Fleet Focus

Some fleets are born out of business ambition. More often, a sheer love of trucks is the primary impetus, but in the case of Timaru-headquartered Coolpak Coolstores it was frustration at not being able to offer customers the level of service he thought they needed that prompted owner Sid McAuley to invest in in-house transport.

And though the company’s now 18-strong fleet is small by most fleet standards and represents a minor part of overall investment, it plays a crucial part in offering customers an extra layer of flexibility.

Adding a transport component to the coolstore business wasn’t too much of a challenge to Sid, because he had previously owned Hilto... ... 

Reasons for setting up companies can be as varied as the companies themselves – to commercialise a great idea, be able to dictate your own destiny, fill a perceived gap in the market, or follow a lifelong passion.

 Malcolm Ngatai has an even simpler explanation for his journey. The owner of Christchurch underground services firm Suck It Up explains why he began in business 10 years ago: “It was to finance my stock car racing. I did it on wages and salary for a long time, maxxing out my credit card every season and spending the winter paying it off. It was painfully obvious I needed something more.”

At the time Malcolm had been managing Canterbury Waterbl... ... 

Everybody has their ups and downs in life. You know – the usual highs and lows. But in his 50 years so far, East Coast log truck and forestry operator Ricky Kuru’s lows have been devastatingly, destructively deep. And the highs? Extraordinarily, spectacularly high.

The trend started early: The kid who doted on Dad Jack and lived for the hours they spent together in truck and machinery cabs, turned into a teenager who fell out with his family over his rebellious ways….

Which saw him kicked out of school and fathering a child before he was 15, ending up behind bars….and sleeping on the streets.

Then the rebound: He found his partner for life (wife Leanne)... ...