48 | TRANSPORT Clive Taylor Haulage T T Hugh De Lacy Mack trucks still the star of the show The company name pays due respect to transport operator and Mack truck collector Clive Taylor of Paraparaumu, and though the man himself has gone into retirement his name lives on in Tania and Andrew “Sooty” Breach’s company Clive Taylor Haulage Ltd. Clive had been in business for half a century when Tania and Sooty bought him out three years ago, the purchase agreement involving nine trucks – all Macks, of course. “Clive was happy to have his name live on in the company name and we valued it for his image and branding,” Sooty says. Clive Taylor Haulage’s fleet has grown to 22 trucks, mostly tippers and mostly Macks, but the odd Volvo has made an appearance in the line-up. The company has three aluminium bulk units to cater for the agriculture market, carting grain and fertiliser, but specialises in rock cartage using tipper-units whose bins are made from a specially hardened steel called Hardox. The company takes pride in turning up for every job with the right gear, the right attitude and the right training. The trucks are serviced in the company’s Paraparaumu yard, with back-up services from TruckStops, the New Zealand Mack agent, and local company Central Automotive Services. Earlier this year the company opened up a yard and a branch in Taitoko/Levin, as much to get access to the greater pool of truck-drivers up that way as to expand their market base further northwards. Clive Taylor Haulage also touts its fleet at trucks shows, and this year their Mack Trident tipper “Rock Waka” won the Best Mack Truck award at the Mangatainoka Truck Show, and two years ago their tipper “Bounty Hunter”, also a Trident, swept the floor at the Taranaki Truck Show as Best Tipper, Best Mack and Best Truck in the Show. While Sooty manages the 17 drivers, Tania runs the administrative side of the business, and she’s an award-winner too, having this year taken out the Transporting New Zealand Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety. Tania has nurtured a strong H&S culture in Clive Taylor Haulage, and her success added a new shine to the brand. Sooty went in to trucking virtually straight from completing his mechanics’ apprenticeship, working his way up from logging driver for A R West at Oakura, Taranaki, tocompany driver for McCarthy Transport and J D Hickmans, to owner-driver for Owens Tankers, carting Challenge fuel, and Hooker Pacific carting LPG, hot bitumen and general freight. He then embarked on a career in Taranaki’s off-shore oil and gas industry for 13 years as a mechanic and crane operator, before getting back into trucking. The company’s work in bulk cartage and transport tends towards project work and linehaul commitments, while supporting local businesses and contractors in their haulage needs. While Tania and Sooty have not tried to create a Mack museum to rival Clive Taylor’s, they remain faithful to the American brand they inherited from him. “They’re a really good quality truck for what is very demanding work in tough conditions, and they do us well,” Sooty says. “I’ve always preferred them to the European trucks – which isn’t to denigrate the Europeans – and of course our drivers all love the Macks for their big American looks, the bling, the lights and the stainless steel. “They’re a handsome beast.” “I’ve always preferred them to the European trucks – which isn’t to denigrate the Europeans – and of course our drivers all love the Macks for their big American looks, the bling, the lights and the stainless steel. They’re a handsome beast.”
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