The star of the show in the April 2025 issue of New Zealand Truck & Driver is the new generation Western Star X-Series.

We visit sunny Hawke’s Bay for the Giti Tyres Big Test showcasing the Berkett Earthmovers Western Star 48X. It’s the first of the boldly-styled new X-Series models to go to work in a Kiwi fleet and is busy hauling rock and aggregate to around the Bay.

Our April Fleet Focus is on the busy city streets of Auckland with a visit to 104-year-old A.J. Tutill & Sons Carriers. The Penrose-based family business with the familiar green trucks is now being run by brothers Jack and Bryn Tutill, the fifth generation of the family to hold the reins of the metro general freight operation. 

The latest news from the world of road transport looks at a licence exemption that should open up new light-duty BEV options for Kiwi firms and we update the big SH1 Tirau to Waiouru maintenance project following the recent reopening of the Desert Rd.

The April issue also reports on the final funds distribution from the big Transfleet Trailers/ Allied Petroleum Bombay Truck Show, and we look at a hi-tech rescue truck added to the emergency fleet at Auckland International Airport. There’s also details of the next generation Cummins 10-litre engine platform and a look at the latest bonneted Volvo destined for North America.

This month’s Southpac Trucks Legend is Darrell Hoskin from Whanganui’s Dave Hoskin Carriers and the monthly update from Transporting New Zealand reports on initial meetings with new Transport Minister Chris Bishop and provides an update from the Livestock Transport and Safety Group. 

Precision artwork is also in the spotlight with the reveal of the painting to celebrate the new Sheldrake Haulage Kenworth W900 SAR Legend being named winner of the Double Coin Tyres Transport Imaging Award. 

There’s also truck show reports from the NZFP Reunion held in Tokoroa last month and the TMC Trailers Trucking Industry Show in Christchurch. And continuing the showstopper theme we tell the story behind Charlie Bailey’s Smokey and the Bandit themed Kenworth.

Focus also falls on log transport safety with a report on the new Safe-T-Loader system for loading logging trailers – a solution developed by Peter Phillips and Patchell Engineering.

This month’s Double Coin Tyres Transport Imaging Awards poster looks at the story behind a new DAF which is a tribute to the Soppet family while National Road Carriers Association Chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers reviews the energy sector challenges which New Zealand must address. 

The monthly CrediFlex Recently Registered pages report on the February new truck and trailer registration data and spotlights some of the new rigs on the road.