Double Coin Imaging Awards

Midlands Rural Transport is continuing to expand its modern Scania V8 fleet and now has five of the high-horsepower S 770 units on the road.

But rather than the familiar Midlands’ blue and red colour scheme, the latest S 770 B8x4NA livestock unit which went to work in early March is presented in the striking yellow and black colours of Jack Turner Ltd.

Midlands Rural purchased the Matiere-based Jack Turner Transport operation in late-2022 from Karl Adams. The new truck continues the history of the well-known King Country carrier.

“The yellow and black are iconic colours, and the Jack Turner name goes back more than 80 years around the King Country,” says Midlands Rural managing director Jason Gordon.

“Anthony Mott who is driving the new one had worked for Jack Turner for about 10 years and that’s one of the reasons we’ve gone with the yellow and black for this new one.

“There’s another yellow and black 770 in the fleet, which is driven by Karl Adams, who stayed with the company as an owner-driver. There are also a couple of 620s in yellow and black.”

The new Scania is based at Taumarunui, but it works all across the North Island.

“It carts cattle and sheep and is doing its share of deer transport, which is something Jack Turner was well known for,” says Jason.

Scania V8s form the main part of the Midlands Rural fleet.

“The new Scanias suit the work we’re doing, and the drivers like them. We bought nine of the 730s and this one is our fifth 770 (two of them being operated by owner-drivers),” says Jason.

The new S 770 works on a 54-tonne HPMV permit and the 16-litre Euro 6 spec DC16 V8 develops 770hp with an impressive 3700Nm of torque.

The transmission is the Scania Opticruise GRSO926R 12-speed equipped with the powerful 4100D retarder with drive going to a RB735 hub reduction rear end.

The steer axles ride on leaf spring suspension while air suspension is fitted at the rear. The specification includes disc brakes with ABS/EBS along with AEB Advanced Emergency Braking and ACC adaptive cruise control. Scania in-built scales, Dura-bright alloys, Big Foot CTI, and a drop visor are also part of the impressive specification.

The truck is fitted with a new Kraft Engineering deck and refurbished Nationwide crate while the 5-axle Kraft trailer is a new build and also carries a new Nationwide crate.

“This one has the third new trailer from Kraft Engineering in the past six months or so, which is a bit of a departure for us,” Jason says.

“We’ve gone with Kraft because they are local, and we’ve had a relationship for a few years with James (Worsnop) who owns it now.”

The well-appointed sleeper cab is a comfortable `home-away-from-home’ for driver Anthony Mott, being equipped with V8 leather trim, a coffee machine, a microwave, and factory fitted overnight air conditioning unit.

Significant effort went into the design and detail finishing of the colour scheme and graphics. Fleet Image painted the cab while the sign writing, pin stripes, air brush murals and 3M paint protection are the work of Caulfield Signs in Rotorua.

Jason says it’s likely the Jack Turner colours will be used again in the future for some new Midlands Rural Transport trucks.

“It’s a great looking truck and there’s a lot of history behind the Jack Turner name. I think it’s good have a bit of a change and some variety in the fleet.”