Time flies when you‘re having fun, and it‘s a safe bet there has been plenty of fun at Jackson Enterprises over the past 30 years.

Photo: Stock crate decks and trailers are a huge part of the business. Rural customers helped immensely in terms of providing the  business impetus for growth in the early years and Trevor is hugely appreciative of that.

The unassuming man behind the Pahiatua trailer manufacturer is modest, and keen to give credit where he feels it is due, saying the company‘s longevity is a result of team effort. “A business of this size could never run without a good team of people around me,” Trevor Jackson says. “Right from the quality assurance, the management structure and plans, the guys in the drawing office and the store, to the guys on the floor, they are all part of the big picture.” A diesel mechanic by trade, a series of events led to Trevor establishing Jackson Enterprises in the early 1990s. After doing his time with Ryan‘s Garage in Pahiatua, Trevor worked for Eric Gleeson & Sons, before moving to Feast Contractors near Huntly. When he moved back to Pahiatua he worked on the development of the LPG-powered trucks for Tui/Kiwi Dairy Company, before starting up his own truck servicing business.

Photo: It‘s a busy place with something always on the go.

He said waiting lists for new truck bodies were getting longer and longer with the already established body builders, so he was approached to “The first stock deck was for David Pope and the first highly modified trailer was for Stringfellow Contracting. Our first complete unit was for JP Trucking – a complete truck and trailer unit.” Trevor says right from the early days it was vital they looked after the rural side of trucking, and he would like to say a big thank you to all the companies and loyal customers he has dealt with over the years. “Our whole industry revolves around the rural sector. There‘s a number of people, like Stringfellow Contracting and David Pope Transport, who gave me the opportunity to manufacture something and put it out there on the road.” Trevor says they made a few stock decks and tipping units, which gave the company a huge opportunity to expand. He uplifted the old Ministry of Works workshop from the Turangi Tunnel Project and moved it to the site the business still occupies today in Queen Street, Pahiatua.

Photo: The company‘s portfolio is extensive and covers many genres of carriage.

Over the years the business has expanded from a single workshop to three massive workshops as well as aluminium, steel and finishing shops. Initially there was just Trevor, Bruce Falconer (whose son Dylan now works for the business) and apprentice Bevan Wolland, but the company now runs a staff of 54. Jackson Enterprises builds a range of trailers, including livestock, curtainsider, B-trains, quads, tipping, and specialist orders such as transporters, hiab trucks and fifth-wheels. Trevor says today businesses are looking for versatility so they can get the most out of their investment. Trevor says they are currently building a huge number of bodies that can become demountable for stock crates and milk barrels. As of November 2020, the number of trailers Jackson Enterprises has built is closing in on four figures, and they now average about one a week.

Photo: The stock unit in this painting was Trevor‘s first complete unit built for JP Trucking Ltd.

While there is a fairly heavy emphasis on aluminium chassis and trailers, Trevor says they will build whatever their customer wants. Among the hundreds of trailers they have built, there are a few that have stood out for Trevor. “There was a 250-tonne transporter for the Stockton Mine – that was a nine-month build. And we built a special quad with roll-up curtains for the export of GIB board.” Trevor says Jackson Enterprises has an excellent reputation, one that has been built up by the people he has around him who enjoy doing a top-class job. “You‘ve got to point the finger at those who work for me. The business has always been creative from our start up and our point of difference is having long-term staff who imagine seeing great products going on trucks. We have got a great reputation for our finish – a lot of it hinges back to servicing, to seeing things right. Our warranty is driven by putting things right.”

Photo: Trevor is always quick to emphasise the team effort in Jackson Enterprises‘ business.