Teletrac Navman Fleet Focus

Ian Newey’s passion for trucking becomes obvious within a few minutes of meeting him.

He’s one of those truckers who grew up in the cab of his dad’s truck. As a kid, it was all he wanted to do — drive a cement tanker, like his dad. Dad Keith Newey owned a fleet of four trucks carting cement. At 22, Ian got the chance to make his lifetime ambition come true, driving one of his dad’s trucks. “I lasted six months,” says Ian. “I got bored.”  

So, cement tankers didn’t have the x-factor, but another budding career had pointed him in the right direction. He had left school at 16 and gone into forestry. He did a government-funded TOPS training course in farm forestry while h... ... 

The enthusiasm that Prestige Building Removals staff have for their work quickly becomes evident when they reach for their phones and begin scrolling through photos of recent jobs.

There are pictures of brightly lit trucks working the highways in the small hours, hi-tech trailers perched in remarkable situations and houses re-positioned with spectacular views.

The pedigree of the Hamilton-based company goes back almost 50 years. Pat “Paddy” O’Sullivan owned and ran the business for 47 years before retiring and selling to Jason Barnes.

“I bought the business three years ago. Paddy retired in his early eighties, and we kept the same name, re-branded and then started in... ... 

I always wanted to be a log truck driver and ultimately own my own truck,” says Ray Beale as we watch the newest addition to his fleet, a stunning new Kenworth T659 arrive at a skid site north of Napier.

Owning a fleet of trucks was never part of the plan. But following several years of growth, R & L Beale Log Transport owners Ray and Louise Beale now have 10 trucks working throughout Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa. 

So where does this all begin? Trevor (Ray’s dad) recounts times when he was a driver and would take young Ray out in the truck with him. Trevor says that from an early age, Ray showed a natural talent for working with machinery.

“At three years of age he... ...