In Paradise, they say, everything will be better. Well, there’s a place in this world that’s a trucker’s paradise; where breezes are balmy and palm trees whisper; where a long haul is 120 miles, and the company transports everything from elephants to porpoises, plus some supersensitive parts for the giant telescopes atop Mauna Kea.

Yes, it's Hawaii, the "Big Island," which has more terrain than all the other islands in the chain combined.

"That still makes it only 230 miles around," chuckles Albert Shiotsuka, the 51-year-old vice president of Kona Trans (www.konatrans.com), the island’s biggest trucking firm.

"Mainland drivers would laugh at what we call a long haul," says Shiotsuka. "But they would envy our drivers, who get home every night."

They must like their jobs, too. Kona Trans' most senior employee, Allan Henriques, has been there since 1957– more than 40 years.

But the most venerable "employee" is a whitehaired gentleman named Shinichi Shiotsuka. Now 82, and still coming to the office, Albert’s father started the company with one rented truck in 1939. The company now owns more than 50.

"The truck I rented was a Model BB Ford 1-ton," he says. "In it, I carried vegetables and meat to Hilo. That's on the other side of the island from Kona, where we are now.

"There were no reefers in those days, but with the meat frozen to start, there was no spoilage, and the vegetables also got there in good shape," Shinichi says. "We didn't try to break any speed records – it took me 4 hours to make 120 miles. And the highway was paved, even then!"

Shinichi was then 20 years old, ambitious, and a very hard worker.

"He did everything himself for the first three years," says Albert. "There were no forklifts to make loading easy. By the time he got everything loaded, and drove it to Hilo, and returned, he’d been working 19 hours. I hardly ever saw my dad when I was small, even on weekends."

Albert's favorite story about his father has to do with his mother. In spite of a Herculean schedule, Shin – his nickname to this day – found time to court a beautiful Hilo girl he had met in 1943 during a delivery.

On March 31, 1946, he and Yaeko Nakano were married. "Immediately after the wedding," says Albert, "Dad drove back to Kona to load his truck for a return to Hilo the next day! But that’s how it was then. Mom knew that Dad, raised in the culture of old Japan, was addicted to hard work."

When did Shinichi finally believe he was a success? "Twenty years later!" he says. "In 1960, I felt that I was finally beginning to be successful."

Because his business was vital to the war effort, Shin did not have to serve in the armed forces. His 55 years of marriage to his sweetheart produced three children – Albert, the youngest; Ronald, a physiologist on the mainland, and June, who is the company treasurer.

"My hardest challenge," says Shinichi, "was that I was the only one in the family. I had no one and could not afford to hire any help. I was on my own. But for years, I had worked with my parents on the coffee plantations, and I was used to hard work.

"On the Hilo run, which continued for 15 years, I left at 2:30 a.m. and sometimes didn’t get home until 10 p.m. at night. I had to do all the loading, unloading and driving – as well as maintenance on the truck," Shinichi says.

Within five years, Shin was able to buy his own flatbed truck. He’s come a long way since. Among more than 50 vehicles today, he counts 19 Peterbilt tractors, plus 40-foot flats, 45-foot drops, end dumps, belly dumps, lowboys, pickups, vans and several gleaming forklifts. All are painted in the Kona Trans colors of chartreuse and white.

Albert Shiotsuka quickly acknowledges that, besides being willing to transport anything (remember the porpoises and elephants?), Kona Trans is equally committed to updating the way it does business.

"We were probably the first trucking company on the Big Island to buy and use computers," he says. "We realize that competition is fierce – and you have to be up-to-date."

Kona Trans was also the first to install wind deflectors in 1983 – a good move, since Hawaii’s volcanic slopes are noted for high winds. In 1990, Albert got his first electronically controlled diesel engines, which dramatically improved fuel savings – a major issue on Hawaii, where fuel costs are more than a third higher than on the mainland.

In addition to new technology, keeping equipment looking and running good is a priority with Albert. "It goes along with our motto, 'At Your Service,'" he says.

Albert has worked at his father’s trucking firm since he was in high school. "No one else in the family wanted to run it," he said. "So when the time came, and Dad wanted to work less, I was it. My brother works for Bayer in Kansas City, and June is the treasurer." Albert and his wife, Barbara, have one son, Brede (pronounced "Brady"), now 21.

The company's 2,500-square-foot, two-story terminal houses the maintenance facilities and has ample storage room for freight. It is a neat, orderly building, with an attached office that widens visitors' eyes.

"I wanted to make the office as attractive as I could for our employees," says Albert. "Too many transportation companies have offices cluttered with nothing but trucking paraphernalia."

On the walls hang modern art and photographs shot by Albert and others. Decorating the floor are sculptures and ceramic works from some of the best-known Hawaiian artists. "If I don’t watch out," Albert chuckles, "I’ll be dubbed a non-trucker trucker!"

Not much chance of that. Albert has come up from the bottom. "Starting with cleaning head and tail lights as a kid," he grins. "I’ve done it all."

Except for four years at the University of Montana, he has worked for Kona Trans since high school. "I started out fingerprinting (loading) cartons," he says.

Albert has put his degree in business administration to good use, helping to lead Kona Trans’ willingness to "haul anything" to the test. "One of our most unusual cargoes was six dolphins," he grins.

"We picked them up at the Port of Kawaihae, 40 miles north of here, and hauled them to the Hilton Waikoloa. The call came late at night and was urgent," Albert recalls. "The dolphins were long overdue for their new home, having flown from Florida to San Francisco and then waiting four hours for a Hawaii flight."

By the time Kona Trans could get a truck and driver to the port, one dolphin was hyperventilating. "We thought we’d lose her for sure," says Albert. "But a veterinarian worked with her for an hour in the Hilton pool, and today she’s fine – and so is her baby!"

"In the trucking business, you have to always be on your toes, not just behind the wheel," says Albert. He and Shin have seen many changes, especially in the last 15 years, from computers to faxes to containerizing.

"Things my father could not even have dreamed about," Albert smiles, "when he first loaded his old flatbed in 1939."