After spending last week focused on port charges, this week I joined some of the NRC team in a port ride along, kindly hosted by Marlin Transport. The NRC team regularly take the opportunity to get up close and personal with the supply chain, and walk a mile in our members shoes. This is an invaluable way to experience first-hand what transport operators face.

We drove from Marlin Transport’s Auckland Airport depot into the port to collect two export containers and bring them back to the depot. Despite rain doing its best to slow down the network, we got there with plenty of time to spare for the slot appointment. Port of Auckland did a great job signing us in and delivering our containers faster than the 30 minute turn time SLA. We drove through the weigh-in-motion sites on both legs of the journey without any wave-offs and had a very efficient overall turn time.

No matter how many truck rides I take, I continue to be in awe at the level of skill involved navigating 30+ tonnes safely through traffic. Despite a number of Auckland drivers doing their best to pull in front of our trucks on the motorway with almost zero stopping distance,  Willy and Jarreau both showed a level of calmness and professionalism I’m not sure I could maintain in similar circumstances.

Seeing the daily challenges of the supply chain in action is invaluable for those of us working in the industry association, which is why we also encourage ride alongs for staff from Auckland Transport, NZTA and MOT to experience it first hand.

A huge thank you to Willy and Jarreau, and to Nikki Ellis and the team at Marlin Transport for a organising a great experience, and to the Port of Auckland for our visitor access.

Road cones in the headlines once again

This week the government launched a road cone hotline for the public to report “overzealous” road cone use. Transport Minute readers will know I sympathise with this cause – we have all seen examples of a paint-by-numbers approach to road safety by over-deploying cones for minor tasks such as lawn mowing on highway verges. 

However, there is a danger to what our Australian cousins refer to as “dobbing in”.  Recently I met with Allan Pollard, Chief Executive at Civil Contractors NZ, who pointed out that hotlines like this can easily drive up sentiment against road workers.  Abuse of road workers from road users waiting in queues is well documented. While well intentioned, having a hotline risks backfiring against the safety outcome the road cones are trying to achieve in the first place – getting our road workers safety home each night.

The cones themselves are not the problem – they have a role to play. Overuse, over-reliance and under-thinking are the real issues. The work NZTA have underway on a risk-based approach to temporary traffic management (TTM) is an example of a smarter way of tackling the issue.

In the end, we all have a role to play in keeping road workers and users safe – and that role often begins with patience.

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