For many, driving a grunty Kenworth, across the seemingly endless Aussie outback, miles from civilisation and barely-ever passing another truck, is a thing of dreams.

Well, not only has Nelson Transport stalwart Bryan Austin ‘conquered’ the barren Aussie wasteland, but he’s also returned to create an impressive business in Nelson too. He loves to hunt and still finds time to restore classic trucks with his wife (and business partner) Lisa – and for that, he’s a Southpac Legend.

Bryan Austin’s life has been one of grit, adventure, and a deep connection to the transport industry. Born and raised in Nelson, New Zealand, Bryan’s roots in trucking trace back to his childhood.

“Ray Austin, my father, he started driving trucks in 1952 for Kirby’s Carriers,” Bryan recalls. “We used to live just up the street from Kirby’s... so I was always down the yard there at a young age,” says Bryan.

After leaving school he did a short stint at a Top of South Motorcycles, however, at the same time, he was working for Rogers and Bromells transport.

“They still had the Post contract,” says Bryan, “but back then he was the general freight carrier too. And so, I helped him unload and reload trucks in the yard until I was 18. I got my truck license with them and then drove for him for a couple of years.”

As to which truck Bryan drove back then, he’s a bit vague about it: “Probably a V10 Mercedes, about an 82 model,” however, he can remember vividly that he started off doing a bit of local carting and then moved on to doing an overnight trailer swap down the Kaikoura coast.

“I was doing that five nights a week,” he says. “It was mainly produce but they did do the New Zealand Post as well. So, produce, general freight, and the Post.”

Seeking broader horizons, Bryan then ventured to Australia, where he spent a decade navigating its vast distances. Initially running along the East Coast before heading inland.

“I was running Brisbane–Perth, Sydney–Perth, up and down and all over the Outback,” Bryan says. The experience was one of contrasts – challenging, lonely, but also rewarding.

“You can’t really compare it to here, because you do twice as many miles... in the end I knew my way around Aussie better than I did New Zealand.”

Bryan says he started off on single trailer work in Queensland and then moved onto B- Doubles on the interstate and then went into the road trains. It was flat decks and curtain siders and fridge vans. And when it came to the tractor, a gleam appeared in Bryan’s eye…

“I had a few different trucks. I had T950 Kenworths and T600 Kenworths, cabover K100 and K104 Kenworths. It was mainly all Kenworths and that’s why, when I came back here, that’s mainly what I preferred. Seeing how they handled the punishment in Aussie.” 

According to Bryan, operating in the Outback demanded resourcefulness. With no phone coverage or mechanics nearby, drivers had to “know one end of a spanner just to keep you going.” 

Yet, despite the solitude, Bryan thrived: “You could drive all night and not see another vehicle… all you see is cattle and kangaroos and wildlife on the road,” he says.

“No problem with Kangaroos, they bounce off you. They just take the odd mud flap or put a dent in a fuel tank. But the cattle and the scrub bulls – they’re what you had to watch, the black ones on a wet night or something that blends into the road, they are the scary ones you had to watch out for.” 

For a decade, Bryan lived out of a truck cab, hauling everything from produce and steel supplies to crocodile skins and palm trees – and a lot of mangoes. He says that one run from Adelaide to Darwin in the late-nineties was about 32 hours straight driving – carting food up for the soldiers and then bringing produce back down.

“Other times it would take a couple of days to get your road train unloaded and loaded and ready to transfer. With multiple trailers, you might leave one out at Humpty Doo and a couple you leave at Tennant Creek and shoot across to bloody Kunanarra and load a couple out there and head back down to Adelaide.”

Inevitably, the relentless and gruelling long days in Australia eventually drove Bryan back to New Zealand, for what he thought would be a rest and to catch up with family.

“Your normal day driving over there was a big 18 hours, just driving time. It’s such a big country, and it takes its toll on you. So, I came back for a rest really and then thought I’d go back to Aussie.”

However, because “it was getting a bit hard on the body” Bryan reconsidered and set up shop in Nelson.

“I just thought I’d buy a truck, and it just went from there,” he says.

Beginning with a gravel truck in 2005, Bryan then quickly shifted back to his passion for freight. Using an old Kenworth destined for the scrapyard, he built a thriving inter-island transport business, carting freight “anywhere from Kaitaia to Bluff.”

“I bought an old 100E Kenworth, an `87 model that was going to the wreckers. I bought that for bugger all and started trying to find a bit of freight to cart around the country. That’s how it got going.”

Their [Bryan and Lisa] company grew steadily, thanks in part to contracts with companies like NPD as they expanded nationwide. By the time Bryan sold the freight side of his business, it consisted of 32 trucks. Most of which were Kenworth’s supplied by ‘uncle’ Mike Gillespie from Southpac.

“I was originally just myself, and then as I picked up more work, I sort of bought more trucks, and hand-picked a few good drivers,” says Bryan.

“And back then NPD, the fuel stations, they only had a branch and Nelson, and they were starting to set up around the country. So, we got a lot of long distance with NPD and that’s how we sort of got going, carting their gear and tanks when they’re starting all the new service stations.

“It was the whole of the South Island, and then they ventured into the North Island. But just anything we could put on the back of a truck, basically, we would cart.”

Bryan says the business was helped along by some loyal and hardworking staff – in fact, too many to mention (some of whom have passed).

Bryan is now 52 and has been doing it [driving] since he was 18, but says that really, when it comes to transport, he’s been doing it his whole life. What’s more, he’s very happy about it too.

“It’s the freedom, basically, and the challenge. I like working under pressure, to get the work done as well.”

As for the downsides, he says that it’s probably the technology.

“It’s good and bad for an old school person like me. I prefer manuals, I still like to feel like I’m driving a truck. A lot of this new gear is just too comfortable for me, and it’s too modern, it’s too boring, it feels like driving a big van around.

“There’s also a lot of paperwork involved nowadays, before you even turn the wheel or make one dollar. The more trucks you’ve got, the more people you need to be compliant, it becomes quite a burden, all the different hats you gotta wear.”

When not driving trucks or working on the business, Bryan and his two sons (Ryan and Isaac) like to go hunting and spend time in the outdoors. Plus, Bryan and Lisa have a keen eye for restoring and showcasing classic trucks. 

“There’s only one truck, and that’s a Kenworth,” Bryan says.

“Mind you, I do have an old ERF. A 1976 ERF, an old Kirby’s furniture van from back in the day. So, we bought that classic truck and I’m running an old T900 and a K100e that we do classic runs in.”

He says his wife Lisa is right into it too, and she was/is a 50% partner in the business as well, ’so we do it all as a couple, to which I’m really thankful’.

As to why they’ve sold the freight side of the business, simple really.

“We’re just downsizing. Hilton Haulage wanted to come into Nelson, so we just thought we would sell them the freight side of the business, kick back and have a bit more of a relaxing lifestyle and actually be able to get away hunting and traveling.

“I’ve never really been overseas. I’ve been to Australia, obviously, but haven’t really been anywhere else. So, we’re looking to go to America.”

In the meantime, Bryan and Lisa, still have seven truck and trailers, and one log truck, so although they claim to be kicking back and relaxing, they evidently still manage to fill in their time working.