Steve and Sharon Livingston are today’s torch bearers for a family with well over half a century in the log cartage game. They love the small family business log truck operator model they live – and are quick to acknowledge the industry and people who have supported them and their family. We went to chat about it all … and check out the latest addition to the fam.

So, whose truck are you doing?” said the Tokoroa local mid-conversation. “Steve Livingston’s K220,” I replied “Oh, bloody hell!” The aghast tone framing their response left me slightly on edge. It certainly wasn’t what I’d expected, given this story’s leading couple and their reputation. Had something happened I wasn’t aware of? Thankfully, he hadn’t finished, and I’d misread the tone. “He’s that bloody laidback he can almost see the road behind him! He’d have to be one of the nicest buggers you’d ever meet.”

Phew! That was more like it.

Mossop Road intersects SH1 at the southern end of Tokoroa and a little way up there, you will find the home and business of Steve and Sharon Livingston – immaculate, with not a hint of ostentation about it. The drive runs up past the house, beyond trees and a hedge, to a shed fronted by an area large enough to turn and park a log truck. The shed houses the essentials, of course – tools, projects, and a man-cave lined with images reflecting their own history and contribution to one of the country’s proud and most resilient timber towns.

The Livingstons are a family whose tradition in log transport stretches back over seven decades, and today they embody the dream so many like-minded folk aspired to achieve not that long ago. A success centred on family, contribution, community, and your own cool truck in family livery the centrepiece of it all. Yet, today, these proud family one- or two-truck businesses are almost as rare as kākāpō in the wild.

Against the backdrop of a fiercely fragile and low margin global marketplace, ambition, acquisition, consolidation, technology and compliance – all wrapped into the label ‘progress’ – has sounded the death knell of so many minute trucking jewels. The few that are left are rarely afforded the privilege of retaining a livery – the trucking family’s coat of arms, so to speak, and something to be immensely proud of.

Yet the Livingstons defy it all. Take their new Kenworth K220 in Solar Gold, a colour Steve’s dad David, aka Doc, took a shine to in 1991 when he saw it on the new Mazda 626. Until that point, gold had been the reserve of D & L Livingston on the doors, but not any more; the base hue to adorn the new Foden looming in the family’s life was set. Yet, look closer at the 2025 edition, and you’ll see it pays homage to its predecessors. In the red, black, and silver stripe work, we see recognition of the first – possibly second – family-owned truck, a Kenworth K124CR bought new in 1986 and named The Flying Doctor. Like it should be, every generation adding their bit in building a family story.

The question is, how? How have the Livingstons done what they’ve done in keeping the dream alive? Like finding the source of the Nile, let’s go on a journey in search of an answer.

North to new opportunities

The first thing is the ‘possibly second’ mentioned above in regard to family-owned trucks.

“Yeah, Dad’s father Duncan came home from the war to Taumarunui and pretty much went truck driving. There is a story in the family that he owned a truck himself for a while, but we can’t actually verify that, so we’re not sure. He certainly drove trucks, and ended up at Colin Poole’s,” says Steve. “In fact, so did Dad, they both drove there together,” he says, pointing to a photo of two Poole Leyland Hippos parked beside each other. “PopPop drove the one on the left, and Doc the one on the right. Duncan was active in the industry right up until he got crook in 1979. He passed away in 1980.”

However, Doc’s destiny was not to be in the King Country capital, but further north. Following a job offer at New Zealand Forest Products (NZFP) Kinleith in 1973, he and wife Lyn were first to make the move north.

Doc’s arrival in the timber town occurred as the International R-190 era was in the throes of giving way to the mass arrival of the bigger American trucks.

“He started as a company driver in the off-highway, and got one of the early C500 Kenworths with the Allison autos. He ended up a lead driver, working in the weighbridge a lot of the time.” The conversation then turns to a real industry character with one of the most formidable reputations ever – the late John Fitzgerald. He ran the Kinleith weighbridge and dispatch like a military operation from the old two-storeyed weighbridge at Kinleith. Steve laughs as we both reminisce the stern voice on the end of the intercom and the famous vacuum docket chute. “The thing about John was he was a really good dispatcher, and treated everyone the same – there were no favourites. It was great he was able to make it to the reunion last year and really sad he passed away a month or so later.”

The sale of NZFP to Elders Resources to form Elders NZFP in 1986 marked the end of an era at Kinleith with the move to an owner-driver model for log transport services. The leading drivers were offered the opportunity to put a truck in the system, and although there was no financial help directly, redundancies effectively provided a deposit for those taking up the offer.

“Dad thought he’d grab one of the old Pacifics for $15,000,” Steve says, laughing, “but no, that wasn’t going to happen. They wanted a fleet upgrade. A good way of doing it without having to outlay the capital, I guess.”

The Flying Doctor

Although a swathe of contractors bought Scanias, Doc grabbed a K124CR Kenworth demonstrator from Rotorua. The Flying Doctor was an unbreakable spec with a Cummins 400 Big Cam engine, 15-speed overdrive Roadranger gearbox and 46,000lb Rockwell diffs on six-rod suspension. Set up as a shorts unit with an ex-NZFP trailer, Doc and Lyn were in business as D & L Livingston.

The first three years were spent in the off-highway system at Kinleith. When the time came to break the forest boundaries, a new Evans three-axle long/ shorts trailer was purchased and run as a shorts unit until the truck got its convertible gear about 12 months later. The unit was an early example of a full air-ram convertible setup, pretty slick for the era.

“It was a great truck,” Steve recalls. “It stood them up for sure.”

Of course, a young Stephen and brother Gavin were soaking up the whole journey. In an era where the children could share in the family journey and skillsets at the front lines, it would be fair to say succession was being taken care of.

The Livingstons ran The Flying Doctor for half a decade before trading it on a new Foden S108 in 1991, through South Pacific Trucks salesman Kevin Wells. Its name? Flying Doctor, of course.

It was the era when PACCAR-produced Fodens ‘owned’ Tokoroa, and vast swathes of the New Zealand road transport scene in general. New Zealand agent South Pacific Trucks targeted the marque’s premium offering for the antipodes, and they were lapped up; European comfort with US running gear – they had it all.

“What a great machine … smooth,” says Steve. “It had the 465 Cummins, 15-speed, Rockwells on rubber block suspension and we just swapped the gear off the Kenworth. Yeah, a great truck.”

It wasn’t long after Steve broke free from the shackles of the education system, taking work at the local paint shop in order to tread water until he could go driving too.

When the paint shop closed, the trigger was pulled, coinciding nicely with the arrival of a second Foden – a Caterpillar 3406 425 ATAAC-powered 8×4 unit that Doc bought from retiring contractor Eric Hall. It became a team operation with Steve driving days on Flying Doc, brother Gavin on the latest addition, and Doc working nights on either.

Steve’s first brand-new unit came soon after with the arrival of the third Foden, a 1995 model – 500hp Cummins, 15-speed Roadranger, Rockwell on rubber block setup towing a brand-new four-axle Evans convertible trailer. It was a day/night on- and off-highway, productivity-plus operation.

The keys to progress

As we’ve said so often, there’s only one constant in life and that’s change. Carter Holt Harvey had acquired the assets of Elders NZFP in 1991 following the stock market turmoil of the late 1980s.

The year 2000 triggered a move away from the myriad of small transport operations supplying log transport services to Kinleith, into key supplier/contractor management groups. The group’s model meant control of transport procurement was retained by CHH, reduced the administrative noise, and it made the introduction of compliance far easier to expedite.

Doc and Lyn joined forces with Ralph Harvey to form Livingston Harvey, at the same time bringing two or three other sole account contractors into the fold.

The following year was a big one in the enterprise’s history. Steve and Sharon had been an item for eight years by then and married for three. In March 2001, they purchased their first truck and put it in the business, an ex-Steve Murphy Western Star FX4864 tractor with a long/shorts B-train. “One of my great regrets is not getting a photo of it with a load of longs. It worked well, especially from east Taupō to the Mount, I just never took a picture.” The Western Star ran a Cummins M11 at 370hp, and Steve says it was an honest truck. “She was good. It had done 1,000,000km when we got it. I think it started life on linehaul for an OD at Translink before going to Murphys. We bought it off Dale Greaves – a great guy.”

Then, in September the same year, the Livingston Harvey association ended with a sellout to McCarthy Transport. At the time, Doc and Lyn had a total of seven trucks, three Fodens (the original two Fodens were gone, there was another 4500 and an Alpha), a MAN, an EC ERF and two Western Stars, including Steve and Sharon’s. Post the sale, Steve and Sharon stayed on as contractors to McCarthy’s.

“We were travelling all over the place at that stage. Local, eastern side of Lake Taupō, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington. The Western Star was certainly working and we really needed something a bit better suited, something new for the kilometres we were doing and a bit easier to live in week in, week out.

Enter the scene in 2002 a new Mitsubishi FS430 in full McCarthy Transport livery. ”It gave us reliability … and more room,” Steve says, laughing. “It was certainly a bit out of its depth in the off-highway; we were still doing a bit in there with it and it did struggle a little. But it served us bloody well. You couldn’t kill that 6M70 motor – they’re amazing.”

The Mitsubishi appeared and made a great cover on the October 2002 issue of Truck and Driver.

A new game

The Livingstons ran the Mitsubishi for five years, and within that time, the key supplier contracts came up for re-tender, McCarthy Transport missing out. Steve and Sharon were taken into the fold of Tokoroa stalwarts Alan and Karen Forbes, continuing to operate as independent contractors to the Forbes.

It was a typical Mt Maunganui Saturday truck scene in 2007. Steve was among the throng of trucks at workshops, getting post week maintenance done, when Southpac salesman Ken Ireton happened to pass by.

“‘When are you going to buy a new truck, boy?’” he said.

“‘I can’t afford a new Kenworth, Ken!’

‘Of course you can. Of course you can.’ That pretty well started the ball rolling on the first new Kenworth.”

What followed was a truck Steve still says is the best truck he ever owned; a Kenworth K104B with C15 Caterpillar power, 18-speed Roadranger, 46,000lb Meritors on Airglide 460 suspension.

It towed a second-hand Evans multi-bay four-axle trailer, replaced after a year with a brand new four-axle Evans in a deal Steve couldn’t refuse. “I paid $50k for the first one and when they offered me the new one, I said, ‘If you give me what I paid for mine you’ve got a deal’. They said ‘Yep, okay’ straight away! I thought ‘Bugger! I should have said $60k for mine!’” Steve sits back in the chair and bursts into the trademark Livingston laugh.

“Just a bullet-proof truck! All we did in almost three-quarters of a million kilometres was a water pump. That was it. Not even a turbo.”

The 104B also saw a return to the full Livingston Solar Gold livery; the Mitsubishi had the stripe work changed post the McCarthy era, but that’s all.

“Had the Cat thing stayed around, I’d have stuck with them for sure.”

As Steve says, the 104B ran to just shy of 750,000km when they handed it in for a new K200 8×4 flat-roof sleeper and five-axle Evans tailer in 2015, a truck that made the Top Truck poster taken by David Kinch in the New Zealand Trucking magazine of August that year.

“Yeah, another good truck. She did just over the million and 10 years. It had a bit of a tickle-up when it started leaking oil earlier on, but they came to the party. That’s about it, we haven’t really ever had a dud, eh?” says Steve, turning to Sharon.

“Steve’s fastidious; if something squeaks he’s onto it immediately – the truck’s always perfect,” she responds.

It all leads to 2025 and the arrival of the star of this edition, the 2024 Kenworth K220 and Evans five-axle trailer we’ll take a closer look at in Part 2.

“Shit, she was pretty much three years from order to arrival. We ordered it when things were crazy; you wouldn’t wait that long at the moment I’m picking,” says Steve.

It’s instantly recognisable as a Livingston truck, and one that shows all the signs of being put together by a multi-generational log truck family.

The source of the Nile

A one-truck family operation, in their livery, still operating happily in the central North Island log scene. What’s the secret? You might point to a thousand different tributaries, but the truth is, they all stem from the same source.

“Can you make sure you mention the people we’ve worked for? They’ve all been so good to us; we can’t thank them enough. Starting with Mum and Dad, of course; they gave us a start. Mark McCarthy, Alan and Karen Forbes, Warwick Wilshier and Campbell Gilmour. We really want to make a point of thanking them all; they’ve all been fantastic to work for,” says Steve, probably the most assertive he was in the whole yarn. Sort of … almost assertive.

But the yin to that yang is probably having a multi-generational log truck operator with Steve’s disposition in your yard in 2025. It’s like a Lotto win on wheels – if he wants a gold truck, let him have it! If he wants a pink truck with black polka dots – let him have it.

The 220 probably fires up at stupid-o’clock every day and trundles down the drive and Mossop Road without Sharon or the neighbours even knowing he’s left. The daily interaction with Steve is likely the PODs popping in on the tablet. GUDAS is not just there to identify the truck, it completes the phrase its cab colour finishes, the completed ‘GUDAS Gold’, in itself a metaphor for so much.

And then there’s Steve and Sharon: their wants, needs, and expectations. A place to call home, family, community, and a Solar Gold log truck with Livingston on the door.

Doc and Lyn are still around with renewed energy over the family project that’ll reveal itself shortly. The Livingstons are among the people and industry they grew up around, their folks, and, of course, offspring, Matthew (26) and Sarah (25).

They’re a tight-knit ‘operation’, the kids are close and local at the moment – Matthew’s an assembly technician at Satco, and Sarah is in operations at Lincoln Logistics. Dad and Mum are immensely proud. On the succession question?

“Yeah, Matty’s keen and hey, I’d love him to take it on, but he has a great job and conditions, you know,” says Steve. “He loves it, and can do it, but yeah, they have their own lives. He doesn’t have to get up at 1am and can go fishing on Saturday. Ask yourself!” The comment is followed again by the Livingston laugh.

“They can’t grow up immersed in the industry anymore,” says Sharon. “It’s really changed. Steve lived it with his dad, loved it, and couldn’t get enough. Doc was able to pass the baton right there on the job. They can’t do that now. You lose them if you can’t foster the passion.”

In the end, it’s about contribution and satisfaction. Making a positive contribution to the community you chose to raise your family in, loving what you do and treating your customers in a way you would like to be treated were you the customer. Encompassing all of that in your definition of success and reaching that point of pure alchemy where the lines between who you are and what you do are too blurred to distinguish.

A lovely home up a quiet road, a family connected and close – mates. A place to park the truck with a shed to potter around in. Lying under the truck on a Saturday arvo with a few tools – giving it a quiet look over and tidying up a week’s bombardment from the sticks and stones. The shed door is open and the wireless burbling away in the background while a couple of coldies are cooling in the fridge. Someone might pop around.

What else do you really need? It’s what we all dreamed of after all, and Steve and Sharon Livingston are more than happy living that dream.