Trevor Woolston

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However, as a young man, Trevor went into the insurance industry and there met Sue, the woman who was to become his wife. After 4 years, Trevor declared to Sue that he was leaving the office and going haymaking and driving trucks.

In 1975, Trevor started working for Mitchell Transport based in Ohaupo. When the hay season finished he got a job with General Foods delivering frozen foods to retail outlets. Then, in 1977, with a wedding imminent, Trevor purchased the family milk run.

In 1982, an opportunity arose to purchase a 1974 Mack R Model from Dibble Brothers in Te Awamutu. Trevor, along with Barry Stamp, Alf Quaife, Derek Smith and Geoff Dibble, formed the co-op Dibble Independent Transport. At this time, Trevor was introduced to the Road Transport Association becoming a member and serving on the regional committee.

Trevor enjoyed the Australian Truckin’ Life magazine but became frustrated by the lack of New Zealand content until Sue suggested he start his own magazine. In March 1985, the first issue of NZ Trucking magazine hit the shelves.

In 1989, Trevor ran the first ever national road transport exhibition at Mystery Creek in the Waikato with over 23,000 visitors from across the country. The shows ran every two years moving to Hopuhopu in North Waikato in 1999.

Also in 1989, Trevor started truck racing in New Zealand with the Caltex New Zealand Truck Grand Prix held at Pukekohe raceway in April. More than 25,000 people jammed Pukekohe raceway with thousands more watching on TV. It was the biggest motor racing crowd at the track in 20 years and one of the biggest sporting crowds of any sort for the year. Truck racing in New Zealand carried on under Trevor’s management up until 1994.

In 1995, Independent Newspapers Ltd purchased NZ Trucking magazine. Trevor was made the manager of the industry-based magazines division but left within a year to focus more on transport shows and truck racing. For the next few years, Trevor dedicated his time to the transport shows adding a Truck Show at Penrith, Australia, and a Contracting Expo held at the Stevenson Drury Quarry.

In 1999, Tony Freidlander, CEO of the Road Transport Forum, asked Trevor to take over running its monthly newsletter. Trevor pitched an idea of starting an official magazine of the Road Transport Forum and the NZ Truck & Driver magazine was born. Trevor and Sue have run Allied Publications since then including Equipment Guide magazine, Truck Body & Trailer magazine and NZ Logger magazine.

Trevor has always contributed greatly to the Road Transport Forum and the industry as a whole. His donations and sponsorships for all sorts of programmes, shows and awards are too many to list. In 2017, Trevor received the RTF’s Supreme Contribution Award to the Industry for his dedication over the years.