108 | Supporting local primary industry is key Wayne’s other son Ryan runs the workshop and a team of three, keeping the fleet serviced and well maintained. Kelly Deeks RURAL SERVICES » Transport Services Ltd In the heart of Southland’s dairying country, Nightcaps is home to slick rural transport operation Transport Services Ltd (TSL), a classic Kiwi business with its bosses at its heart, where decisions are made quickly and requests welcomed enthusiastically, as the firm supports local primary industry with 39 trucks providing fertiliser and bulk cartage, ground spreading and livestock cartage. TSL has been running in its current incarnation, as a 50/50 partnership between one of New Zealand’s largest transport companies HW Richardson Group from Invercargill, and the local Wayne Williams, Dean Carleton, and Grant Anderson. With its focus on supporting local primary industry, TSL has continued to add the services its customers want. Its stockfeed division has grown this year from four stockfeed trucks to five, and a new earthworks division has been established with the arrival of two 20-ton diggers as well as Wayne’s son Shaye, an experienced operator who is now upskilling other members of the team. Wayne’s other son Ryan runs the workshop and a team of three, keeping the fleet serviced and well maintained. TSL dispatch manager Grant Anderson has had a long and intricate association with Groundspread NZ, with a strong focus on training and health and safety. Former branch chairman and delegate for Otago Southland and a Groundspread NZ national council member for 11 years, Grant spent three years as vice president before stepping down last year. He says the council and the future of the groundspreading industry are in good hands. “Groundspreading is going to keep rising,” he says. “It’s at a really good level and it still has plenty of room to grow.” Key to this growth is in recruitment, and Groundspread NZ is interested in partnering with other agencies to help grow the industry, which offers well-remunerated, long term careers with pathways to business ownership for both men and women. Groundspread NZ is also working with representatives from Federated Farmers, the NZ Fertiliser Association, the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association, and Fertmark registered fertiliser companies on adapting, improving, and raising awareness of its Spreadmark scheme, which was first established in 1994. Spreadmark is a fertiliser placement quality assurance programme which ensures the placement of fertilisers in locations where they can be of the most agricultural benefit and the least environmental harm, by registered spreading companies with certified spreading machinery, trained operators, and an appropriate quality management system. About half of New Zealand’s groundspread operators are currently Spreadmark certified, having undergone testing to prove an understanding of the systems and demonstrate accurate placement of fertiliser. Once certified, operators are tested every two years to maintain their accreditation, but should also put their trucks over the trays every year to make sure they haven’t changed their spreading patterns.
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