Former long-time road transport operator Warren Hamilton has started a retirement project to record and preserve the history of road transport in the region in a book.
"We are looking for previous owners, family members, drivers, or anyone else who has information and or photos to share with us," said Mr Hamilton, who is the former owner of Cromwell Transport and a senior member of the Road Transport Association of New Zealand (RTANZ), representing Region 5 (from south of the Waitaki River to Bluff).
"We will happily travel the area to talk with people to collect as much information as possible, as we are concerned with the passage of time the history, both literary and photographic, can be lost with family not realising the value of it to our industry."
Mr Hamilton said road transport played a vital role in Otago and Southland’s history and economic development.
He is aware of at least 250 companies which no longer operate or have continued in name with greatly changed shareholding and he is sure there will be more.
He says the industry is full of colourful stories, illustrating how much it has changed.
"Years ago, when trucks were slower and pressure on time was a lot less, drivers were renowned for playing tricks on each other.
"After stopping for afternoon tea while in convoy with other trucks, a driver got back into his truck and some 30km up the road realised he didn’t have his trailer.
"His mate had lifted the Ringfeder pin and disconnected brake and light plugs, so he drove off, then had to return to collect the trailer. This happened more than once.
"Another story was the manager of a company who probably every six months or so was sent around his customers to collect the necessary overdue payments. One particular offender never posted a cheque, always preffering the inevitable visit to have a chat. The cheque always was received but each one always was for 25c less as the businessman deemed that amount to be the cost of providing the coffee."
Mr Hamilton said the book would have some stories but it was more a record of past operators.
He was hoping to have the book finished and published some time next year.
