Teletrac Navman Fleet Focus

The fabrication of a modern vehicle tyre is an insanely complex process.

Basically, it involves melding a range of largely incompatible materials into a hard-wearing and stable whole. A typical tyre can have up to 12 different compounds of rubber, both natural and synthetic, plus around 24 other components – reinforcement in the form of high tensile steel (both as woven belts and wires) or textiles (rayon, nylon, polyester and aramid fibres), plus fillers including carbon black, silica and chalk.

In addition, there’s a Mad Scientist’s lineup of chemicals to help keep mixtures plastic, or aid vulcanisation, or delay ageing.

Given that the bulk of a tyre’... ... 

Forty, fifty years back, Cates Brothers was this little trucking business in Titoki – out northwest of Whangarei, on the road to Kaikohe.

Local farmers Colin and Bill Cates had three or four trucks – carting metal from the quarry they operated on a nearby farm.

Fast-forward to 2023….and Cates Bros is now a 21-truck business – running all tippers, except for one transporter unit (to shift a couple of diggers they also run). 

Where Colin and brother Bill used to be the owners, now it’s two of Colin’s four sons – Snow and Scally.

So it’s not too difficult to imagine that this is one of those family transport businesses that have simply, seamless... ... 

One thing that’s not rubbish about Rubbish Direct is its service. In fact, that’s the one thing that sets this company apart from its competition in the waste collection game – the quality of its service.

Rubbish Direct’s attention to detail is evident in the cleanliness and uniformity of its Auckland-based  fleet of 45 compactor rubbish trucks. They look very neat lined up and while that’s not how most customers will see them, their clean and tidy appearance isn’t going to drag down the tone in their frequent visits to high-end apartment buildings, restaurants, hotels and commercial buildings.

While it might be hard to accept at face value, Rubbish Dire... ...