Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

The road freight industry joins other key economic sectors in wanting to keep the country moving, and can’t see any justification for the Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) proposal for a pedestrian crossing on the State Highway 1 route to and from Wellington airport.

“Stopping traffic on such a vital route to make life easier for a handful of people who might want to cross this road where they don’t need to is a ludicrous idea,” says Transporting New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett. 

“This will significantly disadvantage the 35,000 vehicles, commuters, travellers and businesses that use this road every day”

“Cobham Drive is our main state highway and the o...

“Out with the old and in with the new,”is how chief executive Nick Leggett describes the rebranding of the industry’s leading advocacy organsation – from the Road Transport Forum to Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand.

“In 2019, we did extensive research on what road freight transport means to NZers and how they view the service the industry provides, the vehicles we use and the people involved in freight and logistics,” says Leggett. 

“Encouragingly, NZers have a generally favourable view of trucks and understand their critical role in the economy.

“We feel Transporting New Zealand far better reflects how people perceive our industry, the fact that road tr...

The road transport industry is often characterised by the vehicles that the public see out on the road, but the reality is that what makes this industry tick is the people.

We all know companies and employees who go the extra mile to provide great service to their customers and who are the first to step up when others need help.

“These companies are often the ones that never have to advertise for new staff because people are lining up to work there,” says Road Transport Forum chief executive Nick Leggett. 

“Different staff at different levels tend to lead by example and this means great results for the whole organisation.

“Now is the time for these outstan...

The Road Transport Forum is concerned at the impact that tighter regulatory enforcement around work hours is having on livestock transport, a sector already under increasing pressure due to the unique nature of its work.

A targeted operation by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency in the Manawatu led to RTF engaging with the relevant regulators on a range of issues and pressures felt by operators in this sector.

“While the RTF remains committed to ensuring our industry is compliant, we are concerned that the approach of regulators could be too punitive – without a total picture of the chain of responsibility, and the expectations and conflicting rules of other customer...

In May, the Government released the New Zealand Rail Plan, with State Owned Enterprises Minister David Clark saying that the plan – “and the Government’s commitment to rail – is designed to set the right conditions to balance our transport system and create options for NZers.”

My question is: How can this balance NZ’s transport system and create options, when rail currently shifts so little of our freight task…and the opportunity to increase this share is so small?

Said Clark: “We’re making sure that KiwiRail has the trains it needs to carry more freight around the country, and that the tracks in our cities and regions are up to standard to support freight and commuter gro...