In 2005 when New Zealand Truck & Driver featured the distinctive white, blue and silver trucks of G.J. Sheldrake Ltd in the November issue Fleet Focus, company founder Graham Sheldrake was unsure if his son Mathew (Mat) would move into the Tokoroa-based family business.

Mat was 21 at the time and working as a fabricator-welder at Total Transport Engineering while Graham was keeping a fleet of eight loggers and five general freight trucks busy during one of the cyclical tougher times for the logging industry.

G.J. Sheldrake Ltd had just turned 25-years-old when that Fleet Focus feature was published. Almost two decades later, Graham is now retired from an active role and shareholding in the business. And since late-2019, Mat has owned and run the company which he renamed Sheldrake Haulage Ltd in 2020.

There might be a new owner and a new name but it’s largely business as usual for the Tokoroa company which primarily specialises in log cartage.

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