Driving the economy
Smaller businesses, including transport companies, rely on being paid for their services within a reasonable timeframe
Balance of power shifting in the economy F by Nick Leggett Chief Executive La Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
IRSTLY, LET ME SAY HOW EXCITED I am by the rebranding of the Road Transport Forum into Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand. Replacing the tired RTF brand with Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is about conveying what the industry does for the public and business in NZ – transporting their goods, to their door, when they need them; or their food, medicines and other essentials to the stores they shop at, so it is always there when they want it. You can read more about our new brand on Page 43 – as well as how it fits with where I see that the country needs to head to overcome this pandemic. Taking a look at other recent events that will impact our industry, I am delighted with the recent passing of the Fair Trading Amendment Bill into law. A lot of hard work went into this behind the scenes, starting with former RTF CEO Ken Shirley, who successfully lobbied then Small Business Minister Stuart Nash to look into the practice of unilateral
deferred payments that were becoming an issue for smaller operators in our industry. Transporters working for big players in the primary sector were forced to accept 60-90-day payment terms. If they didn’t, they would lose the business – and that threatened their livelihoods. Terms such as these have a major impact on many small NZ businesses, including those that make up a chunk of road freight transport. Typically, small businesses are not flush with cash and it is therefore critical that they are paid for their services within a reasonable timeframe. We lobbied for extending the provisions of the Fair Trading Act as a simple solution for dealing with this. We had argued for a contract threshold of $500,000 because in our industry, despite being small businesses themselves, many operators take on large contracts. Unfortunately, we didn’t win that one, but we feel we have won the war. The Bill targets the use of pressure tactics, deception, oneTruck & Driver | 39
