Feature

Ezra and his brother Kyen love seeing their Pop in his big, turquoise truck.

Name: Ezra
Age: 7
Can be found in a: Mercedes-Benz

Hi my name is Ezra, I am 7 years old and my brother’s name is Kyen, he is 2½ years old.

Over the holidays, my Pop, Wayne, took us for a ride in his truck. My dad, Shane, came too. My Pop’s truck is a Mercedes-Benz, it has 600+ horsepower – wow! The colour of his truck is turquoise.

We drove the truck from the truck yard, over the motorway, and back again to the yard. We saw lots of diggers and other trucks in the yard too. When we were driving in the truck, we waved at the other truck drivers.

I really liked being in my Pop’s truck because you are so high up compared to the cars. The cars look so small. My little brother Kyen made lots of noises in the truck because he was so excited. He loves trucks and enjoys playing with them at home too. It was such a fun day going out on my Pop’s truck and I think he is a great truck driver.

Perfect replica diecast models of iconic Kiwi nine-axle stock units – who could have thought? This month, we drop in and meet those who did imagine, and have now made them a reality.

For an eternity, diecast model-truck collectors countrywide have dreamt of a manufacturer that could make accurate representations of the typical Kiwi rigs we see on our highways. Well, that wait is over. Our good friends at Model Barn, outside of Thames, have been extremely busy resolving this gap in the market. After many years of research, Model Barn’s director Jeremy Welsh is proud to reveal the company’s pet project is nearing completion.

Arriving at the Orongo Road retail store it’s impossible to miss the pair of FH Volvo Globetrotters sitting proudly in a display cabinet front and centre. We find ourselves staring in awe of the two pre-production blanks. First impressions of the 1:64th-scale Globetrotters are the accuracy of the finer details. At this scale, many manufacturers will skim over the finer points. But it is not the case here. From the spotlights to the signwriting and scrolls, the team has captured the essence of the life-sized rigs from every angle.

Jeremy explains that the vision behind ‘Kiwi Replicas’ was to provide the market with model trucks that accurately depict the unique configurations found in New Zealand. “There are plenty of trucks out there that we get from Australia. They are great; they are right-hand-drive, so they are similar, but the trailers are not the same.

“There are also plenty of trucks available from Europe and America, but they are all left-hand-drive, so I wanted to make something that was uniquely New Zealand. The four-axle truck with five-axle trailer combination that we see here was what I wanted to build.”

The choice to base the first builds on the Volvo Globetrotter was assisted by Jeremy’s project manager, who had worked with Volvo previously on another project. The FH Globetrotter is also a common weapon of choice with many livestock operators, ensuring no shortage of candidates for the future.

The first two cabs off the rank for Kiwi Replicas are ‘Miss Stacey Jade’, an FH750 belonging to the local Thames Valley fleet of Graeme Wright General Carriers in Puriri, and ‘The Swedish Palace’ FH700 of Transport Services Ltd (TSL) from Nightcaps, deep in the south. According to Jeremy, both companies were elated to have their trucks replicated as models, and he is moving forward with plans to build another eight units. He has already approached other well-known liveries to garner their interest, and they are equally as excited, so watch this space.

Brayden’s parents own trucking company M&J Collins Haulage. He loves to head out with his dad on trips and wants to be a truck driver when he grows up.

Name: Brayden
Age: 10
Hails from: Wallerawang, New South Wales, Australia
Favourite truck: Kenworth

I have been into trucks all my life. My favourite brand of truck is Kenworth, but I do also like our other trucks like Western Star, Freightliner and CAT.

I really want to be a truck driver when I grow up because I already love to drive them around the farm. Dad let me have my first steer not sitting on his lap when I was 6, and I started changing gears when I was 9.

When I was younger I used to go away with Dad and sleep in the truck on interstate trips, but now I have to go to school! We have been to many farms in Central West NSW carting grain and fertiliser, but our main job is carting sand and gravel into Sydney concrete plants.

I like being in the truck with Dad because we see lots of different places and I learn lots of things from him about driving and tipping and loading. My favourite part of the trips are coming home because I get to help drive the truck up the long driveway and around the shed to park it up.

My dad is also a mechanic and he has been showing me how to maintain the trucks for years. We fix them, grease them, service them, change tyres and wash them. I have a smelly tree air freshener obsession and like to change the smell in the truck every week.

I wish I could spend every day with my dad in the truck, and I can’t wait to get my licence and drive on the road when I’m older.

His first time in a K200, Dustin went on a neat overnight roadie with his dad, seeing some cool spots along the way.

One drizzly sum- mer morning at 3:15am, there were alarms going off. I sprung out of bed and went out to the kitchen. I went into the pantry and grabbed some Weetbix, and I even made some for Dad.

We got in the Kenworth K200, which has a 600hp Cummins engine, in the Christchurch yard and took a load of empty pallets down to Timaru. It was my first time in a K200, so I was pretty excited.

We unloaded and reloaded, and headed north for Nelson. We stopped in Hinds and saw my Nan. After that we carried on, and we stopped in Amberley and got fuel.

Our next stop was Maruia Falls where we had a half- hour break. Did you know Maruia Falls was created in 1929 in the Murchison earthquake? That’s pretty cool.

After a quick break we carried on and went to Brenics’ yard and parked the truck up. We went to the motel and l had some tea, then we watched some TV before we went to bed.

The next day we woke up and went and dropped off the load at Sollys. After that, we went back to the yard and we got another load of veggies that from Friday afternoon would end up in Invercargill – the whole length of the South Island by Saturday morning!

We pointed south, we stopped in Springs Junction to get some water, and then we carried on to Christchurch. We got unloaded, and that was the end of our fantastic trip.

A special thank you to Brenics Ltd for letting Dad drive, and to everyone else along the way who were all super helpful and very friendly.

Max and his brother Miller love to visit their grandad who works as a diesel mechanic. They love to climb on the trucks at what they call the truck hospital.

My name is Max Ludman and I’m 5 and 3/4 years old and I love big trucks.

My grandad is a mechanic for Hick Bros Civil in Silverdale, Auckland. I love going to the yard to see all of the different trucks and diggers.

This is their Western Star Transporter. There is a Caterpillar 815 Compactor on the trailer. The cab was very high and I sat on the red leather seat. It had a wooden steering wheel! We looked under the bonnet and saw the engine, which is a Caterpillar C15.

There were lots of different machines in the yard, the biggest were two Caterpillar 627 motor scrapers.

I can’t wait to see what trucks are there next time I visit again with my little brother, Miller.

Our author in action Jesse keeps us in the loop with all things safety when he goes out on the truck.

First of all, welcome to my trucking adven- tures. Safety first, so remember to put your seatbelt on.

I’ve been trucking with my dad Mike since I was born. He works for Pyramid Trucking and drives a Kenworth T610 SAR. He used to drive a Kenworth K200, but that’s off the road now.

When I get ready for a day out on the truck, I need to make sure I have my Hi vis gears, work boots and definitely enough lunch for my day.

When I’m at work with Dad I get to do a few things with him, like washing the truck, rolling straps and the fun stuff of going out with one of the office girls to get donuts. My main job at Dad’s work is just to keep safe, and enjoy the time with him.

What I really enjoy about being allowed to go out on the trucks is that I get to see a lot of different places I haven’t been to before, as well as seeing all the awesome rigs on the roads. Also getting waves back from other truck drivers (I think I’ve perfected my trucking wave!).

I have a few different trucks I really like, but I think they are all awesome. The ones I like seeing on the road are Kenworths, Macks and Freightliners.

When I leave school I really want to be a truck driver like Dad and my big brother, who also drives trucks.

Our mate Thomas hails from Canterbury in New Zealand, and he loves loves loves taking photos of trucks!

I absolutely love trucks, and I love taking photos of them just as much!

I am 10 years old and I live in Canterbury, which is in the South Island of New Zealand.

I’ve been taking photos of some pretty cool rigs since I was around 5 years old, when my dad gave me my very first camera.

One of my favourite things to do in the school holidays and at the weekends when I’m not playing sport is to go with my dad on callouts in his tyre truck in and around Christchurch.

It’s so exciting when I see a big rig coming in the distance! I can usually tell what company, make and model it is and if I haven’t already got it, Dad will try and pull over if it’s safe to do so, so I can get a photo.

We go to some awesome places and truck yards and capture some cool trucking action!

My favourite truck make is a Kenworth, and I Iike the T909 and C509 models the most.

Here are some of my favourite pictures to share with you, I hope you like them as much as I do.

Keep on trucking! Over and out – Thomas.

Ruby spends a lot of time out trucking with her stepdad, Reece. She shares some awesome photos out on the job!

Hey guys! I’m Ruby, I’m 10 years old and live in Balclutha, South Otago, New Zealand.

My stepdad Reece owns Cranleigh Haulage, a rural- based transport company. I’m lucky enough to spend a lot of time out trucking.

I love going in any of the trucks, but mostly the stock truck. I love to get in the back and use my stock whistle! When I’m out trucking, I mostly love the views and some of the scenic routes you get in the middle of nowhere, especially when doing stock.

I also love hanging out in the workshop and doing a bit of truck maintenance.

Other than trucking, I’m really into Moto-X, I’ve even got a motorbike that I get to ride often. I also enjoy art, and love rocks, minerals and all the information behind them.

Here’s some pics of me out on the job!

Nine-year-old Jack recently went on the Talley’s pea run, and got to see how the peas are harvested, how they are transported, and what happens at the factory.

I went with my friend’s grandad, Greg, to do the Talley’s pea run in a 2018 R480 Scania.

We went down to a farm in Rakaia for the pea harvest. We worked with a harvester, a John Deere tractor towing a chaser bin, and some other Scania trucks. It was muddy!

The harvester picks up the whole plant and shreds it through until it’s just the peas – the rest comes out the back and lands in the paddock. The harvester drops the peas into the chaser bin and then the John Deere takes them to one of the trucks. The John Deere gets very close up to the truck and then the hydraulics push the chaser bin up to drop the peas into the back of the truck. Then the load of peas is ready to go to the factory.

Next, we headed down to the Talley’s factory. At the weighbridge, we got weighed, then a computer records which truck we were in, what we were carrying and who was the driver.

Greg backed up and tipped the load of peas into the hopper ready to go into the factory and be bagged up to be sold in shops in New Zealand and around the world.

Finally, we washed the dusty and muddy truck. Today was a great day in the Scania R480. I would love to do it again.