Despite the shortage of truck drivers, PBT didn’t have to look far when recruiting one of its newest operators in Auckland.
Working in the PBT despatch office since 2012, Roy Van Geffen enjoyed the contact with all the drivers, but he decided it was time for a change, setting his sights on following his father in becoming a truck driver.
With help from PBT, Van Geffen managed to progress from a Class 1 through to a full Class 5 licence in just a year-and-a-half.
During that time, he built up his experience in the South Auckland yard moving trucks and containers around with any available side loader.
That experience helped Van Geffen form an opinion on what sort of rig he would like to run when he was finally able to buy one.
“I operated a few side loaders over the last year, mainly on the weekends and doing the odd shift as a relief driver and I got to like the Hammars,” he says.
“They’re easy to learn, easy to use and felt a lot safer than anything else I’d used. They’re quick. They’re reliable and rarely break down. And if there is anything wrong, the Hammar yard is only just down the road and the guys down there are friendly.”
Owning a truck and trailer might have been just a pipedream for the 25-year-old if it wasn’t for a little help from his friends. He doesn’t own a home, so had nothing to put up as collateral against a loan to purchase a truck.
“As a new driver starting out, finance is always an issue, but Fred from Hammar had enough faith in me to act as a guarantor for the trailer and another contract driver helped me with the tractor unit.” says Van Geffen.
“Lot of people have a lot of faith in me, and I’m going to repay that faith. I don’t own a house, just a truck and trailer, but it’s a good start,” he says.
Van Geffen purchased a brand new UD GW 25 420 tractor unit to haul an equally new HAMMAR 195 S model side loader, which he figured would be ideal for his everyday work with PBT.
“The majority of my deliveries are point-to-point, so this model is definitely suited to the Auckland area – a lot of sites are getting smaller and smaller, and there’s not a lot of room to swing a container off anymore, and this works well,” says Roy.
The sliding chassis on the 195 S model allows Van Geffen to pick up 20ft or 40ft containers to a safe lifting capacity of 36 tonnes.
The light tare chassis is extremely strong, built in the Auckland factory with steel brought in from Sweden, along with Hammar’s design cranes and compact stabilisers.
As with all Hammar side loaders, a remote is standard, and Van Geffem says it’s a treat to operate.
