Ken Redmond: Truckers

Hodder Moa Beckett

$34.95

The closest most of us get to the truckers' culture is when we are rendered blind by filthy tyre spray, or when one is using size advantage to threaten our bumper on the open road, thanks to the 11-hour driving rule that leads to many drivers trying to complete all their trips within the limited time frame.

We know to our peril what effect the 1980s deregulation of the transport industry has had on our roads - deregulation coupled with a just-in-time delivery philosophy has led to some 80,000 trucks on the road, 22,000 of which are the big rigs which can clock up 300,000km a year each.

Well, here are some of the guys and girls who drive the road tankers.

There is the awfully nicknamed Porno Pete, a big man and a trucker if ever you saw one; the glamorous Jenny Heller; beefy Slim Aitken of Temuka ... and so on.

Redmond loves his subject, and his lively text is complemented with photos by Kim Christensen.

Doubtless this book will be found parked beneath many a trucker's Christmas tree.