Former heavy vehicle driver, fleet manager and NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame inductee Dave Potter has died aged 75.
He passed away peacefully on March 20, surrounded by family, at Dunedin’s Ross Home after a short illness.
Potter gave 25 years’ service to the Road Transport Association and its forerunners and was a dedicated and much valued part of the organisation, both in his home region of Otago Southland and nationally.
He was inducted to the Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2015 with many in the industry singing his praises.
Road Transport Forum life member Ian Pheloung was on the panel which appointed Potter and, speaking at the time, said he never regretted the decision.
“He’s been a wonderful servant to the road transport industry in the south. He’s one of the old school with his heart in the right place,” Pheloung said.
Former Road Transport Forum director and chairman Warren Hamilton also praised Potter upon his induction.
“He’s always going to find an answer and he does it in such a cheery manner. The thing that really impressed was his rapport with the CVIU, local councils and testing agencies and also with the members,” Hamilton said at the time.
Potter developed an interest in the road transport industry after helping his grandad with parcel deliveries around Dunedin on a horse and cart. His grandad used a horse and cart for 47 years and over the years had six draughthorses, all called Dick. He was the last carrier using four-legged horsepower when he finally hung up the harness.
Potter’s first job after leaving school was as a delivery boy for Briscoes before training as a cinema projectionist. But that was just a sideshow before he got on the road, driving buses for the Dunedin City Council, then as furniture truck driver, (Crust & Crust Ltd). Then, in 1972, the job he really wanted came up, driving the Midland Coaches Starliner between Christchurch and Dunedin, as well as tours around the South Island.
After six years driving he was moved into an office job and then, in 1979, sent back to Dunedin as manager.
In 1984 Newmans asked him to start up a Dunedin operation for them before transferring him back to Christchurch as fleet manager for the South Island. In 1990 the company was taken over and he left. He was then offered a position driving for Dave Newton Transport in Christchurch who was contracted to Shell NZ carting kerosene and fuel around Christchurch.
In 1990 he was asked to apply for the position as secretary of the Otago Road Transport Association, a move back to his home town which he and his wife Diane were more than happy to make. In 1994 he became regional secretary for NZRTA Region 5.
*A service for Potter will be held at Hope and Sons Chapel, 523 Andersons Bay Rd, Dunedin at 11am on Thursday, March 25.
