Trucking Magazine – July 2019

NEWS LATEST PRODUCTS

22 TRUCKING Summer 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk

NEW

GEAR

New gadgets and widgets to ease

your life on the road

By Andy Stewart

PHOTOGRAPHY VARIOUS

■SCANIA

R500 RIGID

TOY

Manufacturer: Emek

Web: http://www.

travisperkins.co.uk

Price: tbc

Search Impex has taken

a slight departure from

its high-end promotional

model collectibes to

bring out a new toy

Scania in the well-known colours of builders’ merchant, Travis Perkins. The

model is a 1:25 scale Scania R500 (6x2) dropside rigid with crane, and has been

produced exclusively for Search Impex by Finnish manufacturer Emek. The new

model is the first Scania rigid to be produced in the new Travis Perkins livery, and

benefits from a multitude of ‘play’ features including a working crane, opening

dropsides and pull-down hydraulic ram stabilisers at the rear of the truck. It also

comes complete with four pallets and a pallet fork attachment for the crane. The

toys are only available from Travis Perkins stores in the South East of the UK, so

you’ll need to be quick if you want to pick one up!

■DR MACLEOD ACTROS MODEL

Manufacturer: Tekno

Web: http://www.teknomodeltrucks.co.uk

Price: £150 (inc free delivery)

Danish model truck maker Tekno has added this superb

Mercedes-Benz Actros MP4 GigaSpace 6x2 to its range of

trucks featuring British hauliers. Finished in the yellow and

blue colours of Scottish operator DR Macleod, the detail-rich

model also comes with a matching three-axle curtainside

trailer. Exclusively distributed in the UK by Speedbird

Promotions, only 150 pieces have been produced.

■WAZE

Developer: Waze

Platform: iOS/Android

Price: Free

There are shed-loads of sat nav apps for

smartphones and we’ve tried out a lot of

them. But few can match the ease of use,

accuracy and convenience of Waze.

Though routing is strictly for cars (ie, no

truck-specific options are offered), Waze’s

community-based reports of traffic

hold-ups, roadworks, accidents, speed

cameras and more makes it really useful

for getting your car from A to B in the most

painless way possible. We’ve been using it

for a couple of months now and it’s proven

itself time and again – so it’s well worth a

look next time you need to

avoid hold-ups on your way

to work, or want to take the

family away for the weekend.family away for the weekend.

APP OF THE

MONTH

■SCRATCH MAP UK

Manufacturer: Luckies of London

Web: http://www.iwantoneofthose.com

Price: £12.99

Far from being just another decorative map, this unusual UK

chart enables you to mark off all the locations you’ve been to

by simply scratching them off. Underneath, you’ll find

interesting geographical details of the places you’ve visited,

plus decorative colours make the map come alive. Made

from high-quality materials, the map is robust and will not be

spoiled by scratching off its foil top layer, meaning it’ll look

great up on the wall.

■ORGANIC

FIFTHWHEEL GREASE

Manufacturer: JOST

Web: http://www.jostuk.co.uk

Price: £tbc

Truck and trailer component manufacturer JOST has

released a high-performance lubricant for its fifth-wheel

couplings that is completely biodegradable. Conventional

connections between truck and trailer are made of steel

and need to be lubricated regularly to avoid wear and

damage – and under normal operating conditions, a

fifth-wheel coupling requires about 10 kg of lubricating

grease per year. But rather than use regular products,

operators can now switch to this high-performance,

certified “readily biodegradable” (ie, it degrades especially

quickly and easily) grease – which JOST is offering at the

same price as its standard lubricant product. Perhaps a

bit of a no-brainer, then.

SCRATCH MAP UK