\n Wilshier
\n had been a log truck operator for more than four decades.\n <\/p>\n
The 65-year-old has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2026 King\u2019s Birthday Honours for his service to the industry and his role in transforming safety standards.<\/p>\n
By 2025, rollover rates had fallen from 2.4 per million kilometres travelled to 0.3.<\/p>\n
Wilshier entered the forestry industry at 21 after telling his father he wanted to buy a log truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t think it was a very good idea at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raised in \u014ctorohanga, Wilshier grew up around his grandfather\u2019s native sawmill but was drawn to the trucks hauling the timber and the mechanics behind the operation.<\/p>\n
He completed a mechanical apprenticeship at the Waip\u0101 Mill, which he said was the biggest mill in New Zealand at the time, and learned how to repair trucks before buying an existing unit carting logs into the mill.<\/p>\n
By 1989, Wilshier had expanded into multiple fleet ownerships.<\/p>\n
A partnership with Gary Williams later led to the Rotorua-based Williams and Wilshier Transport Ltd, delivering logs to Kinleith, Kawerau and McAlpines in Rotorua.<\/p>\n
The company went on to provide log transport services throughout the East Coast and wider central North Island, operating a fleet of about 85 trucks. Williams is not involved with the company today.<\/p>\n
Wilshier became a founding member of the New Zealand Log Transport Safety Council in 1996 and chaired the group for more than 25 years.<\/p>\n
He was appointed chairman of the Road Transport Forum, and chaired I Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand from 2021 to 2024.<\/p>\n
The Log Transport Safety Council spearheaded major safety reforms, including increasing trailer lengths to 22m so loads could sit lower and be spread more evenly, improving stability and reducing rollover risk.<\/p>\n
It also introduced stricter driver training, formal qualifications, speed monitoring and fatigue management programmes.<\/p>\n
Sleep apnoea became a \u201cbig focus\u201d after a driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed through school grounds in Nelson. \u201cNo kids there, luckily,\u201d Wilshier said.<\/p>\n
Wilshier said the council\u2019s success came from everyone working together.<\/p>\n
The rules were you \u201cleave your guns at the door\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all aspire for the same thing … to turn the industry around … and have the best safety rating.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the \u201cexceptional friendships\u201d that kept Wilshier in the industry for so long.<\/p>\n
They travelled around New Zealand and overseas together, including trips through the United States, Canada and Sweden.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur camaraderie is one of the most inspiring things.\u201d<\/p>\n
To succeed in trucking, \u201cyou have to lie straight in bed\u201d, Wilshier said.<\/p>\n
It was a saying meaning to \u201clook each other in the eye … tell the truth\u201d and \u201clive by your morals\u201d.<\/p>\n
He singled out fellow operator Mark McCarthy, who had worked alongside him since day one, and the late Martin Hyde, a driving force behind many of the industry\u2019s safety improvements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d have been neat to have [Hyde] standing beside me,\u201d Wilshier said.<\/p>\n
While the King\u2019s Birthday honour carried his name, Wilshier said improving the industry\u2019s safety record had been a team effort.<\/p>\n
The forestry sector was a \u201cvery important\u201d part of New Zealand\u2019s economy and \u201cprobably undervalued\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a shining star in terms of an industry organisation that has stepped up and managed itself and improved the outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilshier was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2022. He was named Business Person of the Year at the 2024 Tompkins Wake Rotorua Business Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n