50 years behind the wheel

Russell Carnegie whilst he was at Mainfreight.

Article first published April 2018

Russell Carnegie started his driving career at Horton, Bidwell & Co Ltd. Fifty years later he is still behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz Actros for Heartland Haulage Ltd. Along the way Russell has tried his hand at many different sectors of the industry, including several stints as an owner driver. Age is seeing him cut back to just four days a week but this sprightly 69 year old still finds time to DJ on weekends as well as to fuss over his special edition Holden Commodore. Simon Vincent sat down with Russell and discussed his lively career recently.

Timaru lad, 16 year old Russell Carnegie got on a train and moved up to Christchurch in a move he thought would be forever. He soon found work in a timber yard but quickly became fascinated by the trucks which were coming and going from the yard. 

In 1968, upon turning 18 he gained his truck licence. With licence in hand he began the age old ritual of knocking on doors to see if he could find a job. Christchurch freight forwarding company Horton, Bidwell & Co Ltd gave the enthusiastic young man a job and his driving career began. The company was one of the larger companies around the city during the highly regulated days of the industry but quietly started scaling back toward the end of the 1970s, Russell says.

Russell got his start at Horton, Bidwell & Co Ltd in Christchurch.

A Horton, Bidwell & Co Ltd TK Bedord in Holyman’s livery.

Russell soon had his trailer licence as well thanks to the firm. He clearly recalls those early days when they were carting refrigerated containers for Holyman’s Forwarders and Ship Owners. The containers went all over the country, he says, making mention of regularly carting 22 tonne boxes from Christchurch to Greymouth in old petrol powered TK Bedfords. “It used to take about ten hours,” he said. They took the long route which saw them struggle up through Springs Junction and the Lewis Pass as there would have been no way of crossing the Arthurs Pass.

Russell then moved to Australian owned freight forwarders, Brambles. He was given what he described as “the best truck on the road,” a 6V53 Detroit Diesel powered Commer eight wheeler with a four axle trailer. The truck had been nicely upgraded on the inside, he says, with a full suite of gauges on the dash.

“The best truck on the road,” according to Russell

“You could hear it coming for miles and everybody wanted to drive it,” Russell reckoned. He did qualify this by saying it didn’t have much power, it just made a hell of a noise. 

He would be sent to Dunedin loaded to the gunnels (over 40 tonne) but struggled to get up the Kilmog. The truck still had its original gearbox and the gearing was all wrong. The thing used to overheat all the time because it didn’t have sufficient cooling capacity to cope with the large motor.

Like many a young man, Russell felt his fortune lay further north, so he moved to Auckland. There he found work with furniture removal specialists DJ McGregor Ltd doing weekly return trips to Christchurch. Russell recalled the Ford D Series he was allocated had been repowered with a straight four Detroit Diesel. He certainly recalled “blowing it up” coming through Foxton one day.

The Ford was repowered with a 4 cylinder Detroit

Russell loved the furniture game and in later years his first stint as an owner driver was with a furniture truck.

When loading onto the ferry Russell was given about ten minutes to back his truck and trailer up the ramp as it was too long to turn around inside the hull. He was always last on and said if he didn’t get it up in time the boat would go without him – talk about a challenge to focus the mind!

One day, on the boat, Russell was approached by Milton Durham who had been watching him back onboard. Milton offered to teach Russell all about heavy haulage and transporter work.

The appeal of sleeping on the front seats of the D Series had certainly worn off by that stage… Sometimes, if he was keen, he would sleep in bus stops out in the open! With only a roof and blankets from the furniture body, he slept all over the North Island! “You wouldn’t do that today,” he says.

Russell moved back to Christchurch and lived in a caravan in Durham Transport Ltd’s yard. He purchased the caravan whilst in Auckland because he couldn’t see the point of renting a flat if he was going to be away all week.

Whilst he says he was thrown in the deep end, he admitted that Milton was a good teacher.

There were all the usual heavy haulage tricks to learn such as fording rivers to get around bridges that were too narrow for the load.

His first piloted house move provided its own challenges. Instead of stopping and waiting for the load pilot to close the 1.8 kilometre long Rakaia River bridge Russell just followed the pilot onto the bridge which caused quite the traffic jam.

On another occasion he was sent to pick a D8 bulldozer from Little River on Banks Peninsula. He’d never driven a D8 so that was going to make things interesting. Across the road there was a line-up of guys looking out the pub window, it seems bets had been placed on how long it would take for Russell to start the machine. As they all had different starting methods Russell was a bit hesitant. Fortunately, the owner walked out of the pub and loaded the machine for him.

One of the more entertaining journeys involved a load of five tractors for Picton. The tractors were loaded onto a forty foot trailer, only problem, they never removed the stacks. Russell had to use the inland highway because they wouldn’t fit through the tunnels. It was pitch black and Russell missed the turnoff at the Wairau Valley. Fortunately, there was a picnic area not far up the road and Russell whizzed around it to head back to the turn off.

All of a sudden, there was an enormous bang and a massive flash. The tractor stacks had cut not one but multiple power lines…

Russell found a farm house in the dark. On enquiring if he could use the phone the lady of the house informed him the power and phone were off.

With nothing else he could do he carried on to Picton.

For months afterwards Russell admitted nothing. He was running around completely paranoid that someone might find him out. He eventually admitted his misdeed in the pub one night, which provided great merriment for the team.

“It was the worst time of my life,” he says.

Russell loved the challenge of heavy haulage at Durhams.

Another time he was asked to take a couple of tractors to Dunedin. The load didn’t worry him but the trailer they were loaded onto did, it looked like it had just been dragged out of the long grass. Things went okay on the way, the brakes were pretty dodgy but he got there. In Dunedin he had to stop at a set of traffic light by the hospital. As he took off again there was a massive bang and his truck flew up in the air.

He jumped out of the cab only to find the axle set sitting on the ground behind the trailer. The load was blocking the whole road – it was such a spectacle that it made the news. Two break down trucks arrived, one helped move the trailer off the road, the other took away the axles.

“I really loved it because it was challenging, you enjoyed the jobs you got given,” he says of his time in heavy haulage.

Russell then got approached by Modern Freighters.

Modern Freighters ran a very smart fleet of trucks. Here is one of the Mercedes-Benz emerging from one of the Kaikoura coast road tunnels.

It was during the 10 years he was with the firm that he had his first taste of being his own boss.

When he started at Modern Freighters everything was hand stacked and he admitted it was damn hard work. They were certainly the days of working hard, doing 100 hours a week was not uncommon. We were getting the same pay as we’re getting paid now he reckons.

With good money coming in, and as a single man, he was able to indulge his passion for American cars. He says he was able to by three or four cars a year, and even owned a Jaguar XJ6 at one stage. “I was living a pretty good life.”

It wasn’t uncommon for them to live it up at the end of the long days. There wasn’t a lot of sleep had he recalled.

What he misses is the comradeship of the era. “Today we don’t do that.” 

The trucks were underpowered and his Mercedes-Benz LK1924-36, with about 240hp would potter along going to Picton or Auckland as required. It is also the only truck Russell has had a whoops with.

The truck was loaded for a trip to Picton, a run that would usually take seven hours. Heading through the Greta Valley on a Sunday morning Russell checked the mirror only to see the rear trailer falling over. With no cellphone he had to find a phone and ring back to tell the yard and explain what had happened. A truck was dispatched from Christchurch to pick up the load, so the trailer could be recovered.

There was nothing else he could do, so he disconnected the trailer and carried on to Picton.

It turned out that the over-loaded trailer had a broken spring and a flat tyre on the inside dual. All this contributed to the trailer’s demise and Russell was never held at fault and no sanction was ever imposed on him.  

One of Modern Freighters’ Mercedes-Benz V10 2232 resting on the Kaikoura coast road.

Russell was upgraded to a V10 2232 Mercedes-Benz. Whilst the big sleeper cab Mercedes-Benz looked great and went well it also suffered from insufficient cooling and used to overheat a lot, said Russell.

He believes he was given the bigger Mercedes-Benz because he was a hard worker. Not one to blow his one trumpet, he says, “I’ve always given more than anybody else would have and I still do it today. I’m a big believer in giving and taking, and taking the good with the bad. I’ve been doing that all my life and that’s got me a long way. I don’t say no to any job, I don’t complain about any job, I used to (just) do it. It’s just the way I am.”

Modern Freighters were expert at repowering old trucks. This AEC had a 671 Detroit fitted along with a tag axle to create a 6×2. Note the lack of a turntable - but notice the king pin and skid plate in its place - this was normal spec for all Modern Freighters gear.

In between he also drove one of the Ergomatic cabbed AEC’s which had been repowered with a straight six 671 Detroit Diesel.

Later in his time with Modern Freighters, the company was looking to move to owner drivers. All the staff were made the same offer but, as Russell pointed out, “none of us had any money!”

He says, “everyone went out and bought Scanias, ERFs, and Mercedes-Benz and it was costing a fortune. These guys were spending $280,000-$300,000, I got mine (an Isuzu) for half price ($160,000) doing the same job.”

“They weren’t the flashest truck to drive,” Russell admits but with plenty of extras he sure made it look nice.

Russell bought the demonstrator “Black Belt” Isuzu which was powered by a 6V92T Detroit Diesel which had been used around the country. The truck was one of a pair, the other being Cummins powered and that truck was purchased by one of the O/Ds in Levin.

With 350hp on tap it was an attempt by Isuzu to break into the heavier end of the market with the models which were still only able to deliver around 290hp with the original Japanese motor.  

“They weren’t the flashest truck to drive,” Russell says but added that plenty extras made it look nice.

The truck wasn’t underpowered and he used easily keep up with all the other guys.

“I used to leave them for dead, it used to really hum,” he admitted. 100-110km/h was no trouble.

“I thought I was Christmas getting that,” Russell said of the new George and Ashton semi trailer.

Russell was also given the first forty foot self-steering semi-trailer Modern Freighters purchased from George and Ashton in Dunedin.

“I thought I was Christmas getting that.”

Whilst there were positives for the company in moving to owner drivers there were negatives for the owner drivers, the worst being the camaraderie. “We all used to be good mates but when we all went owner driver, everybody’s personality changed. People started getting hungry.”

All the O/Ds were chasing the best and easiest of runs and no one wanted to do the time consuming “milk runs”.

“It ruined everything,” said a disappointed Russell. 

No longer enjoying the job, he sold his truck.

He soon found work, this time in Nelson. Still working for Modern Freighters, he would do the local pick-ups and deliveries in addition to loading trailers for the line haul trucks with an old Leyland tractor unit or one of the newer Mercedes-Benz.

“He’s a good boss,” Russell said of Les Goodall. One of Les’s Mitsubishis looking good in TNT Alltrans livery.

Russell moved on and started with Christchurch based Les Goodall, a contractor to TNT Alltrans. Russell would do swaps with the Christchurch truck either at Springs Junction or around at Seddon on the coastal highway.

“He’s a good boss,” Russell acknowledged.

The stay in Nelson was cut short because his wife Jeanette didn’t like Nelson, feeling the place was too “cliquey” and it was too hard to get to know people.

Russell was able to get a transfer from Nelson back down to Christchurch with Les.

Russell was keen to be his own boss again. Unfortunately, his next experience as an owner driver was nearly the finish of him.  He ended up contracting a furniture truck and trailer to Transpac not too long before the company collapsed in spectacular fashion.

Back on the furniture as an owner driver to Transpac

It all started when Jeanette came home from work one night and said that one of the guys was selling his furniture truck. Russell thought, “ooo yuck, furniture, you’ve got to be joking, I don’t want to get back into furniture!”

Although he was still young, fit and healthy he was still reluctant to get back into the removals field.

Russell went around and had a look at the truck for which the owner was looking for top dollar.

To find out more Russell decided to go out with the owner but the guy worked Russell’s butt off and treated him badly. It was more like he was a slave than a potential buyer…

After about three days Russell demanded to be let out of the truck, the truck drove off and a couple of hundred metres up the road stopped again. The owner jumped out and started apologising profusely and trying to right the situation.

Russell relented and agreed to buy the truck, which was a V6 Mercedes-Benz with a two axle trailer.

His big mistake was using the collateral in the house to make the purchase.

Russell really enjoyed the furniture business. He was good at finding off siders at pubs in the different towns he was delivering to. The attraction of a few dollars cash seemed to help.

He was carting a lot of new furniture and was getting pretty good rates for it at the time.

The first bad news was the failure of the gearbox two months after buying the truck, and $8000 later, Russell was left paying off a second debt.

To save money, Russell would sleep in the truck all the time. With the money not coming in, things eventually got very tight. It was so bad he had to use his fuel card to pay for everything.

“We didn’t have any money.”

Turning up at the yard one Friday night, he found Transpac’s gates locked and a security guard on the gate.

Russell was owed tens of thousands and got nothing once the company had been wound up.

He went to the finance company to try and sort things out. The truck was repossessed, and the situation became so bad that they nearly lost the house.

Fortunately, his bank stepped in so they could keep the house.

Russell found work with Falcon Forwarding as a dispatcher, something he had never done in his life. In the few months he was there he says he learned “a hell of a lot” but struggled with the position the whole time. Had it not been for Pauline, the boss, he might not have got through, he says.

“It a stressful job being a dispatcher I tell you.”

Challenged at work and still trying to make payments on a truck which was parked in a sales yard Russell felt he had to do something. He told Jeanette he was going to get the truck back and was determined to find work for it. He talked his way back into the unit and was given three months to get on his feet.

Russell went out and chased the new furniture manufacturers, removals companies, basically anyone he thought he could get work from. The work soon followed. Whilst that improved the bank balance, he did admit that he was never home.

“I was away for weeks at a time,” he says, “and that took its toll on Jeanette and family life.”

When work started dying back Russell started sub-contracting to a furniture removals companies. This was another bad move and once again Russell lost money and was heading back into a hole. As the truck was freehold, Russell sold it and moved on.

The family home was secure!

Russell looks back at his days in furniture removals with pleasure. The comradeship, the customers, his fitness, it was just great. Russell took a lot of pride in doing the job well, from packing the household to stacking the truck perfectly. He says there’s a real art to loading a furniture truck and that sorted the men for the boys.

One of his biggest headaches along the way was the ongoing ferry strikes. He was once stuck at the wharf for three weeks. Fortunately, Air New Zealand would fly stranded drivers home free.

However, his long standing relationship with the crew paid off as the crew would let him sleep on the boat and invite him to their meals.

Palmers Transport from Southbridge was his next port of call. For seven years Russell mainly worked under Brian Palmer’s son Wayne, firstly for Falcon Forwarders and then with Peter Baker Transport (PBT).

Russell did an overnight freight run to Dunedin in the Palmers Transport T-Line which was contracted to Peter Baker.

Driving an International TF2670, Russell did the overnight run to Dunedin for Falcons. When the PBT work arrived, Palmers painted some trucks in the blue, white and black PBT livery. Russell hauled containers and swap trailers off the wharf at Lyttelton back to the yard. Because most of the loads contained Dangerous Goods, they generally ran around the Sumner Road.

The rules were a lot easier in those days he says and the odd bit of “stretching” would go on, not that you would even contemplate doing such things today.

Another of Palmer’s trucks loading out of the freight depot.

As PBT became more established the Palmers moved on. Russell was most disappointed when he found out his T-Line had been sold.   

Russell moved to Swift Transport who were parcel carriers. The job carried him through the winter but he didn’t last long there. A short stint at McDowells as a loader followed.

Fortunately, a job at Tulloch Transport was advertised in the paper. The line haul job involved doing swaps in Dunedin or Palmerston overnight. Russell started on one of the low spec 320hp Ford Louisville’s and was later given a brand new up spec, higher horsepower version. Doing extras when he got back early certainly ensured he had great relations with the operations staff.

Russell back on Dunedin swaps with Tullochs.

When Russell contracted a bad dose of shingles he had to stop the night work. He was living on only four hours’ sleep a day and this proved to be his undoing as he’d become run down.

When an owner driver’s position came up at Mainfreight Russell was keen to give this a go. The truck was a wee N Series Isuzu two tonner with a tandem trailer. Russell was responsible for pick-ups and deliveries around the airport area. It was certainly hard work but the business grew and a van and a driver were employed to help out. The Isuzu was just too small so Russell found a used import Nissan Diesel which he got with a new curtainsider body fitted.

Russell began with this N Series Isuzu but soon stepped up the the imported Nissan Condor below.

Russell says he was working huge hours and not making much money so when an opening came up in the container division Russell jumped. He was able to find an ex fuel tanker Freightliner FL112 in Auckland and attached that to a skeletal trailer which was already painted in Mainfreight colours.

Russell used to tow a B-Train with the Freightliner FL112 when the containers were quiet.

It soon became clear that doing distant work in a day cab truck and sleeping on the floor just wasn’t going to work. A Scania 124 with a full sleeper looked like pure luxury by comparison. The Scania also did a bit of line haul work, Russell grabbing any trailer he could get his hands on to cart anything going.

Eventually the Scania was traded for a brand new Renault Kerex, the Motor Truck Distributors salesman at the time – one Milton Durham. The Renault was a great deal with Volvo running gear and much keener pricing, the Kerex was on the road painted for less than $200,000.

“It was an awesome truck for what I was doing.”

A year after the truck had gone on the road, the law changed, and the requirements changed so eight wheeler tractors and quad trailers were needed to haul 30 tonne boxes.

Competition from other Mainfreight O/Ds made running the wrong spec unit untenable. At the time Russell was deciding to move on a buyer appeared asking if the unit was for sale and a deal was soon done. Talk about timing, Russell and Jeanette were able to sell the house in just three weeks. They were now free to do whatever they wanted.

Having sworn not to return, Russell and Jeanette moved to Temuka to set up home.

Russell quickly found work with Steve Fraser, Heartland Haulage Ltd, contractors to Toll.

Driving for Heartland Haulage proved to be a relaxing way to cut back his hours.

Today he drives a Mercedes-Benz Actros doing Queenstown, Dunedin or Christchurch.

At Christmas Russell’s doctor “told” him to “slow down.” After being put off for eight days he is finally realising that he’s been pushing himself too hard and doing too many hours.

As a result, Russell has cut his hours and now only does four days a week. He can pretty much pick and choose when he works which is suiting him down to he ground.

Meanwhile, Steve is keen to retain his experience and his laidback nature.

After Russell’s doctor “told” him to “slow down”, he went on to 4 day weeks.

Now in the twilight of his career, Russell regrets nothing. It’s been a great life and a great job. He thinks that had he been better educated he might have been able to grow a trucking business rather than own one truck at a time but is not fazed that he didn’t. As he said, “I’ve had a good driving career, I don’t regret one bit of it. I’ve always given my 110% because it’s made me feel better. Because I enjoy doing it.”

It would seem that truck driving runs in the family with his brother currently carting logs, his son pushing road trains around Australia and his step son driving for McKenzies Transport.

Photos: Simon Vincent, Russell Carnige collection, Richard Freeman collection and Grant Willis.