Little Trucker Down Under’s Milly McCauley sat down with Jodi and Chris Angus, owners of CAT LTD in Mataoki, where she found out all about their log cartage operation.
Who owns CAT Limited?
Myself (Chris) and my wife Jods own the business
How long has CAT been in business?
Almost 16 years, since 2008.
Where do you have trucks based?
We have trucks based in Matatoki, Paeroa, Waihi,Mount Maunganui and Whangamata.
How many trucks does CAT operate?
We operate eight.
How many people does CAT employ?
We have a team of 13 including ourselves and are proud to say our first, second and third employees – Foxy, Mel and our operations manager Jumbo – are still with us today!
Our awesome team consists of the ones mentioned above as well as Kaleb, Andrew, Evan, Glenn, Jimmy, Albert, Phil and Christine, who are behind the success of our business.
What makes of trucks do you have and how many of each?
We have got five Scanias, two Kenworths and one Freightliner.
What type of loads do you cart?
Logs, logs and more logs.
Where are the main areas you operate in around New Zealand?
We service the centre of the North Island, mainly Maramarua and around Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula.
What is your title at CAT and what are your responsibilities?
I (Jodi) work in the office and Chris works on the tools, driving or directing, whatever needs to be done really!
Did you always think you would work in transport?
(Chris) My father always worked in log truck driving, so I was always destined to work in the industry, however, I didn’t actually start driving until I was 30 when I bought my very first truck, a Hino, and started the business in 2008. I then met Jods in 2009 and we progressed together.
I (Jodi) always seemed to end up amongst trucks, previously working at Provincial Freightlines in Thames, however my dad drove the Tip Top truck for many years when I was growing up and I would always go with him to help deliver the ice cream around the Coromandel Peninsula.
What’s your favourite thing about working in the industry?
Our favourite thing is the people we work with and that every day is different, and being a logging truck company the challenge of negotiating off-highway roads to get the logs shifted.
What would you like to see change for the transport industry over time?
We would both like to see the health and safety regulations surrounding children and logging be changed. Currently children under the age of 16 are not allowed to come for trips in logging trucks both to the forest and to the sawmill/port due to health and safety reasons.
When you have kids interested in trucks at a young age, not being able to take them out and show them what we really do, and what is involved in the industry, is difficult.
In order to continue to encourage and foster interest, trips out to do practical work are important.
Do you have a favourite truck in your fleet?
I (Jodi) used to before it was sold and that was the company’s very first Hino.
I (Chris) don’t have a favourite, but the European trucks are very comfortable and the American trucks with manual gearboxes are still cool to drive.
What would be some advice you would give to any young people who want to start a career in transport?
We would both say listen to the older people in the industry who have experience and knowledge, listen and take it all in.
Can you tell me a fun or interesting fact about CAT?
CAT LTD Stands for Chris Angus Transport Ltd and the logo came from Jumbo’s Black Freightliner that we purchased in 2014, which had artwork on the side of it – an Angus Bull pulling logs – which made a cool connection with our surname Angus. Hence why next to the CAT LTD title there is a cartoon bull.