Garth South had just pulled up outside Rutherford & Bond Toyota in Paraparaumu as Faye Lougher was parking nearby.

Driving a 2021 Scania G500 with a 12-speed auto, Garth had driven from Auckland that day with a full load of cars for the Kapiti dealership and would be heading to the Auto Logistics base in Wellington when he finished unloading.

When asked how he got into driving, Garth said he didn’t really know.

“It was something I’d wanted to do since I was a kid but never got around to it until I was really old!” he said with a laugh.

Garth has been driving for Auto Logistics for 15 years – the whole of his truck-driving career – but he had been a courier for 13 years and worked in retail before that. He admitted to loving everything about his job. “Just being out and about … I don’t have a set run, so I see places I never would have seen otherwise.”

He had to think before answering what he saw as the main problem in the industry today. “That’s a tough one. The main problem is too much bullshit – having to do inductions everywhere you go. You’re not allowed to have common sense anymore.”

It was a cold day, so we moved on to the subject of hot pies. “I like everything, but my favourite pie is a pepper steak pie. As you can see, I like pies!”