LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
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1 & 2) Dashboard left largely untouched for the initial run of RH. 3) Revised door cards look better and are more functional. 4) International badge on the back wall a neat touch. 5) Handy cubby under passenger seat one of numerous nooks and crannies. has more than enough room in the Isringhausen driver’s seat behind the multi-adjustable wheel. The cab’s slate-grey diamond vinyl trim is paired with a new dark-grey dashboard trim. Compared with the old, almost-beige light grey, it goes some way to modernising the feel of the interior. The new door trims are
a big improvement, with the handle moved up to the windowsill for easier reach and a larger pocket with a bottle holder lower down. More storage can be found in the RH’s centre storage console between seats and under the dash wrap. There are a couple of trays overhead and a handy little cubby under the passenger seat.
latdeck and dropsider work is an area of the transport industry that is not for the faint of heart; it is one of those jobs that keeps you on your toes. It’s characterised by challenging loads that defy the laws of physics, resulting in load-restraint headaches that have some operators looking for a couple of Panadol and the situations vacant section of the local paper. But such character-building challenges get Waipawa-born and bred local Ian ‘Nunga’ Allhusen out of bed every morning. “I’ve done stock work, but yeah, looking back in the mirrors at green crates all day is not for me. I love the variety of dropsider work. Fert one day, bales the next and machinery the day after that. Yeah, it is always different,” explains Nunga. Growing up in Waipawa with a dad who was a driver at Farmers Transport meant Nunga got hooked on trucking at an early age, finding himself kicking around the depot whenever possible, shadowing his dad who taught him the ropes. “Going to school was not my thing, that’s for sure. Mum would have to wake me up on a school day. But if I were going for a ride in a truck, I’d be up and waiting at the yard at 2am if I needed to be,” Nunga says with a laugh. “I used to help out wherever possible at the yards. I started out as the ‘wash out’ boy, washing out the crates, and it progressed from there. As I got old enough, some of the drivers would let me have a steer, so as soon as I was 18, I went and got my license, and I was straight into it. My first job was an apple harvest season with Stephenson’s on a Volvo N12 – not bad for my first driving job. “With dad working out of the Farmers depot here in Waipawa, I got a full-time job there on a dropsider for about three years. I then moved across to Emmerson Transport out of Hastings for around five to six years. Real good crowd to work for, and again a good variety of work. While there, I was
