Young Gore truckie takes out top prize
More than 18 hours of polishing and five cans of tyre shine is what you need to take out the title of King Rig, a young truckie has learned.
Bradley Curtis, a 19-year-old truck driver for Hokonui Rural Transport, was named the winner of the King Rig competition during the Invercargill Truck Parade on Sunday.
Curtis, who is in the process of achieving his heavy transport licenses, said he got just two hours sleep in the days leading up to the parade, having spent so much time getting the truck ready to put on show.
"It was just one of the ones in the fleet I kind of liked."
He spent six hours polishing the stock crate, and about 12 hours on the eight truck wheels and 10 trailer wheels.
Curtis also took out the title of Best Kenworth truck.
The young truckie said he would encourage all young people to give truck driving a go.
"It's really cool. You get to see different parts of the country all the time. It's an honest living."
Curtis' manager Adam Waghorn said Curtis' win was a great achievement for "the young fella".
Hokonui Rural Transport had "picked" Curtis up while he was studying at the Southern Institute of Technology, and offered him a fulltime job, Waghorn said.
"It's great to see the younger ones coming through. And he just takes so much pride in his gear."
Invercargill Truck Parade organiser Mark Purdue said about 130 trucks were entered for judging in the competition, while about 150 trucks cruised through the city for the parade.
Judging for the King Rig award was based on the presentation of the truck, including cleanliness, bling, and wow factor, Purdue said.
"You look for the time an effort [the driver spent on it], how clean the interior is, whether the outside was clean and tidy, and if the exhaust is tidy and shiny."
No stone was left by the judges, who would check under floor mats and sun visors for dust, he said.
Purdue said Curtis was "absolutely over the moon" when he was named the winner.
It was great to see a young driver taking pride in his vehicle, he said.
The trucking industry was trying to show school-aged kids that driving was a viable career choice, Purdue said.
"It's not just being a truck driver, you could be a dispatcher, or an accountant for a company.
"The problem with the shortage of drivers in Southland ... is that it takes three years to get your HT [heavy traffic] licenses."
Earlier in the weekend, 18 different companies offered up a truck each to take children for a ride.
Purdue said more than 230 kids showed up, with one of the most popular choices a concrete truck.
FULL RESULTS
King Rig - Bradley Curtis, of Hokonui Rural Transport.
Runner-up - Cole Frew, of Eden Haulage
Best new truck
Under 20,000kms - 'Dirty', of Switzer Valley Transport
20,000 - 100,000 kms - 'Big Al', of Central Southland Freight
100,000 - 300,000kms - Ken, of Toll
300,000 - 600,000kms - Colin Wallace, of Eden Haulage
600,000 - 1millionkms - Garreth, of Dixon Transport
Best fleet - Eden Haulage
Longest Distance Travelled - Vaughan Peart, of Brenics
Shiniest Rims - James Moynihan, of Summerland Express
Best
Paint Job - Cole Frew, of Eden Haulage
Working Truck - Nathan Bates, of Jim Bates Contracting
Linehaul - Vaughan Peart, of Brenics
Fuel Tanker - 'Nev', of Allied Petroleum
Logger Truck - Phil Taylor, of Southern Transport
Fertiliser Spreader Truck - Joseph Petch, of D T Kings
Stock Truck - Brad Lloyd, of Murihiku Haulage
Gravel Truck - Robbie Officer, of Ryal Bush Transport
DAF - Steve, of Rohan Haulage
Freightliner - Davey, of Northern Southland Transport
Hino - Wayne Booth, of McNeill Distribution
International - Scott Hutton, of Murihiku Haulage
Isuzu - Jock Evans, of AZAP Couriers
Iveco - 'Gibbo', of Central Southland Freight
Kenworth - Bradley Curtis, of Hokonui Rural Transport
Mack - Sam Howden, of McNeills Distribution
MAN - Mark, of Kapuka Heenans
Mercedes - Gary Smart, of Transport Services Southland
Fuso - James Allison, of Southern Transport
UD Truck - Daniel Kent, of D T Kings
Scania - Mason Murphy, of Andrews Transport
Volvo - Darryl Shand, of Freight Haulage
Western Star - Ross Carlene, of Halls Refrigeration
Other - Carlos, of Jim Bates Contracting
Vintage - Tony, of Southern Transport
Source - Hannah Mcleod, The Southland Times
Photo - John Hawkins
In Search of Perfection
Southland’s Hokonui Rural Transport could
be considered something of a work in progress.
Under regular revision, that is – as the company goes to
great lengths to make sure each new make and/or model added
to the Gore-based fleet looks “perfect.”
It’s a livery that was born of change – created after the
company was formed following the two-way split of Hokonui
Haulage in 2003.
The new Hokonui Rural Transport retained the sea-green
and white primary colours of the old company, but modified
them into a new colour scheme, featuring a deeper band of
green across the cab, a broad stripe running from the aero
kit through the crates and yellow pinstriping highlights. The
previous yellow chassis was also dropped in favour of dark grey.
A distinctive HRT logo and Hokonui Rural signage was
designed then – and has remained a constant in the 13 years
since….even through a change of the owners involved in the
50% partnership with the HW Richardson Group.
But the livery did get a major makeover three years ago,
with a modern – and much more prominent – restyling of the
yellow striping on the side of truck cabs.
Rather than the former, more traditional airflow-style
striping, with its gentle curves, the new stripes are more
sculpted, more ribbon-like….almost like a loosened bow. And
there’s a sweeping, crescent-shaped sea-green section at the
rear of the cab sides, framed by another yellow stripe.
With extra grey and yellow pinstriping, there’s a lot going
on in the colour scheme – but it all comes together to provide
a standout look to the Southland operation, which currently
runs to 23 trucks, comprising livestock units, tippers and bulk
fert groundspreaders.
The latest addition to the fleet – a DAF CF85 which
features as this month’s poster truck and earns HRT a finalist
spot in the annual PPG Transport Imaging Awards– has called
for more fine-tuning, says HRT manager Adam Waghorn.
“We’re forever trying to improve it (the colour scheme),” he
confirms.
“This DAF was quite a challenge – just to try and figure out
a plan. We’re quite lucky – we’ve got a pretty good relationship
with our signwriter, Cliff McDermott from McDermott Signs
in Invercargill, so we’ve spent a lot of time planning… and he’s
right on the money.” The plan included painting two grille slats
silver.
The painting is done by Bob Christie Ltd: “It’s quite handy –
they’re right next door to each other.”
Waghorn admits that with the Space Cab DAF: “We were
worried for a start – because it’s such a big cab – that we had
too much green. But I think it’s come out pretty good to be
fair.”
In fact, on second thoughts, he upgrades that: “No, we were
rapt actually. It came out real good.”
A third new DAF is just being painted now and they’ve
agreed on more minor changes – making some of the grey
pinstriping slightly darker “to make it stand out a bit. It is quite
hard to see until you’re up quite close.”
The previous challenge before the DAFs was making the
most of the livery on three new Mercedes-Benz Axor sowers
added to the operation – the first of that model on the fleet.
Last year, there were also two new Kenworth K200s that
the livery had to be adjusted to suit: “It took a bit – just to get
it perfect.”
There is only one conventional on the fleet – a Freightliner
Century Class. Its livery predates the revised striping in
2013, which was first applied to two new Freightliner Argosy
livestock units.
The look of the trucks, Waghorn confirms – unnecessarily,
considering the painstaking work that’s gone into each
new make and model added to the fleet – is “definitely very
important. We like to try and have sharp-looking gear out on
the road.”
And yes, HRT does get “really good feedback” on the look
of its trucks – from the public, within the industry and from
customers. People notice “because we have been painting them
a wee bit different since 2013.”
Rural transport is a tough line of work in terms of keeping
trucks looking good: “The guys might spend all day polishing
them, and then they’ll be down a gravel road the next day…
It’s a hard job to keep them clean.”
The realities of the rural work mean there’s no hard and fast
rule about when trucks have to be washed: “Just when they can
– you’ve got to work within your time limits.”
But he’s happy that they get the care and attention they
deserve: “We like to think our drivers take pride in their
trucks. We all just like to have them look good out on the
road.”
Courtesy of New Zealand Truck and Driver
New Stock Truck
Our latest truck on the road is this new DAF CF85 Space Cab. Great to have it on display at the opening of transort repairs impressive new building in Gore
Driver: Thomas Maclean
Imron Fleet Line Image Award
Southland boasts a host of rural carriers belonging to the HW Richardson Group and Hokonui Rural Transport (HRT) is certainly one of that group. This Gore based concern, is the rural side of the original Hokonui Haulage Ltd, had been running a bold metallic tourquise and yellow livery over a white base ever since the companys formation back in the 1990s.
The livery was given a lift nearly two years ago with the adoption with the adoption of a striking new strip arrangement. The design created by Timaru signs and Graphix signwriter, Andrew Geddes certainly took the original plain look and gave it a revamp. The new style, formed off the original Freightliner stripes from when the first Argosy launched, has since been laid over the firms mixed fleet of vehicles.
This unit was one of a pair of Freightliner Argosys which underwent the transformation from stock factory white to this stand out look at Elite Fleet Refinisher in Timaru where the tourquise was masked by Andrew and then sprayed on by the Elite team. From there the team at Timaru Signs added the yellow stripes and extra details which sets the truck off.
This HRT Argosy is a fine example of how lifting a companys image can pay dividends. It is a fitting winner of this months Cromax Imron Fleetline award.
Credit- Truck Journal
Photos- Simon Vincent and Andrew Geddes
Gore Kids Hub Truck Slide
A stock truck with more than a passing resemblance to a Gore firms livery is to take pride of place in the Gore Kids Hub public playground.
Hokonui Rural Transport is to sponsor a stock truck which will be placed in the playground of the $1.7 million kids hub, and it will feature a slide, two steering wheels and plenty of space to play and for under 5-year-olds to use their imagination.
The development is being driven by the Kids Hub Charitable Trust which comprises representatives from Gore Parents Centre, Gore Playcentre and Gore Toy Library.
Trust member Bronnie Grant said the stock truck would cost $22,412 and HRT was contributing $6000 to go towards paying for the piece of the play equipment and $4000 worth of cartage of top soil for the site.
Mrs Grant described the sponsorship deal as making a huge difference for the project.
The Playground Centre in Wanganui was building the stock truck, which would be sign written and painted once it reached Gore, Mrs Grant said.
Having the stock truck painted and sign written in Gore meant it would be identical to the much larger versions of the HRT trucks.
The stock truck would have one side filled in, have two steering wheels in the cab, enabling more than one driver to take the wheel, a large slide and plenty of playing area which would appeal to children, she said.
"(The slide) is from the top deck, so that would be at least 1.5m off the ground," Mrs Grant said.
Mrs Grant hoped the stock truck would be installed in the playground at the end of November. It would take two weeks for the surfacing of the area to be completed and the trust hoped the new facility would be ready for the Christmas holidays.
Hokonui Suzuki is also sponsoring a piece of equipment, a quad bike, Mrs Grant said.
The trust was looking for more businesses to sponsor individual pieces of equipment.
"It's a good opportunity to get their (businesses) name out there," she said.
HRT manager Adam Waghorn was keen for the business to be involved in the kids hub project. "It's going to be exciting to see it finished," Mr Waghorn said.
The company had a focus on being involved in the community and the project fitted that philosophy, he said.
Credit - The Ensign