New Zealand Truck & Driver is out on some of the dusty roads of North Canterbury for the February 2025 cover story and GiTi Tyres Big Test. The feature truck is the new GVT (Greta Valley Transport) Iveco S-Way 570 working as a 9-axle livestock unit out of Glasnevin. It’s the third late-model Iveco to join the GVT rural transport operation.

The first Fleet Focus of the year takes a look at Robson Environmental Services. The family-run Christchurch firm has been looking after Canterbury’s liquid waste work for almost half-a-century and has been innovating to meet the modern challenges of the industry.

Full-year registration data has been published for 2024, and we report on a New Zealand new truck and trailer market which started with some solid numbers and slowed in the second half of the year. Among the winners was Isuzu which consolidated its position as the top-selling brand along with Scania which continues to lead the 23t-plus Premium category.

News coverage includes the latest State Highway 1 maintenance updates and reports on a new Hydrogen Action Plan for New Zealand. We also look at an important autonomous trucking development in the US. Caterpillar and Mack are both gearing up to celebrate major anniversaries in 2025 and the Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship calendar is confirmed.

Transporting New Zealand CEO Dom Kalasih offers the association’s thoughts on new roads and the options for funding them and also takes a look at some of the science behind improving road surface quality.

Old and new trucks feature in the February issue including the story of the Western Star 3800 that was a game-changer for Gleeson & Cox in the mid-1990s. The company has repurchased and rebuilt its original example.

And Isuzu provides the platform for a versatile new truck that allows Total Barrier Solutions to carry out its highway safety work.

The first Southpac Trucks Legends yarn for 2025 has Glen Tervit of Fleet Image telling his transport career story, from sweeping floors at a Holden dealership to operating New Zealand’s largest independently owned collision repair company. 

National Road Carriers Association Chief Executive Justin Tighe-Umbers explains the importance of long-term strategy for roading, and NRC Chair Ian Newey looks at the broad range of initiatives the association is working on.

And in the NZ Heavy Haulage Association column CEO Jonathan Bhana-Thomson provides an outline of the requirements for shifting some of the smaller over-dimension loads such as tiny homes.