Ian Rose
Ian (Rosey) Rose was born in Bellingen in 1955. He moved to Sydney at 16 and commenced an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner on the railways. Over the following years, he worked in logistics for companies including Golden Fleece and Caltex. He married Susan in 1979. They moved to Nambucca Heads in 1984.
Due to government regulations, a need was recognised to transport used tyres from the Nambucca Valley for recycling and provide overnight delivery to improve efficiency to customers of his original business, Nambucca Valley Discount Tyres, on the return journey. Ian and his then partner Brian Ward established Tyretrans.
Ian's first truck purchase was a 1992 UD which is still running around servicing the business to this day. The business continued to grow and offer a reliable, efficient service.
In 2002, Ian purchased Welsh Transport, Macksville which then began trading as Mid Coast Freight transporting general freight, alcohol, timber and groceries to and from Sydney, Brisbane and Western New South Wales. The fleet grew from a UD to seven rigids and nine prime movers.
In 2008, Ian together with Bob Fenson (MVT) tendered for the Metcash contract which entailed grocery delivery to Sydney Metropolitan areas and some country areas. They were successful and formed Hunter & Northern Logistics. Ian then sold Mid Coast Freight in 2009.
In 2010, Bob left the company and Sydney manager Jeff Kettle bought into the business. The Hunter & Northern group consists of four business groups. HNL Pty Ltd is the contract transport and fleet management division based in Sydney. HNL Warehousing is a contract warehousing and cross-dock service provider. DKR Logistics is the refrigerated, contract transport based in Brisbane servicing South East Queensland, Central Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Ian is one of four directors of DKR. The newest addition is Northern Freight Services located in Newcastle.
With Ian's leadership, dedication, hard work and absolute love of trucks, the business has grown from UD to an overall fleet of 125 trucks consisting of Kenworth, Mercedes, Volvo and DAF prime movers, and a rigid fleet of Isuzu, Mercedes, Iveco and Volvos.