| 53 Eastern Truck & Marine TRANSPORT T T Hugh De Lacy Fleet maintenance, parts specialists Eastern Truck is the first over the pit in the new COF building. The Eastern Truck & Marine team (below). When Cyclone Gabrielle turned their Onekawa, Napier, yard into a lake earlier this year, Eastern Trucks was able to get it dried out, powered up with a generator and its 35 staff back to work within days. The company was founded 35 years ago by the Hawke’s Bay Mahoney and Kilminster families who still own it, with professional director Graham Leech now serving as chairman and Dave Mullooly as an independent director. Graham came aboard three years ago at a time when the company was “hungry for growth,” he says, and he’s been able to improve customer service significantly, expanding its operations by 30%. Eastern Trucks specialises in fleet maintenance and supplying parts, holding the New Zealand agencies for Kenworth and DAF trucks, and for Cummins diesel engines. It’s currently on a further expansion programme, adding two Certificate of Fitness testing lanes and a truck-wash to the existing eight service repair bays. The company is the go-to authority on truck repairs and certification in Hawke’s Bay, and it’s supported by a 24/7 breakdown service andcan work on trucks away from the workshop. The company does not sell new trucks – that’s the role of Auckland importer and New Zealand franchise holderSouthPac – and it has lately dropped the “and Marine” from its company title because, while it still services marine diesel engines, this is no longer a major part of its business. The cyclone led to a boost in work for Eastern Trucks, especially with its breakdown service that was able to reach trucks otherwise stranded by road damage. “The cyclone affected the whole Hawke’s Bay economy but we’ve been increasing our work because of the need to repair flood damage,” Graham says. “We were shut down for four days but once we got dried out – we had a pool six feet deep in the yard - and a generator going to replace the broken electricity network, we were able to get going and support the recovery efforts.” The cyclone has severely ruptured the Hawke’s Bay economy but the surge of work it generated for Eastern Trucks has ensured its expansion programme is able to go ahead without further delay. And while the workshop is growing bigger and expanding the company’s services, it’s been largely able to avoid the labour problems other transport-related companies throughout the country having been facing. “Over the last two years we’ve been able to procure skilled labour to meet our growth needs by constantly improving both our pay rates and our company culture,” Graham says. “We’ve set out to make Eastern Trucks a place that diesel mechanics want to come to work, and that way we’ve met the challenge of maintaining our skilled workforce during a period of chronic labour shortages.” Cummins congratulates Eastern Truck on the opening of their new COF testing station. We are proud of the long association with our Cummins Dealer of the year. STRUCTURAL & CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSULTANTSWHO SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE Where engineering, people & great ideas come together 308 Queen Street East, Hastings 4122 | P 06 876 7646 E admin@sgl.nz | www.stratagroup.net.nz Proud to be Associated with Eastern Truck & Marine.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=