Fleet Focus

One thing that’s not rubbish about Rubbish Direct is its service. In fact, that’s the one thing that sets this company apart from its competition in the waste collection game – the quality of its service.

Rubbish Direct’s attention to detail is evident in the cleanliness and uniformity of its Auckland-based  fleet of 45 compactor rubbish trucks. They look very neat lined up and while that’s not how most customers will see them, their clean and tidy appearance isn’t going to drag down the tone in their frequent visits to high-end apartment buildings, restaurants, hotels and commercial buildings.

While it might be hard to accept at face value, Rubbish Dire... ... 

Veteran Auckland transport operator Mark Grey reckons he’s one of the last of a dying breed….

That is, he’s a survivor of the days when Auckland’s metro freight scene was dominated by owner-drivers.

He started Mark Grey Carriers in 1983, buying a four-year-old TK Bedford from an OD working for bedmaker Sleepyhead – and taking over the work and the goods service licence that went with it.

He thus became one of “a whole bunch” of owner-drivers working fulltime for Sleepyhead.

Those were the days, says the 60-year-old, “when Auckland was covered with owner-drivers, you know. There were bloody hundreds of us….I don’t think there’s many left now.”... ... 

An old Isuzu Elf and some after school and weekend jobs around the rural Hauraki Plains were the humble beginnings for KT Cartage nearly 15 years ago.

Kelvin and Emily Fitzpatrick have been together through the growing pains and hard knocks of gaining a foothold in the transport industry. And they provide a hard-working inspiration for other young people to follow their business dreams.

The couple went to high school together at Hauraki Plains College. Both now 30, their Kerepehi-based KT Cartage operation has grown to comprise six trucks and specialises in Hiab/crane work – the more unusual and challenging the better.

 Kelvin spent his childhood a... ...