Feature

Our mate Jacob is a member of Team Quality Supertruck Racing, who recently took part at a Thunder Down Under racing event in Timaru. Jacob takes people on trips in his own little truck – and donates the money he receives to help animals!

On the Friday of the racing at Timaru, I cleaned my truck to get it ready for rides. I take kids for rides in my truck and all the money I get, I get to give it to the SPCA because I like to help animals.

I have 21 chickens and four sheep and a dog called Carly.

When I was doing rides, there was a policeman. He pulled me over and asked me for my drivers licence. Sorry Mr Policeman, I don’t have a licence but I am a really good driver – and I don’t drive my little truck on the road! He said I am a fantastic driver.

When my dad comes in off the truck, I get him a drink and give it to him when the truck is parked. I also love helping my grandad clean the BBQ and get it ready for making dinner.

The racing was at the Levels International Raceway in Timaru. My dad came third in the race – I am so proud of him.

Our whole team raced for Carl Gibson, who recently passed away. He drove the L&P truck that towed the race truck, the Panther, to all of the meetings. I miss him, he was my friend.

When all the racing was finished, my friend Payton asked all the super trucking drivers to get in my little truck and I took them all for a ride. I think the truck was a bit overloaded!

Come along to a meeting sometime and I’ll take you for a ride!

There are some pretty epic drives all around New Zealand and Australia. We talk to Robbie Lilburn, managing director at Lilburn Transport, about his favourite drive in New Zealand.

What is your favourite drive?

The Napier-Taihape Road.

Where does it start and where does it finish?

The road starts at the top of Taihape Deviation and comes out at Omahu, Hastings.

What are some highlights of the journey?

The challenges from start to finish, the narrow bits, the steep climbs, sharp corners and the scenery.

How long does it take?

The drive takes around four hours, depending on road conditions.

Dustin heads out on a logging truck with his mates at Steve Murphy Limited, a transport company in Canterbury.

Name: Dustin
Age: 13
From: Hawarden, North Canterbury
Can be found in a: K200

One spring afternoon, I jumped in a K200 logging truck with Steve James from Steve Murphy Limited (SML) and headed for Greta Valley, North Canterbury, 83km north of Christchurch.

We got to the skid site and loaded up. It was cool how the digger loaded the logs on the truck. We threw some chains on then went down the hill. Then we got on the road and headed for Belfast. When we got to Stoneyhurst Sawmilling in Belfast, we took the chains off the logs and unloaded.

We headed back to the yard. When we got back, there was a Mack Super-Liner going to get picked up so I went with a man named Bert to pick it up.

My favorite part about the K200 is the bull bar – it’s Steve’s favorite part too.

“The Kenworth K200 has more grunt than a wild pig,” Steve says.

Steve Murphy Limited

There are 48 trucks in the SML fleet. Steve says it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I’m lucky to know Jake Terrell & Will Cowens that work at SML, they are family friends and I look up to them. I hope to work at SML one day.

Big thanks to Chris and Steve Murphy who own SML for letting me go in their trucks. And thanks to Steve James for looking after me for the day, and to Jake and Will for organising it for me.

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.