Early days of a city transport business
These grand old pictures have been supplied by the Andersen family of Tauranga, who have let us share a glimpse into the trucking world in a very young Tauranga.
It all started in 1930 when Norman Andersen started his transport business.
To start with he hauled timber from the Oropi Sawmills up to Omokoroa where it was loaded onto a scow and shipped up to Auckland. He was also transporting cream and general produce around the Te Puna and Bethlehem area.
It was after the war in 1947 when he expanded his fleet to include stock trucks, which is when it became Andersens Transport.
Three of the stock trucks can be seen in one picture at the top of Fourteenth Ave where the Caltex service station is today. Fourteenth Ave was the main road in from Hairini in those days. The stock would then be taken to the railway yards at Otumoetai where the Community Gardens are today opposite the Health Centre on Ngatai Rd. From there they were loaded onto freight trains.
Two of Norman's sons, Kevin and Gary, joined the business which they took over in the late 1970s and ran it until 2002. In its heyday the firm had about 25 vehicles which were a familiar sight around the region.
