Double Coin Imaging Awards

A trucking company that just a few years ago was running plain (almost anonymous), mostly-white trucks, has been judged the best-looking fleet of the year in the annual PPG Transport Imaging Awards.
In a classic example of the transformative powers of a good fleet livery, Bombay-based N&J Wood's bulk tipper business has boomed since Neil and Joanne Wood bought their first new truck in 2013.
And Neil happily reckons that it wouldn't have happened if not for the fact that Joanne loved the look of the retro hotrod-styled International LoneStar that was arguably THE star of the 2013 Transport & Heavy Equipment Expo at Mystery Creek.
It prompted them to scrap thei... ... 

Bay of Plenty operator Brett Marsh almost decided to leave the latest flagships on his fleet a plain old, anonymous white, rather than the distinctive pale blue and white livery that the company adopted 12 years ago.
He reckoned that, since the two newcomers are eyecatching traditional-style Kenworth T909s, maybe "plain white would stand out just as much. They looked good white."
And, after all, plain white does carry the same cool, cold connotations as the company colour scheme and logo that Brett and wife Leonie adopted when they made a switch to refrigerated transport in 2007.
Prior to that, they'd been in the business of running bulk liquid tankers…painted... ... 

Some fleet colour schemes come fully-formed and ready to go, from a professional design consultancy – while others are the result of several years of experimentation. 
This month's finalist in the PPG Transport Imaging Awards, Christchurch's SML Logging, fits quite firmly into the latter category. 
Its first decade featured a range of variants that were not always universally admired, but which eventually evolved into the smart livery that today makes the fleet one of the most recognisable in the region.  
The positive public identity is boosted by a tradition begun by founder Steve Murphy and enthusiastically carried on by son and company c... ... 

It's a side-effect of having trucks with an eyecatching livery that RAC Group director Andrew Boyhan finds amusing.
"We've only got 15 or so trucks….but the fact that they look good and they're out there working all the time, people think we've got hundreds of them!"
RAC is a Christchurch-based company specialising in civil construction work and road transport – heavily involved in the post-earthquake rebuild, infrastructure development and new residential and commercial developments.
Last year, after getting-by with a fleet of secondhand trucks for its first eight or nine years, the company bought its first new trucks – a pair of DAF CF85 truck an... ...