On Saturday 7 November Kiwis up and down the country will enjoy our time honoured-tradition and trek down to their local school, community hall, church or marae to vote for who they want to govern this country we are all truly blessed to live in for the next three years.

We all have dreams for our children, our businesses and lives, and the kind of society we all want to live them in.

Elections sometimes feel like a circus with endless promises from politicians and breathless speculation from media. It’s easy to be cynical, but we risk losing sight of how special and important elections are. They are an opportunity to pause and reflect on who we think has the vision to build this future New Zealand, to rally us together to achieve it and, importantly, who has the competency to deliver the policies to get us there.

Our job at National Road Carriers is to call for the policies our members ask us to support.  We have talked to our members up and down the country, and heard what you need to run successful, thriving transport businesses. 

Here’s what you’ve told us you want:

- A level playing field where the reliable, safe and efficient. transport service you provide your customers is recognised, valued and paid for.

- we take better care of the roads we have – where restoration and maintenance is kept up nation-wide, and a network that holds up when the floods, earthquakes and slips hit.

- A faster rule changes that take advantage of Kiwi innovation and new technology from overseas, so you can safely carry more for your customers using less energy.

- A fair compliance system for transport operators where the compliant are rewarded, the confused are educated and the criminal caught and prosecuted.

- A skilled, competent and growing workforce with the appropriate immigration pathway, industry training and regulatory settings.

- Aligned freight and transport policy across government to get us there 

In elections we hear a lot about tax rates, hospitals, education and maybe even roads – as we should. But what we don’t hear enough about the lifeblood of our towns, cities and regions – our freight and supply chain. 

With freight costs on average making up between 10-15% of what we pay for goods, a thriving, efficient freight system is one of the fastest and surest ways we can reduce our cost of living. 

Our job is to turn the operational needs of your transport business into sensible policies and practices across government. Next week we will be publishing our NRC Election Calls to move more, spend smarter and stay safe so we get the freight system New Zealand needs.

On Thursday 13 August I will be taking our members through our election calls online and answering any questions. NRC members are free to register here and if you aren't able to make it drop me an email as I’d love to hear what you think.

Justin