| 49 RURAL SERVICES » Amuri Transport Bulk cartage side ramping up nicely Richard Loader Under the leadership of Managing Director Eddie Swain Amuri Transport is on an exciting journey as it looks to grow its bulk cartage and aggregate operations. Located in the small North Canterbury farming town of Culverden, Amuri Transport’s roots go back to the days of North Canterbury Transport and beyond. At one stage the business was owned by Transpac, one of New Zealand’s largest transport companies, before that company went into receivership in 1988. Transpac’s demise lead to the rise of Amuri Transport in 1989. Eddie became involved in Amuri Transport February last year after taking a 50% stake in the business, with existing owners Peter Murphy, Mike Murphy and Kevin Crean, sharing the remaining 50% equally. Eddie has owned ED Swain Ltd, a small Dunsandel-based livestock trucking business, since 1987 and says while there had always been a place for the small operator, over the years there has been a shift with all livestock and fatstock transport controlled by the meat processors. “The processors preference is to deal with bigger companies that can transport large volumes of stock in a short time. Buying into Amuri Transport gave us scale with a eet of fourteen livestock trucks. We operate throughout the South Island but the bulk of our stock transport is between the Amuri basin and processing plants in Blenheim and Nelson and then to Timaru in the south where there are several processors in that region.” Amuri Transport’s capability and operations include fertiliser spreading around the Amuri basin, along with running freight out of Christchurch servicing clients in the local area. A hi-ab truck and trailer unit is available for awkward consignments. Four bulk truck and trailer units cart bulk fertiliser and other commodity products to farmers in the region. “We also have a quarry operation on the banks of the Waiau River,” says Eddie. “We sell and transport a range of high-quality products out of there including sand, AP20, AP40 and clear stones. The sand is a very high-quality product and a lot of that goes into Christchurch. We’re growing the aggregate sales from the quarry quite a bit, along with the bulk cartage side of the business. “I’m in this business because I enjoy it and I like to put a good service out there at a competitive price.” In the past there has been a big focus on the livestock side of the business and the bulk cartage side had not been developed. Because we’re dealing with the processors we have less control over the livestock side of the business, so we’re really targeting the bulk cartage side. It just spreads out business risk.” When Cable Price made the decision to close its Culdverden workshop, Amuri Transport had nowhere local to have their eet of vehicles serviced. Independent of the transport business, Eddie and his wife Sandra have built a brand-new workshop on Amuri Transport’s site which will be used to service the vehicle eet along with providing a service to the local community. Eddie has been involved in the trucking industry since 1977 when he started out as a 19-year-old driver. “I’m in this business because I enjoy it and I like to put a good service out there at a competitive price — though with the price of diesel that’s becoming hard. Amuri Transport has very good operators and of ce staff. It’s the same old thing — it’s the people really that make the business successful and make the customers want to come back and use our services.” . On the Farm Mobile Service for all your Tyre requirements No job too BIG or SMALL. 0800 484 725 · Service the North and South Island in our fully equipped workshops · Manufacturers of Aluminium Stock Crates Proud to support Amuri Transport STOCKCRATES FEILDING TIMARU Ph06 323 3629 • • Blair (South Island) 027 690 0724 Brodie (North Island) 021 0294 1293 Ph 03 688 2274 The new Scania freight truck is being put to good use.
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