Canterbury Cruising

The day after Spud and co-owner Ron Wheeler sold the business, he was back at work - driving the company’s Volvo FH 700....as usual. He’s in it still...and reckons he probably will be till he quits - maybe in three or four years’ time

They weren’t long trips: “It’d be about 10k up the road and you’d tip it off.

“If you weren’t doing that, you’d be doing hay…or you had your crate on.”

But what Spud really wanted was “to be on the stock trucks.” By that, he means Aitkens’ truck and trailer units that worked widely around the North Island. Getting into them wasn’t a gimme: “It was hard to get jobs on the stock trucks then.”

But, of course, he had the advantage of already knowing the runs: “Well, I had been there since I was 10 or 11,” he points out.

And so, about two years after starting work, he moved fulltime onto his dream job – carting livestock all over the place.

He loved it: “You started early in the morning and you wouldn’t get home till four the next morning. Then you might have two hours’ sleep – four if you were lucky. Two hours was a struggle – if you got four you weren’t too bad!”

How did you survive? “Oh, you just did. And still played rugby as well!” You did, he adds (as if it explains everything), “get Fridays and Saturdays off.”

He initially drove a near-new Commer with a two-axle trailer behind it: “You’d go to Gear Meat in Wellington, Southdown in Auckland. When the freezers were full at (the) Waitara and Patea (freezing works) you went to Hastings, Wellington or Auckland.”

He ‘specially loved these long trips, which “used to take a while – 14 hours, something like that I think. Oh yeah, Awakino (Gorge) was about that wide (he gestures, hands close together)….You had to stop for (oncoming) trucks – or at night-time you would.

“Going over The Hill (Mount Messenger) – ah it wasn’t too bad. Had about 195 horsepower…big horsepower in those days. Had up to 350 lambs on there probably….oh, you weren’t very heavy – 25 ton all-up.”

Although the company’s stock trucks ranged far and wide, carting to meat works, its clients were concentrated in the immediate Toko area, says Spud.

Aitkens worked closely with other carriers like Scotty Matthews at Whangamomona – 55kms northwest, up State Highway 43 – and Jack Matthews at Tahora (70k away).

“We used to go and help them cart into the Kohuratahi sale (between Whanga and Tahora).”

These big sales “out the back” delivered “huge work” for the company: “Before logbooks, it was crazy hours: You’d cart away for two days (after a one-day sale).

“Taylor Bros of Cambridge used to come down and buy a thousand ewes at Kohuratahi and you’d have to take them up to Cambridge…come back and get another load. By then it’d be daylight…you’d sleep on the side of the road somewhere.”

At times, “back in the day, you’d leave at midnight to take a load of ewes to Hastings. Come back, take a load to Waitara… then go back out to the Kohuratahi sale and get a load of steers…

“I think the best I did was 10 loads in a row (on successive days) to Hastings. Each day you were getting later and later.”

Ask Spud how many Ks he’s clocked up over his driving career and he just shrugs: “Never thought about it. I wouldn’t have a clue really.” In the good old (no logbook) days, he explains, “never looked at a speedo.”

He does know he’s only ever had one accident: “I rolled a trailer once.” That wasn’t down to a lack of sleep, but a bout of flu, he reckons: A couple of the cattle he was carting to a sale were killed – but there was no time for trauma counselling.

First he had to round up all the cattle that had run down the road, get them back into the crates and delivered. Then, even with the damaged crate, he had to “do a load to Hastings.

“Then I had to go up the Napier-Taupo, go across to Mooloo Welders up Te Kauwhata, and get them to straighten it up. Then I

went to Whakamaru and brought some cattle back.”

Looking back over his half-century of driving, Spud says one of the highlights was buying his first truck at the age of 24, and becoming an owner/driver with Aitkens.

It was a new FUSO 315: “I think it was worth $75,000. I put 10 grand down on it” – his savings from eight years of work. The Aitkens went guarantors for the balance.

In 1994 came an even bigger opportunity: He and fellow company O/D Ron Wheeler bought the business from Chum and Rod Aitken.

At that stage Spud had a Mack Ultra-Liner and Ron had a Volvo. Pete thinks they got the yard, the workshop and maybe four more trucks as part of the deal.

The manager of the Westpac Bank in Stratford “said ‘I’ll give you a go.’ We owed 50 grand each.”

The new owners were promised all of the Waitotara Meat Company’s cartage. It was big: How Spud explains it is that “as an OD you worked most of the time.” As the company owner, you worked ALL the time!

“Yeah, I think for three months we didn’t have a day off! We had good guys with us though.”

Some of the Volvos bought with the company “were getting on,” so newer second-hand Volvos were bought – along with new trailers and new Fairfax fibreglass crates.

“Ron ran the business – I drove most of the time.” It worked out “good,” he says: “Yeah we had a good partnership. Enjoyed it.

“Nah it was a good life. You make a lot of friends out there – with the farmers and that.”

Any bad moments? “Not really. We always had good clients… gave good service.”

But six years ago, after 22 years of ownership, Spud and Ron

Top to bottom: Spud and daughter Nicole in front of his 1988 Mack UltraLiner..... 1980 Mitsubishi FUSO 315 was the first truck he owned....the Aitken Bros fleet back in the days when schoolboy Pete used to hang out in the yard and go for rides whenever he could

Spud checks the mirrors as he backs the Volvo up, with dachshund Louis happy to leave him to it

sold the business: “Ron was keen to get out. I thought it’d be good just to go on wages then.

“Well, you got paid out some money: You couldn’t take money out when you owned it.”

The money aside, for Spud life continued on pretty much the same – even the day after the sale went through: “I just kept driving.” In the Volvo FH 700 he still steers now.

Earlier, he’d said he’s not really a truck lover. Now he feels the need to reconsider: “I guess I do love trucks.”

But then, he modifies that too: What he really likes is “probably….carting livestock. Sheep mainly.”

Former business partner Ron Wheeler told The Stratford Press recently that driving a livestock truck is “the toughest job” – so for Spud to have done it for so long, “and have the respect of everyone he works with….that makes him a real legend.”

New company owners Alistair and Debbie Stewart were farmers at Makahu – were, in fact, Aitken Transport customers. They reckon Pete’s knowledge and dedication to the job were invaluable when they took over.

So Spud, what is the secret to being a good stock truck driver? “Umm, know how to handle stock I ‘spose. Know by looking at a steer if it’s gonna charge you or not…or a bull.”

Not that he always got it right with the steers: “Yeah I went for a ride on one’s head one day! I walked up to him and he was one of those ones who just put their heads down and charge ya! He didn’t look wild, but…

“Threw me on the concrete…in the race. Nothing broken. Grazed all my arse and all my arms…”

Mention the truck driver shortage and Spud says he doesn’t think “young people realise how good driving could be.” Although he does add that the long hours are “hard on marriages and stuff.”

Spud started out manhandling coal and freezing in unheated cabs in the winter, and says with feeling: “The gear’s come a long way. There was no air conditioning in those old Commers and that. In the summer, you had the windows down all day.”

He’s no traditionalist: He appreciates all the high-tech electronic driver aids that come with the likes of his Volvo FH. The I-Shift, he says, is “a pretty good gearbox. I’d never go back to a manual. Power, torque? It’s unreal.”

When Spud notched up his 50 years of working for Aitkens this year, Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand, National Road Carriers and a group of local farmers each presented him with awards for his milestone achievement – for his contribution to the profession, the industry….and the farming community.

There was a party – and then, once again, he just kept driving. So, how long is Spud going to continue? “Ahhhhh,” he groans, as he weighs-up his answer: “About three years I ‘spose. My legs are getting pretty had it.”

That, he quickly adds, is more to do with playing rugby till he was in his late 30s, rather than getting in and out of trucks.

What, by the way, is the worst truck he’s driven? “Oh, the Japanese ones….” Then he revises that: “The Commers I ‘spose.”

Fact is, he says, the place he feels most at home in the world is…“yeah, in a truck I suppose.”

Ask him what he’s going to do when he does retire and Spud shakes his head, trying (unsuccessfully) to come up with an answer: “Well, that’s it, isn’t it?” T&D

The 1984 International T2670 of Palmer’s Transport was one of the immaculately restored trucks on the Dave Carr Memorial run.

Story and Photos: David Kinch

BACK IN 2015 A GROUP OF CHRISTCHURCH TRUCK DRIVERS

decided to organise a truck run that would loop into North Canterbury and back to the Highway Inn Truck Stop for an evening “bullshit session”.

I was there that day, along with an enthusiast by the name of Dave Carr. Dave and I shared a love of photography, particularly trucks, so before the run began we discussed where the best spots were for photos. We shared a laugh at the time as neither of us was willing to divulge our spot.

Later that evening Dave put his photos on the big screen at the truck stop and enjoyed the evening. Sadly however, Dave passed away just a short time after the original event and as a tribute the run has since been named The Dave Carr Memorial Truck Run.

Now in its seventh year, the run has grown from strength to strength with the numbers of trucks participating increasing each year. The event has visited a number of interesting locations and collections throughout the Canterbury area while raising thousands of dollars for charity.

This year, like every other, the drivers met at the newly refurbished Highway Inn Truck Stop and were given a briefing of the day’s programme by co-organisers Cam Lill and Dave Skoda Ching.

A mixture of old and new trucks (and one very cool bus) then started their engines, filling the air with the sound and smell that would delight any truck fanatic.

The scenic route to Rakaia took the trucks to their first stop. This was filled with heavy machinery and trucks that had been collected

Above: Modern and classic trucks lined up during a break. Below: The first appearance for a newly restored Ford D Series in Mt Cook Line colours. Bottom: The first stop on the Dave Carr Memorial run provided a look at some rusting relics.

over the years. It was an amazing sight, but you couldn’t help thinking some of the treasures should be restored instead of being reclaimed by mother nature.

Once we’d all picked our jaws up off the ground, the vehicles headed inland towards Methven to the second location at Anthony Hampton’s farm. After Mr Hampton had welcomed everybody the portable barbeque was fired up and everyone had lunch and viewed an impressive collection of tractors.

Later that evening a charity auction was held at The Highway Inn Truck Stop. Kenworth and Mack merchandise packs were among the popular items and the auction raised an impressive $7,730 for Gumboot Friday, the organisation that provides free counselling for young people under 25. T&D