News & updates

This week I had the pleasure of visiting members in Palmerston North whose business has grown dramatically over the past decade, and it was good to reflect on their success. We also agreed to get in behind Infrastructure New Zealand’s “Let’s Build NZ” campaign, which has great synergies with our Election Platform.

This week we launched our Election Platform which we'll be taking to policy makers across the country. In other news, NZTA's detour decisions raise questions, and the 50MAX transition is frustrating operators.

Our Election Platform which we launch next week calls for a stable pipeline of transport investment to support economic growth, among a range of other important appeals. The best way of securing stable funding is to collect money via user-pays mechanisms to reduce the risk of relying on loans and grants.

The new Mackays Crossing CVSC is an impressive facility and its use of smart tech will hopefully mean fewer compliant trucks are pulled in for inspection. In other happenings this week, we’ve brought the Ministry for Regulation’s attention to how livestock transporters are unfairly penalised for effluent spills.

Dom takes a look at overseas trucking data to compare road freight cost pressures and workforce challenges. They illustrate common issues around rising operating costs, driver shortages, and ageing workforces which demonstrate the need for stronger training pathways.

The removal of 50MAX permits was sold as a productivity benefit, but in reality this change is not really delivering reduced administration for operators.