PERHAPS nothing demonstrates Modern Transport Engineers' cunning trailer techniques than this seemingly impossible picture.
KING Country boy Robin Ratcliffe developed much of the technology used to transport houses across the world.
Robin owns Modern Transport Engineers Ltd (MTE Group), the largest manufacturer of specialised heavy trailers in Australasia.
Owning a near billion-dollar company is no small achievement for a man who founded an engineering business at Taumarunui, aged 24.
Hydraulics, electronics and trailer design developed by Robin and his engineers is now used either directly, or copied, in about 90% of the house-moving that goes on in Australasia and round the world.
In fact, MTE Group is a major manufacturer of truck trailers of all kinds and has become a key player in the supply of earth moving machinery for either sale or rental in this country.
Thanks to historian Ron Cooke, some of Robin’s remarkable story has been told in From Low Gear to Overdrive, a book published recently by the Taumarunui Historical Society.
“In 1973, I was 24 years old, had a lot of energy and was fit and not afraid of competing. I knew I just had to knock over the barriers as they came up,” Robin told Ron.
Robin, who now lives in Hamilton, explained that the need to have any qualifications to build a trailer barely existed back then.
“All you needed to do was to build it to the dimensions of the day and have brakes that could stop and park by a mechanical means and present it to the government testing station and obtain your Certificate of Fitness, then it was off to the post office to register it. There was no other certification required.”
But all that changed after a drawbar failure in 1978 (not one of his).
The testing station then required a letter for drawbar trailers to say the drawbar could withstand a 60,000-pound line pull. As time went on regulation was more accurately defined, taking into account fatigue.
“All of a sudden, our welders needed to be certified to NZS 4711 and we required a registered mechanical engineer to sign off all trailers with drawbars.
“Then, the next blow was semi-trailer kingpins had to be certified. Then came load anchorages, then came the certification of chassis by a mechanical engineer approved by Land Transport and lastly came brake certification.”
Robin then explained that before anyone could sign off any certificate, they had to sit a special exam to show they knew what was required and show that they were a fit and proper person to sign-off certificates.
“I saw the need for certification, as not everyone entering into the transport engineering field would have the education, engineering ability and dedication to preserve safety on our roads.
“I understood, as the transport system increased in volume and complexity, there would have been a catastrophe waiting to happen, so we needed quality control in the form of certification.”
Nevertheless, the saying, “it was easier back then” was certainly correct when it came to making a trailer.
“In a way, you had to have knowledge of engineering and be a logical thinker. You took the responsibility for what you made.”
“Today, you have an engineer to sign-off the chassis, another to sign-off the brakes, another to sign-off the load anchors, another to sign-off the drawbar or king pin, another to sign-off the static roll threshold (SRT) and finally you needed to be a fit and proper person.”
Looking back to his foundation year of 1973, Robin said the market for trailers was very small with only about 300 heavy trailers built annually (there were no exports) and MTE initially found it hard to win orders.
To give it some context, 45 years later in 2018, there were about 40 trailer builders producing 1500 trailers per year with MTE producing one per day by 2022.
The man Ron describes in his book as knocked down many times, always got up again.
Ron said his rise to the top was through innovation, hard work and an amazingly positive attitude.
Much of the technology now used for trailers throughout Australasia and right across the world was invented and refined by Ron and his engineers.
Perhaps nothing demonstrates this better than an illustration of a 20-metre building being transported by a trailer across a bridge between Levin and Hunterville.
The truck and trailer is making what looks like an impossible right-angle turn, which will see the building dumped down a steep ravine and into the river far below.
But what the picture doesn’t show is the cunning design of two front axles (designed by MTE), which have been tucked up to avoid the bridge’s side rails. Somehow it works and the technology is deployed widely.
Today, Robin is involved in companies that are pushing the boundaries of science.
Their latest projects involve radar and high-frequency devices that transmit information to microprocessors.
Many of these innovations have applications in the transport industry, reflecting Robin’s commitment to progress and innovation.
Robin has also ventured into property ownership through a family trust, amassing a substantial portfolio of properties.
This demonstrates his preference for owning his own assets and securing his financial future.
In his personal life, Robin takes great pride in his two sons, Michael and Zane, and their families, which include six children and five beautiful great-granddaughters.
This sense of pride and family connection likely brings him immense joy and fulfilment.
“Overall, Robin’s story is one of resilience, determination, and the pursuit of success, both in his personal relationships and his professional endeavours,” Ron said.
