"I never saw much of Denis because he would be either in Mahia or right down to Castle point and Akitio.
"We did a lot of work on Volvo Penta hence the name change. It became a core business for a while, based around Denis' expertise. He was a very smart diesel mechanic."
Ironically as the 1980s economic downturn bit it brought more work.
"We picked up a lot of other franchises because the corporate companies with Hawke's Bay branches decided to close them. That's how we got bigger."
"We called Denis the leader. We looked up to him because he had the business sense to grow the company and take it forward."
The business was started in 1983 by Denis Kilmister and Wayne Osgood, to maintain and service the Volvo franchise after the then importers Dalhoff & King's business failed.
They were joined by Mr Mahoney and Henry Cowsil and were "four guys in a tin shed" in Thames St.
"In 1993 we moved to our current location to the purpose-built unoccupied building formerly owned by Leespower.
"Everybody said, you're bloody mad. This building was right down the end of Austin St and around us were horse paddocks and a stream at the front of the building - it was all down at the back of nowhere."
They bought the building and freeholded the land and found themselves on the corner of the Hawke's Bay Expressway and the main thoroughfare of Prebensen Drive.
"We had no idea the motorway was coming and now we have a prime location."
Today Eastern Truck & Marine is primarily a heavy-diesel service and repair business with a staff of 35. Franchises cover parts, heavy transport, light transport, heavy machinery and electrical/air conditioning divisions.
It needs the many strings to its bow despite covering Wairoa to Dannevirke. The business has an eight-bay workshop and four 24/7 breakdown vehicles, but trucks today needed half as many services as they did 20 years ago and breakdowns were rare and usually electrical in nature, Mr Mahoney said.
It services the majority of heavy-diesel equipment in Hawkes Bay including Pan Pac's ISO Machines, Napier Port stevedore equipment and Ravensdown fertiliser plant. Most of the servicing and repairs are done on site.
Its "prime" location has room to expand, which it may need as it grows. Its latest contract is to maintain New Zealand Fire Service trucks and Police heavy vehicles. Another new workstream is fitting Eroad systems to vehicle fleets.
Four years ago Bill Wilson was hired as general manager "and brought the company to another level", Mr Mahoney said.
"His extensive and varied previous experience gained while working for Tranz Rail, Napier Port and Hawke's Bay District Health Board meant he was ideally suited to take on this role.
"He has implemented new policies and procedures which have unified and standardised all of the various departments of the company whilst taking on the monumental task of bringing health and safety procedures up to code."
Several parts of the building were renovated and the showroom is a popular place for transport people, many second-generation clients, to see the latest products and talk about the industry.
Eastern Trucks two major franchises are Southpac Trucks - covering PACCAR products such as Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF - and Cummins diesel engines.
"We are keeping up with all the technology and have young guys using it in all their training.
"We put a lot of emphasis on training young people and Bill focuses very much on bringing on more apprentices which is done through the EIT."
Hiring six apprentices was another move the company was told was "madness", but he said as they graduate they are staying put, placing the company in good stead during a national shortage of diesel technicians.
Westpac Hawke's Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Awards judges said they were impressed by "the passion, energy and absolute pride" exhibited by the Supreme winner's managers and staff.
"This business is well managed, has good structures and systems in place, they support their staff well and are absolutely 100 per cent and fully committed to providing the best possible service to their loyal customers. Their ability to diversify and consolidate their business functions provides lots of opportunity for their staff to grow and develop."
Mr Mahoney said winning the award wouldn't have been possible "without the drive and determination of our general manager Bill Wilson".
