NEWS
Transporting NZ chairman Warwick Wilshier says there is still a need for a single voice to represent the industry.
Conference looks to the future INSIGHTS INTO THE FUTURE OF ROAD TRANSPORT and a renewed call for a single voice to represent the industry were among the themes of The Road Ahead: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand conference in Invercargill at the end of September. More than 250 delegates gained valuable insights across a broad range of transport industry-related topics. Over two days at the Ascot Park venue, presentations ranged from roading issues, new powertrains, driver health and well-being, training and recruitment, staff engagement, employment legislation and other topics in a future-focused conference that looked at the challenges and opportunities for the industry. A year on from the split which saw the National Road Carriers Association and NZ Trucking Association exit the Road Transport Forum (now Transporting New Zealand) there remains a strong desire to have a single voice represent the industry. In his opening address to the conference, Transporting NZ chairman Warwick Wilshier said it had been a year of change for the organisation. “In September last year, OCANZ (Owner Carriers Association of New Zealand), decided that it no longer wanted to continue as a member of the RTF due to the Road Transport Association (RTANZ) request that we form one management structure for the industry, leading eventually to one organisation. “While it was sad that this occurred, further muddling our industry voice to Government and the public, it has meant that the board has been on a single focus to modernise the membership experience over the last year. 4 | Truck & Driver
“We have successfully combined the operations of the Road Transport Association and Road Transport Forum, and rationalised resources. “There is now a much more direct connection of information and intelligence from members to the organisation and back again. We have lifted our profile significantly and have begun a change to widening our community across road transport and related industries. “Change is not yet over for the road transport industry. The ultimate aim is for us to have one strong and powerful organisation and that remains our goal in the medium term,” Wilshier said. Mainstream politics also featured at the conference. Southland MP Penny Simmonds welcomed delegates to the conference and described the transport sector as: “the oil that keeps the machinery of regional economies like Southland moving, and New Zealand’s economy as a whole functioning. “It is therefore absolutely essential that we keep our oil topped up, that we keep the transport sector informed, prepared and future focused. “With the right support, and a Government that values and gets out of the way of, rather than hinders, the transport industry, this is a sector that can continue to perform at a world-class level and continue to go from strength to strength, enabling our economy to grow,” Simmonds said. National’s transport spokesman Simeon Brown challenged the government and said it needed to keep costs under control. He said roading funding was being diluted as activities such as coastal shipping and rail were being funded from the National Land Transport Programme.
