New Zealand is well ahead of Australia in terms of fleet colour and fleet branding application – there’s a huge amount of pride taken by transport operators in the appearance of their trucks,” says Auckland Truck Spray Ltd owner, Peter Maxwell.
Auckland Truck Spray Ltd is a member of the RALI (Resene Automotive and Light Industrial) FLEETCARE approved applicator network.
The company uses the Cromax™ Imron Fleet Line® range of products amongst others from RALI, because Maxwell says it offers a thoroughbred paint finish, and he will be loyal to the Cromax (previously DuPont) product for as long as it’s available.
“I’m pleased that RALI have secured a relaunch of the Imron EZ 3460S Clear Coat here in the new year. We lost supply of it for a little while, but I’m very happy that the FLEETCARE network are getting it back.
“This clear coat product has Teflon all the way through its makeup, and it provides a clear coat of paint for the life of the truck; while other coatings wear down, this one wears up,” says Maxwell.
Imron EZ 3460S is a very durable clear coat with excellent cleaning properties and resists dirt, road tar and tree sap.
“The extra money an operator spends up front for an application of Imron EZ 3460S absolutely pays off in the long term, with reduced costs of cleaning, reduced downtime, and even reduced corrosion issues,” he says.
“One concrete operator commented that not only did concrete fall off a truck sprayed with EZ 3460S, there was almost a fight every Friday amongst the staff as to who got to wash it, and be the first to have a beer, because it was easier and quicker to clean than the other trucks.
“We also once won an image award from a competitor paint supplier a few years ago for a truck that we had sprayed for the Carr & Haslam fleet,” says Maxwell wryly.
“I believe there is a lot more professionalism in the truck market in New Zealand than in Australia amongst both corporately owned and independent truck fleets,” says Maxwell. “It’s a good thing. A nice clean truck with a good lick of paint on it helps the image of the industry.”
Amongst Auckland Truck Sprays regular fleet clients are brands such as Coca Cola, Dart Freight and Carr & Haslam.
Maxwell says customers such as Coca Cola have very stringent specifications, as well as spraying the cabs, and the chassis to the battery box, Coca Cola also requires that the underside of the roof be sprayed as well as the top of the roof.
“We use a European-sourced Cromax product that sprays directly to metal, and it performs really well,” he says.
“We had a minor issue once with paint flecking off, and we narrowed it down to the cleaning process prior to paint application, and we rectified how that was done.”
Maxwell has owned and operated Auckland Truck Spray Limited in Penrose for more than 18 years, and most of his current employees have more than 15 years’ service with the company.
“A high staff turnover kills your business and you will struggle to maintain quality, so treat others how you want to be treated and all will run well,” he says.
There are three staff involved in preparation, three spray painters, one panel beater, and one chassis man.
Maxwell has also created his own non-skid paint additive to a priming system, which is now applied to checker plate walkways, as well as on to steps, and the bodies of attenuator trucks, used by roading contractors, as a further health and safety measure.
He says although the workshop carries out minor repairs during refurbishment projects, the operation was created as a wholly boutique paint spray work shop for all types of trucks and trailers.
