Barry’s spent all his life in the Taihape area. His family were farmers, and he jokes that as a young boy, he was scared of trucks, but as he got older, things changed, and all he ever wanted to do was drive one. He recalls looking out the window of the family home overlooking the weighbridge in Utiku, watching the cops pull the trucks in with fascination. Equally, his wife Lara had no influences from the transport industry in her family.

Barry left school in 1988, and his age dictated a couple of years working on the family farm. As luck would have it, he was offered a job by local transport operator John Remus. The only problem, Barry didn’t yet have his licence. But things happened quickly – not something that could be done in today’s world – and John organised for Barry to sit his licence on a Friday. The following Tuesday he was behind the wheel of an Isuzu JCR 500 four-wheeler. It was May 1990, and his driving career had begun.

In October that year, one of John’s drivers left, and Barry found himself moving into the big gear. He was asked to take over the departing driver’s unit, a 2233 Mercedes-Benz. Barry recalls being sent home that weekend and John asking him to consider stepping up to the larger three-axle truck, three-axle trailer combo. Barry says he had pretty much talked himself out of the idea by Monday morning and declined the offer. But, as if John had pre-empted Barry’s response, he said he was going out to put the sides in … and Barry never got off the unit.

Work involved stock, wool, fert and “a bit of everything” around the Taihape area. Barry says John broke in the young guys carting wool across the Gentle Annie … it was good experience.

Barry’s time with John lasted three years or so. When John sold his business to Waipukurau-based Foleys Transport, Barry drove for the company for a couple of years. It was during his stint with Foleys that Barry met and married Lara. Further changes were in the wind and Mangaweka-based Ray Coles Transport offered Barry a job; after seven years as an employee, an opportunity arose to go owner-driver when an existing contractor left. This turned out to be a long-term relationship with the company, lasting some 17 to 18 years.

Barry and Lara’s first truck was a 395 FUSO, followed by two 430 units. Barry says he’s had a soft spot for the brand, and it’s served him well. The couple kept the last 430 FUSO when the decision was finally made to branch out and start Maher Transport. Six years on, the FUSO is still earning its keep for the couple. Barry says it’s a brilliant truck and the couple’s experience with the FUSO product is exceptional. It may be a little slower on the road than some other trucks but reliable in tough terrain.

He credits the team at local dealership Jolly and Mills and, in particular, salesman Ben Tacon, as the only ones who took the couple seriously when they ventured out into business, supplying the truck and helping source a second-hand trailer. A Shogun 510 preceded the S-Way in 2023.

Rounding out the hard-working fleet is an ex-Ongarue 8×4 Freightliner Argosy. The FUSOs are all 6×4 units, which these days, aren’t the common spec, but Barry says that given the tight country terrain of the area the company services, better traction and manoeuvrability are a bonus.

And with their lighter tare, they achieve a better payload permitted at 45 tonnes.

The trucks and Maher company name on the door might be different, but the colour scheme seems well entrenched in the Taihape area for a good number of years yet.