Smart Trucking
Our on-the-ground reporter in Australia Mike Williams tells us all about telemetry – which is special equipment used to record what a truck is doing on the road.
G’day there Little Truckers. There are a lot of interesting characters in trucking in New Zealand. We have a few in Australia as well. My friend Rod Hannifey is one of those. He works for Rod Pilon Transport in Dubbo in New South Wales.
Rod is a long time road safety advocate with probably the smartest truck in Australia. I don’t mean smartest as in best looking either, although it does look good, I mean the smartest as in it has lots of hi tech equipment to record what the truck is doing on the road. This is called telemetry. You normally see that on race cars. Rod records all the data from the road and the truck and shares that to help make our roads safer.
He’s driven all over the place and carried all sorts of freight. When I last saw him he had a “B Triple” hooked up heading for far North Queensland.
Let’s have a look at the Transport Industry Vehicle that Rod drives to promote road safety and collect the telemetry data he shares.
All aboard the Grain Train!
Reid heads out in a Scania with our friends at Owens Transport, carting grain to Auckland to make beer!
Hi there Little Truckers, my name is Reid and recently I had my second adventure in a big rig truck.
This time I was in a V8 R620 Scania with Shaun and Ben from Owens Transport.
As Shaun pulled up, I felt amazed and shocked at the same time because of how big the Scania was and that it was a curtain sider. Today’s job is to cart grain to an Auckland brewery to make Heineken beer.
Shaun drove into the Tatuanui weighbridge to pick me up. The Scania is a truck and trailer that holds a big bag inside filled with grain. It was weird because there is not normally a big bag inside a curtain sider. Big tanks store all the grain before loading the trucks. It gets loaded up the top. There’s a remote that tips the deck up and down when the truck is unloading the grain. When the truck’s deck tips, the grain goes out the little doors at the back.
I am really grateful to Shaun and Ben who took time out of their day to take me for a ride and for answering my questions! What an epic day riding in the big gear!
A day out with Dad
I started the morning by attempting to mirror my father’s normal daily routine. A 4am wake up call, breakfast, preparing for work and then the drive to Swanson from Mangere.
My dad Kiripati is the general freight manager for Swanson Transport Ltd. General freight handles and transports a wide variety of goods that can be transported in many ways. They can either be transported in containers, vans, trucks and trailers and sometimes even specialised vehicles.
The general freight trucking industry provides a number of key services such as local pickup, local sorting, destination sorting and local delivery. Communication and planning plays a pivotal part in performing his role. The numerous emails and phone calls received can vary from internal and external customers, new customers requiring freight services to drivers who will require location confirmation and any special delivery or pickup instructions.
Order and truck allocation is key to ensure that the right vehicle is sent to perform the right job. Certain truck operators hold different class licences, so my father needs to identify these special jobs and select the right operator to perform the duty.
Every day is different, so planning ahead to keep on top of the ever-changing schedule is important to ensure things run smoothly for himself and his team. My dad’s role requires him to work in the office, ensuring that he is always available to tend to his customer and team needs. He is very hands-on and will happily assist if need be in the warehouse, operating the forklift and loading trucks.
Swanson Transport has their own mechanical workshop for their trucks on site, as well as their own wash bay. There are many trucks, all different types and sizes that perform special jobs. Some trucks have a fitted crane at the back, which allows them to lift extremely heavy and large loads. There are also pilot utes that guide larger trucks – they are responsible for alerting the truck driver of any possible issues ahead and ensure other road users are aware that a large heavy load follows.
Safety is taken very seriously at Swanson Transport, certain safety gear is required to move around the workplace. All visitors are required to sign in on arrival and access must be given to enter the work site. Hi-vis vests, hard hats and safety boots are to be worn, most importantly being aware of your surroundings and recognising possible danger.
I have enjoyed my time at Swanson Transport, witnessing first hand Dad’s work day and the pride he takes in his work.
I had the privilege of meeting the owner of the business, Mr Jeff Smith, who has been part of this business for many years. I also met general manager Mr Nick Longuet-Higgins, as well as the office staff who were all very welcoming. Now that I’ve had an insight into how the transport industry operates, next time I see a truck on the road I’ll definitely be giving it a wave! Thanks to Dad and everyone at Swanson Transport for showing me around.
Photo Tips and Tricks
Junior truck photographer Thomas shares some top tips on how to take a great truck photo
Rain, snow or sun-shine, you’ll find me out and about in all sorts of weather, snapping photos of cool rigs hauling in and around Canterbury.
Here’s a few top tips I’ve learnt for a good roadshot.
I make sure my camera is on the right setting for most of my photos. I use the sports mode as I find it suits the fast moving trucks the best.
The best thing about roadshots is you can pick your background and find some really nice spots to take your truck photos.
I also look for where the sun is and try to get the sun on the front and side of the truck. This is very important unless it’s an overcast day.
On overcast days I can shoot trucks going in both directions with an even lighting.
Timing is quite important as well, as cars and other traffic sometimes get in the way.
Timing is everything when it comes to roadshots. Here’s a few of my favourites I’ve taken over the last year…
Keep on trucking! Over and out, Thomas
Give us a wave!
Our mate Sally, who runs Tippings Transport in New South Wales, tells us all about her special campaign, Wave to a Truckie, which shines a spotlight on the amazing work our truckies do.
Who doesn’t love waving at truckies going past – even better when they sound their horn! YES! Truckies love being acknowledged for the important work they do and waving is a great way to say thank you.
A few years back, I founded a campaign called “Wave to a Truckie” to highlight and promote our dedicated truck drivers and the amazing work of all the people involved within the transport industry.
Everything we have in our homes, schools, hospitals – in fact everywhere – is delivered at some stage by a truckie and sometimes people take that for granted.
During Covid-19 lockdowns, people started to really understand the importance of the transport industry and the key role truckies played in delivering essential items to everyone’s home and office.
It takes lots of hard work and skill to become a professional truckie. It isn’t an easy job and is not suitable for everyone, however the rewards are endless.
Out on the open road, seeing the changing landscape, witnessing amazing sunrises and incredible sunsets are all so much more enticing than a small crowded office space. It really is like being your own boss.
Next time you see a truckie on the road, think about what is on their load and where it is going. Are they very far from home or will they be home for dinner?
Most importantly, when you can, make sure you Wave to a Truckie!
A cowbus from the Waikato
The Waikato region is well known for many things including the Chiefs rugby team, huge numbers of dairy cows…and it’s home to the Little Trucker Down Under Top Truck for Spring 2022.
This 2018 model Kenworth K200 Aerodyne is one of two trucks operated by Herring Haulage Limited of Morrinsville, right in the heart of the Waikato, working under the stunning blue, silver and bronze Nationwide Livestock Ltd colours.
Nationwide Livestock trucks are seen travelling all over New Zealand. The truck and its Jackson Enterprises five-axle trailer are fitted with matching Nationwide stock crates that allow them to carry two decks of cattle or up to four decks of sheep. Depending on the size of the animals, up to 600 sheep or 50 cows can be carried in a single load!
A Cummins X-15 engine produces 615 horsepower and gets the power to the rear wheels using an Eaton-Fuller transmission with 18 gears.
Many custom additions have been added to the Kenworth, ensuring it’s a real standout on the road. These include a painted diesel tank with nice line work on it, shiny stainless-steel air-intakes and a sun visor, plus a substantial polished aluminium bullbar, complete with the COWBUS personalised number plate.
If you see the big blue Kenworth cruise by, give the driver a wave – chances are, some cows are on board the coolest COWBUS around!
Wash time
With trucks all over New Zealand taking a battering from winter weather conditions, keeping your truck clean is important, not only because it looks nice and positively represents the industry, but also it can make spotting any maintenance issues easier than if it’s plastered in mud, dirt and grime.
Hi Little Truckers, I hope everybody is well and you are all keeping warm over winter. I have had a busy few months and there has been no opportunity to do a truck trip with Dad unfortunately.
However, I jumped at the chance to head over to Sollys Richmond Depot recently to meet up with Dad and help him wash the winter’s grime off the Scania.
Mum drove me across to Richmond, I caught up with Dad and after being shown the controls and what to do I was able to drive the Scania onto the wash pad…..what a thrill!
We wet the truck down, then sprayed it with detergent from the foam gun, before sponging the cab and wheels and scrubbing the rest of the unit with a soft brush.
Dad and I then had ‘turn-about’ using the water blaster to clean off the loosened dirt. As we worked our way around the truck and trailer, I asked Dad if he liked washing his truck.
“It’s certainly not my favourite part of the job but I like the finished result,” he said.
I think he secretly hopes I will offer to clean it each week!
We left the Scania to dry in the sun and headed to the smoko room where Dad said he ‘would shout me a cup of tea’ for helping with the washing.
On our way across the yard, I saw Leighton using an interesting-looking machine to shine the alloy wheels on the trailer behind his Iveco.
It’s called a Rim Shine machine and has three rotating arms with soft pads on them. They fit inside of the alloy wheel rims on a truck or trailer. After putting some polish on them, you roll the machine inside the rim and turn it on, it spins and gives them a brilliant shine, without having to do it by hand, using polishing rags.
Talking of shiny things, I hope many of you Little Trucker readers get to the TMC Trucking Industry Show, being held at the Canterbury Park Showgrounds in Christchurch on 25 and 26 November.
There will be hundreds of trucks to gush over and heaps of other trucking-related activities. I look forward to seeing you there!
Create a truck enter our mini big rigs competition!
Calling all budding model truck builders! Do you think you have what it takes to build your very own mini truck model, using household items? Enter the competition below and you could win some very cool prizes!
Do you think you could create your own truck model?
Have a go at creating your very own truck model and you’ll go in the draw to win some very cool prizes! Use any household items you can find, like cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, wood, containers, duct tape… anything you can think of! It can be built in any scale, and also be completely imaginary with regard to axle/wheel combinations, so let your mind loose! There will also be extra points for the livery design and colour scheme you choose to adorn your rig with.
Our friends at Italeri have very kindly provided three prizes for three separate age groups. The competition closes at midday on Monday 7 November, so you have heaps of time to get creating!
The competition will be run in three categories – up to the age of 7 years, 7 to 14 years, and 14 years and over. The prizes for each of the three age groups will consist of an Italeri kitset model truck and either a New Zealand Trucking or Little Trucker Down Under cap. Pretty cool prizes to work for and plenty of time to get building, so do not hold back and get into it now!
Send photos of your build and builder information to carl@nztrucking.co.nz before the competition cutoff to validate your entry… Happy building, we can’t wait to see what you come up with!
