OLD SCHOOL TRUCKS

CHEVIOT TRANSPORT

This month, we look at another sister company of Ellesmere Transport, Cheviot Transport.

Cheviot is situated 112km north of Christchurch on the State Highway 1 and other than traffic passing through the main trunk line, is a typical small New Zealand rural town.

Cheviot Transport has been servicing the town and surrounding rural areas in many guises since the ’50s, with various ownership over the years. Perhaps the most notable was when Cheviot Transport ceased to exist in 1988 when the Transpac juggernaut swallowed them up along with several other Canterbury-based rural transport companies. The Transpac era was short-lived, however, as they went broke and shut up shop less than two years later, and in true ‘phoenix rising from the ashes’ fashion, several ex-employees of Transpac in Cheviot took over what was left of the Transpac Cheviot Depot and Cheviot Transport was back in town.

The Hanna family then gained ownership before the Righton family of Ellesmere Transport acquired the business and remains at the helm to this day.

Back when I began photographing Cheviot Transport trucks in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Isuzu was the predominant brand in the fleet. Many rural transport companies utilised Japanese brands during those times before moving on to American and European gear when they became more established. Throughout the ’90s and 2000s, many truck badges have been seen in the Cheviot

Transport livery, with Foden, MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Nissan Diesel, to name a few, However, arguably the biggest head-turner was a new K108 Kenworth Aerodyne put on the road in 2010.

There was a logo and livery change, with the orange stripe removed and replaced with a larger red one, and the Volvo brand became the mainstay of the fleet, which is no surprise due to the Ellesmere Transport influence in the smart rural transport company from North Canterbury.

Japanese trucks were the backbone of many transport companies through the ’80s and ’90s. Cheviot Transport favoured Isuzus.

Many other brands entered the fleet throughout the ’90s, including this Foden 4350 eight-axle unit (left), which was followed by a Foden 4410 (right)

A new-generation CXZ Isuzu 380

An Isuzu CXZ on bulk duties. Six-axle units were the norm in the mid-to-late ’80s.

A later model CXZ Isuzu 350 pictured on livestock duties

This CXZ Isuzu on tipper duties was a 370hp version

Japanese trucks still featured in the fleet in the late ’90s; this CW380 Nissan Diesel was pictured brand-new leaving the dealership in 1998

Perhaps a sign of things to come in the Cheviot Transport fleet. This Volvo FL10 joined the fleet in 1995.

Isuzus also continued to have a representation

A later facelift model Nissan Diesel CW385

A Mercedes-Benz Powerliner 2544

An 8x4 MAN 32-403 dedicated livestock unit

Enter the 2000s and Volvos were becoming the frontline brand of choice

Plenty of heads were also turned when this FH540 Globetrotter hit the tarmac in 2014

Volvo dominates the new truck purchases in the fleet; this FH16 600 is similarly spec’d to the sister trucks in the Ellesmere Transport fleet

An FH Volvo 500 pictured doing the hard yards in 2020

A livery change saw the removal of the orange stripe and a bigger, bolder red stripe. The logo was also upgraded.

This new K108 Kenworth turned plenty of heads when it entered the fleet back in 2010