“It wasn’t that I’d always had a master plan to have my own business....”

farmer in Southland, while Dad got a new six-cylinder FUSO. That V8 went like a scalded cat.”

Not long af ter, Samsons bought out Littles, af ter gaining the majority of the meat contracts in the region. It was in the time before logbooks and the hours being worked were immense, recalls Steve, especially when the Central Otago run was done twice a week. The f act that the meat was all on hanging rails called for constant attention in bends.

Under Samsons ownership, Steve had three Mitsis in a row – a 315, 320 and a 400. The 315 was fitted with all the extras available, and in 1985 actually won the top prize at the Gore truck show. It was still running until a couple of years ago.

The 400 too was a g reat performer, he recalls.

After Samsons bought the Transpac operations in Otago and Southland they branched into general f reight. In the early days of this arrangement Steve was carting cattle hides out of Belfast to Dunedin, using a B-train with a f ront trailer of meat and the back one loaded with hides.

For a time he also did a linehaul run out of Christchurch, carting f resh produce as f ar as Invercargill.

The mid-1990s brought a big moment in his trucking life:

“Af ter 20 years at Littles and Samsons, things were starting to change – and I got a c hance to cart bread for Quality Bakers out of Dunedin, where they’d shif ted their main baking to.

“I did that for 10 years – 12 trips a week (double shif ted) to Invercargill – before the company decided to change over to owner-drivers and I was given the opportunity to go out on my own.”

Milestone moment that this was in Steve Martin’s trucking life, he says it almost in passing – and then explains: “It wasn’t that I’d always had a master plan to have my own business, but the chance was too good to refuse.”

So, at the age of 43, in 2004 Steve Martin Contracting was born: “I started off with a 460 day cab Volvo, followed by a 520. Then I switched to a Kenworth K108 Aerodyne, fitted with a Cummins ISX EGR. The main reason I didn’t go for another Volvo was that I preferred to stay away f rom AdBlue... though the Cummins had its own issues. It was under a f ull

maintenance contract, thankfully.

“In the 17 years I’ve been in business I’ve had the t wo Volvos, the Kenworth, the Mercedes, the Freightliners (the current Argosy and another before it), the Western Star, and now the Scania coming on board for the milk.”

The Martin trucks comprise such a varied lineup for a small fleet, the word “scattergun” might come to mind when considering Steve’s truck-buying preferences. But he is, in fact, f ar f rom brand-promiscuous: Each of his trucks was chosen af ter careful consideration – the final choice dictated by solid business logic.

Well….except, that is, for the Western Star: Steve happily admits buying that was wholly driven by his heart....and Robyn’s heart as well. She reckons that the WS is “my truck” – and it’s a claim backed up by the name it carries,

The small matter of her gaining a Class 5 licence is all that now stands between Robyn getting behind the wheel of her truck – and she’s confident that won’t take long.

She reckons, in f act, that she’ll do it before Steve gets around to securing his motorcycle licence. There’s a back-story here: He bought a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy a couple of years ago…..but has yet to get his licence to ride it, blaming work pressure. Now, it seems, f amily bragging rights are at stake.

The five trucks f rom five different makes still have a cohesive Steve Martin Contracting look – thanks to their one common factor: Spectacularly good presentation.

It’s not bling for bling’s sake: It comprises a s tack of very tasty extras, like laser-cut exhaust shrouds on the conventionals and multicoloured night-time running lights, that together make the Martin trucks standouts visually.

The sweeping green striping over a white base has been a fleet colour scheme staple since it was used on the current Argosy when it was set up for flour. Andrew Geddes of Timaru Signs and Graphix looks af ter the signwriting and has been involved in the evolution of the livery f rom the beginning.

On the T610 linehaul flour unit, the colour scheme on the tractor unit is repeated on the six-axle B-train Convair tanks. Goodman Fielder brands take pride of place on the sides of the Fairfax/Thermo King quad semi that will be behind the new Scania, which is replacing the Mercedes on the “milk” work.

The Australian-built Convair monocoque tanker/trailers are works of art in themselves, boasting a whole range of practical and dressup extras. Steve says the primary f actors in commissioning them were a quicker manufacturing turnaround and a higher load capacity than NZ makers were offering.

Local engineering on several of the new trucks has been handled by Fitzsimon Motor and Engineering Services and HDPS Engineering, both of Christchurch. Steve credits Dunedin’s McCormick Motor Bodies for doing “an awesome job setting up the new Scania.”