Southpac Legends

With a ‘working lifetime’ of experience within the transport industry, Road Transport Hall of Famer Graham Sheldrake has essentially seen it all. He’s been a mechanic, a truck driver, a truck owner-operator and business owner, but it’s his ‘putting back into the industry’ mantra that makes him a Southpac legend.

Sheldrake was born in Great Yarmouth, England, however his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1956, when he was just two. Of course he doesn’t remember the trip but says that he has seen early photos of them on the Captain Hobson coming through the Panama Canal.

“Because my dad was a so-called ‘10 Pound Pom’, we came into Wellington and they sent us to Patea. Dad w... ... 

With his father Dave heavily involved in trailer building since the 1960’s and growing up immersed in and around the industry, it could be said that Transfleet’s Chief Executive Officer Matthew Gillies was destined to be in trailers - but it’s his dedication to his team, his industry influence and his big voice on the TTMF that makes him a Southpac Legend.

“I’m second generation, born into the industry so to speak. My father was involved in the 60s and 70s with Domett Fruehauf and helped set up the branch in Mt Maunganui, that’s where I was born.”

Gillies says that the family relocated back to Auckland and his father became a shareholder with Gary Domett in Domett/Fruehauf... ... 

With a career that’s (so far) spanned three decades, Aaron Headington has moved from being a hands-on engineer to creating a specialised division of Southpac Trucks that could be best described as ‘bringing customers dreams to life’. He’s got an eye for detail and a passion for detailing and it’s for this reason he’s a Southpac Truck Legend.

Born in Auckland but travelled extensively due to his father being in the Army, Aaron left school looking for an apprenticeship in cars but to no avail.

“To be honest, I wasn’t into trucks, for as long as I can remember I wanted to be a car mechanic. I couldn’t get a car apprenticeship anywhere, so off a whim, I called in here [when it... ... 

What with increased compliance demands, driver shortages and angry bulls, the livestock industry is hard enough at the best of times, however, not only does ORT’s director Don Wilson run a successful livestock transport business in Pukekohe but for the past eight years he’s also worked tirelessly behind the scenes at the NRC, assisting other operators and paving the way for a better industry - and that’s why Don Wilson is a Southpac Legend.

According to Don, had things turned out differently he’d have been a diesel mechanic but the long and short of it ‘trucking is in his blood’. His father had a carriers business (general and livestock) and he says “that’s just the way it is.”&... ... 

Without leaving his own backyard Greg Cochrane has gone from the rock bottom of his family’s business to becoming Executive General Manager of NZ’s arm of ASX’s biggest publicly listed freight company. He now has both the support of the large corporate enterprise yet also retains the personal-touch ethos of the family business he grew up in. It’s the ‘best of both worlds’ 

Greg’s grandfather Eddie Cochrane started the family business Cochrane Transport in 1949, they milled their own logs and Eddie started the transport business to cart them. It then grew to include Cambridge and Tirau depots and have four shareholders, Eddie’s three sons (Barry, John and Bruce - Bruce being... ...