Queenstown has long been the face of New Zealand’s tourism industry, thanks to its pristine environment that promises visitors adventure and beauty in equal measure, but an exploding population is resulting in mountains of a different type – rubbish piles. Enter waste management company All Waste, which recently purchased a brand new FUSO Fighter FK1025 to help keep Queenstown beautiful.
The company previously used just a single truck to keep up with demand, now they have two working full-time with another running part-time and are processing up to 80 tonnes of waste at the transfer station on a daily basis.
In the face of such increasing demand, All Waste’s operations manager Chris McGregor pounced at the opportunity to add the Fighter, which is equipped with a bi-fold gantry bin, to the company’s Queenstown fleet.
“When I heard that there was a ready-to-go Fuso available, I immediately called Keith Smith at Prestige Commercial Vehicles and told him I wanted it,” says Chris.
“Our gantry trucks are pretty popular and we have a number in build at any one time,” says Keith. “We always try to have a spec truck ready to go – LBP Engineering does a great job on the build, so they’re in hot demand.”
All Waste – part of the Northern Southland transport conglomerate – operates a variety of transfer stations and waste collection services across the lower South Island. But the biggest growth by far has been in Queenstown, where the population is projected to almost double to 58,200 over 30 years at an annual rate of 2.2%.
Chris was confident that the Fighter would meet his needs, because All Waste already have a number working in its Invercargill fleet that have proven to be extremely reliable.
With “streets getting narrower, not wider”, those needs include being able to access the numerous construction sites littered across Queenstown – where building consents have increased by 125% over the past six years – to collect large waste bins.
“It’s a good size, as it’s big enough to carry three-to-five tonne loads, yet small enough to get where we need to go,” says Chris. “The 184kW engine has plenty of power and the Eaton six-speed manual transmission gives our drivers more control driving on ice and snow in winter.”
As more and more people flock to Queenstown to enjoy its iconic views, the team at All Waste can rest assured it’s well supported by a hardworking Fuso in the fight to keep New Zealand’s third-fastest growing city beautiful.
GVM/GCM: 10,600kg/20,000kg
Power/Torque: 184kW/761Nm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Wheelbase: 4,270mm or 4,870mm
