Does the convergence of traditional and contemporary always need to be like a headbutt, or can they be more like a handshake? Kiwitrans‘ owner Dave Malanaphy will undoubtedly lobby for the latter, and a thriving company with three new FH16 Volvo 9-axle combinations harbouring the odd hidden surprise make his case a compelling one.

We last visited Kiwitrans more than three years ago (New Zealand Trucking magazine September 17, Ticks all the boxes). The young company had just purchased a brand-new Western Star 4884 8×4 stratosphere sleeper with Detroit Diesel Series-60 power. Not housing the latest DD15 tech, it was one of an inventory of such trucks available at the time, an ideal vehicle for a young company seeking to build on its image at an affordable price. Since then, lots has happened. The fleet has grown from seven to 10, soon to be 11. It‘s established a new depot facility in the industrial hamlet of Kopu, near Thames, with more space and, best of all, a modest office that‘s far easier to find – complete with a sign out front. Kiwitrans is a company growing the old way – when patience was a virtue. With transport margins where they are, overheads are the industry nemesis, and money here is earned and then invested, rather than spent. It‘s a ‘walking, canter, run‘ philosophy. As it turns out, 2020 was a big year for Kiwitrans – for more reasons than ‘you know what‘. Three new Volvo FH16 8×4 rigids sporting Domett bodies and 5-axle trailers in tipping curtain-side configuration drove into the yard, enough to put a canter in anyone‘s step. The new combinations replace some loyal old Freightliner Argosys that have left their heart and soul on New Zealand roads, but it‘s fair to say they well and truly needed replacing.

Photo: Dave Malanaphy – Kiwitrans.

Favourite recipe – just add anything
We‘ll come back to the Volvos later; it‘s the Domett bodies and trailer gear we‘re interested in and where the inner story lurks. The reason is they speak to a transport philosophy entrenched in the Kiwitrans DNA. David Malanaphy was born into trucking. His father, Dave Snr, and uncle Neil Malanaphy founded Thames Freightlines Ltd in the early 70s after moving north from the Manawatu. That entity would evolve to become Provincial Freightlines Ltd (PFL), owned by Dave and long-time business partner Peter Coote after the sale of Neil‘s shares in the original company to the pair in 1985. Provincial was one of the country‘s larger privately owned transport and logistics entities at the time of its sale to Linfox Logistics in 2007 (New Zealand Trucking magazine Nov 2018, Hall of Fame inductees). A key philosophy underpinning Provinicial‘s success was fleet utility. As Dave will attest today, it was never an easy job getting anything overly specialist past the boss‘ desk come cap-ex time.

Photo: The Volvo crests the Kaihere hills on SH27

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in the past 13 years though. Take population alone. The country has put 600,000 odd people on the ground since Provincial left the market, and generally speaking, the more people you have, the better it is for specialist kit. However, most of those people have located north of Taupo so that bodes well for high-utility trucks venturing farther afield. Of course, there are also road-user charges, which undoubtedly favour max utility, offering no ability to relocate empty vehicles at true weight. Yes, the regulator will tell you there‘s an empty-running factor built into the charge but… yeah, na… nothing to see here, move along everyone. “For us, it‘s a matter of making the best of both worlds,” says Dave. “We have our own work and customers, and where it makes sense we utilise the big brokerages/consolidators. That way, we can make it work for everyone.”

Photo: Early morning shine

Photo: Kaimais summited without a sweat.

Pros and cons
Without taking things to the extreme, curtain-side tipping combinations represent the zenith of practical utility. With the day-to-day exceptions of bulk liquid and logs, they can cart pretty much anything, and there‘s enough of them on the road still to clearly signal they have a place. And for the record, bulk liquid and logs have been implicated into tipping curtain builds with varying success. There is a tare weight disadvantage to being a jack of all trades and Kiwitrans‘ fleet No2, the truck we tracked for a couple of days, tipped the scales at 23,000kg (13,680kg / 9320kg split), leaving room for 27,000kg of the good customer‘s product running at 50MAX. Of course, access for 54-tonners in the fleet‘s North Island playground is extensive, but as many have discovered, high productivity is not a one-size-fits-all concept. “Yep, with some products, we could get more on at the higher weights but the economies just aren‘t consistently there for us the way the system‘s set up,” says Dave. “A lot of our product doesn‘t run into weight issues at all, and for the amount of high-density material we do cart, it doesn‘t stack up to be roaring around at 54-tonne RUC all the time.”

Photo: A glorious Matata Pohutukawa drive.

It‘s a comment New Zealand Trucking hears often. How ironic that the exact philosophy RUC attempts to advantage is in some ways disadvantaged by it. Aside from payload penalty, the other ‘con‘ with the combination is time. Each unit has 84 buckles and 24 poles on a combined 17.6m of deck. Obviously, not all the poles are deployed all the time, the full quiver only needed to keep width in check and prevent the curtains bulging when bulk product is on-board. As such, both truck and trailer have pole-keepers at the rear of the body for poles not in use. But even so, after a couple of drops and pick-ups, you know you‘ve ‘smashed the mahi‘, so to speak. The other option, of course, is a bi- or tri-fold set-up but its Achilles heel has always been cost, mechanical fragility, and a reliable and effective system that allows covering from the ground. “The curtains also offered larger rear openings, which improves discharge when tipping,” said Dave Malanaphy. “What we try to do is keep these trucks on longer leads, so the guys aren‘t spending all day opening and closing curtains.”

Photo: The unit was spec‘d for years of work without tiring. The ability to tip provides ultimate utility.

Why the long boats and who‘s rowing them?
At the time of New Zealand Trucking‘s 2017 visit, the Kiwitrans fleet was made up of the original Freightliners on the tipping-curtain work, the two Western Stars (one pre-owned one brand new) and some new MANs. So why introduce another brand? “The MANs have been good trucks. There were some inlet manifold and turbo issues early on, but they‘ve settled down,” says Dave. “We tested the market, and Volvo ticked every box we had in terms of spec and price. We‘ve known MTD‘s Carl Capstick for as far back as I care to remember and he‘s great to deal with. A genuine bloke, and brandloyal.” Given the decision to restrict max loading to 50 tonnes, the spec on the Volvos is interesting. David has gone for FH16s with the D16G 16-litre engine set at 448kW (600hp) and 2800Nm (2065lb/ft) of torque. Running at 50MAX, FHs with the DC13 13-litre engines at 403kW (540hp) and 2600Nm (1920lb/ ft) would have got him well in the 10hp/tonne club and saved a chunk of tare weight.

Photo: A public display of patriotism.

“I was looking for trucks that would do the job effortlessly – improving longevity – and be easy to operate; big engines working easily, so to speak. Like I said, out and out weight is not often an issue with much of our work. It also future-proofs us. If we ever wanted to run in a higher weight bracket, it‘s not an issue. We‘ll always have an acceptable power to weight. And of course, drivers. If you buy the best and safest gear it‘s easier to retain good drivers.” As for who is rowing the big Viking long boats? That‘s another interesting one. You‘d think tipping curtain side work was a young man‘s game, but it‘s about pros and cons like everything in life. Stroll around the Kiwitrans depot and there are several older heads interspersed with some newer industry talent, and the three men driving the new Volvos – Garry Smith, Des Makiha, and John Lemon – have about 75 years‘ experience between them. “Mate, they‘re gold. We‘ve all known each other for a long time, and they know the work through and through. I don‘t hear from them or the customers,” says Dave. “You just give them their work and let them go to it.

Photo: The FH16 gets us to Kawerau with time to spare for our on-cart.

You know the truck will turn up back in the yard just the way it left, and you know they won‘t have ruffled feathers in the course of their day. Neither will there be silly stuff like over-speed issues. “It‘s a very different world now. Once there was a day‘s work that had to be got through, now there‘s more forward planning – so the guys move around the country ticking off the list. They get as far as they can legally, camp for the night, and then carry on the next day. There are more hold-ups nowadays – that‘s just how it is with more traffic and onsite processes to adhere to. You wouldn‘t even consider stepping out of line today; if the enforcement didn‘t get you, your insurance premiums would. “And it‘s a credit to these older guys how they‘ve adapted to the new world. They still work bloody hard, but they‘re not out to prove anything, and that‘s reflected in every aspect of their work.”

Photos: Great Kiwi, awesome Kiwi, and what do you know, fantastic Kiwi! The trifecta.

‘Do anything‘ – business-class
We met No2 and driver Garry Smith at the NZ Panels Group Kopine particleboard mill near Thames. The unit was loaded with board for Auckland, to be followed with a load of product for construction projects in the Bay of Plenty. From there it was into CHH Kawerau for a load of Netlogix timber, then to Patumahoe near Pukekohe, before reloading for Thames ex-Tuakau again. One and a half days‘ work over 776km at a load factor of 88%. That‘s well above the national average, supposedly somewhere in the mid 60s. The Volvo glided down the mill drive and drifted off along SH26 toward Kopu, and then on to Auckland. Again, it‘s difficult to convey how easily the modern truck moves product. Back in the day, an 8V92 Detroit Diesel or Econodyne Mack leaving the mill site would have woken the surrounding area as it told the world just how hard it was working getting 27 tonnes moving, but the Volvo just ambled off with the rising sun sparkling on the Dura-Bright wheels.

We reckon the ‘z‘s coming from the bedroom windows of the nearby houses were noisier. The truck made good time, and Garry took only about two-and-a-half hours unloading and reloading in the mayhem of pre-Christmas Auckland. The Opotiki drop on the east-bound load was needed urgently, so as soon as we were legally able, we were off. Experience is a wonderful thing and as urgent as one part of the load may have been, rushing achieves nothing. Garry‘s a master at making complicated things look easy, and more time is always made up working the truck during loading and unloading than is ever gained attempting to jump one place in the queue out on the road. It is a trap; these biggerpowered units often entice with their ability to perform, and it‘s choosing when to let them do their thing that‘s the art. The Volvo was easily able to hold its place in the traffic. The load was not an issue in terms of weight, and so Garry chose the Hauraki Plains- Kaimais-Bay of Plenty route out to the Eastern Bay.

Photo: Everything but the light plug

No end to the light
Choosing to tag along with Garry Smith in No2 was not a case of grabbing the first of the three units available; there‘s something a bit special about No2, but you won‘t pick it up until either your pre-start check or when hooking up the trolley for the first time. “Agh, where‘s the light plug?” Answer. There isn‘t one. It‘s Bluetooth, courtesy of those Kiwi-born ‘world of wonderful wiring‘ maestros, PTEK (see sidebar). PTEK has forged a reputation over the past 17 years for innovative truck and trailer wiring solutions with ease of use and robustness its mantra. “We‘ve been working on wireless for some time,” says founder and managing director Gene Petersen. “We have a great relationship with Pete and Andy at Domett, and I‘ve known Dave for a hell of a long time, so the opportunity was there to start putting something in the field.

Photo: Garry Smith is the perfect driver for such a combination.

Lights are the easiest place to start because there‘s no standard beyond the requirement for them to pass a COF. It‘s simple, robust, a no-brainer really. And the applications are endless. We‘ve spent years adding plugs to trucks, and now we‘ve got rid of one, and it‘s just the start.” It‘s an uber-snazzy system with real cool features. Imagine leaving the trailer in a layby at night and shooting off to do a drop or pick-up somewhere. Coming back into hook-up, the truck lights are on, and when the truck‘s about 100m away, all the trailer lights come on too. You could do a quick indicator check, tap the brakes, and then back into a lit trailer. It‘s the little things really isn‘t it? Only the truck needed to go to Opotiki, so Garry dropped the magic trailer at Awakere. We wondered if the wireless tech might also actually be a handy security feature. Disregarding the fact that it‘s a Kiwitrans trailer and so not easily hidden if ‘acquired‘, there would be the issue of lack of illumination and the unwanted attention that would bring. Okay, so trailerjacking isn‘t a huge problem in New Zealand, but we‘ve learned in recent years we‘re not immune from anything.

Photo: Unloading at GJ Weck & Son.

While we‘re on the subject of asset tracking, we came across a snazzy little device EROAD launched last year called the ‘Where Tag‘. You simply hide it somewhere on your asset and every time it passes or is in the vicinity of any Ehubo2 device or mobile phone running EROAD‘s Where app, it registers its location back to you using the EROAD network. Sort of like all the EROAD devices being their brother‘s keepers, and allowing all the owners to stay abreast of where their bits and pieces are. They can be stuck on absolutely anything – portaloo to a pull-trailer. Once back, it was into Kawerau, load, and then a roll down the beautiful Matata coast for an overnight in Mount Maunganui.

Sad roads and silky systems
The next morning and we‘re away at 5.30am from a waking Mount Maunganui. “I like to get out of here before the traffic starts,” says Garry. “It can really choke up in the Mount now if you‘re not out early enough.” The I-Shift flicks through the gears and the big 16-litre rumbles away happily as the truck gathers pace past the Ballance fertiliser works and out over the harbour bridge. Last night‘s load put us right on weight at about 49,700kg so the FH16 gets the chance to strut its stuff. This morning‘s path is through Katikati, Waihi, Paeroa, out across the Hauraki Plains again, up the Bombays and through Pukekohe to Patumahoe and our destination, GJ Weck & Sons. State Highway 2 northwest of Mount Maunganui is going through an agonisingly slow transformation from a rough, narrow, lethal arterial, to a less rough, wide, lethal arterial. The road is being widened, some corners eased, and there are lots of new guard rails. There‘s not much in terms of increased lanes for passing and none of the narrow bridges, such as the hideous one outside the Claymark mill in Katikati or the one at the northern end of the Athenree Gorge, appear to be up for replacement, meaning traffic will soon approach pinch points at a faster terminal speed.

Still, a wider lane, in general, is probably something to be thankful for. The Volvo takes the uneven surface in its stride, insulating the occupants from the reality without making them immune to its needs. Like the Scania last month, being a rigid truck, the FH16 was happier than the Reddington XF DAF (New Zealand Trucking magazine, Sep 20) in terms of a fidgety cab. However, as we said at the time, in the DAF‘s defence SH3 through the Waikato, King County, and the ‘Naki‘ is absolute bollocks, probably second only to the Napier-Taupo when it comes to North Island economically critical roads that are essentially wrecked. “It‘s not a hard place to work in is it?” says Garry as the Volvo lopes across the Hauraki Plains. “I‘m still getting my head around it. In the Argosy, you had to work at it, but in this you just don‘t get the impression it is working. It‘s just doing it so easy. That adaptive cruise is excellent.” The FH interior is a familiar place for us all now. It‘s easy to access even with the big fourstep entry, and its signature austere and modern dash is easy to use, super functional, but personal in terms of aesthetic appeal.

Photos: The sleeper cabin provides a more than ample home away from home.

You either dig it, or you don‘t. We‘ll see the new version at some point in the near future; Q2 this year at the time of the model‘s global launch early last year. We checked in with Paul France, national sales manager for Volvo Truck & Bus at Motor Truck Distributors, and he said lead time on the new model as at time of writing was 26 weeks. The general rule of thumb for the Kiwitrans operation is home for the weekends but the weekdays are a moving target. For that reason, Kiwitrans trucks have the single person rest spec, in Skylark/Raven trim. Both seats are air-suspended and heated, there‘s a 33 litre fridge, 154 litres of upper cab storage, with 815mm bunks with premium overlay. With the overdrive 12-speed I-Shift AMT, 90kph comes up at 1350rpm registering 67dB inside. Kiwitrans trucks all have Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), forward collision warning and emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane change support, and driver-alert sensing. “It‘s a no brainer,” says Dave Malanaphy. “Anything that makes the driver‘s day easier and safer, we‘re into.” At just under 50,000km clocked so far, the FH16 has recorded between 1.8 to 2.1kpl, which is perfectly acceptable given the load factor and lack of aerodynamics associated with externally poled curtain side units.

Present and correct
Born in Northland, 58-year-old Garry‘s a family-oriented man. He and wife Jan live in Ngata, and you know exactly where his life priorities are when hearing him speak about his children and grandchildren. “I still love Northland – it‘s home. But the family are here, so that‘s where we are.” He‘s an ex-Navy man having served his country for a decade, moving from there to the corrections service. Since then he‘s split his work life between farming and truck driving. There‘s a lot of truck and trailer to look after but as you‘d expect of a man with Garry‘s background, No2 is in pristine condition. “It‘s not a show pony, but I do like to keep my truck clean. It takes a good five hours to really give it a spruce up.” Garry poked the Volvo at the Bombay Hills‘ southern end and the slowest we saw progression was a brief stint in 8th gear, 1700rpm, and 45kph. Keeping in context that not so long ago 600hp was the stuff of dreams, the D16G at this setting is a beautiful modern allround fleet engine.

Photo: Because of the doors, the truck cover has a two-piece handle. The long pole clipped to the lefthand door connects to the top section stowed in clips above the doors;

Photo: The trailer system is your more orthodox setup; Poles not in use stow in keepers on the unit.

As Dave Malanaphy says, it won‘t get tripped up regardless of assignment. Peak torque is flat from 1000 to 1500rpm and the power peak hits its straps at 1500rpm through to 1900rpm. Volvo‘s VEB+ engine/ exhaust brake combination is an effective tool on the descent side of the equation. It‘s a truck that‘ll maintain a more than acceptable average speed in fleet operations. We pulled into Wecks just before 8am and it gave us a chance for a closer look at the bodies. Kiwitrans fits Trident Equipment curtains, a supply relationship that again goes back decades, and Domett has built the company several new pieces of trailing gear. “Malcolm [Bangs] and Neil Knudsen at Domett have been great, and the product gives us no issues,” says David. The bodies feature roundtop covers and rear doors, as such the cover handle on the back of the truck is a two-piece unit. Hydraulics on the trailer come in the form of single ram front of body, which David says saves weight and increases stability. Running gear on the trailers is SAF INTRADISC 19.5” with WABCO SmartBoard, and they‘re finished in Alcoa Dura- Bright wheels, with stainlesssteel toolboxes and alloy dunnage bins Aside from his years at the wheel, there are other reasons Garry Smith is the ideal guy for a unit like this.

Photos: Volvo‘s dash works really well but is an aquired taste aesthetically.

Firstly he‘s a fit and spritely sort of bloke, no doubt aided in part by the unit itself. But secondly, being ex-service, he‘s used to systems and processes and an ‘order of things‘. If you‘re a bit of a hippy, then poles, buckles, and curtains flailing around, dunnage, straps, chains and rachets could all end up a bit shambolic with a lot of wasted walking. Garry‘s a pragmatic ‘this, then this, then this, then this‘, sort of bloke. He had it all undone in a jiffy. There‘s certainly more meat in the double-skin curtains, and they take more pulling and manmanagement than a standard freight set. Tethered poles were undoubtedly the second greatest invention of modern times after LED lights. Gone are the days of motoring off and having one or two poles waving goodbye to you from the customer‘s yard, never to be seen again. Rest assured, the hoists do go up and down. Our two days were void of a tipping requirement, but we rendezvoused with Garry a few days later when he was in Auckland tipping off a load of waste tyres. Ain‘t‘ versatility grand?

Photo: The D16G: a more than capable fleet motor.

Summary
Brand spanking new with a long life ahead of them, the three Kiwitrans FH16s will be trucks to watch. Mechanically they‘re on the nail. A modern fleet spec, trucks with power once thought absurd now fall into the ‘significantly competent with caution‘ bracket. There‘s nothing you can throw at a D16G that‘s going to worry it. They‘re trucks brought with the driver in mind whether it be power, comfort, or safety, and that‘s a great thing because manning trucks is still the biggest issue the industry faces. In the end, it comes down to culture, and many of the Kiwitrans staff have been with the company since it started operations in 2015. We guess that leaves us with the conclusion that, in the right hands, what worked yesterday still works today.

A BIG THANKS
Thanks to Dave Malanaphy and Garry Smith from Kiwitrans for allowing us to put this story together, and for time and energy they gave in process of collating the material. Thanks also to Gene and Angela Petersen for sharing their amazing tale of tenacity.