There are no hard and fast rules, but typically a transport company that has been in business for just over 18 months won’t have the back story suitable for a New Zealand Truck & Driver Fleet Focus.

But Tauranga-based Nupin Transport, established in October 2021, isn’t really a new kid on the block. This is the story of a well-known brand name returning to the transport industry and a trucking background for owners Glen and Barry Raymond that began during their childhood.

The brothers grew up at the time when Keith Nicholson and their late father Colin Raymond owned Nupin Distributors. The company was well-known in the 1980s and early 1990s for its predominantly Kenworth fleet and distinctive blue livery.

Nupin Distributors had been founded on trucking newspapers and magazines to tight delivery deadlines and later evolved into other transport sectors, in particular carting steel from the Waiuku mill.

“We had about 18 trucks at the end. We had built up quite an operation,” says Barry.

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