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One of the brightest liveries seen on the road in the late '80s and '90s was that of Cosgrove Transport, which in 1990, became St Andrews Transport
As a young fella back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Timaru had an annual truck show that was held down on the main wharf at the Timaru Port.
It was always a good time to check out the South Canterbury fleets at the time, and one of the brightest liveries was that of Cosgrove Transport, which in 1990 became St Andrews Transport.
The bright orange and brown certainly stood out among the crowd at the annual shows.
Head office for the company is the small town of St Andrews situated just 15km south of Timaru on State Highway One, with the yard and weekend fleet line-ups in full view when driving past on the main road.
Rural work has always been the mainstay of St Andrews with livestock, bulk units, and spreaders making up most of the fleet. There was an LW Kenworth logger back in the ’80s that was my favourite back in that era and the G88 Volvos also looked the part.
There were many other makes and models preceding those classics, including a Scania and a couple of N-Series Fords and as with most rural companies back in the ’80s and ’90s, there was at least a mandatory truck in the fleet with an International badge on the front.
A Foden Alpha was another reliable workhorse, and the late ’90s and early 2000s saw a preference for the Hino brand, with Mercedes-Benz trucks making up the bulk of the spreader fleet.
Isuzus made an appearance in more recent years with a sharp CYJ530 Isuzu bulkie put on the road in late 2018. Mercedes-Benz trucks joined the frontline fleet with the addition of a 3260 Actros in 2013 and another in 2015.
Fast forwarding to today, there have been some pre-loved additions to the fleet, but the flagship is a 2022 3263 Mercedes-Benz Arocs dedicated to livestock duties looking every bit as good in the bright orange as its predecessors back in the ’80s.
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Photography: Dean Middleton