Truck & Driver UK – August 2019

(^62) Summer 2019 Truck & Driver
A
ussies reckon their
roads are tough. But
they’re nothing
compared with ours,”
declares a Kiwi truck
driver we talk to at a truckstop on
the outskirts of Queenstown,
New Zealand, early one
February morning. “Those dingo
dongers might have roadtrains
and dust to contend with, but the
country’s as flat as a witch’s tit.
You want to really punish a
truck? You need to take it over
some of our hills, cobber.”
And that’s exactly what we’re
about to do, having arranged a
day’s driving with Temuka
Transport, located in the middle of
New Zealand’s South Island. In
fact, we’re sitting in the truckstop,
drinking a particularly strong
Will... he be able to see ahead? Stoneguard does protect the glass though and flat-glass mirrors assist Shiers in judging distance
black coffee, waiting for the truck
to arrive. We’ve been told to
watch out for a green Volvo, and
that we’ll be carrying lime to
Christchurch, but that’s all we’ve
been told about the day ahead.
“I know Temuka Transport,”
says the driver, when we tell him
our reason for being there.
“You’ll probably be driving one
of the company’s FMs. You’ll
need all 540 of those horses if
you’re running at 58 tonnes.”
No worries
Just then the room goes dark, as
23 metres of green and white
truck crawls past the window,
blocking the dawn sunshine for
several seconds.
“Bugger me! Looks like you’ve
got an FH16,” exclaims our new
friend, not holding back his
jealousy. “She’ll be as good as
gold. No worries at all mate.”
We say goodbye, leaving him
a copy of T&D to read, drain the
last of the sludge from the
bottom of our mug, and head
outside. We’re just in time to see
Temuka Transport driver Damien
Hall expertly reverse the truck
and trailer into a parking space.
“She’s all yours,” he says,
scribbling in his logbook,
throwing us the keys and
climbing into the passenger seat.
Fortunately, Damien will be
travelling with us today, showing
us the route... and hopefully
reversing when we tip in
Christchurch later in the day!
Before setting off, we conduct
a lengthy walk-round check and
familiarise ourselves with the
sheer size of the outfit. The truck
itself is a two-year-old Euro 5
FH16 750 8x4, not too dissimilar
to a UK-spec tipper chassis, but
riding on air and shod with
low-profile tyres. It’s coupled, via
a fixed tandem-axle dolly, to a
tri-axle trailer, so that’s nine axles
in total. We are told that this is a
popular combination in New
Zealand and can legally run up
to 58 tonnes on selected routes,
but today we’re at 57 tonnes.
The truck displays an ‘H’ on
the front of the cab, indicating
that it’s a High Productivity Motor
Vehicle (HPMV). We like the
words ‘high productivity’ as they
send the right message to the
general public. In comparison,
were we ever to allow something
“Those dingo dongers might have
roadtrains and dust to contend with, but the
country’s as flat as a witch’s tit. You need to
take it over some of our hills, cobber”
FH16 750 IN NEW ZEALAND