Double Coin Imaging Awards

As the saying goes “goods things take time” so waiting for a new Kenworth K220 to be ready for the road and our photo session was well worth it.

Maramarua-based W.E. Hale Ltd is celebrating 50 years in business this year, so what better way to celebrate than putting another stunning new K220 Flat Roof bulk unit on the road sold by Tim Finlay at Southpac Trucks.

Humble and understated owner Mark (William) Hale isn’t much for shouting about his achievements, but the locals know and with his KBS (Karaka Bulk Spreading 2018) and W. E. Hale Transport bulk commodities fleet now numbering over 20 trucks, the half-century milestone is well worthy of celebrating.

Nearly all of the larger Volvo trucks sold in New Zealand are built at the Volvo Group Australia plant at Wacol, Queensland.

This new Williams Salvage Volvo FM 540 8x4 which went to work in the Waikato region at the end of last year has even more Aussie input.

After rolling off the Wacol production line – complete with heavy duty double skin chassis rails, leaf spring trunnion rear suspension and hub reduction gearing – the cab and chassis moved to the Sunshine Coast headquarters of salvage and towing equipment manufacturer Ekebol.

Williams Salvage director Dion Ward-Allen says he spent a couple of years researching the build options for a new heavy... ... 

The Diamantina Drover was written by an Australian folk and political music group called Redgum. It tells the story of a drover, somebody who herds and drives cattle over long distances, and explores the themes of longing, globetrotting, and drifting endlessly.

Certain parts of this could quite easily be compared to the life of a stock truck driver where every day is different, some starting before the sun has risen to get early loads to the works, some are late starts to keep the nightshift works going.

Owner driver, Matthew Thomas, now 31 years of age, was born and bred into a dairy farming family in Levin. He got his first job in the trucking industry w... ... 

A unique and eye-catching colour scheme for a new DAF CF 530 livestock unit is keeping the well-known Soppet’s name and colours on the road.

Twins Rodney and Lindsay Soppet established their Maramarua-based rural transport company in 1975, running it for 47 years before selling to OnRoad Transport in January 2022.

And in November last year the Soppet brothers were back in the yard to be surprised by the handover of the newest truck in the OnRoad fleet to driver Kelvin Soppet, the son of Rodney.

The DAF carries a modern tribute to the familiar Soppet’s green livery and also carries the Soppet’s name on the cab and crates, in addition to ORT branding.<... ...