Spotlight

We headed out with our friends from National Road Carriers to this year’s gala at Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary in Auckland.

The Our Lady Star of the Sea Gala Day was an exciting get together of the school’s community, a fantastic day of fun, food, activities and entertainment.

Along with our pals Paula Rogers and Stephen “Woody” Woodward, we spent the day at the gala getting to know all the kids and parents who stopped by.

The true star of the show was Gleeson & Cox Transport’s sparkling Kenworth truck, kindly supplied by driver Kumar Asneel. The Kenworth was parked up on the school’s field and Kumar let all the kids hop inside and see what it’s like inside a truck! And pull the big horn, of course!

“The excitement on the kids’ faces as they got behind the wheel of the huge truck combined with the thrill of being allowed to pull on the horn was fantastic to see,” says Paula.

“We absolutely couldn’t have done it without Kumar donating a big chunk of time on his Saturday – on behalf of the school, NRC and Little Trucker Down Under I’d like to say a massive thank you.”

We had kids lining up all day to get their moment behind the wheel and swing on the horn! We took lots of photos too, and kids got to take home some cool colouring-in pictures and their very own copy of Little Trucker Down Under.

Sending them off with the latest Little Trucker magazine along with information on the colouring competition and other activities, hopefully means we have introduced a new generation of Kiwi kids to the transport industry. Our Lady Star of the Sea’s gala raised $36,795, which is a fantastic effort, and it was great that the transport industry could do its bit to contribute.

We talk to our mate John Saint of transport dealership J.T.Fossey in Tamworth, NSW. John, who joined the company in heavy truck sales and is now its dealer principal, recently led the charge of a project that saw the creation of a new line of limited edition ‘Outlaw Series’ Mack Super-Liners, which have been custom-made with new colours and more accessories.

J.T.Fossey currently employs 28 people ranging from spare parts interpreters, store people, technicians and customer consultants. John’s main role is selling Volvo, Mack, UD and Fuso truck brands.

“Over the years I would have sold over 3500 trucks!” John says.

John says his idea behind the new Outlaw trucks was that he wanted to build a truck that was special, one no one else had done.

The idea was to take a top-of-the-line specced Mack Super-Liner and get some help from the best in the business to customise it.

John’s original plan was to build five Mack Outlaw Super-Liners. All five would be specced-up the same, with the same luxuries and personalised Outlaw branding. The only difference was they would be different colours.

The first truck, Outlaw 1 is red, Outlaw 2 is black, Outlaw 3 is blue, and Outlaw 4 is green. The colour of Outlaw 5 is top secret until it’s finished being built.

John says now there may be a total of 10 Outlaws created.

The trucks have had interior makeovers, including custom shelving with extras like a fridge, microwave, TV and DVD player. John says he gets a total thrill when he sees the trucks out and about.

“I’m so extremely proud of the trucks when they hit the road. It’s been a really amazing experience seeing them come to life.”

Have you ever seen a big truck on the road and wondered what it’s like to live in one?

Life on the road can be pretty tough – long hours away from home, long stretches of road ahead, and changing weather…Did you know truck drivers often sleep in their trucks overnight and to have rests?

Luckily, there are people out there who want to make it easier for truckies, and their names are Tim and Tom from TTSC.

These two guys are experts at making a truck feel like a home away from home. They can fit all sorts of things inside a truck, from microwave to cookers, and even a shower! They can even install a special air- conditioning system called the Icepack to keep drivers cool when they’re sleeping in their truck.

Having this type of stuff inside a truck means that drivers can cook their own meals, stay cool in the hot weather, and take a shower after a long day of driving.

But that’s not all. The TTSC team has lots of other skilled people who can help make trucks even better. They can make custom racks and toolboxes, install spotlights and radios, and even take care of a truck’s hydraulic system. And if a truck needs to stay greased up and running smoothly, they’ve got that covered too with their automatic greasers.

Truck drivers also want their trucks to look good. TTSC has professional painters who can give trucks a fresh coat of paint.

The TTSC team takes pride in being a one-stop- shop for truck fit-outs, which means they can pretty much do anything a driver needs to make their truck more comfortable and efficient. Thanks Tim and Tom at TTSC for making truck life that bit easier!

1985 V8 Mack Cruiseliner

Graeme purchased the Mack Cruiseliner in 2006. Although It was looking pretty rough after spending the previous years outside and not in a shed, it was still drivable and Graeme drove it home from Auckland, parked it in his shed where it stayed until 2009.

Graeme tells me this particular Mack Truck is very rare. Another interesting fact is that the purchase price in 1985 was $226,325, back then you could possibly buy 10 houses for the same price!

Before owning this Mack, Graeme owned another years ago and had originally wanted to buy it back, but it was unavailable.

When this one came up for sale, Graeme bought it.

In 2009, Graeme decided it was time to start working on restoring the truck. After sitting for so long untouched, it was not driveable. Luckily, Graeme owns a fleet of trucks (GK Skou Transport Limited) and was able to transport the Mack himself. It was taken to Jackson Enterprises in Paihiatua and dismantling began.

For about a year, most weekends were spent working on the Cruiseliner. Graeme was able to do a lot of the work himself, but he did have some help from James Rook with some of the larger jobs.

Many, many long hours were spent sanding, cleaning and polishing what seemed like endless parts. He managed to keep most of the original parts, with exception of the front seats that were too far gone to be repaired. New seats were sourced from a Hino and Graeme re-covered them in a material of his choice. The headlights are Holden Gemini, but rumour has it the original ones are too. The brakes were done at Rangitikei Truck and Diesel. The chassis was sandblasted and painted red by Total Truck Spray in Palmerston north. The mudflaps are all stainless steel, not chrome. Graeme says this is because they don’t rust and stay shiny longer! The wheels and the chromed grill are all original. The cab was stripped back to metal before getting repainted – the first time in five different paint jobs – and the thickness of the paint they took off reflects this.

The colour scheme is very similar to the original colour of the truck when it was new at Total Transport. This is a coincidence as the colour scheme Graeme chose is that of his existing fleet at GK Transport, which consists of 12 trucks – 8 livestock and 4 tippers. The engine, a E9 V8 440 (uprated to 500 hp) Mack motor, was painted blue. Graeme chose blue because he is sure that is the original colour. Running alongside that is a 12-speed Mack gearbox. Both are the original parts from new.

The gold Bulldog emblem in the steering wheel was custom made and put in two of Total Transport’s Macks when they were built. Pretty cool!

Graeme and his wife Raelene took the Mack for its first run as part of the North Island Northern Classic Commercials. It is a rare occasion that it gets taken out for a drive. They have now been on five runs including both the North and South Islands.

Graeme took the Cruiseliner to the Tui Truck Show and Shine at Mangatinoka in 2011 where it won “Mack of the Show” – this is the one and only show he has attended with this truck.

Hey kids, wanna drive your own rig? Check this out!

Have you guys seen this cool mini rig on social media yet? Owned by Heikell Transport in Whakatane, the mini ride-on Scania is made by a company in Ireland called Scaled Rigs, and Heikell’s added it to its ‘fleet’ in 2020.

Then, early this year, stock- crates builder Nationwide Stock Crates from Mount Maunganui (which builds all the crates for Heikell’s fleet of stock trucks) handed over the custom tri-axle semi-trailer, completing the rig. Nationwide made sure the trailer is all kid-friendly, ensuring there are no sharp edges or surfaces that could cause harm – just like it does for the real crates that cart animals.

Both the truck tractor and trailer are done in full Heikell Transport livery. The awesome graphics on the side of the mini-Scania are a replica of that on fleet No.16, a Scania S650 8×4 known as ‘Legend II’.

There’s even working lights behind the cab and on the trailer – just like the real thing! It has real pneumatic tyres (meaning they’re filled with air), is battery powered and has forward and reverse gears. It’ll do a top speed of 6kph, more than enough to have some good fun. And, when you put your foot down, the truck makes a realistic sounding engine noise.

Now that’s a cool toy!

1997 Kenworth W924 – A labour of love with Graeme Skou.

We all enjoy seeing trucks on the road and at shows that make us go WOW!

Have you ever wondered how they get them looking so flash? How much work goes into them? How are they put together? I may be able to answer some of your questions!

I met Graeme Skou and he has shared two of his rebuild stories with us. Today we will look at his 1977 Kenworth W924.

Graeme has always been a Mack man at heart, but he chose to rebuild a Kenworth W924 because they look good and have strong bones. He bought the truck in 2016 and it took him five years to restore. It was never his plan to take that long, but due to the truck previously living near the ocean there was quite a bit of corrosion/rust that needed to be repaired.

Different parts

The original 350 Manual engine was replaced with a 620 Signature Cummins electronic engine. This was sourced from a 2011 Freightliner that had previously caught fire and sold as parts. The radiator and gearbox also came from the Freightliner. The gearbox is an 18 speed Roadranger. All the original steel suspension was replaced with air suspension for a softer ride. The front springs were also swapped to air.

The sleeper was imported from America, it was originally black, and the paint was so thick they had to scrape it off! Graeme extended the bonnet by 300mm, purely to look good, then also extended the chassis by 2 metres to balance how the truck looked with the longer bonnet. To do this a new beam was cut and welded onto the existing chassis behind the cab. Alister and Geoff Duffy from RMD Marton helped put the cab on the chassis using a Hiab.

The original cab steel frame was rusted so was replaced with alloy and came from America. The upholstery was ordered and came from Seattle, USA then fitted in New Zealand. This process took two years! The cab is 1524mm wide.

The gauges, suspension and various other parts came from a Kenworth T404 in Tauranga. The air tanks also came from Tauranga out of an international truck.

The finish line

Although Graeme did a lot of work on the W924 himself, it wouldn’t have been a success without the help of many others.

Graeme spent many hours making cardboard cuttings for various parts including fabricated guards and the dash for the gauges. The cuttings were taken to Matt and Nick at Roadrunner Manufacturing in Bulls.

As the W924 started coming together, Graeme had mixed feelings of excitement and nerves. Excited because it was nearly complete and looking fantastic, and nervous because so much time and effort had been put into restoring it. He just wanted it to be a success and it was!

Driving it for the first time, Graeme can only describe it in one word – “WHEW!”

The first trip Graeme and his wife Raelene took was all the way down south to Invercargill. Graeme laughs that he took an abundance of spare bolts and tape just in case.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE REBUILD

*Brennan Chapman/Amerikiwi
Cab and chrome parts

*Geoff Duffy/TWL
Brakes and air

*Hugo and Peter/ Autokraft
Electrical

*Gwyn Bliss-Bennett & James Rooke/ Rangitikei Truck and Diesel
Setting up chassis with motor, gearbox and diffs

*Tony Poynter/Total Truck Spray
Painting

*Willy Malcolm/ Malcolm Cab Solutions
Refurbished cab and fitted upholstery

*Tony Walton/ Custom Art
Artwork and signwriting

*Matt Avery & Nick Webster/Roadrunner
Stainless and chrome fabrication

Graeme and Raelene have entered this “labour of love” in two truck shows and took away awards at both.