The ongoing saga with New Zealand’s interisland ferries can have its upside – if they’d been on time, James Taylor might not have had time to stop and chat to Faye Lougher in Shannon recently.

Originally from Pukekohe, the Foxton- based driver was behind the wheel of a 2018 Kenworth K200 with an 18-speed Roadranger gearbox. He was heading to Christchurch with an impressive load of agricultural machinery on board, but his ferry crossing had been delayed.

James says he has loved trucks ever since he was a child.

“I got a red Matchbox toy truck for my fifth birthday from an auntie; I still have it today. A couple of my uncles drove trucks, and I’d go for a ride with them.”

James has been driving trucks for about 22 years in total, starting on a fertiliser spreader and spending the following 19 years on linehaul, including a stint moving general freight in Australia’s Far North and Queensland. He now moves agricultural machinery around the country for Palmerston North-based Maskill Contracting.

He loves the scenery he sees driving throughout the country but says things have changed since he started driving.

“I’m not sure where to start – the job has changed a lot over the 19 years I’ve been doing it. It’s still a pretty good industry, but in the past, if you were stopped on the side of the road, people would stop to help, but now they don’t.”

The vexing question James chose was, ‘Licorice Allsorts or Mackintosh’s Toffees?’ He said he’d have to say the Allsorts because he had a bag of them in the truck.