This week Ian, Paula, James Smith and I headed to Hamilton to attend the EROAD Fleet Day at the Claudelands Event Centre.
It was a really worthwhile trip, over 800 attendees and an interesting programme of presentations split out in relevance between heavy and light fleets. Naturally, there was a lot of attention on the next generation of electric, electric-fuel cell and hydrogen trucks – which I took the opportunity to familiarise myself with. I was impressed with how extensive the options are for electric Mercedes-Benz trucks, with Kathy Schluter from Keith Andrews taking us through the range. Alfons Reitsma kindly showed me over the latest Scania BEV, and Grant Doull walked us through the Hyundai Hydrogen Fuel Cell offering.
While adopting alternative fuel vehicles is not yet on the horizon for many of our owner-driver members, it is reassuring that the fleet of available trucks is growing in New Zealand. As volumes and availability go up, the costs will go down.
As much as I love going over the shiny trucks, the highlight of the day for me as always was meeting people from across the industry. We met with lots of members, colleagues from Waka Kotahi, Te Waka – Waikato Regional Economic Development Agency, and too many industry providers to mention. A special thank you to the team at EROAD for pulling together such a fantastic event.
Coming together with colleagues and friends from across the industry is where we share, learn and have a laugh – that’s the value of these days. Really looking forward to getting together again in Christchurch early next year at the NTA & NRC Technical Maintenance & Safety Conference. This is going to be a fantastic event for the entire road transport industry at the amazing Te Pai Events Centre on Cathedral Square. Don’t miss out – lock in the 13 & 14th of March in your calendar and come meet your colleagues from across the industry.
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’
