Rochelle spends a day in the life of a log truck driver

It’s 2am when my alarm goes off. At 4am I meet Aaron De Silva at the Riversdale Beach turnoff, just south of Masterton, an hour’s drive from my house. When I arrive Aaron is doing a check on his truck ensuring everything is in order. He lives in Palmerston North and started work at 1.30am!

Aaron drives a Kenworth K200 for HP Transport, owned by Joe Potter from Trentham. He has been working here for nearly three years but has a driving career of 30!

Once the check is complete, we head off to Blairlogie Forest. We are doing local runs delivering logs to either rail or Kiwi Lumber. This has been Aaron’s daily run for the past two months. It keeps him away from home Monday to Friday, returning home to his family on the weekends.

When I ask Aaron what he loves most about his job, he tells me it’s the scenery. Doing this kind of work takes him to some remote places around the country and he gets to see some beautiful sunrises and views. Unfortunately, it was overcast, and I was not lucky enough to see the sun come up.

When we arrive at the forest to be loaded, we have to pull over up the hill a bit and wait because there are a few trucks ahead of us and it’s a very narrow drive down. We aren’t waiting too long before Aaron gets a call saying another driver is stuck, struggling to get up the hill loaded on the loose gravel. Aaron, being very good at his job, shows off his driving skills by doing a three-point turn on this narrow road and reversing down the winding track in the dark. He makes it look easy but I’m not going to lie, it got my heart racing a little! Once down they hook the other truck up to Aaron’s and he tows him up the hill.

The first thing the loader driver does is lift the trailer off the truck. Log trucks carry their trailers on top of the truck when empty. By 5.30am we are loaded with 6.1m logs that will be used for export timber and head off to Kiwi Lumber in Masterton. Aaron has a forestry app called WSX where he enters where he’s been, where he’s going and what he’s got on. The information is emailed to dispatch. Aaron’s truck has a 48-tonne permit and scales on the trailer that weigh his load to ensure he carries the correct amount of wood. He puts 25 tonne on the truck and 22 tonne on the trailer. The logs can be loaded no higher than the bolsters that support them. The loader driver, James, is an expert and gets the loads bang on! Slow and steady is the drive out of the forest, because the gravel is so loose on the rough road and we don’t want to end up stuck like the truck before us. Aaron also explains to me how easy it is for the trailer to kick out, slide and flip.

Before we unload, we stop at Waingawa weighbridge to record the gross weight (loaded), and then once unloaded we go back to record the tare weight (empty). Here we also pull into the gantry, where a huge hook and chain is used to lift the trailer onto the back of the truck.

At Kiwi Lumber, we must wait our turn to be unloaded. Aaron pulls over and uses this time to undo the chains, catch up with other drivers who are also waiting, and update his logbook. When the loader driver is ready, he calls us in and we park safely in the unloading zone. At this point we are not allowed to leave the vehicle, but they make an exception for me to get photos from a safe distance wearing the safety gear I have been given, a hard hat and hi-vis vest so I can be seen.

Each round trip, loading and unloading, takes about three hours and Aaron does three or four of these each day. I stay on for one more circuit, then Aaron drops me off at my ute and I head home and let him carry on with his day. Driving a log truck takes some skill! Gorgeous scenery and some big challenges are all in a day’s work. Thanks a heap for letting me tag along Aaron, I had a great time!