John Emmerson was born in Hastings in 1933, one of five children, and raised on a dairy farm.

After the untimely death of his father in the mid 50’s, followed by his mother in 1961, John took over running the dairy farm, latterly buying his 4 siblings out and introducing an orchard.

John married Jean in 1956, with 2 sons, Ian and Peter, and a daughter Julie born between 1957 and 1961. Both boys were heavily involved in the dairy farm and orchard with Ian working the land and Peter on machinery.

In 1978 John and his two sons formed Emmerson Transport Limited (ETL) after John foresaw the need for specialised transportation, hauling farm machinery nationwide and fruit harvests from orchard to wharf.

By 1985 Emmerson’s transport operation fast became the major part of their business, leading John to gradually wind down the horticultural side of his business and concentrate on growing the transport sector.

Major growth was experienced post 1995, when the company had disposed of its involvement in livestock cartage to focus on general freight, acquiring Lindco Transport in 2003 and Bruce Hill Transport in 2007.

In 2012, John spends less time in the business, leaving his son Ian to run it as Managing Director, whilst Peter remains content to spend his time in the cab. ETL now runs a fleet in excess of 100 trucks operating out of 6 North Island depots, located in Hastings, Levin, Paeroa, Mount Maunganui, Wanganui and Auckland.

John spent 7 years as Director of CARTA (Central Area Regional Transport Association) and 7 years on the Road Transport Forum Board and remains a member of the Road Transport Association Hawkes Bay branch with which he’s been a member for 25 years, serving some time as Chairman. He holds lifer memberships with CARTA, Road Transport Forum and Road Transport Association Hawkes Bay branch.