In 2023, Aaran ‘Stubbsy’ Sayer was handed the keys to a new Kenworth K200 flat-roof sleeper, the last of that model McCarthy Transport put into its fleet before the first of the K220s went into service. Anyone who knows Stubbsy knows his truck will always be immaculately presented and like new, regardless of how long it’s been on the road.

Aaran ‘Stubbsy’ Sayer’s K200 is slightly different from most of the McCarthy Transport trucks – it is painted in the old company colours of red and white rather than the solid red and silver most of the company’s trucks sport today.

Although he loves his new truck, Stubbsy says he was reluctant to give up the one he had been driving. He had started with McCarthys in a CH Mack before moving to a K200 day cab that he loved.

“I’d been offered two other brand-new trucks and I’d turned them down because I loved the one I had. I said to Mike [McCarthy], ‘Can I just keep it as long as possible?’ One day, he rang and said, ‘We’re going to have to look at moving your truck on in the fleet or getting rid of it, so you better start thinking about what you want.’”

Stubbsy’s new truck is a 2023 Kenworth K200 with a 459kW (615hp) X-15 Cummins and 18-speed manual.

He says the K200 is more comfortable than his previous truck because it has air suspension on the trailer, whereas the old one had a spring trailer.

Stubbsy’s father, Richard (Dicky) Sayer, was a truck driver, originally working for Modern Freighters in Levin. Three of his uncles and grandfather were also truck drivers here and in Australia.

As a boy, Stubbsy would ride in the truck with his father – and anyone else who would take him – as often as he could.

“Dad was working for Bruce Hill Transport in Levin, and I started washing trucks there every Saturday morning when I was 13. We also got to move the trucks around the yard and load them, so I learned a lot there.

“Mum didn’t want me to be a truck driver, so trucking wasn’t my first job after leaving school. I worked at Levin Timber Saws for a very short time – being locked up inside wasn’t for me! I used to go to work at Bruce Hill Transport at night after working there, loading the trucks, etc.”

Despite his mother’s wishes, he began working full time there, gaining his truck licence when he was 18 in a single-drive Nissan and semi.

“You also had to do some time in the workshop, so you knew how everything worked from that perspective.”

When he was 21, Stubbsy’s next move was to Hall’s Refrigerated.

“When I was working in Wanganui, Steve Allwright was the boss there. Hall’s never used to take anyone on who was under 25. I went around to see him one day because I had a few mates who worked for Hall’s in Levin, and they ended up taking me on, which was pretty cool. That’s when I first got into shiny trucks.”

Based in Levin, he did a range of different runs, including interisland.

“When I was in Christchurch, these Brenics trucks used to come into the yards at Hall’s. Their gear was always top-notch, and a good mate of mine who drove for Hall’s told me they were starting a run up in the North Island and were looking for drivers.

“I went around to the yard one day and met Gary Johnstone and it just all went from there. To be honest, I’d still work for Gary and Barbara to this day if it wasn’t for staying away, they’re just awesome people. I started the North Island run for them up here alongside Gary and Barb’s son Brendon and my good mate Daniel Dixon.”

A friend, Grant Kusabs, whom Stubbsy had known at Bruce Hill Transport, was driving in Port Hedland in Western Australia and kept telling him and another friend, Nathan Stewart, to jump the ditch and work with him.

“One day I saw Nathan at the BP and I said, ‘Shall we just go? What do you reckon?’ He came around that afternoon and we bought the tickets, and yeah, the rest was history!”

Before returning to New Zealand, Stubbsy talked to Gary Johnstone and his son Brendon and they had a job waiting for him back at Brenics, where he stayed for a further 18 months.

For someone who likes to keep his trucks spotless, his next move to McCarthy Transport could be considered a little unusual.

“Greg Wood was the transport manager there at the time and I’ve known him for years; he was ex-Hall’s. He’d been on me for a while to work for him and one day I thought maybe I would like to give it a go – nothing ventured nothing gained. Once I got into the logging itself, it’s just a whole different kettle of fish from linehaul and I really loved it.

“There seems to be a lot more of the old camaraderie in the forestry sector, too, which is awesome.”

Stubbsy and his wife Zoe live north of Foxton with their two-year-old son Ollie. Two of his children also work in the industry – daughter Kiana works for SMH Logging at Waitārere, while son Kasey works as a machine operator for Mangoihe Logging, which was originally set up by Mark McCarthy but is now owned and run by Mark’s son Bryan and his wife, Livvy.

Now 44, in April, Stubbsy had been with McCarthy’s for seven years.

“Mark McCarthy and the whole family are fantastic people all round and I am honoured to work for them. I’m very fortunate to have worked for fantastic people and families my whole working life; I really am privileged.”

Stubbsy wants to thank David Hill in particular.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without him giving me the chance at the very young age of 13 to start doing what I loved. He guided me in the right direction, shaped me into who I am today, and gave me all the opportunities along the way to better myself.

“I’d also like to thank all the other fantastic employers I’ve had who realised my passion and allowed me to carry on with it, and my family for supporting me along the way. Trucking involves long hours and that means less time with them.”

Stubbsy says he picked up his nickname at college, and it just stuck.

McCarthy Transport managing director Mike McCarthy says Stubbsy has a true passion for trucks and takes a lot of pride in the gear and treats it like it’s his own.

“He is honest, hardworking, passionate, caring and just an all-round good bugger.”

Mike adds: “He started off on an older CH Mack, No.18, that had done a fair amount of work and looked like it from the outside, too. Within a week of having the truck, Stubbs polished the whole thing and had it looking like it had basically just driven off the lot.”

Mike says with Stubbsy being a bit one-eyed towards Kenworth trucks, as soon as one came available in the fleet (No.213), it was an easy decision to give it to him.

“He soon had this truck looking near- new again. He got No.213 at 300,000km and didn’t quite get to make it to the 1,000,000km mark before his new one was ready.”

Mike says that when they have drivers who have been with the company for more than five years and they’re looking to order new trucks, they might let them have some input into what is ordered.

“We talked to Stubbs about what his dream truck would be and he said a flat top K200 Kenworth. We got the truck under way through Adam McIntosh at Southpac Trucks, with some extras he had requested.

“With Kenworth bringing out the K220, this truck for Stubbs would be the last brand new K200 we bought, so we decided to paint it in our original colour scheme.

“We have three log trucks painted in this colour scheme, all driven by long-serving drivers. We have two others that are painted in an even older colour scheme from when Mark McCarthy first started out – one of these was his 60th birthday present.”

The logging gear on the truck and the trailer are all built in-house at McCarthy Engineering.

“Stubbs got his new K200, No.4, this time last year, and I believe is pretty happy with it. It certainly turns a few heads out on the road.”