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Southern contractor takes out best rig award

Southern contractor takes out best rig award - Craig Jolly

A strong supporter of CCNZ, Craig Jolly,  made a significant win at the annual truck show in Gore this year. Peter Owens was there.

The premier trophy, the King Rig award, was taken out by Craig Jolly of Jolly Earthworks of Wanaka with the 1986 Mack Superliner.

For some time, the Eastern Southland town of Gore has been regarded nationally as the capital of country music and every Queen’s Birthday Weekend people from all over the country gather in the town for the prestigious Gold Guitar Awards.

Among the supporting events is one involving big trucks that has taken on a life of its own, attracting a wide range of entries and supporters.

This is the McDonough Contracting Truck Show, a growing event in its own right, that has truck owners and drivers spending up to 48 hours at a stretch cleaning up their machinery!

Held every Saturday of Queen’s Birthday Weekend, this transport industry event involves trucks parading down the main street of Gore to the Trafford Tavern where the results are announced later in the day.

This year the event was held June 12 at Transport Repairs’ yard and attracted 81 heavy road transport vehicles from all over the South. Judging involved a panel of 12 with wide experience in the transport industry who spent from 9.00am until noon judging the entries in various classes. According to event secretary Rhonda Wilson, the entries are judged on presentation and how the truck has been “looked after by the driver”.

At the conclusion of the parade, trucks and other vehicles were parked for public inspection until the winners were announced and prizes awarded.

The presentation ceremony was presided over by Bruce Robertson, who is fleet manager of Road Transport Logistics (RTL) of Tapanui. Bruce is also a former president and current executive member of the Otago Southland branch of the New Zealand Road Transport Association.

“This is great event with a fantastic amount of sponsorship from local and nation-wide businesses,” he says. “And an excellent opportunity to promote the profile of the transport industry.”

The premier trophy, the King Rig award, was taken out by Craig Jolly of Jolly Earthworks of Wanaka with the 1986 Mack Superliner. It also won the trophy for the entry that travelled the longest distance to the event. It was the third time the contractor had entered the contest.

Jolly Earthworks has been trading in the earthworks industry for over 14 years and was founded in 2005 by Craig Jolly, with just one machine. Within the first year another staff member joined and another machine was purchased. The company has continued to expand ever since and now has a team of 10 staff with a range of qualifications and many years of experience.

The company has a large variety of equipment including 16 machines, four road trucks, two transport trailers, two four-axle bath tub trailers, a tipulator trailer, bottom dumper trailer and a water cart.

This year’s truck show was the 20th anniversary of the event. The first truck show took place at Queen’s Birthday Weekend in 1978. At that time it formed part of the activities of the New Zealand Gold Guitar Awards, and is now independently organised by a local committee.

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