| 73 T T Hugh de Lacy BTR International to the rescue The company employs three full-time staff who are all heavy vehicle recovery operators. TRANSPORT BTR International There are no dedicated official heavy vehicle recovery qualifications available in New Zealand, so Christchurch-based BTR International (BTRI) Ltd staff get their formal education in their niche transport market from the United States. And BTRI owner Nigel Hope has gone a step further by holding regular courses in the US system throughout New Zealand, filling a training gap that persists despite the growth of the heavy vehicle recovery industry here. Nigel bought the business with his mate Ray Holly in 2007 after it had been formed as an offshoot of Durham Haulage, a large family business that operated in the South Island from the 1950s to the 1990s. Milton Durham bought a heavy vehicle recovery truck from Canada to fill the vacant gap in the haulage market, but soon found himself over-worked so sold it off to Nigel and Ray in 2007. They split the recovery company in two after ten years, with Nigel and BTR Towing concentrating on heavy vehicle recovery and Ray and BTR Machinery moving heavy machinery like lathes and printing presses. At the time there were no heavy vehicle recovery trucks stationed between Christchurch and Dunedin, so Nigel based a five-axle Kenworth in Timaru to cover that gap. Today BTR operates six recovery trucks including two big transporters capable of hauling large agricultural machinery and the like, plus a 40-tonne off-road winching tractor for the heavy stuff. Based on Ballen Road in the countryside between Templeton and Rolleston, south of Christchurch, BTR in 2012 became the first New Zealand company to bring in the American-developed air-bag system for getting tipped-over trucks back on their wheels. The company employs three full-time staff who are all heavy vehicle recovery operators, who received their formal training in places like San Diego and Las Vegas. Nigel runs a course in the American qualifications about every 18 months or so, with the next scheduled for the North Island later this year. Partly in association with his courses, Nigel has established a nation-wide network of heavy vehicle recovery companies – he recently based one of his own in Whangarei - so that any vehicle recovered can be seamlessly transported to any part of the country. A vehicle recovered from Gore, for example, might be carted to Pareora in South Canterbury, transferred to another recovery vehicle at Parnassus in North Canterbury, then on up to Blenheim and across Cook Strait and so into the North Island network. The BTR premises are on a four-hectare block that provides storage for machinery and recovered vehicles, with about half an acre of service buildings in which the company builds tow-trucks. “We operate our own pilot vehicles for oversized loads, and our staff are all Class One and Class Two qualified pilots,” Nigel says. “Our point of difference as a heavy recovery and towing company is that we have 40 years of experience in the transport industry behind us, including highly capable staff with a wide background in building and maintaining heavy vehicles.” “Our point of difference as a heavy recovery and towing company is that we have 40 years of experience in the transport industry behind us, including highly capable staff with a wide background in building and maintaining heavy vehicles.” LTD BUS • TRUCK • RECOVERY RECOVERY SERVICES FOR ALL HEAVY VEHICLES CHCH 021 929 373 TIMARU 027 441 1687 www.bustruckrecovery.co.nz Accident atte and recover damaged vehic Towing of broken do trucks, buses, trailers, and construction plant www.bustruck CHCH TIMARU 02 RECOVERY Accident attendance and recovery of damaged vehicles Towing of broken down trucks, buses, trailers, and construction plant overdimensional items and tricky cargo www.bustruckrecovery.co.nz CHCH 021 929 373 TIMARU 027 441 1687 Accident attendance and recovery of damaged vehicles. Towing of broken down trucks, trailers, and construction plant RECOVERY Movement of overdimensional items and tricky cargo TRANSPORT HESLOPS 0800 HESLOPS 24HRS FOR ALL YOUR TRUCK & TRAILER REPAIR NEEDS Specialising in the Repair of: Trucks, Trailers, Buses, Cars, 4 x 4 Vehicles, Marine Engines, Heavy Equipment & Motor Homes 7 Kotua Place, Stoke | PO Box 3012 Richmond, Nelson | 0800 HESLOP (437 567) 24 HR Hotline 03 543 9400 | Email admin@heslops.co.nz | www.heslops.co.nz
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