Graham Sheldrake
Born in 1954 in the small seaside village of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, Graham Sheldrake immigrated with his family to New Zealand at the age of two. The family first settled in Patea, then shifted to Waitotara near Wanganui, and eventually ended up in Tokoroa where Graham attended school. After high school Graham joined his father as a diesel mechanic at NZ Forest Products Kinleith, qualifying in the trade.
At the age of 20 Graham embarked on an OE with his sister and brotherin-law, taking a campervan around Europe for 18 months. Upon returning to New Zealand, Graham learned how to move furniture for Parks Furniture Removals in a 5-speed TK Bedford, and that’s where he met his future wife, Jillian. After getting married in 1978 they headed back overseas to find his roots in England.
Trucks were starting to become important in Graham’s life and while overseas he made enquiries into log cartage back in Tokoroa. He applied for a contract with NZFP and was successful, purchasing his first truck, a Kenworth SAR with a Hiab crane to selfload logs. He called the truck Mork and the crane Mindy.
In 1984 he replaced that truck and purchased a Kenworth W924, carrying off-highway logging. In 1986 he purchased a Scammell carting peeler logs from Kinleith to Henderson & Pollard, Mount Eden. In 1986 NZFP divested itself of its fleet of loggers and contracted out all of the cartage, which enabled Graham to expand his fleet.
The formation of the Log Haulage Contractors Association came about as a result of Graham’s encouragement for operators to band together to get lower fuel and insurance prices and have one voice when negotiating favourable discounts with various suppliers. Graham has been the driving force behind this organisation since its formation.
In 1994 Graham joined the No 2 Region NZRTA, completing a term as president prior to becoming the owner-driver director on the RTF board from 1998 to 2005. He also represented the RTF for the Transport and Logistics Industry Training Organisation. From 2005 to 2009 Graham was vice president of the RTA Region 2, acting president in 2009, and the president until 2012. He has also been a member of the Log Truck Safety Council since its formation in 1997 and has represented the RTF board for numerous years on this council. It should be recognised that Graham could not have done all of this without the support of Jillian.
A restructured NZFP became CHH
Pulp & Paper and in 2000 Graham secured a contract for the cartage of paper from Kinleith to Levin, and paper products from various parts of the North Island to and from Kinleith. In 2004, Graham was invited to join Dynes Holdings Ltd, Rotorua Forest Haulage Ltd, and Honeycombe Log Transport, to form Timber Logistics Ltd to cart Red Stag Timber.
Graham is a family man; he and Jillian have a daughter and son,
Emma and Mathew, and also five grandchildren. At the beginning of 2020 Mathew took over the business.
Graham has been a part of a number of successful industry organisations and has the reputation for tackling many of the difficult issues that the industry throws up from time to time. His organisational skills are second to none and the industry has used these skills to help make the industry better for everybody.