Welcome to the first Justin’s Transport Minute for 2024. While my holidays felt like they passed in one hot minute, spending time with my wife and three boys in the beautiful Bay of Islands did wonders for recharging the batteries. I hope you managed to get some precious down time with loved ones too.
Already February, the NRC team are rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into the year with a busy start already.
This week Stephen “Woody” Woodward hosted familiarisation drives for Port of Auckland senior management, to and from the port via depots. Each Port manager jumped in one of eight trucks that were provided by NRC members: Marlin Transport, Reliance, Cargo Plus and Top Tranz. There is nothing like sitting next to the driver’s seat to get a feel for the challenges faced each day. As Port CEO Roger Gray said to me, it’s good to walk a mile in our customer’s shoes. That’s a two-way street, it was also a great opportunity for drivers and operators to get the Port’s perspective on road freight operations.
Paula Rogers has been in Northland helping prepare for the upcoming Brynderwyn 9 week closure from 26th February, driving the detour routes and meeting with concerned members. NRC is also hosting an invitation breakfast at IK & SM Newey Transport Yard on the 10th of February to help members minimise impacts of the closure. It’s easy to overlook the future benefit of road improvements when faced with closures, but getting the Brynderwyns stabilised and resilient is critical for our SH1 link to Northland. NRC recommend careful planning and conversations with customers to help reduce the impact to transport costs.
The Teletrac Navman TMS Transport Industry Conference being hosted in Christchurch 13-14th March is gaining great momentum. All of the exhibitor floor space has sold out and there is now a wait list, with delegate tickets selling fast. This conference is going to be a great showcase for younger workers to see how exciting our great industry is to work in, so I’m personally delighted that the conference is offering 25 “attendance” scholarships for worthy young employees. What better way to reward the young, keen and motivated staff member in your team than taking them to the Christchurch conference to see our industry up close. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity – for more details, just contact NRC or NZ Trucking.
Lastly and sadly, I’d like to acknowledge it has been an incredibly tough start to the year for two NRC members who have tragically lost three people in recent crashes. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
Please stay safe.
Justin
Justin Tighe-Umbers
CEO | National Road Carriers Assn
DDI: +64 9 636 2951 |
