1. 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
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2. 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 trailers
As 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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3. 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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