After 30 years spent working for Northland’s flagship trucking company, United Carriers – looking after its loyal local customers – Doug Wilson hated it when big, Aussie-based corporate Toll took over.

He’d happily worked his way up from tyre fitter to dispatching and managing some divisions of the 220-strong fleet by the time the Toll Group bought the 65-year-old company outright, in 2008. 

He tried to adapt to working under the new corporate regime, but sums up: “When Toll took over I thought ‘nah – not for me.’ Toll were only interested in big customers and none of the small ones.”

Within a year he quit – and established Northern Rural Haulage. It was a company founded on the basis of looking after the locals.

Even better than that – it would be run by a local, who knew the Northland farming community, understood the way they liked to do business.….already knew what their transport needs were.

Gallery