INDUSTRY PEOPLE
Before and after: a truck like this takes 2-3 hours to line
“I have a lot of guys who come to me after their third
instance, the operator did not ever leave the cab to try
rollover saying ‘I think it’s high time I had a liner fitted.”
to remove the material, but the length of time and the
weight bearing on the top of the tipper certainly caused
Worksafe, the primary health and safety regulator in New
the accident.
Zealand, noted in a report in June 2018 that there were
three major instances of trucks rolling due
One big project that required Wiltech’s services
to various circumstances, the first due to “I never let calls go, I was the Waterview Tunnel. During the tunnelling
“a truck tipping material and backed up always answer my phone process, trucks needed to clear an estimated
onto a load that was dumped previously. and I don’t hide. If there’s a 100,000cu of material including basalt rock, but
Material was sticky and hung up in the problem with something, I in some cases, general sludge.
tray causing the trailer to tip over.” In this want to fix it straight away.” “The guys would go away and try to dump the
load, but not all of it would come away and
they’d turn back up. They would then be told they couldn’t
come back with anything on the truck, so they’d have to
go back and hose the trucks out with a big water cannon.
“They decided at the end of the day to only employ trucks
with liners in them.”
Common sense is a huge part of the business focus.
Richard spends time with the clients, convincing them to
choose quality over a quick fix.
In the personal sense, Richard is full of energy. His main
focus is his client base.
“I never let calls go, I always answer my phone and I don’t
hide. If there’s a problem with something, I want to fix it
straight away.”
He shows off the product in the workshop, jumping on
the forklift and zipping across the floor. In the doorway sit
three fishing rods; Richard is a keen fisherman but doesn’t
get out quite as much as he used to. Whilst he talks about
age and the difference between being in one’s 40s versus
60s, there is clearly still vigour. Last year when one of his
contractors was unavailable, he had to fit a liner himself.
Outside is the Mustang, “not just any Mustang though”
he adds. There’s enough room for two grandkids in the
back of the car.
Richard Bathurst with his Mustang. It’s supercharged and he can
fit two grandchildren in the back.
78
CAM March 2019
“People say I’m lucky but luck has nothing to do with it
really. I’ve been working hard since I left school.”
w w w. c a m m a g a z i n e . c o . n z