Fleet Focus

When somebody sets up a trucking company from scratch you’ll generally find they’ve had an early association with the industry that leads to a career in it, and eventually to the point of striking out for themselves.

Which made Ray Brown a bit of an exception when he bought his first truck in 1963, at the age of 26. He’d had no family connections in the game (his father worked with the Railways, and had plans for him to train as an engine driver) – nor, by all accounts, was he truck-mad as a youngster growing up in Garston, in northern Otago.

What he did have in common with many future transport entrepreneurs was a less than enthusiastic attitude to school... ... 

A teenager earning a few quid from a lawn mowing round and a service station job greasing trucks in Waiuku, is one the starting points for the Knight & Dickey story.

It’s been almost 70 years since the late Graham Dickey raised the money to buy a stake in Jack Knight’s fledgling Waiuku transport company.

“Dad used to have a lawn mowing round as a teenager,” says Graham’s son John, who with his wife Denise today owns and runs the family transport company known for its distinctive red and yellow trucks.

“He was mowing lawns for Bill Lever in Kaiwaka Rd, who said to him one day; “I hear you are going to buy into Jack Knight’s business?

“Dad said... ... 

It was only 15 years ago when Jack Tutill would plead with his father John to take a day off from high school – so he could ride along in one of the olive green Tutill Carriers trucks or spend a day working at the company yard and warehouse in Penrose.

Today, Jack and his younger brother Bryn are the fifth generation at the helm of Auckland-based A.J. Tutill & Sons Carriers. A company which could alternatively be  described as A.J. Tutill & Sons, & Grand Sons & Great Grand Sons, etc.

Multi-generation family transport companies are the fabric of Kiwi trucking. But few can trace their line as directly through 104 years and five generations as the Tutills... ...