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For just over 70 years a blue and green colour scheme has been the eye-catching signature for the trucks in the Wairarapa-based fleet of Garrity Bros. Transport.

It’s a long time, but only just over half the company’s history, which ticked over 130 years and has progressed from draught horses to Euro 6 HPMV trucks since Samuel Garrity founded the Greytown business in April 1893.

But Ian Garrity says the colour scheme on today’s trucks came about largely by chance. The company colours had been red and black on a `37 Chev the family company ran just after the second World War.

“The story is the company ordered a new Bedford from the agent in Carterton. It’s not clear if the orders got mixed up or another company ordered one after us but ended getting theirs first, but there has never been a Bedford in the Garrity fleet,” says Ian.

An order was placed for a new Austin through F.J. Nicholls in Greytown.

“They told us if we bought two, they could become an official Austin agent. So, we ordered two which arrived in 1947 and 1948 and they were Royal Blue when they turned up.”

Soon after the Chev was re-painted the same colour and the other half of the colour scheme was settled about five years later.

“We’d done the bobby calves in the area since 1938 and in 1951 Alex Stewart dropped dead three-quarters of the way through the season and we finished off the season.

“The next year we did all three of the Wairarapa bobby calf runs and we ordered three new stock crates from Fullers. They were painted in a special green paint to stop the urine from rotting them.”

Those colours have stuck through a progression of Commer, Dodge, Ford, Hino, and most recently Volvo stock units in the Garrity Bros. fleet.

“A few years back I was getting a bit bored with the blue and wanted to jazz it up a bit. I went down to the local paint place and looked through all the different colour codes and settled on Java Blue which I think is Ford colour,” Ian says.

The latest truck carrying the blue and green is a 2022 Volvo FH-16 Globetrotter which went on the road early this year. Driven by Rodney Garrity, the 700hp unit is named Moonlight Blue and is the third Volvo in the fleet. 

The company also runs Hinos for general rural freight work and has a Mercedes-Benz 4x4 spreader unit.

“Our first Volvo is a [2016] FH 700 and then we got an FH 540 [2018] which is a honey and works just as hard as the bigger ones. It’s on a 54t permit.”

There’s another new Volvo on order which is expected to arrive in February next year.

Over the years the Garrity family has restored several of its trucks, utes, and tractors, including the 1979 Dodge 969T pictured on this month’s poster alongside the latest FH 16. The Garrity’s restored the `37 Chev for the company centennial in 1993 and there is also one of the original Austins and a 1971 Commer.

“We had two of the Dodges, a 1976 and the 1979,” says Ian.

“It did its term and then got put out the back and we put the deck onto a good second-hand Hino. After a while the Dodge was looking a bit worse for wear, and we thought we’d better do it up again.

“After it was restored its first trip was down to Bill Richardson’s museum in Invercargill with the Chev on the back. These days we take it along to a few truck shows,” Ian says.

“The Dodge was a bit after it’s time. We got it new in 1979 but in 1983 the government changed the rules and got rid of the 40-mile limit, and we had to look at getting some bigger trucks.”

Along with the striking colours, the 12-truck Garrity Bros. fleet is well known for always being immaculately presented.

The blue on 8x4 Volvo cab was factory painted at the Volvo plant in Wacol, Queensland and Mirage Visual in Palmerston North did the signwriting and scrolls.

The five-axle trailer is from Jackson Enterprises and all the Garrity Bros. stock units are fitted with Total Stock Crates.

“Total build an awesome stock crate and we’ve stuck with them because they have been great to deal with,” Ian says.