Business Central September 2021

44 | Central Hawke’s Bay: Twist Trucking Growing through the twists and turns T T Sue Russell REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT T he beginnings of Twist Trucking, based in Central Hawkes Bay at Waipawa, can be traced back directly to the family’s history farming in the district. Tom Twist took over the day to day running of the bulk carrier transporting company in 2005, his father Neville founded back in 1997. “Our family have a large sheep and beef farm in Argyll and we always had our own truck to transport livestock and fertiliser to the farm, so it was just a natural development for us to grow the transporting business. Dad was always keen on trucks.” Seizing opportunities to grow, such as when a new fertiliser store opened in Waipukurau in 2001 the business grew steadily, filling what was a gap in the market in the district. Extending beyond the region to carting bulk products throughout the North Island, meant purchasing more trucks and employing more drivers. Nearly a decade ago a strategic decision to downsize the livestock side of the business and increase bulk cartage to meet the demands of new customers, shifted the direction of the company and today Twist Trucking has a fleet of 15 bulk trucks. “We’ve grown one truck a year for the past four years.” Such are the distances now covered that half the fleet is kitted out with sleepers. Tom says in recent years the company has chosen International Trucks, assembled in Mt Maun- ganui by InterTruck. He says they are great quality trucks with a light tare weight. “We also have two new International trucks in the fleet and two more on order for later this year. “We know its important to have a good fleet to attract and keep great drivers as there is a lot of demand for these skills in the Hawkes Bay.” To that end, Tom says initiatives by the Road Transport Association to attract and create training pathways for professional drivers is critical to the long-term health of the industry. “These days, drivers are responsible for op- erating very expensive, big payload machines on our roads. These are skills that are of great value and the shortage of drivers across the country is of real concern.” Through COVID, Twist Trucking continued to operate as an essential business and the com- pany placed a special emphasis on the health and wellbeing of their drivers, some of whom have worked for the company many years. “We traditionally have a slower time period through June and July and we make sure the team have a break to ensure they are refreshed and ready for when work picks up in August and September carting fertiliser.” Carting river metal to drain rivers has become another source of business activity. Twist Trucking obtains consents from Regional Council to extract the metal. There’s a push by Regional Council to encourage those compa- ny’s using aggregate to access their supply from the region. Tom says the future of Twist Trucking is pos- itive, with a good number of large corporate clients, in fertiliser and concrete supply.“They have need for our trucks all year round, and this is the backbone of the business.”Twist Trucking also has a strict standard regarding the maintenance and appearance of its trucks on the road. All trucks are maintained in their own workshop to a high standard and washed weekly to maintain their smart looks. “We have a motto in the company that ‘you don’t get a second chance to make a first im - pression’, and this has definitely helped build our strong reputation.” “We know its important to have a good fleet to attract and keep great drivers as there is a lot of demand for these skills in the Hawkes Bay.” BRIDGESTONE TYRE CENTREWAIPUKURAU proudly supports Rural Air Work LTD 25 Takapau Road, Waipukurau. Ph 06 858 9299. Twist Trucking td