As you’ll read in Turning wheels and kicking pedals , Scott and Michael share views on the current lack of hands-on learning.

“I am pleased that we are away from the demands of running a big team of staff. It is just so difficult now with all the bureaucratic rubbish we all must go along with. Tina and I were listening to talkback radio the other morning, and they were going on about job training… Well, once upon a time, the likes of Scott would have spent his entire youth sitting alongside his dad in the truck’s cab, travelling all over the country and learning trucking – learning the ropes and how the job was done at the coalface. Now you must go to EIT to learn how to do trucking. How does that work?” (You sure are singing from our songbook there, Michael.)

“A while back, we had a bush inspector on a worksite. Pita Chase was our bulldozer operator. He was driving our near-new D65, a state-of-the-art bulldozer, pushing out slash over the side of a hill. The inspector looked over at him and said to me, ‘Who has trained him?’

“I said, ‘Probably his grandfather.’

“He said, ‘What do you mean?’

“I said, ‘Well, he sat on his grandfather’s knee, holding onto the thermos in the old D2 bouncing around the farm; that’s who’s taught him. He’s been on a tractor now for the best part of 30 years. Who do you think I can get to train him?’

“The inspector said, ‘Doesn’t matter. I want to see training modules signed off.’

“That’s the problem we have nowadays – the youngsters are not learning the ropes correctly. When I first learnt to operate an excavator, I was on a shovel in the trench, and you learnt how a trench looked, setting levels and how it all worked so that you could apply that knowledge to operating the machine. Now they – fledging operators – want to get in the cab, turn on the air conditioning, close the door and turn up the stereo, and watch a GPS monitor. They are disconnected from what they are supposed to be doing. So, yeah, in my eyes there is a lot that really needs to change back. So much real knowledge is being lost,” Michael says.

“The hands-on approach has worked for my son John and daughter Caitlin. For example, when Caitlin arrived home from her OE in the States, she came to me looking for a job. We had a contract at the time trenching for power cables, so I said, ‘Sure, here is a shovel – start digging.’ And she did, without complaints.

“This naturally led to learning how to operate an excavator. Then while working at our Porangahau quarry, Caitlin moved onto front-end loaders feeding one of the crushers. This hands-on approach made me suggest she sit her Class 4 license and then progress to her Class 5. This proved invaluable, as Caitlin was then able to competently run our product into sites around Hastings from our quarry at Waipawa in our FV Mitsi and, later, EXZ Isuzu truck and trailer units.

“Now she has worked her way up the ladder to project coordinator at Apollo Projects – and where necessary advises drivers visiting her sites how to reverse into a nasty spot and is more than happy to jump into the hot seat if needed to show how it’s done!” laughed Michael.

“Then, when it came to John, he knew right back as a young fella he wanted employment as an engineer. He started working in our engineering business after school, cleaning up and helping generally. When I sold that business, the new owner suggested John enrol at EIT in an engineering pre- apprenticeship course. He did this and then set about calling into the local engineering workshops after school, looking for an opportunity. It was Allen Street at Deakin Trucks workshop that saw the determination and said, ‘If you are that keen and enrolled at EIT, I will give you the start.’ Well, that job was fantastic for him, he learnt so much and it set him up for the future as a qualified coach builder.

“Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of that early hands-on connection to foster the work ethic that will carry you though your working career.”