New Zealand concrete giant Firth Industries is installing the MAX-SAFE Maximum Safety Anti- Rollaway Brake Solution across its fleet of more than 350 concrete trucks.

Firth Industries is New Zealand’s largest and only national concrete company, producing ready-mix concrete, masonry, paving, retaining walls and brick veneers for commercial and residential applications.

To mitigate the risk of rollaway incidents, Firth sought a robust engineering solution that would prevent unintended vehicle movement, even if the parking brake was not applied or applied incorrectly. While existing audio alarms had proven effective in preventing multiple incidents, a more reliable and proactive approach was deemed necessary.

Firth’s health, safety, environment and sustainability team extensively evaluated rollaway safety offerings from Australasia, Asia and Britain.

“With diverse fleet dynamics (manual, automatic, fuel and EV), Firth is removing heavy vehicle rollaways as a safety risk for our business,” says André van Pletzen, head of environment, health and safety, Fletcher Building Concrete Division.

“With safety as a core priority, Firth wanted to adopt a proven safety solution to prevent vehicle rollaways – caused by operator error or faulty park brake systems – to keep staff, contractors and the general public safe.”

In 2020, Firth’s head office established a relationship with the MAX-SAFE distributor for New Zealand, Autokraft Electrical and Diesel (AED), after Firth’s Hamilton depot manager, John Hardisty, came across the anti-rollaway solution on a local heavy vehicle.

The MAX-SAFE Maximum Safety Anti-Rollaway Solution is an Australian invention in use for over 20 years that prevents rollaway vehicles – forwards or backwards – irrespective of slope or idle creep, providing driver and company surety.

Over the past two-plus years, AED’s installer network has fitted the technology into all new heavy vehicles before they are added to the Firth operational fleet.

The Firth fleet consists of Isuzu, UD and Hino trucks.

“Firth wanted to ensure that there was consistency across the fleet, so drivers could have the confidence there was an automatic- braking solution in place – whether the vehicle was new or old, manual or automatic, diesel, petrol or EV. A solution that would work the same across all vehicles would be ideal,” says André.

The rollout has seen MAX-SAFE Anti- Rollaway progressively retrofitted on all of Firth’s heavy vehicles, as well as owner-driver vehicles.

The solution has been installed by trained AED MAX-SAFE installers and dealers on weekdays and weekends to ensure minimal disruption to truck availability and service levels. Approximately two vehicles can be retrofitted per day per installer team.

As of September 2024, 260 trucks nationwide have been upgraded with this safety prevention, ensuring Firth trucks are no longer susceptible to rollaway. The final 70 trucks will be installed over the coming 10 months. AED is project-managing the rollout in conjunction with Firth regional HSE advisors and operational teams.

“It has been a positive experience working with AED. It has been a massive task with many challenges, and communication was essential,” the Firth team says.

“The AED team has been professional, transparent and proactive when tasked with managing the fit-out and certification process.”

Key benefits of the MAX-SAFE Maximum Safety Anti-Rollaway Brake Solution:

• Maximum safety for all people and property.
• Active, automatic system – no driver intervention, no complicated processes.
• Inbuilt algorithms for constant self-analysis for faults.
• Engineering control mitigating possible human error (neglecting to apply parking brake).
• Ideal for any industry that uses heavy vehicles.
• Prevents runaway vehicles, including on steep hills.
• Out-of-the-box customised solution with ready-to-go plugs for each vehicle type – no splicing of wires, full confidence in the system’s integrity.
• The same solution works on all vehicle types.
• Inbuilt parking brake alarm – meets site safety requirements.
• Backup service – experienced New Zealand-based dealers for installation, certification and service.
• Confidence in the solution, peace of mind knowing drivers and people are safer.
• Preventative maintenance is available for all MAX-SAFE solutions.
• Full MAX-SAFE training modules available.

For enquiries, contact Autokraft Electrical and Diesel: 06 359 0100, www.aed.nz, brandon@autokraft-ed.co.nz