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Greetings from the Editor’s desk
OUR SURVEY SOULD HELP
To gain information to change the perceptions some potential advertisers may have about our publication, we have placed a survey form with our current issue. It is our desire to establish just where each of the trucking magazines in New Zealand actually sits with the readers, especially those who own trucks (rather than drivers and enthusiasts).
If we take a look at a mature transport market such as in Britain, a quick recce of their magazine circulation and distribution figures shows that one of their best business publications, ‘Commercial Motor’ (a well recognised and influential magazine), delivers 15,918 magazines to transport bosses, whilst the same publisher’s driver orientated magazine ‘Truck and Driver’ has a circulation of 26,599. (Notice how the drivers’ publication sells significantly more magazines than the business publication.)
Now this should give us a clue to what is happening in New Zealand. In New Zealand, circulation numbers appear to show sales of a huge number of magazines per capita for such a small market (there are only 4 million people in NZ as compared to 60 million in the UK). It’s all very well saying that drivers can influence the decision making process, but suggest this is only likely to apply to those companies selling premium product. (We have heard reports of employers buying top end American and European trucks in a bid to retain drivers – but only in times of driver shortage.)
So who do all the magazines in New Zealand go to? That has always been the question and unless someone does something to discover the true numbers we are left working with assumptions – which as we know usually results in stuff ups.
We hope that the survey process will deliver more accurate information than is currently available, and that this should help those wanting to communicate with the industry make more informed decisions.
Kind Regards
Simon
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THE CHANGING FACE OF RURAL CARTAGE
M W BEGG LTD
M W Begg Ltd has been based in Owhango, near Lake Taupo, for just over 50 years. Currently the second generation is running this family concern, with Nairin and his wife Joanne firmly in the driving seat. During the last fifty years much has changed, to match the ebb and flow of the farming and forestry industries, as the company adapted to meet the ever changing needs of their local clientele.
Nairin and Joanne have been on this journey ever since returning from Auckland in the mid 1970s. However, with no family of their own interested in taking over the transport business, the coming years are likely to pose some interesting questions for this pair. Time will eventually tell us where this family concern ends up with a quiet winding down or sale to a competitor, but for the meantime it is most definitely business as usual as there are still four trucks and three drivers to keep busy. Nairin and Joanne have considerable loyalty from their customers which helps them maintain a small but important presence in the district, able to offer service and performance not matched by larger companies.
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KENWORTH IMPROVES SAFETY WITH
ELECTRONIC BRAKE SAFETY SYSTEMS
Kenworth Australia has unveiled the latest advance in safety technology, Kenworth Electronic Brake Safety Systems (EBSS), which they say is at the forefront of development in advanced braking technology for Australian and New Zealand truck operating conditions.
Kenworth EBSS uses the Bendix ABS-6 Advanced platform anti lock brake system, but additionally now incorporates Electronic Stability Program (ESP) calibrated specifically for their extensive model range, local road conditions and applications. The system is further enhanced with the development of an electric trailer brake actuation system for EBS equipped trailers, and additional ABS related functions.
Kenworth point out that these new technology systems provide both an important added safety margin and potential cost benefits.
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THE BIG BRUISER – AN ISUZU FV1000 4X4 ON STERIODS
It would seem that all the best ideas aren’t always thought up in the mega factories that mass produce the vast array commercial vehicles produced all over the globe. Sometimes it is up to the ingenuity and skill of local salesmen and engineers to come up with a solution that is cost effective, practical and, at the end of the day, delivers the best possible product to the end user.
Even in these over regulated and complicated times, it seems that the good old Kiwi ingenuity hasn’t been consigned to the dust bin, and that at least in some circles it is well and truly alive and kicking. When Spreading Sandford Ltd was looking for a spreader uniquely suited to their operations around the Taranaki district, they turned to the local Isuzu agents, Moller Johnson, looking for a solution.
Moller Johnson, and salesman, Robbie Sim, didn’t fail to deliver either. Through a combination of local suppliers and their own workshops they devised a system of making a standard four wheel drive Isuzu FV1000 much more suitable for its role with Sandfords. There is a lot of work required to make these machines more suitable on the farm whilst at the same time being able to reach much improved GCM that the standard Isuzu base model.
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