This week NZTA fired a major warning shot in the battle against fraudulent driver licences. The land transport regulator has moved to cancel 440 commercial driver licences due to fraudulent activity. 

This is welcome news – no one wants unqualified truck drivers on our road system, the risks to all road users are clear. 

But it is also concerning for those running transport businesses.  First, that 440 licences need to be taken out of the system is a worry, particularly when all of them have been converted from overseas licences. 

How this happened, and what needs to be done to prevent it happening again are questions that need to be asked. 

New Zealand has a growing dependency on overseas licenced heavy vehicle drivers.  They are welcomed as bringing valuable skills and helping address industry shortages. 

Which is why confidence in how immigrant heavy vehicle drivers are vetted into the system is essential, for both the industry and the travelling public. Transport operators need to have faith that those they are employing are legitimately qualified, and that their competency has been appropriately assessed. The importance of a robust international driver’s licence conversion scheme can’t be overstated. 

Taking over 400 heavy vehicle licences out of the system has a very real impact on transport businesses. Losing a driver to fraud costs in time, income and reputation. 

So, what can you do if you lose a driver because their licence was cancelled? 

1. Recruit –  right now, there are options when it comes to placing new drivers. According to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) there are 1,700 jobseekers who hold class 5 driver licences. Any businesses needing new drivers is encouraged to contact the MSD at driver_licence_support@msd.govt.nz     

2. Check – employers can check the licence status of employees using the Transport Organisation Register Online (TORO)tool. 

3. Detect –  if you or any of your employees has information about possible fraud, please contact NZTA at ovcverification@nzta.govt.nz  

For our part, National Road Carriers will continue to push for improvements to the heavy vehicle driver licence system. We are calling for stronger education and assessment standards before international drivers are allowed to be converted.

We have also called for a review of how international heavy vehicle licences are converted to New Zealand class 3-5 licences, including a deep dive into how licences from overseas jurisdictions are verified for equivalency to our classes 2–5. 

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