Transporting New Zealand can be contacted on (04) 472 3877 Nick Leggett chief executive officer or info@transporting.nz
CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF OUR INDUSTRY
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or far too long, trucking co-owner, Renwick Transport) businesses have suffered in the • Lisa Gibson (customer operation and labour market from a widespread HSSE lead, Z Transport) outdated and negative perception of the road transport industry. The workshop, run by Kylie Flower Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New from Wisdom Learning, focused on Zealand and the Road to success what motivates us to work for change, traineeship scheme are trying to understanding different people’s change this by presenting the modern, perspectives, what we can realistically professional face of road transport and change and how. promoting the growing diversity in the The diversity champions also received industry. a presentation from senior constable Typically, trucking has been a bastion of males but this is changing, and to further attract and recruit talent, we are endeavouring to do more to acknowledge it. Earlier this year and in partnership with Teletrac Navman and with support from the Australian Trucking Association, we launched the Driving Change Diversity Programme. I am pleased to announce that the first tranche Driving Change Diversity Programme participants attend of diversity champions has been the workshop in Wellington. appointed under the scheme – professional drivers, company managers and business owners who Bryan Ward of the Police Diversity have already engaged in a workshop to and Inclusion Team. He discussed the build the skills to promote diversity within challenges of changing an industry the transport industry and the wider culture, the small steps that led to a big community. change within the police and how our industry can learn from that. The 11 Driving Change diversity Making our industry appropriately champions are: diverse will take a lot of mahi by a lot • Brianna Wilson (class 5 driver, Philip of people, but I am encouraged by the Wareing Ltd) enthusiasm of our first group of diversity • Sheana Martin (vehicle recovery champions and I look forward to the operator, Parks Garage) impact they will have in their everyday • Mickayla Kerr (CEO, Heagney Bros) roles. • Jodi McNamara (driver trainer, HW Why do we continue to waste Richardson Group) funding on transport projects that • Chelly Balasbas (HR manager, Allied don’t make sense? Concrete) News that the government is to spend • Joshua Hart (class 5 driver, Hart more than $100 million on the railway Haulage) wagon maintenance and assembly facility • Marthe Lute (health and safety advisor, at Hillside Workshops in Dunedin, despite Alexander Group) an extremely poor benefit-cost ratio • Hayley Alexander (CEO, Alexander (BCR), is another example of funding Group) going towards projects that are more • Jacqueline Smith (managing director/
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about ideology than practicality. A recent report leaked to the media has shown the BCR for the redesigned Hillside project is only 0.2. To put this into context, a BCR of 1.0 is basically the break-even point. Such a low BCR indicates that the project doesn’t make sense. At a time when we should be working to manage New Zealand out of a widely acknowledged transport infrastructure crisis, it becomes pretty difficult to defend. Our two major cities are groaning under the strain of poorly funded and short-sighted metro transport planning. Our state highway network is in a historically poor state of repair. And forecasts are that thanks to various factors, the National Land Transport Fund may be nearly $1 billion short over the next three years. The Hillside project does not stand alone in a long list of poorly thought-out transport projects that the government has prioritised over basic infrastructure investment. Transport funding across the board has become incredibly stretched, particularly considering we have 11,000km of state highways and 94,000km of roads to maintain. However, decisions to throw good money after bad on projects that do not make sense and will not make our roads any safer is hard to fathom when we consider the impact that wellmaintained roads have on road safety and the government’s often-stated commitment to Road to Zero. Which is why I think most New Zealanders see Road to Zero as having more to do with anti-road PR than a well-considered strategy to reduce road deaths. If this government were serious about safety and improving the nation’s transport infrastructure, it would scrap pet projects like the Hillside redevelopment and invest that money back to where it is really needed – on the roads that millions of New Zealanders rely on every day.
