New Zealand timber hauler stands tall with Cummins engines

Pacific Haulage stands tall in the timber industry

Pacific Haulage was established in Gisborne on the North Island’s east coast in 1985 to service a five-year NZ Forest Service contract.

Three men – Graham Manson, Mike Treloar and Calvin Paddon who had worked together in the forestry industry in the 1970s as diesel mechanics – joined forces to establish the business with, as Treloar puts it, “very second-hand trucks”.

When Graham Manson exited the company in 2000, Warwick Wilshier – owner of Rotorua-based Williams & Wilshier – bought into Pacific Haulage with a one-third share.

The Gisborne region has a strong export-oriented forestry industry which contributes significantly to employment and infrastructure in the region. A key economic asset for the region is the port – one of the three largest log exporting ports in New Zealand. Around 2.5 million tonnes a year are currently being exported through the port.

Pacific Haulage, which rates highly among a community of reputable forestry businesses, typically moves around 72,000 tonnes of logs a month with its Kenworth-dominated fleet, mostly for export.

Mike Treloar points out that part of the reason Pacific Haulage set up in Gisborne in the mid-80s was the so-called “wall of wood” coming on stream in the region. Vast forests of radiata pine that had been planted to maintain land through the prevention of slips and erosion in the hill country, had reached the point where they had become commercially viable to harvest.

Hauling 800,000 tonnes of timber a year requires reliable, high-horsepower Cummins engines

Pacific Haulage with its four bonneted Kenworths – W923 and W924 models – gained further momentum in the late 1980s when the log export trade began in earnest and the company was carting around 400 tonnes a day. Today, the company is moving over 800,000 tonnes a year with 40 log trucks, mainly Kenworths with Cummins ISXe5 engines rated at 550 hp.

The T659 is the preferred Kenworth model. In fact, Pacific Haulage put the first 8x4 T659 log truck into service in New Zealand, in 2013.

“The ISXe5 is performing like a diesel should… we’re more than happy with it,” says Mike Treloar. “Fuel economy is quite impressive for what we’re doing,” he adds, reading out figures of 1.65 to 1.72 km/litre for trucks operating at 50 tonnes. An 8x4 truck coupled to a five-axle trailer is a typical combination at Pacific Haulage.

Cummins' top-notch support keeps the timber moving

“Cummins is giving us very good support,” says Calvin Paddon with conviction, noting the work of Ben Stone, Cummins Bay of Plenty service manager.

Routine maintenance on the fleet is carried out at an impressive Pacific Haulage-Williams & Wilshier facility that was opened on Gisborne’s outskirts in late 2016 and where five company mechanics and four apprentices are based.

A professional image has obviously been forged by the men at the helm of Pacific Haulage. Mike Treloar, Calvin Paddon and Warwick Wilshier take a lot of pride in the operation which over the years has contributed strongly to employment growth and other community economic benefits.