| 41 Elms Carriers TRANSPORT Elms Carriers: a long-standing family business With a large array of different truck types to suit every transport purpose except livestock, diversity is one of Elms Carriers keys to success. Almost a hundred years in business and operated by the same family are key measure of success by anybody’s standard,. T T Richard Loader When Leslie Earnest Elms bought a truck back in 1927 to cart goods for his in-laws who farmed in the Hawke’s Bay, little did he appreciate that he was planting the seed for a family business that has to date embraced four generations. At the helm of Hastings-based Elms Carriers is Leslie’s grandson Robbie. Sixty nine years young, still regularly driving ten hour days and maintaining the general cartage fleet, Robbie has absolutely no plans on retiring any time soon. With the last employee retiring during Covid lockdown, Robbie’s two sons, Richie and Mark, make up the balance of both the management team and the workforce. While Richie drives trucks with his Dad, Mark drives the office; collectively they are a good family team. “I’m very proud that we’re a long-standing family business — I think it’s pretty special,” says Robbie. “Not many others have lasted that long. The three of us get on very well and are very proud of what our forebears have done for us, so we just like to carry on the tradition. There’s a personal touch to being a family business — a customer rings, they get me and I will say, ‘I’ll come and do that’. Our customers are more like friends to me. We have family principles and try to do the job once and do it properly. Many of our clients have been with us for the last sixty years or so, and they still come back to us. That must say something about us. My Dad carted lime for a local limeworks, and now we’re working for the grandsons of the original family.” For the last five years Elms Carriers has been based in the Irongate Industrial subdivision, just on the edge of Hastings, and predominantly operates within a sixty-kilometre radius for a diverse range of customers including contractors, and orchardists. With a large array of different truck types to suit every transport purpose except livestock, diversity is one of Elms Carriers keys to success. “I mostly have Isuzu trucks now, and a couple of Fodens. Our busiest trucks are the little short four-wheel tippers. They do the highest mileage doing around town.” 7 Maultsaid Place, Hastings 06 870 3358 17m x 6m Heated Spray Booth Commercial/Industrial/Marine Panel & Paint Specialist Full Automotive Refinishes Sandblasting Insurance Repairs 027 424 7319 06 879 4630 PRECAST HAWKES BAY LTD MANUFACTURERS OF COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND RESIDENTIAL PRECAST CONCRETE WALL PANELS precasthb@xtra.co.nz 06 835 8315 “I mostly have Isuzu trucks now, and a couple of Fodens. Our busiest trucks are the little short four-wheel tippers. They do the highest mileage doing around town deliveries of shingle, lime, sand and soil, that sort of thing. We have special trailers built for carting pre-cast concrete panels, as well as structural steel. We have motorized Jinkers, a lot of flat deck trailers and some trombone trailers. We deliver for two lime quarries and three or four metal plants.” Almost a hundred years in business and operated by the same family are key measure of success by anybody’s standard, and one that only but a few businesses have enjoyed in modern times. Robbie says repeat business and referrals from satisfied customers is key to the long haul journey. “Most times we can do the job when the customer calls. We try to give good service. Our clients have been very loyal to me and I have been very loyal to our suppliers, like the quarries. The other thing is that I don’t buy anything unless I can afford it, that is my motto.”
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