This week saw us have a great working session with WorkSafe who told us that in their view the commercial transport industry has not been doing a great job of telling a cohesive story about how important we are to the fabric of the country – and how the major challenges faced by the industry are placing the economy’s supply chain capacity at risk.
The transport industry is critically important, and we agree we need to shape and share the complex narrative around why Government needs to care and why we need to solve the three most acute issues facing our industry.
Aging workforce
We have an aging workforce with many retiring by 2030. We urgently need to plug the hole this is creating. To make this happen we need immigration and training pathways that encourage people to both enter and stay within the industry.
Fragile road network
We need to rapidly rebuild our road network and add resilience otherwise we will start to see a massive transport cost being added to all goods within New Zealand.
Move to future fuels
If we don’t get this right, in a way that enables operators to move in an affordable and considered way next generation trucking technology there will be a huge hole in road transport capacity. The transition also needs a fuel, or energy, infrastructure backbone to be built before this can happen. The move to low emissions is not just a problem faced by the transport sector, it’s a challenge for all of New Zealand, so the transport industry shouldn’t be expected to carry the full load when it comes to investment of infrastructure in this space.
These are all major issues we will be covering with Government at the upcoming Transport Industry Summit on July 8 – so keep your eyes peeled for registration details.
The good news is we are not travelling this path alone, we have customers and partners along with Government who all have skin in the game and want shared success.
Step one is to make sure New Zealand knows our story, the role we play, and why we are important. So, challenge accepted WorkSafe. NRC, with our partners at NTA, are going to tell the transport industry story better. Because if we don’t, New Zealand will suffer.
Have a great weekend.
Justin
CEO |
National Road Carriers Assn
DDI:
+64 9 636 2951 | E: justin.tighe-umbers@natroad.co.nz
| www.natroad.co.nz
Supporting those who choose to make a living in the Road Transport Industry since 1936
