Aztec's company history

Aztec Forestry Transport Developments Ltd was formed in 1998 by three Carter Holt Harvey owner operators in response to the CHH request for expressions of interest to become key suppliers.

Peter Phillips (Atiamuri), Ken Angus (Waihi Beach) and Steve Segetin (Wellsford) formed a partnership backed up by a combined 100 plus years’ experience in log transport.

The Aztec directors sought to create a unique brand and name. They wanted a name that was new and reflective of their aspirations, but also a name that would be at the front of the telephone book (back in 1998 people still used the telephone book). The name Aztec came up.

The Aztecs were an ancient Mayan civilisation that built a great empire; the Aztec Directors felt that was something to aspire to, so the name and brand was developed. Forestry Transport Developments was added as the directors wanted to develop forestry transport by way of innovation, quality, safety and service.

When first formed, Aztec owned 4 trucks but this has expanded to its current base of 100 plus trucks, owned by Aztec directors and sub contractors.

In January 2004, as a result of the expanded company base, a Central Operations Manager was employed. Garry Stewart was based in Rotorua and came from a forestry background including sawmill operations management, sales and marketing. As time moved on, Gary also moved on to pursue a career in IT. However he has now returned to the Aztec team in the Central Operations Manager Role

As Aztec expanded it became apparent that we would need a bigger team to manage and co-ordinate all our contractors and sub-contractors. A Northern Operations Manager position was created and in response to the need to plan truck movements and maximise loaded kilometres, two dispatch operations were set up in the Central and Northern Operations areas. 

We currently have two offices, one based in Rotorua for the Central and Hauraki areas, and the other in Ruakaka.