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The new 8x4 Globetrotter with 700hp Euro 5 spec D16 powerplant and I-Shift transmission and is one of four livestock trucks run by Dean (Fitzy) and Jane Fitzgerald, working mainly in the Wairarapa, Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu regions.

The FH16, which carries the registration number FITSY2 and works on a 50t permit, is Fitzy’s daily drive. It went on the road in mid-2024, when Dean needed an extra truck to join a 700hp Low Roof Volvo FH and a couple of Isuzus in the fleet.

The yellow and white colour scheme has been Fitzy’s signature for most of his 45-year career in the transport industry and is a familiar sight across the lower North Island highways and back roads.

“I started driving when I was 18 and I did a short stint over in Aussie when I was young, but the rest of my time has been on livestock around this area,” Fitzy says.

“I drove a yellow and green truck when I first became an owner-driver with Johnson Freighters in Dannevirke, but everything has been yellow and white since 1994.”

It’s a simple but bold colour scheme that suits the modern lines of the Volvo.

The truck went on the road with a Jackson Enterprises deck and a new Jackson 5-axle trailer, both with new crates from Total Stockcrates.

“Total Truck Spray in Palmerston North did the paint for us and Capture Signs (Palm Nth) did the graphics,” says Fitzy.

“We’ve always tried to support our local guys all through the years.”

The allegiance to the Volvo brand includes a graphic which depicts a Viking who has slain a rival carrying the Kenworth logo.

“I drove one [a Kenworth] 40 years ago and I don’t think much has changed apart from getting a one piece windscreen and they got rid of the vacuum operated wipers,” Fitzy says.

Fitzy says his admiration for Volvo goes back almost as far.

“I drove an F12 many years ago and I’ve always thought of Volvo as being the Rolls-Royce of comfort for trucks,” he says.

Not that Swedish refinement can’t be further improved with a little “down under” ingenuity.

The new Volvo and all of Fitzy’s other trucks are running very smoothly thanks to Atlas Balance Rings.

“I’ve known Darren Powell for quite a while, so I rang him in Aussie to find out more about them. He told me; “you’ll never drive another truck without them once you’ve tried them’,” says Fitzy.

“They do make a big difference to the tyre wear and the comfort. I’m a big fan of them and I believe I was the first in New Zealand to get them.”

It’s not the only extra to be found on the FH16.

“I’ve got a fridge, and a microwave, and a TV,” says Fitzy.

“During the busiest part of the season I probably spend two or three nights away in the truck each week and it’s got most of the home comforts.”

Changes to the truck are completed by some minor lighting details – including swapping the DRLs (daytime running lights) from white to yellow lenses, just to alter the look slightly.

But there’s some extra technology in the trailer as well with a Turn Assist fifth axle.

“I can dump all the air from the back axle below 30kph,” says Fitzy.

“It doesn’t lift it right off the ground, but it helps you turn in tight spots.”

The colour scheme may not have changed much over the years, but Fitzy is always on the lookout for technology that will improve the efficiency and operation of his trucks. 

“I started driving when I was 18 and I’m 63 now, but I believe you never stop learning.”