If I only had one paragraph to write the whole truck section, I’d write about the end of our chat in Gilmour Transport’s yard in Tokoroa on morning one. “Yep, all good. I’ll go and get unloaded and then give you a call when I know where I’m going next,” said Steve. “Yep, sweet as.”

Ali took up position outside the gate with a video camera and I readied myself for a couple of snaps as he approached the exit.

Steve jumped in the truck, idled out to the gate, slowed to less than a crawl to breach the crease where the yard exit dips to meet Huttloc Drive, continued at the same pace until the rear of the trailer was clear – the full row rear mudflaps barely making contact with the bitumen, and then he and his charge ambled up the street, progressively making ground as he picked gears in classic short-shift mode.

The undertaking demonstrated two gems of understanding – the first is something only owner-drivers and operators truly ever appreciate, and the second the benefit some other lucky party gets as a result. Assuming all other factors in and around the act are as they should be, the first gem is: the art of trucking is carting the most possible product on the back while incurring the least possible cost. Gem No.2: the condition the machine is in for its second owner is contingent on its first owner knowing and understanding gem No.1. Neither does it mean the chariot in question can’t do a lot of hard work. The Livingstons have always done a heap of off highway with their trucks and GUDAS will be no different. But a well-driven and cared for truck can do a shit-tonne of work and still be a superb proposition for owner No.2.

“The old girl went to Alex King in the Hawke’s Bay,” Steve says later. “I’ve seen her a couple of times, but not much, being over there and that. It’ll be a good machine; we keep on top of them. I’d never sell something I knew wasn’t right. That’d be horrible.”

Yep, we think this one’s probably going to be pretty right in a decade based on the yard exit.

Steve appeared from the Kinleith Mill road intersecting SH32 about an hour later. We were heading for the JDL Logging operation just off the western access road about 10km from Whakamaru – still on SH32. It was a lovely late winter morning as Steve rolled along above the Waikato River toward the drop down and over the Whakamaru Dam. The fields, forest, Lake Whakamaru, and big gold K220 Kenworth with its new Evans trailer were gleaming in the sun. It was the type of morning truckers live for.

Bill-proof

If you look at the Livingston truck-speccing recipe, it’s founded on pressing repeat on something as uncomplicated as you can make it, something you know will work. Right back to Steve’s father Doc and the original Kenworth – K124CR, Cummins 400hp Big Cam, 15-speed Roadranger, and 46,000lb Rockwells on Hendrickson six-rod suspension. The only thing that’s likely to break in that setup is the driver, but Doc backed himself to have enough youth on his side to see the truck out – plus, if you put enough weight on its back, anything will be smoother. Maybe that’s why The Flying Doctor spent its first three years off-highway – LOL. (It wasn’t out on the highway long before the first Foden appeared … just sayin’.)

Aside from a couple of forays into the Caterpillar engine world and a switch to a proprietary rear suspension, it’s been the genealogical evolution of Doc’s original spec all the way. The 220 has Cummins’ 15L X-15 in Euro-5 trim belting out 459kW (615hp) at peak and 2779Nm (2050lb/ft) of torque. Behind is the Eaton Roadranger 18-speed in 2200-series trim, Meritor MT21-165GP with dual diff locks, and Kenworth Airglide 460 rear suspension. If you wanted to give yourself the best shot at success in a component manufactured truck world, that would be as good a bet as you could make. What it means in real-time is that Steve drove into the skid site without issue, and out of it without issue. He’ll likely do so for the next decade. The Livingstons are also Evans trailer people. “We always have been; they make a great product, they’re local, and so easy to get to if we need anything – they’ve always been good people to deal with. Vulcan scales on the Evans gear obviously and Hendrickson axles, yep, just good reliable gear all around really.”

Beyond the core

But could all this assuredness be misconstrued for a lack of outside-box thinking? Far from it. The reality is they’ve seen it all in the modern era, and lived a lot of it. Rubber block suspension in the Fodens … in fact, the Fodens as a truck. Then if you’re browsing the walls in the Livingston man cave there’s The Flying Doctor in tri-axle guise – all the rage before central tyre inflation made its way into civilian life, after which piles of superfluous axles adorned log truck yards across the nation. Once out of the bush and on the highway, the same truck was an early example of an air ram convertible setup.

Convertible log trucks – the game-changer of the 1980s. Central tyre inflation and scales – the game-changers of the 1990s. LED lights and HPMV transformed the early part of the century. What is it now? Well, GUDAS has a few trinkets its predecessor didn’t have. A BroLube central greasing system is one. “Yep, it’s good,” says Steve as we give it a roadside contemplation. “It’d be amazing in a fleet situation, but I’m under it every weekend and so, yeah, for me it’s probably ‘handy?’”

Then comes the big one for Steve. When someone this deep into generational log cartage points to something and says “That! That’s the game-changer. They’re bloody amazing and have transformed the job,” it’s worth pausing to take serious note. He’s pointing to the ExTe chain winches. “Just incredible. They take all the strain off you, and constantly tighten as needed. They’ve also reduced the belly chains required in some instances. Yep, they’re the next big thing in my mind.”

It’s a new unit front to back, and one thing not present is long stanchions and fold-over bolsters.

“I can put the trailer up without having to lay them over and then stand them up again to load. The rifle bolts are so easy; just wander around and pop them up and down. I’ll stick with them for the time being.”

Off and on

One thing in log trucking that doesn’t change are ‘silly-o’clock’ starts. Nowadays it is possible to find a gig that suits if you’re an owl rather than a fowl, but Steve’s old school and so the K220 normally sneaks down the drive somewhere between 1.30am and 3am, depending on the assignment. The first round can be a longer lead, and for the two days we trundled around after him, it came out of Waimiha on the edge of the Pureora Forest, about 40 minutes south of Benneydale.

We popped into Jilly’s coffee cart at Benneydale and she was inquisitive as to our excited state as we sussed out our possies with Steve’s impending approach. There was time for a caffeine fix, though, and when we revealed who we were, why we were there, and who we were waiting for, Jilly said “Oh Steve. He’s just the loveliest man. I open at 4am, so he often grabs a coffee on the way through. He’s a really nice, kind chap.” #Industryambassadors.

The main thoroughfares of the South Waikato/northern King Country volcanic region are great trucking carriageways. Gently winding, rolling country, with a little more bite in the ‘rolling’ than normally associated with that description. As a rule, it’s shoulderless, so room for error is minimal and the combination of all factors should keep average speeds sensible, especially so in the HPMV era, with higher truck and rear trailer bay packet heights. Steve runs at 54 tonne where possible and 50 tonne where required – the latter gives him about 31.5 tonne payload. It’s perfect territory for the Cummins X-15, the torque able to carry the combination along without too much down shifting or need for breakneck pace. One thing you do notice travelling around the traps here is the impact of the dairy boom of the late 1990s/early 2000s on the forestry landscape. Vast swathes of what was wall-to-wall Pinus radiata et al, 40 years ago, is today wide-open pasture, big milking sheds, and grazing moos. At a macro level, there’s a bit of clawback in the trend; the protagonist there, however, is emissions counterbalance.

A good proportion of the Livingston family log-cartage life has been beyond the public eye in the off-highway network, and there are elements here that aren’t what they used to be either. Such was the march of the dairy invasion, arteries like Tram Road off SH1 at Ohakuri back through to SH30 at Whakamaru are now shared roads. It means the fleet can still cart at higher than HPMV weights, and the locals can farm the land. A win win.

Our last load with Steve was close to the Ohakuri end of Tram. We waited for him to exit the forest, and I jumped in for the run to the off-highway border, just north of SH30. “The limit’s 65 tonne in this part, you can go higher in other parts but it’s the old off-highway bridge over the Waikato down here ahead of us that sets the weight. It’s easier on the gear at 65 anyway.”

Harking back to the start of our time together and Steve leaving the Gilmour yard, it was more of the same. Off the inclines in the right gear, selected well before, and let the Jake work into the task. Power on when needed, and let it all relax when you’re able. Let the energy wash away and not get pent up and resident in the machine, wearing out bushes and bearings and all that costly stuff. It might have 459kW (615hp), but Steve doesn’t spend a lot of time there. As an old hand once told me – ‘torque wears them in, horsepower wears them out’. This was exactly that.

His style never altered one iota for the time we were together, neither did his disposition – the two are inextricably entwined. He eased the big K220 out with silky smoothness, as the great drivers always say … ’letting it find its way’. It’s the same style you see in all the old hands of multi trailer off-highway log trucks, heavy haulage and outback roadtrains. It works when it needs to, and not when it doesn’t. As we said, it’s why this machine will carry a lot of wood, and also be a loyal servant to its next master.

Bliss and blurred lines

Facing the microphone in Sharon’s direction is the best way to have the interior of the Livingston K220 described.

“No dirty boots, seat covers layered with towels. No touching anything, no eating inside. Bloody hell, you’re frightened to go near it!” Steve throws his head back as they both burst into hysterics. “No, bloody hell, no, it’s not that bad,” he tries to understate it … but she’s right. It’s like the day it rolled out of Bayswater, probably cleaner. The seal on the K220 certainly helps keep the forest dust at bay; Doc would have had far more of a challenge in 1986. And with the Red Dot on the roof of the 220, windows up is an easily achievable thing even in the scorching airless Central Plateau summers. For those who grew up with Truckin’ Life, the rise in popularity of the Red Dot roof mounted air conditioner units here is the best thing ever on the aesthetics front. “The air conditioning in the K220 is miles better than the K200, but the Red Dot helps.”

Being a flat-roof sleeper, the Livingston machine has the uber-cool factor and Steve’s settled right into K220 life. “The digital dash is great, I love it, and the cab air-suspension is fantastic – it’s transformed the ride.” We rolled along in comfort discussing how cleverly Bayswater transitioned the digital dash into the K-model without removing the spirit of the model and its long history.

The cockpit is an evolution of what we’ve all known since the last massive overhaul in form factor that came with 100G. Why change it? It all works incredibly well. The new digital binnacle and accoutrements that came with it, like a proper smart wheel, are all physical manifestations of the electrical architecture beneath the skin that make it a much cleaner and less complicated machine than its predecessor.

The K-model Kenworth is surely one of the greatest automotive design stories. It’s the perfect fit at SC & SJ Livingston, Tokoroa, because they’ve evolved in much the same way. If the fundamentals are working, press repeat until you’re not allowed those fundamentals any more, after which, get as close as you can to what you had. From there, evolve with the bits that make the base recipe better. For the truck – better build, better ride, more room, elegant simplified architecture, improved ergonomics. For the Livingstons – long/shorts for versatility, central tyre inflation for getting in and out of places, scales to keep the law happy, LED lights to reduce the pre-start check to 15 minutes instead of 15 minutes and half an hour’s bulb changing, HMPV because you can, and chain tensioners to keep both the passengers and your shoulder joints in place.

The one-family, one-truck, trucker’s trucking company and this machine are the perfect fit. No wonder they keep coming back to each other.