August issue and sent a very cool New Zealand Trucking prize pack.

I can’t wait to see all your entries! Have fun kids!

Fun Fact:

In New Zealand, trucks transport around 92% of all freight by weight!

Of the balance, 6% is transported by rail, and the other 2% by coastal shipping.

THE FIGURES ADD UP At Scania, we understand how difficult it can be for operators to maintain their fleet and their service levels during these difficult times. While we are seeing a tightening in credit criteria across the finance industry, we are providing an initiative that enables you greater flexibility to rejuvenate your truck fleet without compromising vital cash flow.

For a limited time Scania is offering interest only payments*.

To find out more, visit www.scania.co.nz/cashflow-initiatives or contact Scania Finance New Zealand on 021 885 226. * Terms and conditions: Purchase finance offer applies to Stock Trucks and Used Trucks only and available for orders taken from 1st June to 30th September 2020. Scania Finance is subject to credit terms and conditions which are available by contacting Scania Finance New Zealand on 021 885 226.

Offers exclude national fleet buyers. The information provided on scania.co.nz in general is nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. Before making any decision, it is important for you to seek appropriate legal, tax, and other professional advice.

MADE FOR NEW ZEALAND

WHAT’S ON Mobil Delvac 1 New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame 2 October Bill Richardson Transport World Tickets $225 each, banquet seating 10 per table $2250.

Contact: Adam Reinsfield, 0800 151-252 ext 5, or email adamr@twevents.nz

Wings and Wheels Thames 30 January 2021 Contact: Mary Thompson, 027 200-3433, 07 868-5699

Wheels at Wanaka 3 and 4 April 2021 Contact: Colleen Nisbet, 021 780-674, www.wheelsatwanaka.co.nz

All scheduled events may be subject to change depending on weather conditions etc. It is suggested you check the websites above before setting out.

Show organisers – please send your event details at least eight weeks in advance to editor@nztrucking.co.nz for a free listing on this page.

80 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

Brisbane Truck Show 13 - 16 May 2021 Brisbane Convention Centre Contact: 0061 7 3376-6266, or email admin@brisbanetruckshow.com.au www.brisbanetruckshow.com

NZ Owned, NZ Operated, OEM Approved

www.nzblue.co.nz | 0800 ADBLUE ® = registered trademark of the Ver-band der Automobilindustrie e.V. (VDA)

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Contents 84 Moving Metrics 87 Better Business 88 Incoming Carogo 92 IRTENZ – Talking 6x2 94 Business Profile

– Straitline Canvas

96 Truckers’ Health 98 Health and Safety 100 Legal Lines 102 NZ Trucking Association 104 Road Transport Forum 106 The Last Mile B R OUG HT TO YO U B Y

MOVING METRICS

THE SALES NUMBERS New Zealand Trucking shows you how the economy is travelling via key metrics from the road transport industry. From time to time we’ll be asking experts their opinion on what the numbers mean.

Summary of heavy trucks and trailers first registered in May

Note: vehicle classes are not the same as RUC vehicle types or driver licence classes.

This information is put together from information provided by the NZ Transport Agency statistical analysis team and through the Open Data Portal.

Vehicle class

NB (medium goods vehicle) A goodsof vehicle that a gross First registration NB and NChas classes for vehicle mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not May year on year 350 exceeding 313 12 tonnes Number of units registered

Vehicle type This summary includes data from two heavy truck classes and one heavy trailer class.

NB

NC

TD

NC

NB

May-20

YTD 2019

638

16 2 419

TD

NBYTD 2020NC

84 New Zealand Trucking

67 4 7 6

Roadmaster

6

Patchell MTE Fruehauf

Heavy vehicle class YTD 2019

Supplier

19 13

NC

Ke n

o

zu w or th

Isu

o

2

Hi n

Fu s NB

15

32

31

rs

11

1

27

vo

25

939

Ot he

43

Vo l

3333

rs

Ot he

YTD 2020

Others TES

M M er AN ce de sB en z Sc an UD ia Tr uc ks

767

lin er

DA F

gh t

0

Fr ei

Number of units Number of units registered

200

81

1381

35

TD

NC

First registration of TD class heavy trailers for May 2020 by major suppliers

First registration off NB and NC classes

1100

Vo lvo

zu w or th

o

NB

Heavy vehicle class

May 2020 by major First for registration of NB, NC andmanufacturer TD classes year to date

90 80 1600 70 1400 60 1200 50 40 1000 30800 20 11 600 10 400 0

M M er AN ce de sB en z Sc an UD ia Tr uc ks

0

Heavy vehicle class May-19

419

Isu

o

Hi n

Fu s

lin er

DA F

400 200

Ke n

50

600

gh t

112

100 0

0

Fr ei

Number of units

152

150

50

for May 2020 by major manufacturer

223

207

200

100

90 81 First registration of NB, NC and TD classes year 80 70 to date 60 43 50 1600 35 1381 3333 32 40 31 1400 27 25 30 19 1100 16 1200 15 13 20 11 11 939 1000 2 2 10 1 767 0800 638

Number of units registered

Number of units registered

250

152

112 A trailer that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 10 tonnes

TD A table of all vehicle classesNBcan be found in NC Table A of the Land Heavy vehicle class Transport Rule Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2016 Rule 41001/2016 May-19 May-20 https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/rules/docs/vehicleFirst registration off NB and NC classes dimensions-and-mass-2016-as-at-1-june-2019.pdf

313 247

A goods vehicle 223 that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 12 tonnes

207

200

TD (heavy trailer)150

First registration of NB and NC classes for May year on year 300

300

NC (heavy goods250vehicle) 247

A goods vehicle is a motor vehicle that: (a) is constructed primarily for the carriage of goods; and (b) either: (i) has at least four wheels; or (ii) has three wheels and a gross vehicle mass exceeding one tonne.

350

Description

July 2020

First registration of TD class heavy trailers for May 2020 by major suppliers

0

18

16 9 13 8 11 8

Domett

78

10

13 20

30 May-20

40 May-19

50

60

70

80

90

This information is put together from information provided by the NZ Transport Agency. New Zealand Trucking acknowledges the assistance of the media team at NZTA for providing this information to us.

ROAD USER CHARGES

RUC purchase for May 2020, all RUC types A description of RUC vehicle types is available at https://www.nzta.govt.nz/ vehicles/licensing-rego/road-user-charges/ruc-rates-and-transaction-fees/ Please note data may differ from that reported for the same period previously due to adjustments made to the base data supplied to us.

Total value and distance of all road user charges purchased between 1 January 2018 and 31 May 2020 Purchase Period

Distance Purchased (km)

Value of Purchases

Monthly Average (km)

1 Jan 2018 – 31 Dec 2018

15,736,558,458

$1,875,364,397

1,311,379,872

1 Jan 2019 – 31 Dec 2019

16,166,434,103

$2,041,939,272

1,094,452,842

1 Jan 2020 – 31 May 2020

5,492,806,737

$745,198,166

1,098,561,347

RUC distance purchased for RUC Type 1 vehicles RUC Type 1 vehicles are powered vehicles with two axles (except type 2 or type 299 vehicles.

Type 299 are mobile cranes). Cars, vans, and light trucks that use fuel not taxed at source, i.e. diesel fuel, are generally in this RUC type.

Purchase Period

Distance Purchased (km)

Monthly Average (km)

1 Jan 2019 – 30 May 2019

4,685,175,254

937,035,051

1 Jan 2020 – 30 May 2020

3,846,451,466

769,290,293

Rolling trend month-on-month purchase of RUC during 2019 – 2020

Rolling trend month-on-month purchase of RUC during 2019 – 2020

$200,000,000 $180,000,000 $160,000,000 $140,000,000 $120,000,000 $100,000,000 $80,000,000 $60,000,000 $40,000,000 $20,000,000 $0

Distance Purchased (km)

1,600,000,000 1,400,000,000 1,200,000,000 1,000,000,000 800,000,000 600,000,000 400,000,000 200,000,000

RUC Distance Purchased (km)

May-20

Apr-20

Mar-20

Feb-20

Jan-20

Dec-19

Nov-19

Oct-19

Sep-19

Aug-19

Jul-19

Jun-19

May-19

-

Purchase Value ($)

RUC purchases all RUC types

RUC Value ($) New Zealand Trucking

RUC purchases for the top eight RUC types

July 2020 85

The top eight RUC type purchases, other than type 1 in descending order RUC Type Description 2

Powered vehicles with one single-tyred spaced axle and one twin-tyred spaced axle

6

Powered vehicles with three axles, (except type 308, 309, 311, 399 or 413 vehicles)

43

Unpowered vehicles with four axles

14

Powered vehicles with four axles (except type 408, 414 or type 499 vehicles)

951

Unpowered vehicles with five or more axles

H94

Towing vehicle that is part of an overweight combination vehicle consisting of a type 14 RUC vehicle towing a type 951 RUC vehicle with a permit weight of not more than 50,000kg

33

Unpowered vehicles with three twin-tyred, or single large-tyred, close axles (except vehicle type 939)

408

Towing vehicles with four axles that are part of a combination vehicle with a total of at least eight axles

RUC purchases year to date (end of May 2020) for selected RUC types

RUC class

RUC Value ($)

RUC Distance (km)

2

$62,971,986

415,340,405

$99,965,987 50,777,596 $45,078,688 1,429,855,559 $75,035,435

246,224,940

$27,761,303

162,720,553

$19,224,837 $381,268,706

951 H94 RUC

purchases May 2020

$14,919,884 50,777,596 $19,224,837

Distance Purchased (km) Distance Purchased (km)

33 90,000,000 408 $19,224,837 408 80,000,000 Total Year to Total Year to Date 70,000,000 Date $381,268,706

for$36,310,586 selected

$381,268,706 1,429,855,559

199,057,588 182,559,240

types

88,652,175 84,523,062

$25,000,000 $20,000,000

50,777,596

Purchase value ($)

6 408 43 Total Year to Date 14

1,429,855,559

Purchase value ($)

60,000,000 $15,000,000 50,000,000 40,000,000 RUC purchases May 2020 for selected types $10,000,000 The red dots represent 30,000,000 the cost of RUC 90,000,000 $25,000,000 20,000,000 $5,000,000 purchased for that RUC 80,000,000 10,000,000 type for the year to date $20,000,000 70,000,000 0 $0 May 2020 only, thus for 60,000,000 2 6 43 14 951 H94 33 408 $15,000,000 RUC type 6 vehicles, 50,000,000 RUC type powered vehicles with 40,000,000 Total RUC distance (Km) Total RUC Value ($) $10,000,000 three axles, (except type 30,000,000 308, 309, 311, 399 or 413 20,000,000 $5,000,000 The red10,000,000 dots represent the cost of RUC purchased for that RUC type for the year to date April 2020 vehicles), the higher value only, thus for RUC type 6 vehicles, powered vehicles with three axles, (except type 308, 309, 311,the high cost results from 0 $0 6 43 951from H94 33 cost 408 of RUC for these typeofvehicles 399 or 413 vehicles),2 the higher value14 results the high RUC forabove these type RUC type vehicles above 12 tonne.

12 tonne.

Total RUC distance (Km) Total RUC Value ($)

Distance Purchased (km) Distance Purchased (km)

The red dots represent the cost of RUC purchased for that RUC type for the year to date April 2020 distance purchased year date only, thus for RUC type 6RUC vehicles, powered vehicles with threeto axles, (except type 308, 309, 311, (January to May) selected RUC 399 or 413 vehicles), the higher value resultsfor from the high cost of types RUC for these type vehicles above 12 tonne.600,000,000 By comparing distance purchased year to date with the same period for the previous year, any trends in changes to activity will become clear.

500,000,000 400,000,000 300,000,000

200,000,000 600,000,000 100,000,000 500,000,000 400,000,000 300,000,000 200,000,000

RUC distance purchased year to date (January to May) for selected RUC types

2

6

43

14

951

RUC Type

YTD 2019

H94

33

408

YTD 2020

100,000,000

86 New Zealand Trucking - July 2020 By comparing distance year the same 2 purchased 6 43 to date 14 with 951 H94 period 33 for the 408 previous year, any trends in changes to activity will become clear.

RUC Type YTD 2019

YTD 2020

BETTER BUSINESS

ommentary by Morgan Strong, general C manager commercial at UDC Finance Limited.

REPLACEMENT HAS ITS BENEFITS

N

ew Zealanders have a well-earned reputation for our can-do attitude and ability to keep things working – sometime even well past their usual lifespan. When it comes to trucks and trailers, there is an important balance to strike between getting the best out of your gear and ensuring your vehicles remain an asset to your business.

trucks for longer. The average age at which trucks leave the fleet has increased from 20 to 24 years since 2001,’ the report stated.

‘The truck fleet’s average age is about 17 years, which is relatively old internationally and has been rising. A significant proportion of the current fleet was manufactured between the mid-1990s and the early 2000s.’

New Zealand’s Ageing Fleet

Developing a fleet management plan

In the 2019 UDC and ANZ report At the crossroads: The New Zealand transport and logistics sector, we noted that New Zealand’s truck fleet is ageing. ‘Cost pressures, along with other factors, are leading operators to hold on to their

Over time the cost of maintenance due to wear and tear can have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line. When combined with the potential benefits that modern vehicles offer, such as improved safety,

lower emissions, improved fuel efficiency, and increased comfort for drivers, the value of a well-planned fleet management programme becomes clear.

Building a review of your fleet mix, projected replacement requirements, and operational needs into your business plan is a really good way to reduce longer term risk. By working with a good team of advisors to develop this plan, you can help reduce business interruptions due to time off the road and costly maintenance.

The past few months have seen businesses facing a variety of different challenges, and for some operators, the

thought of replacing vehicles may seem daunting right now.

However, having a good look at the costs of maintenance verses replacement and the added benefits of having newer, more efficient gear is an important aspect of your planning.

Replacing a truck or trailer using finance may also be a consideration, as this can be secured against the asset rather than being an upfront cost paid for out of cashflow.

Matching your payments to the useful life of the asset and aligning these with your cashflow can also deliver flexibility.

SUPPORTING NZ TRUCKING FOR THE LONG HAUL Whether you’re an owner driver or a business operating an entire fleet, we’re ready and waiting with hassle-free finance to help with your transport needs.

TALK TO OUR TEAM TODAY

udc.co.nz/fleet | 0800 500 832

INCOMING CARGO

“I believe 2019 was the turnaround year for Iveco, and 2020 will hopefully be the accelerator when we come out of the Covid-19 situation,” says Thomas Hilse.

WE ARE

Story by Gianenrico Griffini

Photos supplied

UNSTOPPABLE

Iveco came out of 2019 on a high and the company is hell-bent on carrying this momentum forward through the forthcoming years – global health pandemics notwithstanding. Chairman of the International Truck of the Year jury, Gianenrico Griffini, brings us an exclusive interview with the company’s new brand president, Thomas Hilse.

88 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

How are you translating CNH Industrial’s Transform2Win strategy into reality?

Fundamentally, Transform2Win will create an on-highway company focused on trucks and powertrains, based on the solid strategy that Iveco has been pursuing for the past year.

The evolution of our product portfolio is on track and moving fast. What we have achieved in just a year is quite amazing and by the end of the year we will have a completely renewed product portfolio across all segments.

In April 2019 we launched the new Iveco Daily, with advanced driver assistance systems and connectivity.

Then in July we launched the Iveco S-WAY, which I think surprised the industry and our customers.

At the end of last year we announced our cooperation with Nikola on hydrogen and battery electric trucks. I think that we again surprised the industry with this

move and with the remarkable speed of delivery: just three months after we signed the agreement, we presented a prototype.

And there is more to come later this year when we will launch the Iveco T-WAY, our off-road vehicle and the successor to the Trakker.

Another part of our strategy is the renovation and reorganisation of our entire service network, which fits with the repositioning of our heavy-duty line. We have established a network of dedicated heavy-duty truck stations across Europe to deliver a highly professional service to our customers and maximise the uptime of their vehicles, and these are operating very well.

Then, of course we are continuing to look at our quality situation, which has dramatically improved.

Last but not least, is our quantum leap in connectivity, which will play a key role in how we will provide our customers

High quality, dashing good looks, solid engineering, technologically connected – the Iveco S-WAY is at the head of an entire new product range driving Iveco’s future strategy.

with the best TCO and fleet management capabilities into the future. We now have our state-of-the-art infrastructure and product, and we will be launching additional connectivity features over time, continuously raising the bar on benefits for our customers.

A top priority for Iveco is the repositioning of heavy-duty trucks. Is the new Iveco S-WAY the right product to achieve this target? What feedback have you received so far?

Yes, the Iveco S-WAY is the right product.

The feedback we are receiving from our customers tells us that it is. They see the progress in Iveco’s heavy-duty proposition. What’s more, large fleet customers who had moved to other brands are now coming back to us for two main reasons: they like the Iveco S-WAY, its product concept, the cabin, which is amongst the best, and it is a very good-looking truck. The second reason is that we are the leader in LNG technology, a solution that we have pioneered for the past 20 years.

Our drivers, too, really like the Iveco S-WAY; they talk about it a lot on social media.

This is also confirmed by our market share. Before the crisis, in the first three months of 2020 we increased our share

of the European market by around 2%.

This is a remarkable achievement in a very competitive segment. This is only the beginning, because the Iveco S-WAY is still in the launch phase.

Our second-generation LNG vehicle is coming now, bringing a further technological improvement on the Stralis LNG. This year we will also launch the right-hand drive version and we will complete the whole Iveco WAY family.

What about bio-LNG, is it the right solution to manage the energy transition from a traditional diesel engine truck to battery electric or fuelcell electric vehicles?

I believe that bio-LNG will be the rocket launcher to reach the moon. It is the only zero-emission alternative currently available on the market. In the past two years we have seen roughly 2.5% of the heavy-duty market make the transition to LNG technology, and I believe that it will increase to 5% in the medium term, and 10% over the next 10 years.

The enabler for this growth is certainly the expanding LNG fuelling infrastructure across Europe: today we have about 217 stations, and the plan is to go up to between 450 and 480.

It is clear that in 10 years’ time there will be more choice for heavy-duty

trucks: it won’t be just diesel, or just hydrogen, or just LNG. There will be different solutions, depending on different customer applications and on the approach to the energy balance that the various countries will take.

Pure electric trucks will account for a small segment and hydrogen will play an important role. There will be a market for LNG, which isn’t just the bridge solution, but will continue to be a valid alternative providing a very interesting economical proposition.

Very importantly, bio-LNG will make a huge difference when it comes to the market. In the past six months we have seen energy companies make announcements regarding this; for example, Shell has declared that its plans for bio-LNG will account for up to 30% of its LNG supply.

Interestingly, many customers have developed their own bio-LNG sources.

We are seeing a growing number of small bio-LNG producers, who are providing customers with the opportunity to operate their vehicles on bio-LNG, generating 95% fewer emissions than with diesel – and, at least for now, at the same cost. This makes a difference: major companies are coming on board to extend their green fleets, saying that for them bio-LNG is the only solution.

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020 89

Come 2021, the Nikola Tre will move Iveco into the battery electric and fuel-cell electric vehicle sphere.

How do you plan to take full advantage of Iveco’s LNG technology leadership in the major European markets?

I see a complete shift in our customers’ mindset: we don’t have to convince them of the environmental and economic advantages of natural gas any more, they already know and they are coming to us!

I believe that post-Covid-19 this transition will accelerate. I think that it is an opportunity and we need to invest now in the technology and processes that will take us into the future. At Iveco we are working very hard with the automotive association and with governments to ensure that we use the crisis as an accelerator for these technologies.

At the end of 2020 we will extend our portfolio through our cooperation with Nikola, with an electric truck that will be followed by the hydrogen version.

The Iveco and Nikola partnership: can you outline in some detail the next steps in introducing BEV and FCEV trucks in the market?

We are working full force with our American partners and we expect to begin testing later this year, as we announced. We recently communicated that the production location of the Nikola Tre in Europe will be Ulm, in Germany.

This, I believe, is a very smart move for us: it is right in the heart of the European supplier hotspot for hydrogen, and in a state that is very supportive of this investment. We also have a very large part of our heavy-duty vehicle development team in Ulm. We are now working on the technical development of the vehicle. We are at a very advanced stage and on schedule to have the electric version of the Nikola Tre in 2021 and the fuel cell version in 2023.

90 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

So there is no change; we want to be unstoppable here!

How important are connectivity and the related advanced service offer for Iveco’s new product range?

We need to approach our offering from a customer’s perspective, and for them, maximising uptime and reducing operating costs is the key.

We need to be there for our customers as a partner, and this can’t be done without professional and high-quality services and connectivity. That’s why in the past 18 months we have completely overhauled the entire communication infrastructure on our vehicles. We now offer state-of-the-art technology, with more and more services that add value for our customers.

These include our flexible maintenance and repair contracts, but also other very interesting services, such as fuel advice to help customers reduce their consumption. We can tell them how their drivers’ driving behaviours influence their fuel consumption and give them recommendations on how to improve.

How would you judge Iveco’s results last year in the major European markets?

We achieved very good results. Iveco sold 125,000 vehicles, of which about 100,000 of these were in Europe.

We are doing well in ‘the Daily segment’, where we have been a market leader for 40 years. With our market share at around 12% on average, we are in a very good position in a segment that is set to continue growing. PostCovid-19, we will see a change in customer behaviour around the use of the Internet and digitalisation, and the

New brand president of Iveco Thomas Hilse is driving the company’s Transform2Win strategy, which aims to increase the brand’s competitiveness across the board.

Daily is very well positioned to meet the new demands. Also, I believe that small businesses and the markets for last-mile delivery in this segment will come back quickly, and we are in a strong position to meet this demand.

The Eurocargo is an excellent product, very versatile, and I think it will maintain its position in special applications in the public services and military environments.

Our success going forward will depend on the Iveco S-WAY and the Iveco T-WAY. We have a 6% share of the heavy-duty market, and we touched 8% in February.

I believe 2019 was the turnaround year for Iveco, and 2020 will hopefully be the accelerator when we come out of the Covid-19 situation. I am very much looking forward to the time, later this year, when we bring the Iveco T-WAY to the market too.

Can you give us an outlook for this year, despite the disruption of the economic activities caused by the pandemic? Is there any visibility on how the market will recover when the pandemic is over?

It will clearly depend on the course of the infection, but we all hope that any effects will be short term. I expect the market will be roughly 30 to 35% down against last year, but I believe that when all the governmental packages come to the table, the market will recover.

I don’t think we will witness again what happened in 2009 with the Lehman shock. The banking system is in good order and governments are reacting faster. As for Iveco, as a company we know what to do; we learned a lot from the last crisis and so I am feeling confident.

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INFORMI NG DECI SI ON-MAKI NG I N THE ROAD TRANSPORT I NDUSTRY h t t p : // i r t e n z . o r g . n z /a b o u t - i r t e n z

In New Zealand APL Direct are known for their forward thinking and innovation in transport. This 6x2 Scania P410 has just joined their Architectural Glass Product division.

TALKING 6X2 This article shares information on the use of the 6x2 rigid truck configuration overseas. The 6x2 offers a potential way of reducing costs and improving efficiency over the 6x4, although it is worth noting New Zealand legislation requires at least two motor-driven axles when operating a combination vehicle with a GCM greater than 39 tonnes.

A

report from www. transportengineer. org.uk suggests that 6x2 tractor units are the workhorses of the UK’s road freight industry.

A 2013 Confidence Report produced by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE), updated in 2017, found that the uptake of 6x2s in the US market is steadily increasing as truck manufacturers and OEM suppliers improve their products and product choices. There are suggestions that by 2027, 30% of all new class 8 vehicles in the US may be 6x2. In the 2017 update of

the NACFE report, the study teams were able to group 6x2 configurations into three generations, as shown in the accompanying table produced from the report. The generations tend to illustrate the impacts of changes in technology rather than design improvements.

Styles and operation In the UK, the predominant 6x2 is the fixed mid-lift or pusher axle where the nondriven axle is in front of the drive axle, whereas in the US, tag axles fitted behind the drive axle are more common.

There are advantages and

disadvantages of both styles.

Common advantages of the 6x2 include lower tare, providing the opportunity for an increased payload, lower capital cost, an average 2 to 3% reduction in fuel use compared with a 6x4 engaged in the same work, improved stability under some operating conditions, and with fewer components, 6x2 axles need less maintenance, resulting in lower operating costs and reduced downtime.

In terms of disadvantages, when lifted, tag axles do lengthen rear overhang, inefficient load positioning can increase tyre wear with potential for loss of traction

Contribution for IRTENZ by Russell Walsh (Life Member IRTENZ) 92 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

35

Generation

Configuration

Comment

1

6x2 with tag axle, no loadshifting technology, manual differential locks.

2 to 3% fuel savings; weight saving of 130 to 180kg compared with 6x4s; issues with accelerated tyre wear and traction under certain conditions, resulting in poor driver perception.

2

6x2 with tag axle, manual or automated load-shifting, traction control, engine operating parameters adjusted to reduce low-speed clutch engagement and engine brake torque.

Load-shifting and traction control mitigates traction issues; limiting torque can improve tyre wear significantly.

3

6x2 with liftable pusher axle, automatic load-sensing/ load-shifting, traction control, engine operating parameters adjusted to limit speed/brake torque.

An option for fleets expecting to carry less than 28,000kg at least 30% of the time, giving the potential for an additional 2% fuel savings; improved traction and tyre wear compared with Generation 2 under lightly loaded conditions; a heavier front axle, suspension and tyres and other equipment may optimise this configuration.

– although technology is rapidly overcoming this – and resale is often less compared with an equivalent 6x4. In a tractor and semi-trailer

application with the non-drive axle lifted, weight transfer onto the kingpin may result in the kingpin becoming overloaded.

For the mid-lift variant as used in the UK, disadvantages cited include decreased manoeuvrability in tight spaces, and increased

maintenance and tyre scrubbing on driven axles if load sharing is not accurate.

Driver perception of 6x2s is often poor, citing safety and traction as significant issues.

The NACFE report suggests that some of this negativity could in part be due the in-service representation of 6x2s not matching the 6x4, and many drivers not suitably trained in their operation, therefore forming opinions based on populist industry views.

Summary In an evermore competitive transport and distribution environment, careful consideration of all options available should be undertaken as more margin is preserved through the accumulation of multiple initiatives. In New Zealand today, all of the major European and most Asian OEMs offer sophisticated 6x2 catalogues.

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BUSINESS PROFILE

Making a beeline for Straitline Straitline Canvas is a household name in transport circles, having produced canvas products since 1975. Over the years this Palmerston North-based family business has continued to innovate, and today is the leading manufacturer of transport textiles in the lower North Island.

E

xperience and attention to detail. That’s what makes a quality installation when it comes to curtains, tarps and covers, says Patrick Currie, general manager of Straitline Canvas.

With 45 years behind it, it’s fair to say the company has institutionalised high levels of experience and attention to detail, especially so since the early 2000s when its focus shifted towards transport products on a New Zealand-wide scale.

Originally, Straitline was a general canvas manufacturer, selling to transport companies and farmers in the Manawatu region. In the 1990s, it focused increasingly on the commercial and home markets, selling side curtains, tarpaulins, shade sails, patio blinds and more, and these products still form a large part of the company. Straitline also manufactures custom products for other New Zealand businesses, focusing on the utility, manufacturing, and government/defence sectors. Straitline sells direct to end users, as well as supplying parts and manufactured components to other industrial textile companies and transport engineers around New Zealand.

But we’re talking transport, and in this regard you don’t have July 2020

0720-05

94 New Zealand Trucking

to inspect many trucks to find the Straitline brand on side curtains, elliptical rollover covers, conventional rollover covers, hot mix covers, mesh truck covers, silage covers, tarpaulins and fertiliser truck rollover covers, thermal barriers, stock crate covers … we could go on, and include ute and trailer covers...

“A more recent addition is our range of accessories – mostly for side curtains and elliptical rollovers. We’re still adding to this range, but we have most things a truckie or engineer would need, from track and pelmet systems through to straps, buckles, and poles. We’ve got a few exciting new products coming out over the next six months – so watch this space!” says Currie.

During lockdown, Straitline even developed a range of vehicle dividers for the likes of trucks and taxis. “Fortunately New Zealand seems to have avoided the need for them!”

Currie says.

No matter the product, Straitline prioritises high quality, efficiency in manufacturing, ease of use, and giving the customer what they want. While there are no specific standards for most covers, truck curtains need to be certified load restraints. Straitline got its first certification in 1997 and had it updated in 2016 for the latest curtain design. “Our double track system is also certified to the same standard,” Currie says.

Similarly, Straitline follows the latest global standards in material technology, such as Europe’s REACH regulation, introduced in 2007, that requires manufacturers to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals used in their products.

“All our European fabrics (including our Transport 9000 and Outdoor 6000 PVC ranges) comply with REACH. Keeneyed truckies may have noticed that the Mehler 8556 of today feels thinner than it used to. This is due to a combination of REACH and the calendering process used to make 8556,” Currie says.

“We’re constantly researching and testing design improvements for our products, including thermal barriers,” he adds. Straitline’s thermal barriers have a plywood core with 40mm of closed cell foam insulation, covered in a

Roman, italic, bold, bold italic

Mills-Tu

alic

Straitline Canvas offers a range of covers for almost any requirement.

The company also specialises in

Thermal barriers – not as

accessories and equipment.

simple as they look.

tough European PVC skin. Closed cell foam is essential for maintaining different temperature zones, while the plywood core provides the strength needed to prevent warping or bending.

Straitline also offers a repair service, including a callout curtain repair service in Palmerston North (for the rest of New Zealand, Straitline has a network of installers and repairers).

However, says Currie, with some care this shouldn’t be needed often.

“Keeping your curtains, tarpaulins or covers well maintained is always important. A small rip today will eventually become a large rip if it isn’t fixed,” he says.

“Possibly the most important tip is to keep your side curtain, tarpaulin, or truck cover tight. Nothing delaminates a cover faster than flapping! For side curtains, make sure they are tensioned correctly to increase the life of your curtain.

Tarpaulins and truck covers need to be the right size, designed to fit the truck or load they’re being used on, and must be tied down well so they can’t flap.”

Experience, attention to detail, and an obsession with quality – Straitline Canvas is a name well entrenched in the local trucking market down to the last detail. As Currie says, “it’s the small details that make the difference between a quality install and an ugly install!” 

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TRUCKERS’ HEALTH Trying new things to make exercise different and fun – something as simple as a tyreflip or joining the local pool.

T

Try July

here is a truck-load of things you can do to improve your overall health and wellbeing. You don’t need to do anything drastic or too out of the box. Sometimes small and simple acts can amount to great improvements in your health and fitness.

In the spirit of ‘Try July’, have a go at some of these simple methods to improve your health this month: • Drink more water – it is recommended that you drink at least two litres of water every day. This sounds like a lot, but if you always have a drink bottle on you and just sip away all day, it quickly adds up. Many people don’t enjoy the taste of water, and if you are in this group you can always add lemon, water drops, or caffeine-free herbal tea bags to make the taste a bit more pleasant.

• Get more sleep – I know that this is easier said than done, but sleep quality and quantity is extremely important in helping you function throughout the day. You always feel it the next day if you haven’t had enough sleep or have had a broken sleep. The way you can improve your sleep quality and quantity is to go to bed earlier; even 30 minutes earlier can make a big difference. Having a nighttime routine in place also helps signal to your body that it’s almost time to rest and relax into sleep. It is also recommended that you stay off devices such as mobile phones and televisions before bed, as the light can be disruptive for a good quality sleep.

• Try a new form of exercise – this is where the old ‘don’t knock it till you’ve tried it’ comes into play. I feel like sometimes we write things off before we have given them a good nudge – so try something new. There is an abundance of different ways to get a sweat up – join a sports team, try a group fitness class, start cycling, boxing, swimming, kayaking, belly dancing – the list goes on! It’s also a great way to socialise and meet new people.

96 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

• Eat more vegetables – this doesn’t mean you have to live off broccoli and celery, it just means trying to sneak in more vegetables throughout your day. It can be as simple as making an omelette with spinach, tomato, capsicum and onion instead of making scrambled eggs. A simple swap that has allowed you to pack a whole heap more veges in – and an ‘eggcellent’ choice.

• Set some goals – some people find goal setting to be quite daunting and difficult, but if you make your goals specific and measureable, they are more likely to be achieved.

What you could do is set three goals – a personal goal, a fitness goal, and a nutrition goal. That way you are focusing on three aspects of your life that you could make slight adjustments and improvements to. For example, a personal goal could be to make more time for yourself or to finish that book that you started reading a year ago. A fitness goal could be to do three exercise sessions every week where you are getting your heart rate up. A nutritional goal could be to eat fewer takeaways – I’m currently having takeaways twice a week and would like to cut that back to once a week. It’s nothing drastic or unachievable and is easily measurable.

Plus, how good does it feel when you achieve a goal that you’ve set for yourself!

Best of luck with all of your ‘Try July’ endeavours. You know what they say, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. 

Laura Peacock Personal trainer TCA Fitness Club

Designed for New Zealand roads Whatever you are carrying we’ve got you covered.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Health and safety – still important!

T

Monitor the work to ensure they are not taking risky here is a lot of uncertainty in New Zealand and the shortcuts. Workers will usually do what they need to do to get world about our economic situation, post-Covid-19. the work done. They may be reluctant to raise concerns if they Some businesses have continued operating with limited are aware that the business has been financial impact, others have negatively affected by the economic struggled through, some have had effects of Covid-19. This is not always to close, and others are reinventing safe or efficient. themselves. The worst may still be Implementing and maintaining coming.

We work with health and safety is not only a legal With a focus on marketing and requirement, it also makes good business business structure, health and safety organisations that sense. Businesses are more attractive to may be the last thing business owners need more health and good quality workers, less likely to suffer and managers are considering. However, safety knowledge, from the downtime of injury or plant health and safety should be a major or more time, than damage/breakdown, and more likely to consideration, especially now. they have in-house. win work.  The tragic loss of life from Covid-19 in New Zealand was limited due to the For more information, management of the pandemic by our check the website government, business owners, essential www.safewise.co.nz services, and our people. In the first 11 weeks of 2020, 10 people lost their lives in their workplaces.

Tracey Murphy is the owner and No one goes to work expecting to die; no employer or director of Safewise Limited, a health business owner expects to lose a worker, or have a worker suffer and safety consultancy. She has more serious injuries. Good management of health and safety is than 10 years’ experience working essential in preventing loss of life, or life-changing injuries. The with organisations from many different social and economic cost of failing to protect our workers is industries. Tracey holds a Diploma in huge – both financially and emotionally.

Health and Safety Management and This is a time to talk to your workers, particularly if the work a Graduate Diploma in Occupational has changed or you have had to downsize. Ask what has been Safety and Health. She is a graduate working well for them so you can keep doing it. Ask what member of New Zealand Institute of Safety they find challenging and what suggestions they may have to Management and is the Waikato branch improve this. manager.

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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

98 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

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LEGAL LINES

Employee or contractor?

A

recent Employment Court ruling that a courier driver has been declared an employee is likely to have huge ramifications across the entire industry.

Courier drivers will be rejoicing thanks to the decision taken by chief Employment Court judge Christina Inglis in Leota v Parcel Express [2020] NZEmpC 61.

Workers regularly sign agreements that class them as contractors, meaning that they have few of the rights of employees. This judgment is a timely reminder that just because a worker is labelled an independent contractor does not mean that they actually are.

Test case

Judge Inglis said that employee status is an important issue as it provides gateway access to a range of statutory entitlements.

In Mike Leota’s case, the judge was satisfied that the real nature of the relationship between him and Parcel Express (‘the company’) was an employment relationship, even though Leota had signed an agreement that referred to him as an independent contractor.

Although the judge has been clear that her decision relates specifically to Leota’s circumstances, many lawyers are viewing it more broadly because it is hoped that the decision will make it easier for anyone who considers that they are being unfairly categorised as an independent contractor to seek legal redress.

not mean all courier drivers in New Zealand are employees.

Rather, that in this case there were aspects of the agreement between Parcel Express and Leota that more closely resembled the conditions of an employment contract, rather than a contracting arrangement.

Furthermore, she determined that a high level of control was exerted by Parcel Express over Leota’s work, and one of the fundamental questions to ask is whether the worker serves his or her own business or someone else’s.

Vulnerable workers

Employee status is an important issue because employees have access to a range of statutory entitlements that contractors do not.

These include minimum wage and holiday pay, redundancy, parental leave, KiwiSaver contributions by employers, and the personal grievance procedures and remedies under the Act. There is a danger that the boundaries between contractors and employees are deliberately being blurred in order to avoid employment obligations, which creates an underclass of workers labelled independent contractors, who are paid poorly and exploited.

There is a danger that the boundaries between contractors and employees are deliberately being blurred in order to avoid employment obligations, which creates an underclass of workers labelled independent contractors, who are paid poorly and exploited.

What makes you an employee?

Section 6 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 (‘the Act’) addresses the meaning of the word employee but the definitions of ‘contractor’ and ‘employee’ in relation to courier drivers had not been tested until now.

Leota had to purchase his own van and pay to have it signwritten. He had to use a route determined by the company, take no more than 20 days holiday a year, and it was his responsibility to organise a relief driver if he wanted a holiday.

At the hearing, Parcel Express argued that Leota signed an agreement as an independent contractor with ‘eyes wide open’.

The judge disagreed and noted that English was Leota’s second language and she was left with little doubt that he did not have a grasp of the legal requirements relating to that status.

In making her decision, the judge noted that this case does

Leota had worked for the company for about a year before they put an end to his contract. It all came to an unhappy end after he was asked by the company director to pick up tyres as a ‘favour’.

The request continued to be repeated until Leota raised a concern about payment and his contract was terminated the following day.

Now that judge Inglis has ruled in favour of Leota’s application, it is open to him to pursue a dismissal case. He is seeking holiday pay and the resolution of his personal grievance as a result of being declared an employee. 

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 021 326 642.

Danielle Beston

100 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

What’s next

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NZ TRUCKING ASSOCIATION

Coming out the other side of Covid-19

N

ew Zealand has always depended on the trucking industry to deliver its essential supplies, food, medical supplies, hand sanitiser, beverages, and household goods (including toilet paper) and a whole range of consumer goods. It is just that for many people they did not realise how important the trucking industry was to their daily lives until the Covid-19 pandemic came along.

This has been the trucking industry’s time to shine, and shine it has thanks in no uncertain terms to the men and women behind the wheel of many trucks across the country who have kept New Zealand moving through this crisis.

The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on trucking operators has varied across the sectors. Those who had been carrying freight for supermarkets and essential services businesses had never been busier, putting extra trucks, trailers, and drivers on the road, and were well placed to come out the other side of this crisis. Then there has been the other extreme, the trucking operators servicing the hospitality, tourism, retail, and logging sectors (to name a few) who had been basically parked up during the level 4 lockdown. Many had been struggling to keep staff employed, put food on the table, and meet their financial commitments, and had fast used up what little cash reserves they had in this traditionally low margin industry. Even now that the country has moved to reduced level restrictions, some of these trucking operators are going to struggle for a long time yet. If they are one of the lucky ones whose customers are back up and fully trading, they will still have to carry themselves financially, covering the cost of wages, fuel, RUC and other business expenses until they get paid, which could still be some time yet.

Then there are the trucking operators whose customers are casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic, who will never reopen again. These trucking operators may have stranded assets that were set up for specific customer requirements. They will have some stark choices to make – can they find alternative work for this capital equipment? Can they reinvent their business into a different sector? Do they try and sell this capital equipment at a substantial loss? Or will they also become a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic?

So, how long before things settle down and we see the ‘new normal’, whatever that may be? That is certainly the milliondollar question that everyone in the trucking industry is asking.

The economy is heading into uncertain times, that is for certain, we just do not know what the effect is going to be on the trucking industry. Some are predicting that unemployment

is going to increase dramatically and that some businesses will close permanently. If people do not have a job, they are not going to spend money, so this could mean that less freight will be moved. Now is the time to protect your cash for the long road ahead, so that you can come out the other side of these uncertain times. The old saying ‘Cash is King’ has never been truer than it is now.

This is a time to do what the trucking industry does best, rolling up its sleeves, being innovative, and getting on with the challenge at hand.

This is the time to look at your business models and see if they are structurally sound. It is time to rewrite your business plan and reinvent your business to suit the ‘new normal’. This is the time to readjust your rates to a more sustainable level, as the trucking industry low margin model is no longer sustainable. The days of cutting a competitor’s rate just to get the work are long gone and are a fast race to the bottom.

But first you need to truly understand all your business costs. If you need help with this, the New Zealand Trucking Association can assist. Association members enjoy free access to the association’s industry-respected business cost modelling service. This will accurately detail your actual costs so that you fully understand the rates you need to be charging to be financially viable.

Now more than ever is the time to belong to the New Zealand Trucking Association, as we are well placed to help you navigate your way through these challenging times, with sound industry-based advice, cost modelling, significant industry experience, compliance, advocacy, tools and resources, networking opportunities and substantial cost savings.



So, how long before things settle down and we see the ‘new normal’, whatever that may be?

If you would like to find out more about what the New Zealand Trucking Association can offer your business, then please give me a call on 021 754 137 or email me at dave. boyce@nztruckingassn.co.nz

NZ Trucking Association can be contacted on 0800 338 338 or info@nztruckingassn.co.nz

102 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

by Dave Boyce, NZTA chief executive officer

097-0219

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ROAD TRANSPORT FORUM

Frustration at RUC increase

R

unning a business is hard work. It’s especially hard when you have to contend with a severe economic downturn. What makes it even harder is when you have additional fixed costs imposed on you that will jeopardise whatever miniscule margin you have left.

Transport operators are facing that situation right now, and yet a big part of the problem could, with the stroke of the transport minister’s pen, be avoided.

Every operator will be aware that despite many of them working through the lockdown as an essential service vital to keeping the country running, the government is about to whack them with a 5.3% RUC increase unilaterally across all current rates on 1 July.

I first wrote to Transport Minister Phil Twyford about this just as the lockdown began. I argued that transport operators were doing it tough and asked that the increase be deferred.

Unfortunately, that request was declined, with the minister reasoning that transport businesses, like other New Zealand businesses, had access to the wage subsidy and other government support and that the RUC funding was necessary to deliver the government’s transport priorities.

The impact on the economy of the Covid-19 lockdown is much worse than anticipated when I first wrote to Minister Twyford. So, once we moved to alert level 2, the RTF again asked the government to reconsider the RUC increase.

We believe the government has some wriggle room to accommodate this. The National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) has been underspent in recent times and funding for transport projects has also been allocated from outside the NLTF as part of the government’s post-Covid recovery package, which would more than offset the RUC increase.

With a much clearer idea of the economic devastation left

by Covid-19, the decimation of our tourism industry and those offsets, I just cannot see how the RUC increase can be justified.

Does this government understand the basic premise that increased costs for moving goods mean increased costs right through the supply chain and in every part of the economy? As well as the obvious effect on businesses, those costs will have a significant impact on the purchasing power of hundreds of thousands of consumers now living off reduced wage packets.

I have been told that even transport companies with customer agreements that allow them to negotiate increases on government imposed charges are finding that their customers just aren’t in a stable enough financial position to incur the increased freight charges. Those transport companies will, therefore, have to bear the cost themselves, and many simply won’t be able to.

Ironically, it was on the topic of RUC that the recently released draft 2021 Government Policy Statement (GPS) on transport delivered one of its few pieces of good news, with a recommendation that there would be no increase to RUC or fuel excise duty for the 2021–2023 period. Unfortunately, that was pretty much where the good news ended.

Put together in a pre-Covid world, the 2021 GPS is largely an extension of this government’s anti-road, interventionist philosophy to shift people and freight to rail and other forms of transport. In an economic environment far more dire than any of its authors could ever have imagined, the GPS is not the misguided but well-intentioned strategy it would otherwise have been. Instead it now seems so completely out of touch with the economic reality we face that it may well be completely counter-productive.

The GPS, as written, will see billions of dollars taken from the National Land Transport Fund to prop up a national rail system with a history of failure, and cycling and walking infrastructure for those who make no contribution to the fund. Now, more than ever, what we need is a hyper-rational government transport strategy that simply seeks to play to the strengths of the economy and the various transport modes that service that.

Yes, rail is important, particularly for passenger transport in our cities. Yes, some cycling and walking infrastructure is important, again, mainly in urban areas. But what is really important right now is getting the economy moving, supporting our exporters, helping the private sector be more profitable, and helping businesses create jobs.

There is no way we should spend precious road users’ money on pie-in-the-sky inter-regional passenger and freight-based rail that will forever require taxpayer support to survive. That money should be going where it is needed: to improve our roads and boost productivity of our primary and export sectors.

Over 35 years it has been proved that the best mode for the vast majority of freight movements in New Zealand is the road. A responsible government strategy, should, as we face the greatest economic crisis in our lifetimes, reflect that reality. Instead we find ourselves begging the government not to whack us with another tax. 

With a much clearer idea of the economic devastation left by Covid19, the decimation of our tourism industry and those offsets, I just cannot see how the RUC increase can be justified.

104 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

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THE LAST MILE

Plato was onto something

F

rom time to time when a Bill is passing through Parliament, a Bill that holds a special interest for me, I read through the submissions made to the Select Committee and the debate reports in Hansard. In reading through these it often becomes quite clear that many of the speakers, our elected or otherwise appointed representatives, have little real-world knowledge or experience but just talk because it is expected of them.

Plato (427 to 348/347 BC) observed, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something”. A recent Bill I have taken an interest in is the Land Transport (Rail) Amendment Bill; this is the Bill that will legalise the government taking money from the National Land Transport Fund to subsidise rail.

Gareth Hughes, Green Party, made one of the speeches in support of the proposals in the Bill. Plato’s description fits this speech to a tee. Hughes states “rail has been robbed for decades and decades in this country. Rail has been underfunded”. This may be the opinion of some, but robbing those who pay to use our roads to create an artificial, effectively subsidised, market is not justification for what this Bill intends to do.

Mr Hughes again: “It [rail] was deliberately, systematically underfunded, de-invested, and I would actually say sabotaged by that side [the National Party], who has an anti-rail ideology; who would rather put on a pedestal their mates in the Road Transport Forum New Zealand and their profits.”

What profits? Perhaps this perception, that our industry is profiteering, is behind the anti-truck ideology of the current administration.

Another comment: “I’m angry about this because we know we’ve got an incredibly high road toll in New Zealand. I’ve had whanau who have been killed because of truck accidents on our road, and what we see is too many trucks on our road [carrying freight] that could be more safely carried on rail, more efficiently carried on rail, more sustainably carried on rail.”

Nobody would argue that road crashes

106 New Zealand Trucking

July 2020

are a blight on our society. I am not sure when Hughes last checked but, if he did, I am sure he would find that trucks, and cars for that matter, whether they are electric or not, do not cause accidents. They are inanimate things and do not do anything without human intervention. Maybe this will change when we get fully automated vehicles, but for now, accidents involving trucks and cars are the result of a breakdown somewhere in the human chain that is in control of them at the time. So let’s get it right: don’t blame the tools, blame the people in control of the tools.

“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something” Plato (427 to 348/347 BC)

Perhaps Hughes, and others like him who keep blaming trucks for most things that are that are wrong with the world, are basing their thinking on this piece that appeared in Pearson’s Magazine in 1900: “Dead and mangled citizens – think how impassable the streets will be when thousands of motor cars are rushing along at the high rate of speed they invariably adopt. A horse does not run down a man if he can help

it, but a machine of steel and brass will delight in killing people. The path of a runaway motor will be strewn with dead and mangled citizens, and when it finally runs into a lamp post and blows up, the explosion will be worse than that of a fifteen-inch shell.”

Further in his speech Hughes suggests, “it’s like these guys [those opposing the Bill] have been in a time machine to the 1950s, and then in that time machine, in a cave, they’re still putting their hands over their eyes and fingers in their ears”.

Of course, it is convenient to forget that during the period Hughes refers to rail had a regulated monopoly over freight movements, regulations that were only removed because of the need for a more efficient freight system. It is also convenient to forget that during the period before deregulation, rail never made any money, it was more of a social service than a business.

Another line from the speech: “If you look anywhere around the world, you see governments investing in rail, you see countries using rail, you see citizens and freight being moved on rail.” New Zealand is a collection of islands tucked away at the bottom of a vast ocean – an ocean across which most of the goods we consume and rely on, including many staple food items, is carried. We also send most exports that generate money to buy these items across that ocean. To support this we need a timely, reactive, and cost-effective internal freight system. One that is currently – and has been for many years – provided by our road freight operators. A freight system that is not confined to a thin strip of steel but a system that the customer can depend on, with the flexibility to rapidly adapt to changing conditions.

The Bill will be passed – the planned date for its incorporation into law is 1 July 2020 – and rail will then legally be able to piggy-back on the work and efforts put in by our road freight industry, an industry that has always risen to the challenges to provide the services that keep New Zealand fed and moving.  The accidental trucker

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