24 | Shortage of drivers a concern Hoskins Transport’s co-proprietor Sandra Skudder says a chronic shortage of drivers is hurting the business. Waitaki: Hoskins Transport T T Hugh de Lacy REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT SAFETYPPE,WORKWEAR,WORKBOOTS, BRANDING,HIGH VISANDUNIFORMS. Proudly supporting Hoskins Transport Heavy Vehicle Maintenance Waitaki Main North Rd, Oamaru T: 03 437 0065 F: 03 437 0750 E: admin@whvm.co.nz Proud to be associated with Hoskins Transport & Waitaki Transport Mechanical & Engineering workshop for all your Pre COF checks, servicing, auto electrical, hydraulic hoses, repairs and maintenance on all heavy vehicles. In the face of a chronic shortage of drivers, there’s a desperate need for the trucking and education industries get together to make the transport industry more attractive to school leavers, according to Sandra Skudder, who, with Gint Hoskins, is co-proprietor of Oamaru-based Hoskins Transport. The company has a fleet of 15 trucks operated by a dozen staff but, “We are currently hesitant to look for new business opportunities or to expand our fleet as it is so hard to find drivers – and it’s definitely hurting our business growth,” Sandra says. “We pride ourselves on running good gear and keeping our service levels high to our customers, but up until recently we weren’t aware of any programmes that push truck-driving as a career for school leavers. “Gone are the days of kids heading out with Mum or Dad for a line-haul run to stir up their interest in trucks – Health and Safety changed all that. “Getting into high schools and promoting transport as a great industry to be in is the key. “And truck-driving isn’t just for men: women make great truck-drivers.” Sandra says the industry needs people who “love driving and being out on the open road, people who can think logically and enjoy finding solutions.” She says truck-driving is a great career option – “and the money can also be pretty good.” “There aren’t many professions in New Zealand where you get to see so much of our beautiful country, and the variety can be fun: you could be in Christchurch City one day, driving the Waitaki Valley the next, then cruising through the Devil’s Staircase ,” she says. After backgrounds in the transport industry, Sandra and Gint got together in 2017 to start a transport business in Alexandra servicing the fruit-growers of Central Otago. There quickly followed the opportunity to buy an existing company, Oamaru-based Waitaki Transport, with its fleet of six trucks, and they took over just six months after the Alexandra start-up. Hoskins Transport’s current fleet covers a variety of configurations, including truckand-trailers, B-trains, flat-deck quads and a drop-side tipper. The company carts a mix of general freight, from stock-food to timber, concrete and building products. It moves steel for Steel and Tube from Christchurch – where it has a large depot – to its Dunedin and Invercargill branches, and the drop-sider is used for fertilizer and aggregates. “And in the Otago summer fruit season we have a great relationship with Central Organics of Alexandra,” Sandra says. Gint grew up around trucks in Southland and started driving for a living at 19 before moving on to a succession of management roles with Fulton Hogan Central, which later became ATL Alexandra. Sandra started in Customer Services with Transport Nelson, then shifted to the company’s Christchurch branch and a range of administrative and operational roles that included claims, accounts, local dispatching and office management. Both Gint and Sandra are very much handson in running Hoskins Transport, Gint as Managing Director – though he spends more time behind a wheel than a desk – and Sandra as Office Manager. While they remain deeply concerned about the continuing labour shortage in the transport industry, they’re positive about its outlook, if for no other reason than that 90% of the country’s freight is being transported by road, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. “Getting into high schools and promoting transport as a great industry to be in is the key.”
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