This week I had the pleasure of attending an Auckland Business Chamber breakfast event on “under-pressure infrastructure”.  Something we have heard a lot about lately.

So I was pleasantly surprised on what was a beautiful sunny morning to see some rays of sunshine coming from the presenters. First up was Roger Gray, Chief Exec of Port of Auckland. Roger talked about how container volumes are consistently up at the Port for the last two months – a sure sign the economy is starting to warm up.

Then Sam Stubbs, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Kiwisaver not-for-profit Simplicity talked about how he thinks the next 30 years could be the best ever for New Zealand.

With the attention of the room he set out a compelling case.

Simply put, he sees that New Zealand is now saving its way to prosperity. Already New Zealanders have over $110billion combined in their kiwi saver accounts. That capital can be put to good use owning and operating New Zealand infrastructure.

How would it work?

Infrakiwi, a new, wholly-owned subsidiary of Simplicy, has been set up as an investment vehicle for kiwisaver funds. It would only invest in New Zealand infrastructure, and only allow New Zealand investors. It would not build the infrastructure, but would own it.

Infrakiwi is all about helping bridge the $210b infrastructure gap we have using kiwi saver investments. The capital stays in New Zealand, and pays for the infrastructure we desperately need, which in turn improves our standard of living and economic growth.

How would this benefit road freight and supply chain?

He gave the example of a second harbour crossing. Instead of endless reports and the start-stop-start approach from successive governments, Infrakiwi could be signed up as contracted owner.

The model is a win-win all round for New Zealand. The transport network would get the quality roading, resilience and extra capacity it needs. Everyday New Zealanders win by investing in Infrakiwi and receiving the stable returns the bridge would provide. And taxpayers win by not having to ultimately fund the infrastructure build.

And if you don’t believe the save to prosperity model works, look no further than Australia, Denmark, Norway and Singapore all of which have generated major wealth off the back of well invested retirement savings.

And according to Sam New Zealand is now on that path to prosperity. Let’s hope Infrakiwi get some good news worth sharing.

Coroner’s report into Cardan Shaft Brake failure

This week the Coroner’s office has released a report into the tragic 2018 death of Graeme Rabbits after a cardan shaft park brake (CSPB) failed on a mini-crane on a construction site. This type of park brake is also prevalent on many light and medium-sized trucks (predominantly between 3.5 and 12 tonne) operating in New Zealand and globally.

The report has made a number of recommendations, the most of important of these is the need for increased awareness by operators of the dangers associated with vehicles fitted with cardan shaft park brakes. For safe operation of trucks fitted with CSPB, the truck should not be parked on any form of slope without a secondary means of stopping such as a wheel chocks.

National Road Carriers is assisting with this awareness, we have sent a safety alert advisory to our members, which you can find at here .

Please share this with any affected operators you know.

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