The Carson fleet...
At the time of shooting the Carson fleet in the ninties, Don Carson had a diverse fleet, with his ‘King Rig’ no doubt being this K100 Kenworth, seen here in livestock mode on the day.
I know nothing of which powerplant it ran or its history, and hopefully a viewer can fill in the relevant information.
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Don Carson had quite a diverse fleet at the time this shot was taken in late ’80s.
The NL12 Volvo was working under logs on what was a reasonably comment configuration in the day – a quad-axled semi .
Other brands in the fleet included Mack and ERF which showed that operators usually hedged their bets as the swarm of new and often untested brands were pouring into the country. Mack and Volvo of course have stood the test of time on our shores – ERF, however, fell by the way after a history of 100 and more years of putting trucks and traction-engines to work on our shores.
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Unusual even in its day when this was photographed in the late eighties/early nineties, this R-series Mack was set up as a dedicated lime and superphosphate spreader, and pulled a three-axle dedicated bulk trailer.
Don Carson operated in Balfour which has some of Southland’s finest plains country spreading out from every point of the compass, and this truck and it’s application resonates with the GMC 6×6 ex-military trucks that were put to work in this application for decades after the war.
It might not have been 6×6 but it certainly would have been a lot quieter and more comfortable…
Carson Transport Ltd was based at Balfour in Southland, and was distinctive for its lime-green livery – shown to great effect in this shot.
ERF was one of the brands that helped build New Zealand, but by the eighties it was struggling and eventually the name disappeared as PACCAR took it on itself to rationalise the British truck manufacturing industry.
Carson’s were a great example of rural transport at its best, with the small Balfour community nestled amongst some of the best farming country in New Zealand and well-served by Don Carson, his staff and predecessors, before selling the company and retiring.
Don moved to Queenstown I believe, and if there are any old pictures relating to this company or info please contact me and I’ll add it to these pages.
