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Go Amy! A my Edmonds can hardly contain her excitement as she appears around the side of her new metallic-green Hino. She’s happy to talk about the truck she’s been waiting for over a year to take possession of and the difference it will make to their business. The new addition to Edmond’s fleet has been in action for three weeks and is keeping busy already. “I’ve carted baleage and done a few trips over to Marton with grain. Today I’m about to chuck the sides on and go and do some metaling. We have a new driveway and truck turn-around to spread tomorrow, I’m finding it an awesome truck to work in.” Edmonds Transport is a family business located in the rural village of Ongaonga. It was started by Amy’s father, Steve Edmonds, around 20 years ago and carries out a variety of work including earth moving and cartage of metal, fertiliser, silage as well as tree work and firewood. “We are very versatile at what we can do. We are close with our clients and know them pretty well. It’s even better when they ring up and ask for me and not dad,” says Amy. Amy has been truck driving for nine years, having started out driving around the hay paddock while still at school. She left Hawke’s Bay for a while to do other things, but it was truck driving that drew her back. “I enjoy it and get to meet some cool people. As well as that, there is nothing better on a good day than sitting in the truck and going for a cruise.” Amy’s latest truck is a 2007 Hino 700 series with a 450 engine and 18-speed road ranger gearbox. The ex-logging truck has been substantially rebuilt by Steve. It was bought as a cab and chassis and has had a new deck and tipping gear added. The resulting truck, she says, is nicer to drive and sits on the road better than her previous one. Amy had a clear idea of what she was after when it came to purchasing her next truck. For a start, she wanted the road ranger gearbox, as is her 8x4 Isuzu 460 Gigamax, plus a front of body hoist. “When were trying to buy a second-hand truck, nothing matched what we wanted. We prefer the front of body hoist to the under body hoist because we find them a bit more stable for what we do. Dad said, ‘well then, we will just build one.’ So here it is!” Alro Truck Centre in Palmerston North, who also did the paintwork, shortened the wheelbase by about half a metre and in building the deck (which has removable SEE THE VIDEO AT Go Amy! If Amy Edmonds had her way, there’d be more women truck drivers in the industry. To prove her point, she even let DOW’s Viv Haldane (who has never driven one before) drive her truck around the paddock. WORDS, IMAGES AND VIDEO BY VIVIENNE HALDANE The removable sides allow Edmonds to cart metal 16 17 COVER STORY dealsonwheels.co.nz dealsonwheels.co.nz

Amy Edmonds truck driver

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Page 1: Amy Edmonds truck driver

Go Amy!A

my Edmonds can hardly contain her excitement as she appears around the side of her new metallic-green Hino.

She’s happy to talk about the truck she’s been waiting for over a year to take possession of and the difference it will make to their business.

The new addition to Edmond’s fleet has been in action for three weeks and is keeping busy already. “I’ve carted baleage and done a few trips over to Marton with grain. Today I’m about to chuck the sides on and go and do some metaling. We have a new driveway and truck turn-around to spread tomorrow, I’m finding it an awesome truck to work in.”

Edmonds Transport is a family business located in the rural village of Ongaonga. It was started by Amy’s father, Steve Edmonds, around 20 years ago and carries out a variety of work including earth moving and cartage of metal, fertiliser, silage as well as tree work and firewood. “We are very versatile at what we can do. We are close with our clients and know them pretty well. It’s even better when they ring up and ask for me and not dad,” says Amy.

Amy has been truck driving for nine years, having started out driving around the hay paddock while still at school.

She left Hawke’s Bay for a while to do other things, but it was truck driving that drew her back. “I enjoy it and get to meet

some cool people. As well as that, there is nothing better on a good day than sitting in the truck and going for a cruise.”

Amy’s latest truck is a 2007 Hino 700 series with a 450 engine and 18-speed road ranger gearbox. The ex-logging truck has been substantially rebuilt by Steve. It was bought as a cab and chassis and has had a new deck and tipping gear added.

The resulting truck, she says, is nicer to drive and sits on the road better than her previous one.

Amy had a clear idea of what she was after when it came to purchasing her next truck. For a start, she wanted the road ranger gearbox, as is her 8x4 Isuzu 460 Gigamax, plus a front of body hoist.

“When were trying to buy a second-hand truck, nothing matched what we wanted. We prefer the front of body hoist to the under body hoist because we find them a bit more stable for what we do. Dad said, ‘well then, we will just build one.’ So here it is!”

Alro Truck Centre in Palmerston North, who also did the paintwork, shortened the wheelbase by about half a metre and in building the deck (which has removable

see the video at

Go Amy! If Amy Edmonds had her way, there’d be more women truck drivers in the industry. To prove her point, she even let DOW’s Viv Haldane (who has never driven one before) drive her truck around the paddock.

WORDS, IMAGES AND VIDEO BY VIVIENNE HALDANE

The removable sides allow Edmonds to cart metal

16 17

cover story

dealsonwheels.co.nz dealsonwheels.co.nz

Page 2: Amy Edmonds truck driver

sides), made it with heavier metal for stronger tipping action.

“This allows the truck to be much more versatile, more so than if it had a fixed bin. We can do tipping work and flat deck work as well as bulk work with our silage bins.”

The shorter wheelbase allows Amy easier manoeuvrability for some of the work she does. “We do a lot of tricky work in tight places so it’s easier to move around and we gain more mobility. Being an eight-wheeler allows us to carry more weight too.”

Amy added a few touches of her own. “It did have steel rims but I wanted alloys and I promised to keep them polished! We have a few other things to go on such as a tool box, front mud flaps, the windows will be tinted and I’ll add few more lights and big aerials.”

She’s happy that the Hino has a manual gearbox rather than automatic transmission. “I didn’t want any of that auto stuff. We did try another Isuzu and a Mitsubishi, both with auto but they weren’t suitable. There was no

go to them; you’d put your foot down and they were slow to respond compared to the manual versions.”

Amy is used to being a woman in a largely male domain and laughs off some of the comments people have made in the past.

As we head down the road to her lifestyle block to take some photos, she tells about the time she backed into tip a unit load of fertiliser off. “A man who worked there approached me and said, ‘Excuse me miss, can you please hop back in the truck, because passengers aren’t allowed out of the cab’ and I’m like ummm, I must be bloody good if I backed it in from the passenger’s side.

“Another time a local farmer rang my dad and said he didn’t want girl truck drivers on his property, so dad said ‘Oh well, find someone else to do the job then’. Dad would stick up for me no matter what and would say, ‘You will miss out on a good job being done then’.” This was not a personal dig as weeks before he had asked another lady driving a concrete truck to also stay outside his gate.

“Some people are still a bit old fashioned, we are more than capable”

Perhaps soon, with more women joining the truck industry, comments

Lineup of machinery at Edmond’s Transport• 460 Isuzu Gigamax 8x4• 450 FY Hino 8x4• 350 K1 Mitsubishi 6x4• SF402R Mitsubishi 8x2• 160- LC 7 Hyundai digger• Nine-tonne Sumitomo digger• Three- and four-axle drop side

tipping trailersAs well as a couple of loaders and

bits of machinery.

Amy points out the airlines and wiring replaced when the deck was built

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Page 3: Amy Edmonds truck driver

like that will eventually fade into the background.

She wishes more women would give driving a go and she’s pleased she has been able to persuade her Welsh friend Katelyn to take it up. “Five years ago I took her for a ride in my truck. I told her ‘If I can do it, you can too’ so she went home and got her truck licence. Now she’s trying to get a job here and she loves it. It was pretty cool to be able to influence someone else.”

Amy is a stickler for the small details, is proud of the care she takes of machinery

and that she has an accident-free record. “I am very careful and have never crashed or dented anything. I always have a look first instead of driving in and hoping for the best. I am not out to prove something; some guys have that little bit of, ‘I’ve got to be a bit better than you.’ I just go at my own pace. It’s good, especially if everyone is getting stuck and you are the only person who isn’t. Then you can stick it to the boys!”

Her dream is to one day take over from her dad and run the business herself. Then,

watch it! There could be an all woman crew on the job. “If it was my business, I’d be happy to employ five girls over a guy any day.”

Amy is looking forward to driving her truck to the Taupo Truck Show and Racing Festival, 22-24 April. Her matching green R8 Maloo ute will be loaded on the back as well. “It will be a fun weekend. Someone has to go and support all the Japanese trucks, because everyone takes their flash KWs,” she laughs. n

The Edmond’s new truck has had a busy season carting hay and silage

Another thing Amy would like to see is more stylish work clothing available for women drivers

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