“Crazy Horse” – Uhlenberg Haulage’s Fleet number 18 turned its two millionth kilometre this morning. This milestone occurred on May the 10th - while east bound for Napier in the hands of operator Troy Bellamy, who has been partnered with this truck from new. The Peterbilt 378 was commissioned in September 2005, and has been operated solely by Troy ever since –with only a small number of these kilometres put on the unit by other drivers pre loading the unit for Troy’s line haul trips each night.
The unit has towed LPG tankers for practically 100% of its life making deliveries to customer’s sites the width and breadth of the North Island, although Troy and his trusty steed have also been known to occasionally assist the container and roading divisions in recent years when required.
The truck is one of many Peterbilt 378’s of the same spec in the fleet, running a Caterpillar C15 ACCERT engine, Auto shift Road ranger transmission and Meritor 46-160 differentials. These trucks have proven to be a reliable combination, giving great service to the company and its drivers. Whilst UHL 18 is not the first truck in the fleet to break the 2 million mark, it is the first to get there with only one driver.
It is testament to Troy’s professional operating skills that the truck has travelled this far having had mostly only scheduled maintenance, one engine rebuild and one chassis respray. As well as the cab paint, items such as the top exhaust stacks, rear stainless guards and chassis covers are all original items from new.
Where to for the duo from here? Troy is keen to keep his partnership with “Crazy Horse” alive, and has rejected offers from management of a new truck on numerous occasions. How long we will keep running this truck remains unknown, however for the mean time Troy and UHL 18 will remain a familiar sight on the highways – and you can rest assured that Troy will keep his unit in the same pristine condition that he consistently has for the past 13 years.