Business Rural North Winter 2021

62 | Trucking firm has Kelly Deeks RURAL SERVICES » Pinfolds Transport Steve Pinfold with his trusty long nose Mac – no power steering and noisy. Chuck Howsman with a truck hand loaded with clay pipes. Walter Pinfold, who established Pinfolds Transport with brother-in-law Edgar in 1920. Hay carting. · Alloy ute canopies/dog boxes · Loading ramps · ATV trailers · Alloy ute/flat decks · Alloy and steel platform decks · Service the North and South Island in our fully equipped workshops · Manufacturers of Aluminium Stock Crates Proud to support Pinfolds Transport 2008 LTD Ph 06 323 3629 • • Blair (South Island) 027 690 0724 Ted (North Island) 021 0294 1293 STOCKCRATES FEILDING TIMARU Ph 03 688 2274 Servicing the accounting software needs of New Zealand organisations for over 35 years the All Black trials at 25, and a long time member and local president and vice president of the Road Transport Association, Podge advocated for togeth- erness among carriers. His funeral in 2008 was attended by 800 people, who witnessed Podge’s final journey from the Carterton RSA to the Clareville Cemetery, on the back of a Pinfolds feeder truck and tied down with bailing twine. Podge has a namesake, his 25-year-old grandson Ethan who is now Pinfolds Transport’s youngest driver and also known as Podge. After Podge’s passing, his son Steve and daugh- ter in law Karen purchased the business. Having grown to eleven trucks, they decided to downsize in 2017 due to a nationwide shortage of truck drivers. “It’s hard to get drivers because the hours and regulations are tough,” Karen says. “Sometimes they have to start at 5am, and other days they might not get home until 10 at night. They’re load- ing and unloading in the dark, and no one enjoys doing that, and it’s very physical work. So, we decided to downsize to three truck and trailers, concentrate on local work, and look after the ones who look after us.” The family values that have seen Pinfolds Trans- port survive and thrive for 101 years still continue, with Steve and Karen focused on looking after their valued, specialised drivers. Steve runs a rotational roster to ensure if a driver has to stay away overnight, it won’t be the same driver doing it each week. Time away to take care of family business, like attending their child’s first day at school, or unforeseen medical issues can be worked around by Pinfolds Transport. All drivers have their own credit card to allow them to refuel themselves during their trips. “We fuel our trucks and we fuel our drivers,” Karen says. “Our drivers are our extended family. Without them, we haven’t got a business. At the moment there’s a nationwide shortage of truck drivers and with livestock drivers even more so, they are specialised. They’ve got to physically load the stock, make sure they are fit for transportation, and look after them until they safely reach their destination. Livestock is precious cargo, they are the farmer’s livelihood.” Karen says she’d like to see more women livestock driving, as they are naturally great with animals. W ith a proud place in Wairarapa’s rural histo- ry of more than 100 years, family business Pinfolds Transport is a livestock transport specialist trusted to deliver farmers’ precious cargo throughout the lower North Island. Originally established by Walter Pinfold and his brother in law Edgar Follows on their return from WWI in 1920, they bought a livery stable in Carter- ton which had already been operating for 34 years. They bought four or five horses, carts, and rigs, and a stable in the middle of Carterton town centre, but it wasn’t long before Pinfolds Transport trans- formed into motorised transport. The first truck, a Leyland with a four cylinder motor, solid tyres, and carbon lights, was purchased in the 1920s. Walter’s son Alan, better known as Podge, remembers going out with his dad on trips to the Wairarapa coast, carting goods on dirt roads over the rolling hill country. The truck managed about eight miles an hour and when she started to get hot, Podge would run behind with a block of wood to put behind the back wheel. They would wait for the engine to cool down, then off they would go again. By the 1930s, Pinfolds Transport had three trucks, and carted locally as it was illegal to trans- port goods more than 30 miles. This meant plenty of work taking goods to and from the railway stations, as well as hay and clay tiles for local farmers, and flour for the mill. Podge’s mum Molly ran Pinfolds Transport’s tel- ephone system. Walter would be down at the river shovelling metal by hand, and when a job came in, Molly would hop on her pushbike and bike about 15kms to the Waiohine Bridge to let him know. Podge took over the business in 1954, and Walter continued working there for another 15 years. The business continued to grow after WWII, with the addition of livestock transport to its mix of work which included milk, first by can and then by tanker. Pinfolds Transport also took a 20 year lease on the lime works at Ahiaruhe. The firm built all its own decks, trailers, and crates, until certification regulations in the 1970s put paid to its DIY approach. Podge had a huge presence in the Carterton community. A staunch supporter of the RSA, representing the Wairarapa in rugby and making