Southpac Legends

This month’s Southpac Legend, Rod Dow, was literally born into a transport company. Three years before his arrival, his parents, Dennis and Cynthia Dow, went into partnership with his uncle and aunt, Jim and Bev Barker, to buy a small King Country carrying firm, renaming it Otorohanga Transport. Jim and Cynthia were siblings.

Consequently, you could say that the company would be his future, like it or not. But he did like it. As he recalls, even the young fantasy games had a transport bias: “When we were little kids we used to be always around the yard. In those days pretty well everyone smoked, and I can remember us going to the dairy and buying those little lollies you could g... ... 

In a career filled with memories and memorable achievements, Warwick Wilshier reckons some of the greatest highs have come from the way business competitors have often put aside financial differences to come together in a common cause.

“I’m particularly proud of what has been achieved with the LTSC (Log Transport Safety Council) and the respect and cooperative spirit of the logging operators,” he says.

“The camaraderie and respect between people in the log transport industry is huge, there is never that competitive edge when we are working on LTSC business. We all work together.”

The LTSC and associated organisations have played a massive part in Warwick’s life, and ... ... 

Neil Weber has been in the transport industry for over four decades, through good times and what he calls ‘the dark days’. 

He’s helped keep logging trailers on the road, created innovative solutions, increased safety and even given us an All Black - and for that, he’s a Southpac legend.

Unlike many in the industry, Neil Weber can’t claim to come from a long list of truckies, however, he did get the truck driving bug early.

“My late father [Graham Weber] was actually a farmer but we always had a farm truck to do hay and stuff like that, so I was driving trucks when I was about 9 or 10 years old. And you know how farmers are on a farm, they’re pretty innovative t... ... 

To say Trevor Jackson has had a rollercoaster ride in life wouldn’t be strictly true. Like any company, his Pahiatua-based trailer maker, Jackson Enterprises, has had its share of ups and downs, but overall it has built an enviable reputation for innovation and quality and has enjoyed steady growth.

In a literal sense, though, Trevor’s life is a rollercoaster – courtesy of a full-size, 380m track he has designed and built on his rural property. The project took three and a half years to complete and had its maiden run just a few months ago, on New Year’s Eve 2021. Trevor was the guinea pig for the inaugural ride and recalls the sensation: “I strapped myself into the four-seater ... ... 

Retirement isn’t a change, rather it’s a transition according to Eric Carswell.

The well-known and respected On Highway Business Manager for Cummins New Zealand will step away from the transport industry at the end of the year.

But at age 71 he’s not retiring altogether.

“I have never really felt my age. I see retirement as a transition,” says Eric. 

“I live at Karaka Lakes in South Auckland, and I operate a small business. I mow local parks and I’m going to be semi-retired lawn mowing contractor.”

Eric will depart from an industry in transition and from a company at the forefront of those changes.

It’s been a varied road for a lad from Gisborn... ...