It’s Political

many challenges – many of them influenced by Government policy.

Apart from the many problems currently created by the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s the ongoing driver shortage, the worsening state of the nation’s roading network and looming emissions reduction legislation…

So, who among our political parties offers any salvation for the industry in these situations?

To have some insight into what politicians are thinking about issues impacting the road transport industry, NZ Truck & Driver has offered each of the major political parties the opportunity to voice their views on trucking matters each month.

The ACT and National parties have contributed their views on the industry this month. T&D

By Simeon Brown, National Party Spokesman for Transport and Public Service.

Simeon Brown

Invercargill for the Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand conference in September, as well as meeting many new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the conference, and getting a sense of what matters most to people at the moment.

Getting out of Wellington and into the regions is essential for staying grounded in our communities where real people are doing real life. The feedback I heard loud and clear from you is that your businesses and families are doing it tough right now as the cost of living crisis drives up the cost of doing business. Your businesses need more staff, more drivers, and better roads for those drivers to drive on.

There’s a lot of frustration out there that the Labour Government doesn’t seem to be listening to the industry. If they were, they would actually be creating a better environment for businesses. But instead of easing immigration settings to allow more workers into the country, they’re more concerned with an immigration “reset” and raising the threshold needed to build new roads.

The NZ Transport Agency seems more interested in building bureaucracy rather than roads. Since 2017, NZTA has added 1,000 extra staff to its ranks, including a doubling of its managers. And yet it can’t manage to get more projects completed. Of the 19 roading projects for the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, four have been rescoped or cancelled, two are running on schedule, and 13 are delayed. Maybe that’s why they needed to triple their comms staff to 97 since 2017: they need more press releases to downplay the dismal delivery.

The declining delivery is partly due to the diverting of National Land Transport Funds to other purposes. Our petrol taxes and road users chargers are meant to be reinvested into the maintenance and building of roads so that users pay. Under Labour the fund is being diluted and used for a variety of other purposes meaning Kiwis aren’t seeing the benefit from their road user charges and petrol taxes.

Kiwis deserve better transport infrastructure, and better maintenance of what we have already got. While Government representatives talked a lot at the conference about how much more money is being spent, the Government continues to confuse spending with delivery. The state of our roads speaks volumes that despite the Government’s spin, the reality is quite different on the ground.

Our businesses need safe, reliable, and efficient connections, as well as a Government who works with them on emissions rather than telling them how it’s going to be. National looks forward to continuing to work with you, listening to you, and taking policies to the next election which will practically help you take New Zealand forwards, not backwards. T&D

By Simon Court, ACT Party spokesperson on transport

Simon Court

Safety Teams announced it would roll out new mobile brake testers, from June 2021 nationwide. The reason for this was because of apparent risks with the safety of our trucking fleet.

The Director of Road Policing stated at the time; “By investing in new technology that helps identify possible brake failures we can prevent potential harm being caused.” Preventing harm certainly sounds like a good idea.

However, as is often the case with central government, the implementation can be a different matter.

A 2013 briefing I obtained noted that Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit (CVIU) officers were certified Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) inspectors as well as qualified Dangerous Goods Inspectors. That is a lot of clipboards to carry.

I asked Police Minister Chris Hipkins how they were going with the rollout of mobile brake testers and roadside testing campaign in a series of Written Parliamentary Questions.

‘How many roadside tests, if any, have been carried out by NZ Police commercial vehicle safety teams using mobile roller brake testers by region and month since they were purchased, and how many of these tests showed that brakes failed to meet the required performance standard?’

As it turns out, no roadside tests have been undertaken since the Mobile Roller Brake Testing Machines (RBTMs) were purchased. The reason; “The rollout of the mobile RBTMs requires additional safety assessments to be completed before they are deployed across New Zealand.”

It seems ludicrous that Police would have ordered the machines without bothering to find out if they could be used at the roadside. One of the various inspectors must have missed something when the order was placed.

I also asked the question - how many mobile roller brake testers have been purchased for use by NZ Police commercial vehicle safety teams, what is the cost, and in what regions are these located?

Police ordered six mobile Roller Brake Testing Machines (RBTMs), of which five have been delivered. The sixth unit has been delayed due to supply chain issues and should be delivered by the end of September 2022.

I had less success finding the cost though, which would not be released because; “The cost of the mobile RBTMs is deemed commercially sensitive and is not releasable. All five machines are currently located at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Centre location at Stanley Street, Auckland.”

It appears they are in storage. And the cost is likely too embarrassing to disclose. The safety risk here appears to be with taxpayers’ money.

Trucks are required to undergo a Certificate of Fitness (CoF) inspection every 3-12 months, with the majority requiring an inspection every six months. As part of a CoF inspection, the brake condition and performance is inspected.

The COF inspection regime appears to be working to progressively reduce the number of truck crashes where brakes failed, from 47 in 2017, to 19 in 2021. Which begs the question, why were RBTMs even necessary?

The road freight industry is under massive pressure from driver shortages, poor road conditions, and juggling customer demands to maintain prices. Drivers are expected to walk around and check their vehicle before every journey, because they are responsible for the truck and the freight.

This exercise in bureaucracy speaks to the wastage we regularly see from central government. How is it that we’re meant to be happy with potholes all through our roads when unknown amounts are being spent on seemingly superfluous expenses.

Many unnecessary tasks like this occur within the public service simply because there are people employed to do them, whether they’re in the public interest is often questionable. Why do we put up with the idea that Government can get bigger, but it can never get smaller? How many zombie departments and zombie bureaucrats does this country have? People who just carry on collecting a paycheque for their own purposes instead of any public purpose.

ACT says we need to zero base government. By that I mean going back to zero and ask ourselves, if the departments and bureaucracies we have now didn’t exist, would we establish them today? I would be amazed if we couldn’t get the size of Government back to where it was in 2017 by eliminating activities that don’t fit with these simple questions. In fact, I suspect whole departments would go. T&D

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