Fleet Focus

An old Isuzu Elf and some after school and weekend jobs around the rural Hauraki Plains were the humble beginnings for KT Cartage nearly 15 years ago.

Kelvin and Emily Fitzpatrick have been together through the growing pains and hard knocks of gaining a foothold in the transport industry. And they provide a hard-working inspiration for other young people to follow their business dreams.

The couple went to high school together at Hauraki Plains College. Both now 30, their Kerepehi-based KT Cartage operation has grown to comprise six trucks and specialises in Hiab/crane work – the more unusual and challenging the better.

 Kelvin spent his childhood a... ... 

Some fleets are born out of business ambition. More often, a sheer love of trucks is the primary impetus, but in the case of Timaru-headquartered Coolpak Coolstores it was frustration at not being able to offer customers the level of service he thought they needed that prompted owner Sid McAuley to invest in in-house transport.

And though the company’s now 18-strong fleet is small by most fleet standards and represents a minor part of overall investment, it plays a crucial part in offering customers an extra layer of flexibility.

Adding a transport component to the coolstore business wasn’t too much of a challenge to Sid, because he had previously owned Hilto... ... 

Reasons for setting up companies can be as varied as the companies themselves – to commercialise a great idea, be able to dictate your own destiny, fill a perceived gap in the market, or follow a lifelong passion.

 Malcolm Ngatai has an even simpler explanation for his journey. The owner of Christchurch underground services firm Suck It Up explains why he began in business 10 years ago: “It was to finance my stock car racing. I did it on wages and salary for a long time, maxxing out my credit card every season and spending the winter paying it off. It was painfully obvious I needed something more.”

At the time Malcolm had been managing Canterbury Waterbl... ...