TALENTED PEOPLE
One of the truisms of trucking is that you never know who is in the cab of the trucks driving the nation’s roads. To the public, it’s often just another face behind the wheel. To the excited kids leaning over the school fence vigorously air pumping their arms as the big rigs roll by, it could be the coolest person in the world – as they return a big smile and an enthusiastic blast on the horn. To those closer to the industry, there may be a familiarity, even if there’s no deeper personal knowledge of one another’s lives – though more often these days, we hear the sentiment that the sense of camaraderie and friendship isn’t what it used to be.
This makes the job of jumping aboard different trucks alongside different drivers each month that much more of a privilege; we usually don’t know who we’ll meet, the path they’ve walked in life, and what stories they’ll have to share.
Arriving at Econowaste, the first driver we meet is 43-yearold Yang Li. Born in central China, Yang grew up in the capital, Beijing, before moving to New Zealand in 1999 at 18. “I came here to finish high school in Christchurch and then continue my studies,” he explains, adding that’s when he moved to Auckland. “I studied
IT, but when I finished uni, I struggled to find a suitable job. So, I did a lot of other stuff.”
Yang first stepped into the transport industry during this period, driving a Courier Post van for a while before opening a café in the city. “The construction of the light rail killed that,” he says. Following that, a truck-driver friend nudged Yang back into the driver seat.
“I always liked driving,” says Yang. “I’ve been driving for almost five years now. I put myself through the licence classes, starting as a class 2 driver, delivering window framing. But that involved a lot of carrying, which I also had to do at Courier Post, and I thought it wasn’t good for my back. As soon as I got my class 4, I found another job doing civil work, shifting dirt. After a year, that got boring, so I paid for my class 5 and also obtained full WTR and DG.”
Yang started with Econowaste in October 2023. “A friend of mine, also from China, has been with Econowaste for eight years and introduced me into this company,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I only know of three
Chinese drivers driving class 5 combinations. There are not many Chinese drivers driving a truck and trailer. But it’s good driving trucks in New Zealand – in China, it’s not a good job. It’s much harder work with bad pay.”
Although Yang is still interested in IT, he has no desire to leave driving behind – much like the second Econowaste driver we meet, Gaurav Bhagat, or Uncle, as he’s better known.
“My nickname is actually
Anku, but they call me Uncle,” he says with a laugh.
Although 31-year-old Gaurav is originally from the Punjab region of India, his story runs a remarkably similar path to Yang’s …
“I’ve been in New Zealand for six years now, always Auckland. In India, I worked for the clothing brand Lacoste. I had a B.Com in accounting but I decided to come to New Zealand for further studies, and did an accounting diploma at Mt Albert Unitech.
“At that time, it was hard to get a job in accounting. I needed experience, but I also needed a permanent job to get a visa …” he says. This catch-22 would be the start of Gaurav’s journey into transport.
“Before I started driving, I was doing deliveries for a bakery (where my wife still works). A friend worked for Econowaste and told me they had a vacancy, so I came for an interview. Though I’d only started with a ute, I was interested in truck driving, and Econowaste helped me through my licence classes.”
While he’s been driving the Arocs 630 since the end of 2023, Gaurav spent the prior four years based at the Econowaste Silverdale depot. He worked his way up through various-sized waste trucks, culminating in a Roadranger-equipped Hino 700 hookloader truck and trailer combination, before being handed the keys to the big Arocs.
While Yang and Gaurav know waste trucks aren’t at the glamourous end of the industry, both are perfectly happy being a part of the important machine keeping the nation’s largest city clean. “I’ve been here for five years and I wouldn’t go back to accounting. It’s a good company to work for, and I love the job,” says Gaurav. “And I’m happy in this industry. During Covid, we weren’t affected; we had jobs. Rubbish companies don’t stop working.”
A driver qualified in IT, and one who could do your books … you just never know who’s in the cab of a truck.
Yang comments.
The lesser weight is evident on the motorway back to WRRTS to wait out the fire. On the southbound side of Wairau Valley past Albany, the 3263 cruises along at 79km/h. Alas, the fire wouldn’t be under control for another day or two, meaning our visit to Visy would have to wait for another time, and Yang gets to head home early.
The following morning we’re back at the WRRTS to meet up with the 3263’s usual driver, Gaurav Bhagat, to get his thoughts on his truck. He’s already been to Redvale to get rid of yesterday’s load of recycling – an unfortunate knock-on consequence of Visy’s temporary inaccessibility.
Gaurav is cool, confident, and clearly a Mercedes man. “I love my truck,” he says. “I was in the Kenworth before this; it was too loud and less comfortable … These Mercs are comfy. I have an E350, and it’s the same sort of comfort.”The Mercedes-Benz DNA shines through …
Riding on steel leaf springs up front and eight-bag air suspension in the rear, the Arocs’ are stable and surefooted on the road, too – though, again, there’s not much to challenge the trucks in this sort of local work.
While both Yang and Gaurav leave the PowerShift 3 to do its own thing in auto, Gaurav does flick between the Power, Economy and Normal modes. “The power mode holds the gears and makes a difference when climbing; it’s noticeable,” he says. The Arocs are fitted with a three-stage Jacobs engine brake, and both Gaurav and Yang tend to only use the first two stages, agreeing the third stage is too strong in most day-to-day situations.
Back at Redvale, and today, we’re depositing at the top end of the facility. It’s a bit further on and a bit of a longer climb, but again, the Arocs isn’t fazed. While we wait, Gaurav flicks through functions in the Arocs’ Multimedia Cockpit. The 630 is fitted with the MMC Interactve system, with a 12in screen displaying driving info ahead of the driver and a 10in touchscreen on the dashboard allowing access to other vehicle functions (on the 580s both screens are 10in). We’ve covered off the MMC system in the past (see New Zealand Trucking, April 2022 and September 2022) but one convenient feature fitted
to models with air suspension is the axle-weight readout, including one for the trailer. On MirrorCams, Gaurav comments indifferently: “I’ve driven the MirrorCam trucks … It’s fine. Good in the rain, you don’t have to constantly clean the mirrors!”
On the way back to The Concourse, Gaurav heads down the Albany highway towards SH18. As the Arocs encounters the descents into Albany, it enables its EcoRoll function, decoupling the transmission and rolling along freely to aid efficiency. A touch on the brake pedal immediately engages the engine to provide the requisite braking effect.
One week later …
… and we’re back with Yang in one of the 580s for the recycling run as originally planned. The unit we’re in is about nine months and 65,000km old. Once again, we’re taking the day’s final load of refuse to Redvale, giving us the opportunity to see what a difference 50hp makes. Admittedly, our payload for this trip is 2.5 tonnes lighter than we’d carried with the
3263 – according to the Redvale weighbridge again – at 23,420kg, giving us a 47,860kg GVM.
“I think we’re light again,”Yang comments as we head up the Wairau Valley climb. By the time the 3258 levels out, we’re doing
62km/h in 11th at 1500rpm. “Yip, like I said [last week], normally the 580 climbs this hill in the 50s.”
Revisiting Redvale and the Silverdale station allows us to contrast the MirrorCam system with conventional mirrors and the same driver … an advantage to the wrong truck being loaded last week. Yang points out that despite the large 15.2in monitors, it’s not easy to see the spotter’s hand signals as he backs up to offload the trailer at Redvale. “I can see his hand is up, but not which signal he’s giving. However, these aren’t affected by the sun – as we witnessed with the conventional mirrors – and I can also lower the sunblind without obscuring the view in the mirror.”
As he suggested the previous week when backing the 3263 into the pit at Silverdale, judging perspective and distance to the side of the truck with MirrorCam can be difficult. “I can change the camera view when reversing, but it doesn’t work for me here. I can’t tell how close I am to the wall. But for normal driving, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t mind either.”
In addition to the MirrorCam system, one of the key
differences between the Econowaste 3258s and the 3263 is the fitment of MercedesBenz’s radar-guided adaptive cruise control and Active
Brake Assist 5. Cruising up the motorway, Yang had set the ACC. From the passenger seat, it’s imperceptible, keeping the set distance and speed as other vehicles enter, exit and change lanes ahead of us, and as the
Arocs is faced with climbs and descents. When slowing or maintaining speed downhill, the system automatically engages the engine brake, although Yang comments that an application of the foot brake is often needed as well. ACC will also allow EcoRoll to activate and fires up the engine to engage the engine brake when it detects a slower vehicle ahead.
“I like it; it’s easy to set. But I don’t usually use it during the day, only at night when there’s less traffic,” he comments. “But the collision warning system can be a little too sensitive at times.”
As expected, the sound levels in both units are similar. The
630 recorded an average 70db at cruise and 72db under load, and the 580, interestingly, was slightly louder at 72db and 74db.
Celebrating the unsung heroes
‘A rubbish truck is a rubbish truck is a rubbish truck’, you’ve probably thought at some point while reading this story. In some ways, that may be true. They don’t need to be flashy – given their operational remit, keeping them polished up and spotless would almost be a fool’s errand. They don’t need to be particularly highpowered or high-tech – though attributes such as circa 600hp and advanced safety systems are an advantage in cut-and-thrust city traffic.
But, as Ken hinted many paragraphs ago, “You’ve got to really understand what ‘a rubbish truck’ is.” And, what ‘a rubbish truck’ is, is essential. Do the basic sums: four 58-tonne truck-andtrailer units, each running four or five loads to landfill from a single transfer station, every day … and then two of them, each running two or three loads of recycling to a sorting facility, every night. A modern-day city’s waste and recycling flows like a river. And as we witnessed, one disruption to that flow causes an immediate and fast-growing backlog.
Essential, too, are their drivers. It’s not a pursuit at the top of many ‘dream driving job’ lists, but it is an honourable one.
As for the trucks, both Arocs models do this niche job admirably, and both reinforce the sentiments conveyed by MC Fale Transport driver John Langlands in our September 2022 feature. Comfortable ride, good handling, strong engine, stronger engine brake, solid build quality, mildly oversensitive safety tech, and a MirrorCam system that some would take, and others would leave. It’s all there, as we’d expect from the Arocs.
Shining stars hiding in plain sight – trucks and drivers.