50 | TRANSPORT Heavy Diesel Parts and Services T T Kelly Deeks A world of opportunity for trainees PROUD TO SUPPORT HDPS Trainees entering the heavy diesel industry have a world of opportunity open to them according to Jim Garters of Heavy Diesel Parts and Services (HDPS), who himself started his apprenticeship under company founder Andrew Bulman 30 years ago. After Andrew passed away in 2015, Jim became one of the business owners along with Andrew’s widow Debbie and CFO Robin Bertacco. HDPS has evolved since it started in Christchurch in 1997, when Andrew was working out of the back of his ute along with his dog Bogart. T T to page 52 By 2004, HDPS had opened a second branch in Timaru and was awarded Southpac dealer status, with both brands quickly progressing to the forefront of Canterbury heavy diesel engineering. In 2007, a satellite workshop was opened in Dunsandel to support the growing number of milk tankers at the Synlait dairy factory, then two years later HDPS bought the South Island branch of Cummins Engine Company, with both HDPS Christchurch and Timaru becoming Cummins Master Dealers in their respective regions. Today HDPS runs about 100 staff across seven branches in Christchurch, Timaru, and a recently acquired branch in Westport, with a view to expanding across the West Coast. Jim says the West Coast has until now not been flush with heavy diesel mechanical services and products, and with Southpac and Cummins trucks sales going well there, HDPS is committed to supporting those new trucks in the region. As well as parts and services, HDPS is the authorised distributor for Caltex and Z lubrication products from Ashburton to Nelson and Marlborough, and holds the service and repair contracts for Christchurch Airport Fire Service and FENZ South Canterbury. HDPS continues to grow with a new marine services division and an engineering facility dedicated to new truck set up, with services ranging from installing a basic set of work lights up to complete custom truck set up. Jim says a big part of HDPS’s work is bringing new people into the industry. “As an industry, we’re short on talent and it’s not easy to bring people in,” he says. “We’ve always been seen as dirty diesel mechanics with a low level of skill but it’s actually the complete opposite.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=