Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

The Road Ahead Conference held at the end of September was not only the first conference for our members since 2019 but also marked the one-year anniversary of the merger of RTANZ into the Road Transport Forum to form Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand. 

Unfortunately, National Road Carriers and the NZ Trucking Association (OCANZ) decided that the desire to form one management structure to advocate on behalf of the industry was not for them and went in their own direction. Despite this there has been considerable progress in the past year to rationalise and make better use of our resources and provide better advocacy and support for our members.

Th...

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand members will by now be familiar with Cameron Bagrie’s style of economic analysis. Bagrie is a trusted voice amongst the endless noise of economic and political commentators, which is why over a number of years we have trusted him to provide sound advice to our industry. 

At the recent Road Ahead Conference in Invercargill Bagrie provided some typically hard-headed analysis of the state of the economy, where it is heading and the type of environment our businesses will be operating in. 

After a long period of market resilience, the old laws of economics are back in play, he told the Conference. If you print a ...

Firstly, I want to further reflect on the nationwide operator survey we undertook back in June and the encouraging signs of our industry’s increasing competitiveness in the labour market.

Eighty per cent of the 400 operators who responded had increased pay for their drivers over the last year with more than half having increased wages by at least 6%. The median hourly wage for our industry has moved from around $26 per hour from in March 2020 to over $31 per hour in 2022. There has also been a threefold increase in professional drivers being paid between $33 and $40 per hour.

Transporting New Zealand has shared our survey results publicly because we see it as an important ...

We are delighted the Government has heeded the call from Transporting New Zealand to extend fuel tax discounts and the reduction in road user charges (RUC) until early next year. It’s a good win and it shows our association is a proven and effective voice for our industry. 

In recent weeks we had written to the minister and spoken with officials and media about the need to extend the RUC discount. Our recent survey showed that 96% of the industry supported our move to secure the extension, and over 40% of transport businesses said that their costs would be eased by the continuation of the road user charge discount. 

Road transport is massively impacted by the cos...

It is with some considerable relief to learn that the Government has decided to roll over the temporary reduction in fuel excise and RUCs until January 2023. One look at the state of the economy and the rising cost of living clearly shows that the last thing kiwis could afford was a 25-cent jump in petrol prices and a 36 percent hike in RUC rates.

Since June Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand has been publicly advocating for an extension to the RUC and fuel excise reduction and I am pleased that the Government has listened and chosen not to impose this further cost pressure on families and businesses. Many kiwis are only just keeping their heads above water as it is. ...