Fleet Focus

Southland’s Herberts Transport has only been around for 28 years – and in its present form way less than that: Just three years, in fact.

And yet the foundations of the Edendale-based trucking company date back more than a century.

The current name and the incorporated commercial entity that goes with it was established in 1993, as an equal partnership between Dynes Transport and the HW Richardson Group – with Jim Dynes and the late Bill Richardson as directors. 

But the roots of the firm stretch back way before that, in the guise of WJ Herbert Ltd, whose history – if not the actual trading name – goes back to 1918.

That’s when William John (Jock) Herbert ... ... 

In its first year in business, log transport company Aztec shifted around 88,000 tonnes of logs.

That sounds impressive enough….until you hear that this year, the operation is aiming to cart two million tonnes! And that’s not some unrealistic flight of fantasy – not seeing as Aztec trucks shifted over 1.5m tonnes last year (and that’s even with the entire fleet parked up during the COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown period).

That’s a helluva growth, given that it’s just 23 years since then Carter Holt Harvey owner-drivers Steve Segetin, Peter Phillips and Ken Angus got together and formed Aztec.

It’s another measure of their success that the Aztec fleet, just four trucks stro... ... 

The way Gen 2 truckie Ethan Smith sees it, his family’s trucking and contracting business is “the last of the old-school contractors.”

What he means is that, in the 25 years since Allen and Sheree Smith (yep, his Mum and Dad) started NorthEnd Contractors, some things haven’t changed: The business is still run in much the same way as it was in the beginning.

Although he and “little bro” Axel largely run the show these days, it’s still a strictly-no-bullshit, down to earth kind of an outfit – run by hard-case, hardworking people….

With zero regard for political correctness (like Ethan says, “a spade’s a spade – you know what I mean”). No corporate glos... ...