Old School Trucks: Ryal Bush — Part 2

By: Dean Middleton , Photography by: Dean Middleton

Date: 24.12.2016

The migration north was helped by the aquisition of numerous trucks from the Ashburton travel fleet, including this Mack Ultraliner Old School Trucks

The Ex-Ashburton Transport Mark Ultraliner parked up next to 'Inter-Force' in the late mid-Canterbury sun Old School Trucks

Another of the Ashburton Transport Mack's re-painted in Ryal Bush livery Old School Trucks

This T600 Kenworth was a verstile unit Old School Trucks

When not used as a bulkie could be converted to a tractor unit Old School Trucks

An EC14 ERF on stock duties Old School Trucks

A Mitsubushi Shogun unloading at the now defunct Sockburn Works Old School Trucks

Mack Quantume also made an appearenc in the fleet Old School Trucks

A sharp looking Hino 700 on dropsider duties Old School Trucks

An FH Volvo aptly named 'Bush Viking' Old School Trucks

An 8X4 sterling named 'The Colonel' seen here on Bluff Road servicing a shipment of fertiliser Old School Trucks

Numerous day cab Argosys joined the fleet in the mid 2000s Old School Trucks

Follwed by this sleeper cabbed version Old School Trucks

UDs still have a place in the fleet today. This pair of CW385s is pictured when brand new in 2011 Old School Trucks

A later model 'Cheese Grater' Argosy Old School Trucks

'Unk' is a tough -looking Ashburton-based K200 Kenworth Old School Trucks

The stunning K200 Kenworth Anniversary Flagship celebrating 65 years of Ryal Bush Transport Old School Trucks

The versatility of the current fleet is shown here as the anniversary truck is converted to milk tanker duties for the busy season Old School Trucks

To this day, the fleet continues to run array of makes and models with a definte Kenworth and Freightliner influence Old School Trucks

The migration north was helped by the aquisition of numerous trucks from the Ashburton travel fleet, including this Mack Ultraliner

The Ex-Ashburton Transport Mark Ultraliner parked up next to 'Inter-Force' in the late mid-Canterbury sun

Another of the Ashburton Transport Mack's re-painted in Ryal Bush livery

This T600 Kenworth was a verstile unit

When not used as a bulkie could be converted to a tractor unit

An EC14 ERF on stock duties

A Mitsubushi Shogun unloading at the now defunct Sockburn Works

Mack Quantume also made an appearenc in the fleet

A sharp looking Hino 700 on dropsider duties

An FH Volvo aptly named 'Bush Viking'

An 8X4 sterling named 'The Colonel' seen here on Bluff Road servicing a shipment of fertiliser

Numerous day cab Argosys joined the fleet in the mid 2000s

Follwed by this sleeper cabbed version

UDs still have a place in the fleet today. This pair of CW385s is pictured when brand new in 2011

A later model 'Cheese Grater' Argosy

'Unk' is a tough -looking Ashburton-based K200 Kenworth

The stunning K200 Kenworth Anniversary Flagship celebrating 65 years of Ryal Bush Transport

The versatility of the current fleet is shown here as the anniversary truck is converted to milk tanker duties for the busy season

To this day, the fleet continues to run array of makes and models with a definte Kenworth and Freightliner influence

Part 2 of Ryal Bush old school trucks

From my earliest memories of Ryal Bush Transport pioneering long distance deer cartage during the ’80s, followed by expansion in the mid ’90 s due to the dairy boom, the Ryal Bush livery was to become commonplace in mid-Canterbury, with the opening of a branch in Ashburton, the catalyst of which was acquiring what remained of the then local company Ashburton Transport. A couple of Mack Ultraliners and a Superliner were among the trucks inherited from Ashburton Transport, and gradually, the fleet became more uniform with the Southland depot counterparts. These days, the fleet remains mixed with Japanese, European, and American brands with Freightliner and Kenworth being some of the latest purchases. One such recent Kenworth purchase was a stunning new K200 Anniversary Flagship, which was put on the road to celebrate 65 years of Ryal Bush Transport. This unit is one of the many that demonstrate the versatility of the modern fleet with stock crates able to be swapped out with milk tanks during the peak of the dairy season each year. The Ryal Bush livery has remained largely unchanged for many decades and while the flagship has changed from a B-Series ERF to a K200 Kenworth, today’s Ryal Bush fleet still maintains a classic look reminiscent of years gone by.

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