Southpac Legends

Peter Elphick, long-time Logging Production manager with Patchell Industries, and until recently a shareholder in the Rotorua trailer maker, is heading into what promises to be a busy retirement.

But though he’s looking forward to the projects he has planned, Peter admits he will also miss the day-to-day contact with people in the transport industry – many of whom have become firm friends.

This month’s Southpac Legend is richly deserving of the Legend title, Peter’s ‘can-do’ attitude helping guide many a challenging project through to a successful conclusion.

Welding and general fabrication have been the constant themes in Peter’s career, yet he says that wasn’t th... ... 

Te Awamutu based operator Barry Stamp has been in the transport industry for around half a century. Over the time he has successfully been at the helm of a business that introduced scores of drivers (including his son Mitch) into the industry, and that’s why he’s a Southpac legend. 

“I don’t really know what got me into it” was how Barry opened up our conversation, “I started driving trucks for something to do and have been doing it ever since.” Barry laughs.

Of course these are tongue in cheek statements but Barry Stamp has evidently come a long way from his first job, which was working on sheep stations in Gisborne.  

Stamp says, “I quickly realized that ... ... 

With a ‘working lifetime’ of experience within the transport industry, Road Transport Hall of Famer Graham Sheldrake has essentially seen it all. He’s been a mechanic, a truck driver, a truck owner-operator and business owner, but it’s his ‘putting back into the industry’ mantra that makes him a Southpac legend.

Sheldrake was born in Great Yarmouth, England, however his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1956, when he was just two. Of course he doesn’t remember the trip but says that he has seen early photos of them on the Captain Hobson coming through the Panama Canal.

“Because my dad was a so-called ‘10 Pound Pom’, we came into Wellington and they sent us to Patea. Dad w... ... 

With his father Dave heavily involved in trailer building since the 1960’s and growing up immersed in and around the industry, it could be said that Transfleet’s Chief Executive Officer Matthew Gillies was destined to be in trailers - but it’s his dedication to his team, his industry influence and his big voice on the TTMF that makes him a Southpac Legend.

“I’m second generation, born into the industry so to speak. My father was involved in the 60s and 70s with Domett Fruehauf and helped set up the branch in Mt Maunganui, that’s where I was born.”

Gillies says that the family relocated back to Auckland and his father became a shareholder with Gary Domett in Domett/Fruehauf... ... 

With a career that’s (so far) spanned three decades, Aaron Headington has moved from being a hands-on engineer to creating a specialised division of Southpac Trucks that could be best described as ‘bringing customers dreams to life’. He’s got an eye for detail and a passion for detailing and it’s for this reason he’s a Southpac Truck Legend.

Born in Auckland but travelled extensively due to his father being in the Army, Aaron left school looking for an apprenticeship in cars but to no avail.

“To be honest, I wasn’t into trucks, for as long as I can remember I wanted to be a car mechanic. I couldn’t get a car apprenticeship anywhere, so off a whim, I called in here [when it... ...