What started out as a secondary gig for musician Darius Moldovan has turned into a fully-fledged career in a new Benz Actros.
The metro delivery market is a competitive market, both for companies and vehicle manufacturers. It’s also tough for the owner drivers out there making those time-sensitive deliveries.
However, Darius Moldovan has spent over a decade in that market and his latest ’round town truck is so far beyond the standard that he has not only lifted the bar, he has launched it out of sight.
Born and bred in Brisbane, Darius only entered the transport industry as a way of funding his musical career. No, you won’t see him spinning any chairs on The Voice and he swears his dancing skills won’t make the first round of X-Factor. His composing and musical creations however can and have been heard on many movie and movie trailer soundtracks.
To help fund his creative talents, Darius purchased a truck to start doing some local taxi truck work back in 2005. After a couple of years of delivering around Brisbane for various companies the chance came up to join the Mainfreight Australia team.
From UD to DAF
Within a year Darius had his first brand new truck, a 12-pallet UD PK9. Another year later and it started to dawn on Darius that his transformation into a fully-fledged ‘truck nerd’ was undeniable.
What had started out as an ingenious way to fund his musical passion had now led to a second equally addictive passion. The Mainfreight culture was a leading factor in that.
A year after the UD came the DAF that led to Darius’s nickname and the confirmation of his ‘truck nerd’ status. When he refurbished the second-hand DAF, Darius didn’t stop at the eye-catching Mainfreight colour scheme, although the interior was repainted with a strong Mainfreight blue influence. He souped up the sound system, the exterior gleamed and the personalised number plate read 341 BNE – Mainfreight’s branch code.
“One of the sales reps looking at it said, ‘you really bleed blue, don’t you” and from then on it become my nickname,” Darius smiles. “Eventually the name stuck to the trucks.”
At this point the music/truck balance began to sway more to the trucks.
With the Mainfreight group’s workload increasing, Darius was asked to add more trucks to his ‘blue blood’ collection. Following the DAF came a couple of Fusos which serviced the team well. He was also running a Mercedes-Benz Atego at Chemcouriers under Mainfreight colours, which was due to be upgraded.
Actros entrance
With the Chemcouriers branch growing, Darius wanted to grow with the branch and set about designing a new, more efficient setup. This is where we meet ‘Blue Blood V.’
While happy with his Fusos, Darius was eyeing-off the new Benz Actros at a recent truck show. “I saw it and just loved it,” he admits.
Mercedes-Benz willingness to work in tandem with Darius’s preferred body builders in Melbourne, Austruck Truck Bodies, on such a unique setup was also what got them over the line.
Chemcouriers speciality is dangerous goods. The loads are often unique and varied so Darius’s design ideas had to incorporate those challenges.
The payload is always at the forefront of every design, with metro work though accessibility ranks right up there.
“Almost anywhere I can get without a trailer I can get with the trailer on as well,” Darius informs me. He explains the reason behind this: “It’s 16 and a half metres compared to the full 19 and having the shorter body and longer trailer makes it really easy to manoeuvre.
“Also having the axles further back rather than in the middle gives me a really good turning circle.”
The pig trailer’s number plate – 18 PLTS (which goes with the Truck plate ACTRO5) – gives away the floor space though the unit was designed with mezzanine floors throughout allowing for a payload of about 21 tonne.
With Chemcouriers keeping a close eye on their freight profile, Darius was aware that weight came before volume when designing the new truck, so the longer vehicle would hinder rather than help. Darius commends the attitude the Chemcouriers team took towards the rather different build.
“I have become a bit of a truck nerd,” he confesses. “I design these myself then explain to the managers why it would work and stuff. They’re pretty stoked with this one, it’s going really well.”
Taking the time to look a bit closer you see exactly how much thinking has gone into ensuring everything is built with a purpose. The pulley system and bungy cords above and below the mezzanine floors have been specifically designed to hold the straps and make them easier and more accessible to the drivers. The gates are on chain links and rollers.
Darius tried to think of everything, even right down to the choice of curtains. Load restraint curtains were passed over for curtains that would open and close quicker and easier for the driver.
“Doing dangerous goods, everything has to be strapped down anyway, so no point putting load restraints on,” he says. “I figured I was better off to get curtains; easier for the driver.”
When the build began for ‘Blue Bloods V’, Darius was looking for around 400hp, although his driver is not complaining that the only one available in this model was 510hp.
Like his other trucks, the Actros is fitted with an automatic gearbox. “Having drivers, it’s just the way to go. It takes away the driver error.”
He praises the efficiency and speed of the Benz auto as well. “The Mercedes shifting is incredible. It’s like instantaneous; it’s like a Porsche.”
The abundance of horsepower is matched only by the safety and technological features factory fitted to the new series Actros.
Adaptive cruise
The adaptive cruise control is a feature Darius recalls with amusement as he tells of his test drive through Melbourne with the salesman instructing from the passenger seat. “Bumper to bumper peak hour traffic for about an hour and 15 minutes,” he exclaims. “I didn’t touch the pedals once.”
Darius answers my sceptic look by adding, “I kid you not, we even had a car pull out in front of me. I had my foot floating above the brake, the truck stopped perfectly.”
Apparently the salesman congratulated Darius on his smooth braking and couldn’t believe it when he was informed it was all the truck. The adaptive cruise control even informs the driver of the distance to the car in front and the speed of the vehicle. Lane control warnings distinguish solid and broken white lines beside the vehicle. If you are like me, you still actually want to do some safety scoping of your surroundings yourself. The mirrors are amazingly large without creating that dreaded Prius blind spot.
With a highly effective four-stage retarder packed in as well, the little Benz is the ideal urban truck for Darius, who operates under the name 4TK Logistics. As for how it drives, well that’s also a feather in its German hat. “It drives the same whether it’s empty or loaded,” Darius remarks. “it feels like it controls its power accordingly and it just always feels the same.”
It definitely seems like the man who got into the game to fund his creative composing talents has succumbed to the addiction of the transport game. He’s not only managed to create a truck that serves Chemcourier’s needs to perfection, he’s also created one of the coolest little rigs around.
Photography: Warren Aitken