Special feature: Ollie's convoy
Sixty-four trucks took part in a convoy to celebrate young Oliver Johnson's eighth birthday
When Kass (Katherine) Johnson put out a call on social media offering $50 to any friendly trucker willing to take her truck-crazy seven-year-old son Oliver (Ollie) for a spin, she never expected the response she would get. Little did she know that a guy named Barry Hart would see the post and figure that he could do a little bit better than a ride in just ‘one’ truck.
Ollie was celebrating his eighth birthday, and Kass, her husband Simon, and their daughter Chay decided that the best present they could give the young fellow would be something related to his love of trucks.
With around a dozen trucks in the Hart Haulage fleet, several of which are based at their Hamilton depot, Barry knew that by offering to help, he could round up a few fellow truck operators to parade their rigs past Ollie’s house before letting him choose which one he’d like to have a ride in.
 |
|
New buddies Josh Hart and Ollie Johnson
|
When Barry set about organising a convoy, his initial thoughts were that he’d probably gather a dozen or so trucks outside of his own fleet, possibly winding up with as many as 25 decent-sized rigs.
However, with the combined efforts of the Hart family and Ollie’s sister Chay, it wasn’t very long before the number of truckers who wanted to be involved had swelled to 50 and beyond.
In fact, enthusiasm for the event grew so quickly that Barry had to put a call on the number of participants and cap it off at 64.
It soon became apparent that his original plans of having the convoy travel down the Johnson’s street would need to be shelved and that an alternative plan be put in place.
In initiating a Plan B, it was decided that only two trucks — Hart Haulage’s pink Western Star aka BIGHRT and TR Group’s Black Mack bearing the personalised number plate HOPEFL — would go to collect Ollie from his place where the Seven Sharp TV crew would film the celebrity of the day travelling back to the Hart Haulage yard where 62 other trucks would be parked up to welcome the special guest.
While the Johnsons did their best to keep the unfolding event a secret from young Ollie, the road cones his dad placed on the road earlier in the morning threw up a red flag to the sharp-minded youngster that something odd was about to take place.
 |
|
Sixty-four trucks took part in the convoy
|
Ollie may only have just turned eight, but he knows all the different brands of big rigs and the names of the major trucking companies and, in many cases, the names of the people who drive them, so when he saw Josh Hart climb out of the big pink Western Star, it was clear for all to see that he was excited.
Josh and the media crew were impressed with the way Ollie handled the flurry of questions thrown at him, along with his ability to navigate the minefield of cameras and microphones he needed to respond to.
After the obligatory interviews, Ollie was ‘miked-up’ by the Seven Sharp crew, and he was soon on his way to the Hart Haulage yard, keeping a multitude of truck drivers informed of his whereabouts courtesy of the CB radio.
Ollie’s mum Kass says the look on Ollie’s face when he arrived at the yard and saw the sea of big rigs was "absolutely priceless".
 |
|
CAL Isuzu went the extra mile to make Ollie’s day extra special
|
The weather on the day played its part by remaining fine throughout the event as Ollie and his entourage made their way past rigs of all shapes and sizes.
One truck that was particularly well-dressed for the occasion was an Isuzu cab and chassis onto which CAL Isuzu had placed a huge sign with a birthday cake artwork complete with balloons, wishing Ollie a happy birthday.
It was apparent that many businesses, both large and small, had placed a lot of effort into making Ollie’s day memorable.
It wasn’t only the trucking fraternity who’d come onboard to make the day a special one, as the C&R Museum in Cambridge provided the convoy with a place to park, along with free admission to their impressive museum for some 200 of the ‘partygoers’.
When Richard Campbell, commercial director at Service Foods, heard the news of the upcoming event, he spoke to his team who, at quite short notice, rallied a team of volunteers, a food trailer, and a truckful of food to travel all the way from Auckland to provide everybody in attendance with free American-style hotdogs with a choice of sauces and salads.
The Johnson family said that they were "absolutely blown away" by the generosity of so many individuals and businesses.
 |
|
Participants were invited to sign a high-viz vest, which was presented to Ollie later in the day
|
News of the 64-truck convoy spread like wildfire, with overhead bridges crammed with people taking photos and cheering as the trucks made their horn-honking way from Hamilton to the C&R Museum in Cambridge, where the team from Service Foods were already cooking up a storm.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the atmosphere at the museum was ‘electric’ as the procession of trucks kept on rolling in.
The organisers had placed a huge birthday card and a high-viz jacket on the bonnet of an old Mk1 Ford Zephyr, which everyone signed and was later presented to Ollie.
At the end of what had been a fabulous day from many points of view, on behalf of the rest of the Johnson family, Kass presented Barry with a bunch of flowers, saying that words couldn’t do justice in expressing her family’s thanks to the Hart crew and everyone involved for the massive effort they put in to make the day such a special one.
Ollie’s dad Simon says that the presents and generous offers of rides in rigs just keep on coming, all evidenced by a photo of their lounge chock-a-block with gifts from near and far.
The Hart Haulage motto says it all really — ‘Our hearts are in it’.
Happy birthday, Ollie.
Find new and used heavy machinery for sale in NZ
Keep up to date in the industry by signing up to Deals on Wheels' free newsletter or liking us on Facebook.
.gif)
.gif)
.gif)
.jpg)
