LOOKING FOR A JOB
When I moved to Levin the first thing I needed to do was find a job. I had no real skills and no qualifications other than spending six months at Faith Bible College in Tauranga.
EMPLOYED!
I got a job with a Christian guy who owned a trucking firm. I was hired as a salesman come office worker. I wasn’t really comfortable with either job, but decided to give it a go. Over the next few months work picked up for the business and I ended up spending all my time in the office taking calls, doing the pay, invoicing and accounts and all the other stuff you get to do in a small office.
INSIGHT FROM ABOVE
As work increased my job grew and I spent more and more hours trying to keep on top of my work load. I remember sitting at my desk one day and I looked out the window as one of the company’s trucks roared past. I was in the middle of thinking that the truck shouldn’t be driven like that when the Lord said to me “You are going to own that truck one day”. My response was “What??” He repeated “You are going to own that truck one day”. I said “Oh, okay” and got on with my work.
A CHANGE OF JOBS
The pressure of my work load increased until I knew that I couldn’t take any more. I had really left it too late, but needed desperately to get out of that office because I just couldn’t cope any more. The boss offered me a job driving the truck that God told me I was going to own and got three women in to replace me. So I ended up driving the truck, just doing local pickups and deliveries. A lot of my work consisted of clearing rail wagons and freight, and delivering goods to the rail. I drove along happily, thankful to be out of the office and said to God “This is what you meant, isn’t it. I’m going to be driving the truck” He replied “No, you are going to own it”.
THE OFFER
The trucking business was having some financial difficulties, so the boss decided that all of the drivers should buy their trucks off him and become owner drivers. This seemed to fit in perfectly with what God had told me, but He said no to buying the truck. I found that confusing, but did as He told me and refused to purchase the truck when it was offered to me.
THE NEW BOSS
Not long after that the business was sold. God told me to approach the new boss and ask about buying my truck as an owner driver. The boss was happy for that to happen, so I became the owner of the truck, just as God had said.
This was my very first truck.
AND THEN GOD SAID…
Working as an owner driver went well for several months. I was kept very busy and bought a van to help with my workload. Then one day as I was driving along in my truck God said to me “You will be going out on your own soon.” That sounded exciting, but I had no idea what lay ahead.
DISASTER
Then disaster struck. The Railways had a change in their operations and I lost virtually all my work to another company. This seemed so unfair because I had worked hard at keeping Railways and my customers happy and getting my work done in a timely manner. It meant that I no longer had enough work to make my position viable. I wondered what lay ahead.
A CHANGE IN DIRECTION
One of the other truck drivers suggested that I do household removals. He was very instrumental in showing me the ropes and getting me started. I found that I enjoyed the work and had a bit of a flair for it. Unfortunately the boss wasn’t happy. He felt that I couldn’t do household removals and my other duties as well. He wasn’t interested when I tried to explain to him that there was no longer enough work to make the truck viable.
THE ULTIMATUM
Because I continued to do furniture removals the boss gave me an ultimatum. He said that if I didn’t stop doing furniture then he would terminate my contract. At that stage I was doing enough furniture to make it worthwhile, so I agreed to finish up with him. I started out on my own with a casual driver/worker and my small business started to grow. Once again what God had told me had come about.
THE NEW TRUCK
This was amazing. As I was driving along I said to God that I needed another truck. A bigger one. He asked me what sort of truck I wanted, and then continued to ask me what specifications I wanted. I knew very little about trucks at the time, but here’s what I asked for:
He asked me: I replied:
What sort of truck do you want? A Hino (Thinking of God's budget, lol)
What size motor do you want? 100 Horsepower diesel (I didn't know better!)
What sort of body do you want? Luton furniture body (has the bit over the cab)
What size body do you want? 34 cubic metres (should have asked for more.. lol)
What kind of doors on the back? Similar to container doors
What loading facilities do you want? Slide under ramp as well as a step
What size wheels do you want? 18 inch for lower deck and easier loading.
What do you want on the number plate? You're joking!
What do you want on the number plate? K.. LG552, LG being my first two intials and May 52 being my date of birth
The reason I thought God was joking about the number plate was because there was no such thing as personalised plates back then. They weren't even heard of! You just took what you got!
GOD DELIVERS!
Not long after our Q & A exercise my old truck blew a piston, so I took it to the garage to get it sorted out.
The next day when I went back to check on the progress they had made with my truck I couldn't help but notice a very tidy looking truck in the garage next to my truck. I didn't really take a lot of notice of it until I was walking around behind it and noticed the number plate. It was LG552!! I couldn't believe it! I raced off and got a tape measure and calculator and checked out the size of the canopy. It was exactly 34 cubic metres! In fact, every thing about that truck was exactly what I had asked for! As it happened, the truck was for sale and I purchased my second truck!
TECHNOLOGY
One of the first things I did with my new business was get a computer. I had never used one before so this was quite a big learning curve, but once I got organised it was a great time saver and allowed me to control quotes, financial records, invoicing etc.
THREATS FROM THE BIG BOYS
As my small business started getting established I had a visit from a fairly large firm in Palmerston North (about 50kms away). Their two representatives invited me to join their firm. I said thanks, but no thanks. God hadn't started me out on my own for me to sell out. They insisted that I consider their offer, so I said I would, but knew I wouldn't change my mind. A short time later they came back and asked me if I was going to join them. I declined their offer. They responded by telling me that they were going to set up in Levin and could afford to run at a loss to put me under. I told them to go for it. This was all the motivation I needed to get my trucks and my van painted up and get a storage depot organised. They never did carry out their threats and business grew very nicely.
The business grew until I had six trucks on the road. I won contracts to shift new furniture from Palmerston North to Auckland and Auckland into Wellington. This was on top of doing household removals, shop deliveries etc. I had the business for eight years before it was time for a change in direction.
Some of the fleet
When I moved to Levin the first thing I needed to do was find a job. I had no real skills and no qualifications other than spending six months at Faith Bible College in Tauranga.
EMPLOYED!
I got a job with a Christian guy who owned a trucking firm. I was hired as a salesman come office worker. I wasn’t really comfortable with either job, but decided to give it a go. Over the next few months work picked up for the business and I ended up spending all my time in the office taking calls, doing the pay, invoicing and accounts and all the other stuff you get to do in a small office.
INSIGHT FROM ABOVE
As work increased my job grew and I spent more and more hours trying to keep on top of my work load. I remember sitting at my desk one day and I looked out the window as one of the company’s trucks roared past. I was in the middle of thinking that the truck shouldn’t be driven like that when the Lord said to me “You are going to own that truck one day”. My response was “What??” He repeated “You are going to own that truck one day”. I said “Oh, okay” and got on with my work.
A CHANGE OF JOBS
The pressure of my work load increased until I knew that I couldn’t take any more. I had really left it too late, but needed desperately to get out of that office because I just couldn’t cope any more. The boss offered me a job driving the truck that God told me I was going to own and got three women in to replace me. So I ended up driving the truck, just doing local pickups and deliveries. A lot of my work consisted of clearing rail wagons and freight, and delivering goods to the rail. I drove along happily, thankful to be out of the office and said to God “This is what you meant, isn’t it. I’m going to be driving the truck” He replied “No, you are going to own it”.
THE OFFER
The trucking business was having some financial difficulties, so the boss decided that all of the drivers should buy their trucks off him and become owner drivers. This seemed to fit in perfectly with what God had told me, but He said no to buying the truck. I found that confusing, but did as He told me and refused to purchase the truck when it was offered to me.
THE NEW BOSS
Not long after that the business was sold. God told me to approach the new boss and ask about buying my truck as an owner driver. The boss was happy for that to happen, so I became the owner of the truck, just as God had said.
This was my very first truck.
AND THEN GOD SAID…
Working as an owner driver went well for several months. I was kept very busy and bought a van to help with my workload. Then one day as I was driving along in my truck God said to me “You will be going out on your own soon.” That sounded exciting, but I had no idea what lay ahead.
DISASTER
Then disaster struck. The Railways had a change in their operations and I lost virtually all my work to another company. This seemed so unfair because I had worked hard at keeping Railways and my customers happy and getting my work done in a timely manner. It meant that I no longer had enough work to make my position viable. I wondered what lay ahead.
A CHANGE IN DIRECTION
One of the other truck drivers suggested that I do household removals. He was very instrumental in showing me the ropes and getting me started. I found that I enjoyed the work and had a bit of a flair for it. Unfortunately the boss wasn’t happy. He felt that I couldn’t do household removals and my other duties as well. He wasn’t interested when I tried to explain to him that there was no longer enough work to make the truck viable.
THE ULTIMATUM
Because I continued to do furniture removals the boss gave me an ultimatum. He said that if I didn’t stop doing furniture then he would terminate my contract. At that stage I was doing enough furniture to make it worthwhile, so I agreed to finish up with him. I started out on my own with a casual driver/worker and my small business started to grow. Once again what God had told me had come about.
THE NEW TRUCK
This was amazing. As I was driving along I said to God that I needed another truck. A bigger one. He asked me what sort of truck I wanted, and then continued to ask me what specifications I wanted. I knew very little about trucks at the time, but here’s what I asked for:
He asked me: I replied:
What sort of truck do you want? A Hino (Thinking of God's budget, lol)
What size motor do you want? 100 Horsepower diesel (I didn't know better!)
What sort of body do you want? Luton furniture body (has the bit over the cab)
What size body do you want? 34 cubic metres (should have asked for more.. lol)
What kind of doors on the back? Similar to container doors
What loading facilities do you want? Slide under ramp as well as a step
What size wheels do you want? 18 inch for lower deck and easier loading.
What do you want on the number plate? You're joking!
What do you want on the number plate? K.. LG552, LG being my first two intials and May 52 being my date of birth
The reason I thought God was joking about the number plate was because there was no such thing as personalised plates back then. They weren't even heard of! You just took what you got!
GOD DELIVERS!
Not long after our Q & A exercise my old truck blew a piston, so I took it to the garage to get it sorted out.
The next day when I went back to check on the progress they had made with my truck I couldn't help but notice a very tidy looking truck in the garage next to my truck. I didn't really take a lot of notice of it until I was walking around behind it and noticed the number plate. It was LG552!! I couldn't believe it! I raced off and got a tape measure and calculator and checked out the size of the canopy. It was exactly 34 cubic metres! In fact, every thing about that truck was exactly what I had asked for! As it happened, the truck was for sale and I purchased my second truck!
TECHNOLOGY
One of the first things I did with my new business was get a computer. I had never used one before so this was quite a big learning curve, but once I got organised it was a great time saver and allowed me to control quotes, financial records, invoicing etc.
THREATS FROM THE BIG BOYS
As my small business started getting established I had a visit from a fairly large firm in Palmerston North (about 50kms away). Their two representatives invited me to join their firm. I said thanks, but no thanks. God hadn't started me out on my own for me to sell out. They insisted that I consider their offer, so I said I would, but knew I wouldn't change my mind. A short time later they came back and asked me if I was going to join them. I declined their offer. They responded by telling me that they were going to set up in Levin and could afford to run at a loss to put me under. I told them to go for it. This was all the motivation I needed to get my trucks and my van painted up and get a storage depot organised. They never did carry out their threats and business grew very nicely.
The business grew until I had six trucks on the road. I won contracts to shift new furniture from Palmerston North to Auckland and Auckland into Wellington. This was on top of doing household removals, shop deliveries etc. I had the business for eight years before it was time for a change in direction.
Some of the fleet
