The New Zealand transport industry has honoured six new inductees into the 2020 Mobil Delvac 1 NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame, including the very first female recipient.
A gala dinner was held at Invercargill’s Bill Richardson Transport World on November 13 to welcome the inductees along with 350 guests.
Among those honoured was Anita Dynes, originally from Balclutha, who played a crucial role in the development of Tapanui-based Dynes Transport.
Throughout her five decades in the transport industry, working alongside husband Jim, her substantive work ethic, tenacity, and family values were pivotal in the company becoming an iconic industry fixture with interests in the dairy, forestry, and wine industries in addition to transport.
Rounding out the 2020 inductees were Graham Sheldrake (an integral figure in the formation of the Log Haulage Contractors Association), Jim Black (a leading figure in the country’s motor industry, in particular the tyre industry), Sir Jack Newman (instrumental in growing one of New Zealand’s largest road transport businesses, Newman Bros. Ltd), transport industry media figure Trevor Woolston (founder of both NZ Trucking and NZ Truck & Driver magazines, among others), and Warwick Wilshire (whose long career in the log transport industry has culminated in chairing the Log Transport Safety Council for two decades).
The Mobil 1 Delvac NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame was founded by HW Richardson Group directors Jocelyn and Scott O’Donnell to honour outstanding contributions made to the New Zealand road transport industry.
“We are so proud to be able to celebrate the contributions of all of our inductees, and it is particularly pleasing to see a woman join the ranks for 2020,” Jocelyn says.
“The transport industry has long been a male-dominated field, but the contribution made by many women has been absolutely vital in growing and strengthening the New Zealand transport industry as a whole. We encourage all women involved in the industry to celebrate their successes, and encourage others within the industry to do so as well.
“There is no worthier woman to be the first recognised as a Hall of Fame inductee than Anita Dynes and we welcome her, not to mention our five other incredibly worthy recipients, to the Mobil 1 Delvac NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame honours list.
“All deserve acclaim and thanks for their care and enthusiasm for our industry. The Kiwi road transport industry would not be what it is today, were it not for the efforts of the men and women who dedicate their lives to strengthening our industry for the future,” she says.
All proceeds from the Hall of Fame event and its charity auction are donated to the ProActive Drive Youth Driver Education Trust. Since the event began in 2012 it has contributed more than $250,000 to the charity.
The programme aims to make driving safer for young New Zealanders and is provided at no cost to teenagers who already hold a driver’s licence. It offers courses aimed at improving their driving skills, to ensure they are equipped in the event something unexpected happens while they are on the road. With courses combining theory and practical elements, it is also available to corporate drivers.
This year’s Hall of Fame event was delayed due to COVID-19 but was still well-supported by sponsors and was one of the few industry events to take place in 2020.
Anita Dynes
Anita was born in Balclutha in 1948 and grew up on a farm at Rongahere, South Otago.
She was married in 1969 and moved to Tapanui where her husband Jim and his twin brother, John, had bought a five-truck general carrying transport business.
With no cellphones or answer messages, adapting to transport life meant Anita was tied at home to landline and radio telephone.
The 1970s was hectic for Anita as she raised three children while two more general transport businesses were purchased. In 1976, Dynes won the contract to cart a new product of woodchips from five sawmills in Otago to Port Chalmers and later Bluff.
In 1977, John moved north to run T D Haulage, a chip carting business they purchased. Two years later they split ownership, John with T D Haulage, Jim and Anita with Dynes Transport (Tapanui) Limited.
The business grew extensively during the 1980s with additional log and timber cartage. The management of cashflow was essential and was a critical part of Anita’s role.
Diversification came about with the family farm at Conical Hill being purchased, adding to the workload with Jim working the farm during the day and carting woodchips at night.
Family holidays were now farmstays for the weekends, to tackle lambing, tailing and haymaking amidst daily transport activities.
The term “superwoman” comes to mind as Anita’s capabilities were put to the test when Jim was ill with cancer. Her daily activities included driving Jim the four-hour round trip to Dunedin for treatment every day, running the transport, sorting the three kids and helping with the lambing beat on a now increased additional neighbours farm.
In 1991, NZ Rail applied for resource consent to reopen the line from Waipahi to Conical Hill Sawmill. Anita opposed the application, spending months accumulating information for a petition and the hearing. Opening the line did not happen.
During the mid-90s a new Tapanui depot was purchased, with a bigger yard, and the opportunity to move from the shoebox home office to the depot to accommodate additional staff.
Over next 15 years, multiple businesses were purchased and contracts won, including work with the Edendale dairy factory. This was enhanced by the successful ISO accreditation that Anita implemented within the business, with Dynes Transport being one of the first in the South Island to be accredited. This helped secure additional work for future years and is still current with their nationwide Fonterra contract today.
Graham Sheldrake
Graham was born in 1954 in the small seaside village of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England. He emigrated with his family to New Zealand at the age of two.
The family first settled in Patea, then shifted to Waitotara near Wanganui and eventually ended up in Tokoroa where Graham attended Tokoroa Intermediate and Tokoroa High School. After high school Graham joined his father as a diesel mechanic at NZ Forest Products Kinleith qualifying as a diesel mechanic.
At the age of 20, Graham embarked an OE with his sister and brother-in-law, taking a camper van around Europe for 18 months. On returning to New Zealand, Graham learned how to move furniture for Parks Furniture Removals in a 5-speed TK Bedford and that’s where he met his wife Jillian. After getting married in 1978 they headed back overseas to find his roots in England.
Trucks were starting to become important in Graham’s life and whilst overseas he made inquiries into log cartage back in Tokoroa. He applied for a contract with NZFP and was successful and purchased his first truck, a Kenworth SAR with a hiab crane to self-load logs. He called the truck Mork and the crane Mindy.
In 1984, he replaced that truck and purchased a Kenworth W924 carrying out off-highway logging. In 1986, he purchased a Scammell carting peeler logs from Kinleith to Henderson & Pollard, Mount Eden. In 1986, NZFP divested itself of its fleet of loggers and contracted out all of the cartage which enabled Graham to expand his fleet.
The formation of the Log Haulage Contractors Association came as a result of Graham’s encouragement for operators to band together to get lower fuel and insurance prices and have one voice when negotiating favourable discounts with various suppliers. Graham has been the driving force behind this organisation since its formation.
In 1994, Graham joined the No 2 Region NZRTA, completing a term as president prior to becoming the Owner Driver Director on the RTF board from 1998 to 2005. He also represented the RTF on the Transport and Logistics Industry Training Organisation.
From 2005 to 2009 Graham was vice president of the New Zealand RTA Region 2, acting president in 2009 and the president until 2012. He has also been a member of the Log Truck Safety Council since its formation in 1997 and has represented the RTF board for numerous years on this council. It should be recognised that Graham could not have done all of this without the support of his wife Jillian.
A restructured NZFP became CHH Pulp & Paper and in 2000 Graham secured a contract for the cartage of paper from Kinleith to Levin and paper products from various parts of the North Island to and from Kinleith.
In 2004, Graham was invited to join Dynes Holdings Ltd, Rotorua Forest Haulage Ltd and Honeycombe Log Transport to form Timber Logistics Ltd to cart Red Stag Timber.
Graham first and foremost is a family man; he and Jillian have a daughter and son, Emma and Mathew and also has five grandchildren, Owen, Noah, Luca, Dione and Carter. At the beginning of 2020, Mathew took over operations of the business after many years under the guidance of Graham.
Jim Black
Jim was born in Dunedin in 1944 and grew up in the family home in Andersons Bay, Dunedin.
Leaving school at age 15, he started work as a warehouse boy at Sargood Son & Ewing in Lower High Street, Dunedin but soon found wrapping parcels was not his game.
This led to his move into the motor industry where he joined Volkswagen Motors as an apprentice motor mechanic in 1961. After nine years, he joined Kew Services in Hillside Road until it was sold and then he moved to Holland and Bell.
Then began the start of what Jim is renowned for, when he started in the tyre industry.
Jim joined Firestone Tyre Services in Andersons Bay Road as a wheel alignment and underbody mechanic working his way to service manager and ending up Otago manager for 14 years.
At one stage, deciding he wanted to do something for himself, Jim operated a taxi in Dunedin for a couple of years but the novelty soon wore off.
In 1976, Jim joined Cooke Howlison Andersons Bay as a new car salesman under Bert Gibb where he worked for five years.
But Jim missed tyres so in 1982 he joined Bandag as Otago and Southland area manager. He managed the Bandag Commercial Truck Tyre Retread Factory in Harrow Street and the sales area. He then decided he should own the place, so he bought the business from Bandag in 1992 and General Tyres Ltd was born in September 1992. This is now managed by his son Stuart.
Sir Jack Newman
Jack was born in 1902 at the family farm in Naumai, Brightwater, near Nelson. He was instrumental in growing one of New Zealand’s largest road transport businesses, Newman Bros. Ltd.
Jack was educated at Nelson College before returning to the family farm. He joined the family firm in 1922 as a coach driver.
This gave him tremendous respect for “the bloke up front” and throughout his career he made a point of knowing and caring about his staff. His father, Tom Newman, and uncle, Harry, started Newman Bros. on a cold morning in July 1879 when they drove their first Royal Mail Coach between Foxhill and Murchison. The first motor vehicle was purchased in 1911. Little did they know this would be the start of a nationwide fleet of buses, campervans, rental cars, trucks and a major tourism business. Jack became a director in 1927 and managing director by 1930 at the age of 28.
Primarily Nelson based, the coach services started in the South Island and were extended to the lower North Island and eventually throughout New Zealand.
The family motto “only the best will do” took Jack to the United States to source Cadillacs. They were extended to seat 10-12 passengers, changed from left-hand drive to right, and travelled up to a million miles each. They cemented the firm’s reputation for quality and reliability. Only the best meant Internationals, British Leylands, Mercedes and Volvos came next.
The philosophy served the firm well when in 1955 four Newmans drivers completed a hectic 10-day tour of the North Island. A new tourism business was born, transporting the company and adding a new dimension to the New Zealand economy. By the firm’s centenary in 1979, Newmans was the largest tour operator in New Zealand with offices in Tokyo, Sydney, Los Angeles, Auckland and many New Zealand towns.
Jack founded Transport (Nelson) Ltd (TNL) in April 1938 with 12 shareholders. He was chairman until his retirement in 1980 and was then honorary founder president. It started with about 50 trucks scattered between the West Coast, Golden Bay, Nelson and Blenheim and included Newman’s Nelson to Takaka freight operation. By 1952 it became Transport (Nelson) Holdings Group, a public company. Newmans merged into TNL Group in 1972. By 1977 the group had a staff of around 1500 and close to 1500 vehicle units. It was one of the biggest transportation and trucking companies in New Zealand.
Jack was known for his entrepreneurial spirit, enthusiasm, generosity, instinctive concern for the feelings and welfare of others, and the ability to get others involved even when reluctant. A busy man, he also held directorships of many other companies, served on different councils, business associations and charities.
Jack was knighted in 1977 for services to the travel industry, commerce and the community. On receiving his knighthood he was quoted “This sort of thing is not achieved alone. I have had tremendous assistance from many people over the years in the things in which I have been involved. I have just headed these things, that’s all.”
Jack retired in 1980 enjoying his retirement in his hometown of Nelson, passing away on September 23, 1996.
Trevor Woolston
Trevor Woolston was born into trucking, his extended family having a lifelong involvement in the New Zealand trucking scene. He first drove a truck aged 14 and by age 18 was being paid to drive.
In 1975, Trevor started working for Mitchell Transport based in Ohaupo. When the hay season finished he got a job with General Foods delivering frozen foods to retail outlets. Then, in 1977, with a wedding imminent, Trevor purchased the family milk run.
In 1982, an opportunity arose to purchase a 1974 Mack R Model from Dibble Brothers in Te Awamutu. Trevor, along with Barry Stamp, Alf Quaife, Derek Smith and Geoff Dibble, formed the co-op Dibble Independent Transport. At this time, Trevor was introduced to the Road Transport Association becoming a member and serving on the regional committee.
Trevor enjoyed the Australian Truckin’ Life magazine but became frustrated by the lack of New Zealand content until his wife Sue suggested he start his own magazine. In March 1985, the first issue of NZ Trucking magazine hit the shelves.
In 1989, Trevor ran the first ever national road transport exhibition at Mystery Creek in the Waikato with over 23,000 visitors from across the country. The shows ran every two years moving to Hopuhopu in North Waikato in 1999.
Also in 1989, Trevor started truck racing in New Zealand with the Caltex New Zealand Truck Grand Prix held at Pukekohe raceway in April. More than 25,000 people jammed Pukekohe raceway with thousands more watching on TV. It was the biggest motor racing crowd at the track in 20 years and one of the biggest sporting crowds of any sort for the year. Truck racing in New Zealand carried on under Trevor’s management up until 1994.
In 1995, Independent Newspapers Ltd purchased NZ Trucking magazine. Trevor was made the manager of the industry-based magazines division but left within a year to focus more on transport shows and truck racing. For the next few years, Trevor dedicated his time to the transport shows adding a Truck Show at Penrith, Australia, and a Contracting Expo held at the Stevenson Drury Quarry.
In 1999, Tony Freidlander, CEO of the Road Transport Forum, asked Trevor to take over running its monthly newsletter. Trevor pitched an idea of starting an official magazine of the Road Transport Forum and the NZ Truck & Driver magazine was born. Trevor and Sue have run Allied Publications since then including Equipment Guide magazine, Truck Body & Trailer magazine and NZ Logger magazine.
Trevor has always contributed greatly to the Road Transport Forum and the industry as a whole. His donations and sponsorships for all sorts of programmes, shows and awards are too many to list. In 2017, Trevor received the RTF’s Supreme Contribution Award to the Industry for his dedication over the years.
Warwick Wilshier
Warwick was born and brought up in Otorohanga by family immersed in the timber industry. However, he was more interested in the delivery trucks.
Warwick has been an owner-operator in his own right since 1982, stepping into fleet ownership in 1984, and then multiple fleet ownership from 1989, operating in both the North and South Islands. A partnership with Gary Williams led to growth into a fleet delivering logs to Kinleith at Kawerau and McAlpines in Rotorua.
Cyclone Bola slowed work in the Bay of Plenty, so Warwick shifted to Canterbury to take on an opportunity with McCarthy and Wilshier Transport – MWT – as it was known. Paragon Haulage was next, putting self-loader trucks into Kaingaroa with the experience gained in operating self-loaders in Canterbury. Then came Rural Haulage in Wyndham as forests came on stream.
Paragon sold out of Rural in 1998, and Warwick shifted home to Rotorua to help with the huge incremental growth in Northland and the East Coast. The opportunity to invest in Pacific Haulage arose, resulting in Warwick becoming the director of finance for a company that has doubled in size since his involvement. The original fleet has grown to more than 100 trucks, with all the attendant requirements of staff compliance, training and operational matters.
Warwick has been the chairman of the Log Transport Safety Council for 20 years. Dedicated to the industry, Warwick has spent hundreds of hours at his cost in Wellington and throughout the country, fighting for change to improve the terrible reputation the log trucks had for accidents. He has made an outstanding contribution to transport safety including things like Static Roll Threshold, Share the Road, sleep apnoea testing, and Fit for the Road.
He received recognition from the Institute of Road Transport Engineers of New Zealand (IRTENZ) with the presentation of the Outstanding Industry Achievement Award for service to Log Truck Safety.
Warwick’s commitment to the industry has sometimes involved confrontation with members and compliance people especially, but he has the innate ability to focus on the point and achieve common ground with respect and integrity. He has a clear view of industry direction and is called upon daily for assistance from many people, from drivers to forest managers to fellow carriers to the NZ Transport Agency and the Road Transport Forum.
