Old School Trucks: Chemical Cleaning to Orica

By: Dean Middleton, Photography by: Dean Middleton

Date: 24.02.2022

‘Island Cruiser 2’ was an F12 Volvo that was based in the North Island for most of its working life, but was based in Timaru at the time of the photo back in the late ’80s

My all-time favourite Chemical Cleaning truck was this classic Timaru-based Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘Ole Man Reaper’

Definitely worth a reverse angle pic, ‘Old Man Reaper’ would arguably have been one of the most recognisable and and well known trucks in the South Island back in the ’80s

The bulk of the Chemical Cleaning fleet was based at Mount Maunganui, however, this Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘Simply Irresistible’ was based in Timaru for a time. I only realised while writing this article that almost all of the trucks in the fleet were named after well-known songs. ‘Simply Irresistable’ was a popular song by Robert Palmer.

A Mount Maunganui-based Mk2 Mack Superliner pictured in Auckland back in 198, ‘Lady in Red’ named after the Chris DeBurgh classic

They say if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. ‘White Fang’ was one of the first of the Superliners to receive the ‘new’ livery.

I’m not sure painting the bumper white on this Mk2 Mack Superliner did anything to help improve my opinion of the new livery

‘California Dreaming’ pictured in Hornby, Christchurch back in the mid-’90s. ‘California Dreaming’ a popular Beach Boys classic.

When Orica took over, the light blue looked a lot fresher with the white base colour as seen here on ‘Touch Of Paradise’—a well-known Johnny Farnham song at the time

CH Mack’s gradually replaced the legendary Superliners in the fleet; this CH was named loyal after the Dave Dobbyn song

Another song title graced the hood of this CH, named after the Cold Chisel song ‘Forever Now’

Mack Visions joined the CH Mack company trucks; this Vision was called ‘Born to Run’, and there are no prizes for guessing the artist behind this song

The Eagles hit ‘Take it to the Limit’ was the name given to this Mack Vision

Many heads turned when the Kenworth brand entered the previously Mack dominated fleet. This Kenworth T601 was pictured based in Timaru and named ‘Suicide Blonde’ after the Inxs song.

‘Perfect Strangers’ was a T404 Kenworth named after the ‘Deep Purple’ song

An Invercargill-based Nissan Diesel CW440 pictured taking part in the 2011 Invercargill Truck Parade. It was sporting an All Black Flags, as the parade was on the day of the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final against France, which the ABs went on to win a nail-biting eight points to seven.

This Scania R620 was pictured on the Kaimai Ranges back in 2013 and was also contracted to Orica by Fluidex

Fluidex Contracted to Orica in the 2000s; this International 9200 was pictured leaving Fonterra’s Clandeboye’s milk factory back in 2007

Priority Logistics were also a contractor to Orica; this Western Star was pictured near Papamoa also in 2013

‘Island Cruiser 2’ was an F12 Volvo that was based in the North Island for most of its working life, but was based in Timaru at the time of the photo back in the late ’80s

My all-time favourite Chemical Cleaning truck was this classic Timaru-based Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘Ole Man Reaper’

Definitely worth a reverse angle pic, ‘Old Man Reaper’ would arguably have been one of the most recognisable and and well known trucks in the South Island back in the ’80s

The bulk of the Chemical Cleaning fleet was based at Mount Maunganui, however, this Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘Simply Irresistible’ was based in Timaru for a time. I only realised while writing this article that almost all of the trucks in the fleet were named after well-known songs. ‘Simply Irresistable’ was a popular song by Robert Palmer.

A Mount Maunganui-based Mk2 Mack Superliner pictured in Auckland back in 198, ‘Lady in Red’ named after the Chris DeBurgh classic

They say if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. ‘White Fang’ was one of the first of the Superliners to receive the ‘new’ livery.

I’m not sure painting the bumper white on this Mk2 Mack Superliner did anything to help improve my opinion of the new livery

‘California Dreaming’ pictured in Hornby, Christchurch back in the mid-’90s. ‘California Dreaming’ a popular Beach Boys classic.

When Orica took over, the light blue looked a lot fresher with the white base colour as seen here on ‘Touch Of Paradise’—a well-known Johnny Farnham song at the time

CH Mack’s gradually replaced the legendary Superliners in the fleet; this CH was named loyal after the Dave Dobbyn song

Another song title graced the hood of this CH, named after the Cold Chisel song ‘Forever Now’

Mack Visions joined the CH Mack company trucks; this Vision was called ‘Born to Run’, and there are no prizes for guessing the artist behind this song

The Eagles hit ‘Take it to the Limit’ was the name given to this Mack Vision

Many heads turned when the Kenworth brand entered the previously Mack dominated fleet. This Kenworth T601 was pictured based in Timaru and named ‘Suicide Blonde’ after the Inxs song.

‘Perfect Strangers’ was a T404 Kenworth named after the ‘Deep Purple’ song

An Invercargill-based Nissan Diesel CW440 pictured taking part in the 2011 Invercargill Truck Parade. It was sporting an All Black Flags, as the parade was on the day of the 2011 Rugby World Cup Final against France, which the ABs went on to win a nail-biting eight points to seven.

This Scania R620 was pictured on the Kaimai Ranges back in 2013 and was also contracted to Orica by Fluidex

Fluidex Contracted to Orica in the 2000s; this International 9200 was pictured leaving Fonterra’s Clandeboye’s milk factory back in 2007

Priority Logistics were also a contractor to Orica; this Western Star was pictured near Papamoa also in 2013

Chemical Cleaning was a bulk chemical supplier, which supplied several industries, including NZ's burgeoning dairy industry with bulk cleaning chemicals

When I was barely a teenager back in the mid-’80s, Chemical Cleaning Limited did not mean a lot to me as a company or even what their line of work was. What did interest me, however, was a Timaru-based Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘Ole Man Reaper’.

For me (and many others at the time), this was one of the most iconic trucks to ply South Island Roads during that era. I used to ride shotgun a lot in other trucks back in the day, and no truck looked better charging toward us going in the opposite direction than ‘Ole Man Reaper’. 

Chemical Cleaning was a bulk chemical supplier, which supplied several industries, including New Zealand’s burgeoning dairy industry with bulk cleaning chemicals. The company was well known for running a small fleet of immaculately presented bright red Mack Superliners, which were easily recognised and well appreciated on New Zealand roads at the time. 

During the early ’90s, the Chemical Cleaning management decided a more professional image was needed and set about creating a new livery that consisted of white with red and grey stripes. As a kid, I was told that if you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all. Hence the end of this paragraph.

Chemical Cleaning had several owners throughout the ’90s, however, the biggest change was when Orica took over the helm in the late ’90s and their smarter white and blue livery was adopted on the fleet.

One thing that I stumbled upon (surprisingly myself) was that from the early days, almost all of the trucks in the fleet were named after popular and well-known songs. From an Mk1 Mack Superliner named ‘California Dreaming’ after the famous Mamas and Papas song to a Mack Vision named ‘Born to Run’ by none other than ‘The Boss’ Bruce Springsteen.

That personal touch epitomised an iconic New Zealand fleet that still had character even when acquired by a corporate company.  

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