Southpac Legends

Based in Western Southland, Wayne Williams of Transport Services Ltd (TSL) is a humble kind of a guy who “likes to see people succeed.”

Better time management is what got him into the industry, and he’s an ideas man with a “work hard, treat people equally and respectfully” attitude. And that’s why he’s a Southpac Legend.

His parents owned a 365-hectare farm in Opio, Southland and from an early age Wayne had a vision of owning a farm in the area. Upon leaving school he started out as a shearer; however, the insightful teen soon discovered it was not the way to achieve his goal.

Wayne recalls: “I started as an apprentice shearer, but I used to live 16km... ... 

Whether it’s on the road or on the racetrack, the Uhlenberg name is hard to miss. They are a tight knit group that share a passion for the ‘big gear’, Speedway and stay true to their family virtues - and for that, they are this month’s Southpac legends.

Uhlenberg Haulage was founded in 1966 by Mike and Carol Uhlenberg, but its origins extend back further to Mike’s father, James (Tim) Uhlenberg, and his 80-acre dairy farm in Mangatoki.

“Tim was a farmer but had a love of machinery,” says Daryl Uhlenberg. “He always had engines and cars like DeSotos and big American V8s, and that rubbed off on dad.”

Mike Uhlenberg was born at Eltham in the Taranaki in 193... ... 

Based in the ‘Naki, Sandfords Rural Carriers has been in business for nigh-on a century.

This is obviously something of a monumental feat all by itself, however, what’s more impressive is the family run business has also remained under the control of the founder’s direct descendants throughout. It’s for this reason, plus the loyalty they have amassed in the Auroa area and wider South Taranaki, that Phil Sandford is this month’s Southpac Legend.

Sandfords as a transport company started with a single truck in 1923, when Phil’s grandfather, Mr E.F. ‘Ebby’ Sandford began carrying general goods upon returning from the Western Front in World War I.

“Ebby’s fi... ... 

It’s been said that ‘dreams are for those that sleep’. Martinborough Transport’s founder Trevor Hawkins would beg to differ. Not only did Trevor set his sights on owning a transport company but his hard work and diligence is proof that dreams can in fact become a reality. It’s for that reason (plus a few others), that Trevor is this month’s Southpac Legend.

“It was always my dream as a young kid to get into trucking,” says Trevor and this goal grew to owning one of the region’s biggest transport companies at that time, Martinborough Freighters. Ultimately Trevor managed to achieve both objectives, but his success certainly didn’t happen overnight.

“I left sch... ... 

Ken Holmes is a familiar name to many in the forestry industry for his work as a harvesting contractor. However, in the past decade he’s also gained a well-respected reputation for the trucking business he’s created.

Ken’s trucking endeavours started with one logging truck and grew to 120 trucks at one stage, servicing forestry customers in the central North Island and Northland. Today, Holmes Group has a head office in Whangarei and a fleet of 50 trucks operating around Northland.

“I bought my first truck off Noel Galloway from Murupara back in the `nineties, when we were still logging in Kaingaroa,” says Holmes.

“It was a Mack off-highway double, and ... ...