Taranaki Truck Show 2019 recap

By: Dean Middleton, Photography by: Dean Middleton

Date: 10.05.2019

The weather gods turned on a great day and Hickford Park in Bellblock was a perfect location for the show 2019 Taranaki Truck Show

J D Hickman’s stunning Kenworth T900 Legend was one of the 12 Hickman trucks taking part in the convoy 2019 Taranaki Truck ShoW 2

This near-new Mercedes-Benz won the ‘Best Mercedes’ prize 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 3

Auto Despatch with their Fat Cab K200 Kenworth Car carrier 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 4

Dennis Wheeler Contracting’s futuristic-looking Isuzu reputed to be the shape of the new cabs yet to be released in more traditional New Zealand specifications 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 5

The Taranaki Civil Contracting trio arriving at the show after the huge convoy 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 6

‘Truck of the Show’ winner Uhlenberg’s meticulous W924 Kenworth 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 7

Craig Searle won the ‘Best Classic’ award in his immaculate Kenworth SAR 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 8

If you need to load your spreader on site, this is how the Osflo team gets it done 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 9

One of my picks of the show was this 2003 Hookers Western Star 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 10

One of the two spotless T659 Kenworth’s on display for McCarthy Logging 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 11

Support from the local transport operators was superb; this was part of the GJ Sole line-up 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 12

Mack Bros classic International T-line ‘Back to the Future’ 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 13

With two near-new T900 Legends at the show, Central Equipment Movers were not going to be outdone, bringing along their T900 original 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 14

J. Swap took out the ‘Best Bulk Unit’ prize with their pristine Kenworth T900 Legend 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 15

One of the outstanding line-ups on the day. The TIL/Hookers group had 11 trucks at the show and also provided rides for the public throughout the day. 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 16

Brian Menefy posed for the cameras in his huge sleeper cabbed Mack Superliner 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 17

L. A Schreiber bought along their four spotless Kenworths 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 18

Part of the organising committee, Doug Paynter and Will Bishop, pose for a quick photo in front of their respective trucks at the end of the hugely successful event 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 19

The ‘Best Fleet’ award went to the immaculate fleet from Uhlenberg Haulage 2019 Taranaki Truck Show 20

The weather gods turned on a great day and Hickford Park in Bellblock was a perfect location for the show

J D Hickman’s stunning Kenworth T900 Legend was one of the 12 Hickman trucks taking part in the convoy

This near-new Mercedes-Benz won the ‘Best Mercedes’ prize

Auto Despatch with their Fat Cab K200 Kenworth Car carrier

Dennis Wheeler Contracting’s futuristic-looking Isuzu reputed to be the shape of the new cabs yet to be released in more traditional New Zealand specifications

The Taranaki Civil Contracting trio arriving at the show after the huge convoy

‘Truck of the Show’ winner Uhlenberg’s meticulous W924 Kenworth

Craig Searle won the ‘Best Classic’ award in his immaculate Kenworth SAR

If you need to load your spreader on site, this is how the Osflo team gets it done

One of my picks of the show was this 2003 Hookers Western Star

One of the two spotless T659 Kenworth’s on display for McCarthy Logging

Support from the local transport operators was superb; this was part of the GJ Sole line-up

Mack Bros classic International T-line ‘Back to the Future’

With two near-new T900 Legends at the show, Central Equipment Movers were not going to be outdone, bringing along their T900 original

J. Swap took out the ‘Best Bulk Unit’ prize with their pristine Kenworth T900 Legend

One of the outstanding line-ups on the day. The TIL/Hookers group had 11 trucks at the show and also provided rides for the public throughout the day.

Brian Menefy posed for the cameras in his huge sleeper cabbed Mack Superliner

L. A Schreiber bought along their four spotless Kenworths

Part of the organising committee, Doug Paynter and Will Bishop, pose for a quick photo in front of their respective trucks at the end of the hugely successful event

The ‘Best Fleet’ award went to the immaculate fleet from Uhlenberg Haulage

The Taranaki Truck Show, organised by the Taranaki Truckers Group, was well supported by local transport operators, both in sponsorship and the number of trucks entered

I’ve attended many truck shows over the years, and the very best ones are the shows organised by people directly involved in the industry. The 2019 Taranaki Truck Show was one of them.

Organised by the Taranaki Truckers Group, more than 140 trucks gathered at Centennial Drive near the New Plymouth port early on Sunday, 10 March, in preparation for the Convoy.

At 9am, the convoy was on the move, driving right through the heart of New Plymouth and out to Hickford Park in Bellblock, some 13km away. The weather gods turned on a great day for the event and Hickford Park was the perfect venue with plenty of room for the large turnout.

Due to the change in venue this year, there was enough room for complete units, so trailers were able to remain hitched up—a rarity on the truck show circuit in New Zealand, especially in the North Island.

The show was well supported by local transport operators both in sponsorship and the number of trucks entered. J D Hickman had 12 trucks on display, Uhlenberg had 10, and G J Sole and Hookers/TIL had 11 each respectively.

Food stalls and various other activities kept the large crowd of attendees busy when they had finished admiring the immaculate standard of trucks on display. Proceeds from the show went to the Taranaki Community Rescue Helicopter Trust—a life-saving service in the Taranaki region.

The Coveted ‘Truck of the Show’ trophy was awarded to the meticulous W924 Kenworth from Uhlenberg Haulage who also took out the ‘People’s Choice’ and ‘Best Fleet’ awards. Check out the following pages for some more highlights from the event.