Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

The Road Transport Forum has for a number of years led the charge in pushing the Government to deal with unfair commercial practices – particularly unilateral deferred payments – that have had an adverse effect on the ability of SMEs, including trucking companies, to do business.
Late last year the Government introduced legislation to deal with the issue, which RTF recently discussed in an appearance before a Parliamentary select committee.
"Ever since this Government took office, we have been in their ear to do something to protect small businesses from unfair commercial practices and specifically unilateral deferred payment terms (UDP)," says RTF's Nick Leggett...

The COVID-19 crisis has presented the Road Transport Forum with some substantial challenges over the past two to three months.
None of these, of course, can compete with the challenges faced by our members and those within the wider industry that have been struggling to keep transport businesses going in a period of significantly reduced demand.
One of our biggest tasks has been convincing the Government to take a pragmatic approach to the treatment of non-essential freight. Initially a confusing matrix of advice meant that businesses were told they could receive and unpack non-essential goods….then they were told they couldn't. And finally it was confirmed that they...

Hundreds of operators around the country have contributed to an extremely important workforce survey recently carried out by RTF.
"The survey was begun just before the COVID-19 lockdown and, while the timing was not exactly ideal, it was really important that we pushed through and completed the process," says RTF's Nick Leggett.
"I really want to thank those operators who, in an extremely stressful period, took some time out of their day to complete the survey and contribute such valuable information.
"The data is being used to demonstrate to Government the extent of the workforce issues within our sector and will help guide solutions that the industry looks to put in ...

New Zealand Truck & Driver readers will know by now that the Road Transport Forum is not shy in expressing its opinion that NZ requires a far better roading network than what we have currently.
RTF chief executive Nick Leggett and former leaders Ken Shirley and Tony Friedlander have been beating this drum for years.
And while there have been a few notable successes, such as the Waterview project in Auckland and the Waikato and Kapiti Expressways, RTF has largely been disappointed at the lack of priority given to roading infrastructure.
Says Leggett: "Frankly, governments of both stripes have a lot to answer for when it comes to the parlous state of our roading inf...

The Road Transport Forum first wrote to the Government way back at the beginning of February to warn that the economic impacts of the coronavirus were likely to be serious.
At that stage the international focus was on China and the spread of the virus there, but RTF could see that it was starting to impact trucking businesses quite seriously here too.
Even then, businesses were feeling the squeeze – with the log transport sector, among others, really coming under pressure as the global forestry supply chain was one of the first to break down.
Now that the virus has found its way to our shores and the health response is in full swing, the economic downturn has r...