Based in the South Otago town of Balclutha, McLellan Freight is a family-owned and operated transport business. With Alex McLellan at the helm, the forward-thinking company has grown over the past 34 years through hard work and a can-do attitude.

The company mainly services primary industry, but Alex primarily considers the operation as first and foremost a solution provider for its customers. 

Alex credits his father and upbringing for his love of the transport industry. His father worked for the Clutha Carrying Company in Balclutha - he was the despatcher and yard supervisor - and as a family they lived in the company house next door.

“So right from when I was able to stand up, all I could see out the window was trucks. So, it was just natural that they would play a large part in my life,” Alex says.

“So, there has never ever been an option for me to be in anything else other than the machinery and transport industry really,” he says.

Alex by his own account was an average student, recalling that he was told by the Rector when he left after fifth form `that he hoped he was going to do more work where he was going as he didn’t do too much here.’

“I started working for the Clutha Carrying Company when I was 12, painting sheep crates and washing the yard after school, and showing the new drivers how to do jobs.”

That company evolved into a company called Wilsons Transport. Upon leaving school, Alex says he was lucky, because the Wilson family made several opportunities available to him, one of which was a diesel apprenticeship which he completed.

It may seem like a semi-traditional route into the industry but, Alex recalls that his role was varied, and he was behind the wheel way before he went on the tools. This carried on throughout his time there. He was a mechanic in the morning and then drove a truck in the afternoon and into the night.

Alex says that Wilson’s wasn’t a namby-pamby outfit; “It was a `get in there and do this son’ business. I was in charge of the hay gang at 16 years old, which was because I had the knowledge.

“Whether in the hay paddocks or at the quarries, you were able to get out there and give it a go, there’s no doubt about that. But you were trained by extremely experienced guys who would not have let you go if you didn’t have the potential or the ability.

“On the day I turned 18 I got my licence at 11 o’clock on a Tuesday morning and I was driving a transporter shifting bulldozers by 1pm that same day. So, that would give you an idea of how much experience I already had. I was very fortunate to be coached by extremely good people and given opportunities, back in the days where young fellas were given a go.”

Alex evidently had the ability and was entrusted with Wilson’s D800 Ford the moment he passed his test. This was then exchanged with a D800 which had been fitted with a turbocharger, effectively making it a D850.

“It went from about 125hp to 145hp, I thought I was made, I thought I was king of the road,” laughs Alex. “And now I drive a 615hp Kenworth.”

Alex progressed into the office in his early twenties, but believes he was too young for the role. He left to drive a Cleveland wheel digger for Louis McKee in Clinton.

“Then Wilsons made me an offer to come back onto a 3070 artic. I did that for about a year, but I struggled with some of the decisions that were made, so I left and went to Rosebank Davies Industries sawmill, Balclutha, working there for a year on the forklift and driving trucks.”

Alex says he returned to Wilsons Transport as despatcher, and he stuck with that until he was 32 and the opportunity came to buy his own trucks.

“A local company, Vickers Passenger Service Balclutha - that was based where we are now - unfortunately got hit badly by the 88-89 recession,” says Alex,

“I was driving a Scania cattle truck on a particular day because we were short of drivers, and when I returned to the Milton office, they handed me the documents for this business that was going broke.

“I went home and read them that night and I said to them the next day that we should buy the freight operation, but they just said we’ll just wait until it all goes broke. I decided that it was a good business, so I bought it myself, the beginning of McLellan Freight.

“Wilsons - without telling me - put a note on all their client’s accounts saying that they were finishing the freight, any further requirements please ring McLellan Freight.”

“So, I have a huge amount of respect for the Wilson family and I have recently restored a 1970 Austin and painted it in the original Wilson yellow and brown colours.”

McLellan Freight began with three Isuzus, (two FTRs and an NPR) on March 1, 1989, and has grown substantially over the past 34 years. Although there is a mix of brands in the fleet, Alex is more than happy to claim that a solid 25% of them are Kenworths.

“Kenworths carry our name proudly, it’s a very good-looking truck and we’re happy to be able to have that quality. We already had an SAR in our fleet but in 2008 we purchased a new 904 Kenworth. It was a proud moment for me and our youngest son Isaiah, who was nine at the time when Steve Herring handed over the keys.

“These memories are forever, and Isaiah is the main driver of this truck now and I am very proud of the throttle jockey he has become.”

The fleet also includes several vintage trucks and a Morris Minor van which Alex is very fond of.

“When we started, we clearly had a lot of small freight to deliver, we needed a van. I couldn’t afford to go and buy a flash van, so the local plumbers had a bright green Morris van that they weren’t using, so we painted it and made it roadworthy and started delivering parcels with it.”

Alex says that there has been much to crow about over the company’s three decades and one of his highlights is taking young people straight out of high school and progressing them through to a Class 5 license.

“They come here from high school with a restricted licence. They are trained with our experience and our work ethos, and they become very saleable,” Alex says proudly. 

“And to watch some of the staff that we’ve had go forward and work their way into extremely good jobs with other companies, is great.

Alex says several have become extremely good operators and have moved to management positions inside other companies.

Alex evidently doesn’t buy into the ‘you trained them you must keep them philosophy.’

“You can’t. We do like to see them stay here for a period of time, until they get up and running and really compliant, and then off they go into the big wide world. A whole lot of them come back and that makes me feel very good.”

McLellan Freight also has a strong involvement in the local community.

“We have always put back into our communities in South Otago and Dunedin regions where we support a variety of groups including sports and schools that my children and grandchildren attend,” Alex says.

“I enjoy rugby but my family is the most important to me” Alex says proudly.

“My family is very special to me and with the addition of three fantastic grandchildren, Anaru, Jack and Bailey they just make everything more worthwhile,” Alex says with the biggest grin.

“Our staff and their families are also a major part of our family too, which I am proud of, with the majority being long term. I thank them for their support and loyalty. They are great people, and we can’t do what we do without them being there with us.”

“I don’t expect any of my staff to do any job that I am not able to do, and they see that our whole family is hands on and `get in there and get it done’ people that shows them we are hard workers,” Alex says.

“Kim and I have three sons and I am very lucky that all our sons had worked in our business from a young age, and all gained their truck licences at McLellan Freight. Our oldest son Jade (38) is a farmer and contractor, but he will also, on a phone call, drop everything and come and work in the family business.

“It’s great having our sons working in the business. Travis, who is the Operations Manager, handles the logistics of the everyday running which he does extremely well alongside his mother and then Isaiah and I doing a lot of the driving.”

The two younger sons didn’t join immediately after school. Isaiah, 24, went to university to do a business degree and Travis, 33, did an apprenticeship on hydraulic machinery and road construction at 18. After an OE he joined the business eight years ago.

“They’ve both been in the industry since the start. For goodness sake, Isaiah’s first word was `truck’, this is his passion and Travis along with Jade have a wealth of experience and knowledge to add to our business.

“A whole lot of companies stop because there’s no succession, at the moment. I’m very proud that these boys have taken this on. This is a very tough industry, with many bigger companies swallowing up family type operations, it’s not what it used to be”.

So, is hanging up his boots on Alex’s agenda right now?

“Not on mine but it is on others,” he jokes. “I certainly have pulled back from the day-to-day running, but I still drive every day. I’m very much a truck driver that people have believed in.”

Along with his keenness to drive, Alex is also about solving problems.  

“I’ve always been of the ethos of ‘do what you say you’re going to do’,” he says. 

“And when people put the phone down their problem has gone from them to you. And that allows you to do the job for them as cost effectively and safely as you possibly can. And next time they’ve got a problem, hopefully they are going to ring you.”

That’s not to say that all solutions are easy though, Alex adds “when that phone goes down, that’s when the hard work really starts, and you need the can-do attitude!”.

Alex adds that there are a few problems within the industry he’d like to solve too.

“We’ve got to change our image a little,” says.

“This is an industry that people really want to be in, and this is an industry with real opportunities to get ahead in. I am proof in the making as I started with only three trucks when I was in my thirties and now 34 years on, Wow what a ride!”