This week I have had the pleasure of being out on the road in the lower North Island meeting with members. Catching up with operators in their yards, hearing how their business is going. Being out on the roading network is crucial when it comes to accurately representing the transport industry to government, the public and media.

This trip I’ve visited members in Taumarunui, Raetahi, Fielding, Ohakea, Whanganui, Eltham and New Plymouth. It’s always a fascinating experience, no two operations are alike, covering numerous sectors including civils, bulk, logging, general freight exporters, liquid.

The commonality across National Road Carriers members is that without exception, they care about the industry, they care about their staff, and doing a good job for their customers. And that means they care about safety and compliance. It comes across in spades. Serious operators like this are the backbone of the road transport industry, and it is a privilege to work with them. Many are multi-generational businesses, playing a major role in serving their communities

While the economy continues to splutter and stall on the road to recovery, it was heartening to see strong resilience among members. Some are experiencing a dip in demand, but solid contracts are helping to keep them steady – testament to the strength of their relationships, built on consistent, reliable service. Others are seeing increased demand, with one operator even reporting a record year. It’s clear that hard work is paying off.

A lot of my conversations were on roading, with district councils not keeping up with maintenance a key topic. All were pleased with the investment in the roads of national and regional significance, and seeing remedial works like the Desert Road progressed at pace.

Another key theme of discussion was the need for NZTA to improve back-office processes – such as the 2–3 week delays in issuing RUC labels and lengthy permit processing times. These are issues we regularly raise with NZTA, and work is underway to streamline them. NZTA acknowledges that improvements are needed.  

My takeaway from seeing these resilient operators is that success comes from knowing how to work on their business as well as in it. They take advantage of slower times to improve systems, processes and people. They invest and look after their staff, especially through the lean times, knowing it pays off in the long run. I was pleased to see many have taken advantage of the NRC cost model to check their runs are recovering the margins their business needs.

AP1 Metrology have got the measure of the industry

The breadth of work this industry covers never ceases to impress me. In Fielding I visited Lisa and Wayne Bradcock respectively of long-term NRC member AP1 Metrology, and Sensortronic. What is metrology you may well ask? Essentially the science of measuring. AP1 play a critical behind the scenes role for this industry, meeting regulatory requirements for the calibration of truck weigh scales up and down the country (of which there are 2000).

As you can imagine, this requires incredibly fine-tuned weights to ensure that vehicle scales are highly accurate when it comes to CVST compliance, customer sales and road weight. My thanks to Lisa and Wayne for kindly stepping me through the process and the critical role AP1 plays in keeping our industry on the road.

Justin Tighe-Umbers, Chief Executive, National Road Carriers Assn

Lisa Bradock of AP1 Metrology Ltd