On route to Dunedin with a fresh load of logs for export out of the Herbert Forest in Coastal Otago was Tony ‘Mav’ Scoles. Craig Andrews bailed him up during a half-hour rest break and had a quick yarn.

Timaru-based, Mav has been with Dynes Transport for only four months and enjoys the work. He came from a fertiliser-spreading background, so carting logs out of skid sites came easy to him.

Mav is originally from the Rotorua area, and it was there he had his first drive of a truck – his dad’s Volvo Globetrotter at Rotorua Livestock. From that point, he was hooked.

He cut his teeth at Rotorua Livestock driving tractors, spreading, and washing sheep crates. Looking for a break after that he became a tour guide for Off Adventures in Rotorua.

From there came more spreading work, and a move down south saw him operating a Mercedes Benz 1833

Axor spreader at Rural Transport and St Andrews Transport before making the step up to log cartage with Dynes Transport.

He pilots ‘Blue Venom’, a 2013 K108E Kenworth with several hundred thousand kilometres under its belt. It still has plenty of sting and Mav enjoys piloting the truck, especially when negotiating bush tracks throughout the region. When onsite, he enjoys catching up with the crews but is not much of a fan of standing out in the elements when the truck is being loaded.

Another upside is everything is electronic these days, something he is totally on board with.