Transport Industry And Officials Collaborate To Tackle The Big Issues Including Climate Change And Infrastructure

More than 360 transport operators, industry
representatives and Government officials descended on the
newly opened Te Pae Convention Centre in Christchurch over
the weekend for the 2022 Trucking Industry Summit to discuss
the big issues facing the industry over the next few
years.

Issues such as decarbonisation, deteriorating
roads, under-investment in infrastructure, labour shortages,
and increasing compliance costs were a focus, but there was
recognition that finding solutions will not be a quick
fix.

NZ Trucking Association (NZT) CEO David Boyce
said, “The focus at the Summit was decarbonisation,
infrastructure, and regulation – all of which need to work
hand-in-hand to ensure the New Zealand economy can prosper
now and in the future. Looming large is that fact that New
Zealand has a target of a 35% emissions reduction by 2035,
while at the same time the national freight task is set to
increase 40% by 2052.”

Minister for Transport Hon.
Michael Wood opened the Summit emphasising that Government
and industry need to understand each other to work
effectively to achieve our common objectives. He confirmed
that through the Government’s Low Emission Transport Fund,
administered by EECA, operators have access to funding to
support vehicle and technology projects, and public charging
infrastructure. Following the success of the Clean Car
Discount initiative, work is underway to identify incentives
to support and drive change in the heavy freight.

The
status quo is not working

National Road Carriers
(NRC) COO, James Smith said, “Industry and Government
recognise the status quo is not working. Despite increased
investment and funding, the roads are in a worsening state
of disrepair – largely because the capacity to deliver the
work is just not there. And this is being exacerbated by
global issues such as inflation forcing the cost of
everything up and significant labour
shortages.

“There is no silver bullet to solving the
degrading transport infrastructure across New Zealand. A
collaborative public-private partnership approach is needed
to solve these significant challenges, and NRC and NZT are
here on behalf of the industry to help make that
happen.”

Smith noted that industry is already on the
journey. He applauded local businesses Hiringa Energy and TR
Group who are investing heavily into hydrogen networks and
alternative energy heavy vehicles.

“Early investment
in these new technologies will overtime provide options for
the industry that become scalable, affordable, meet payload
requirements and importantly reduce our industry’s carbon
footprint. To continue to compete locally and
internationally we need to be able to help all our members
to ‘do more, produce zero’.

“The Summit
reinforced our intention to work closely with Government to
address decarbonisation, infrastructure and regulation
amongst other challenges to find and implement solutions
that are mutually beneficial.”

What does a low
carbon transport future look like?

According to
Boyce, “Consensus from the Summit was that decarbonisation
of the national heavy goods vehicle fleet will need to be a
combination of EV, biofuels, and hydrogen. Barriers for
adoption will need to be overcome through a range of
incentives including, Government funding support for early
adopters, and upgrading of the electricity and power
infrastructure to facilitate the fast charging of heavy
goods vehicles.

“Support needs to be given to New
Zealand businesses investing and innovating in this space
– not all will succeed but every venture will contribute
to the solutions. There was widespread agreement at the
Summit that industry and Government will work together to
support the decarbonisation journey.”

It’s time
for transport operators to get off the
side-line

NRC’s Transport and Logistics Advisory
Group Chair, Hon Simon Bridges commented, “One of the
standout quotes from the Summit was from Brett Aldridge at
Waka Kotahi, who said ‘commercial transport must be
successful for New Zealand to be successful’ closely
followed by ‘the only way we will achieve the outcomes we
are need is by working closely together in partnership’.
Powerful words that are 100% on the money.”

“The
theme of collaboration remained with discussion around the
regulatory ownership of solutions sitting with industry
especially in terms of harm prevention programmes and
compliance monitoring. Empowering thoughts for the
industry,” said Bridges.

Bridges also observed that
while the challenges facing the industry are clear, the
solutions are less so. “The industry must focus on the
positives and opportunities – there is a heap of
innovation happening in the trucking sector with EV and
hydrogen trucks leading the way. Additionally, the industry
must focus on partnering with Government and Government
agencies.”

Bridges had a word of warning to the
industry. “Effectively if we don’t engage, collaborate,
and partner, the change will happen without us and to us.”
Smith added, “It’s also time for individuals in the
industry to do some heavy lifting, we are no longer in a
passive environment, where you can just get carried
along.

“It was great to hear from the Ministry of
Transport recognise some of the challenges the industry is
facing especially in terms of some of the supply chain
vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic,” concluded Boyce.
“In terms of climate change there is recognition that New
Zealand is always going to be shaped by the response of
other countries, we have a growing population, competition
for land use, and the international and geopolitical
landscape is increasingly difficult.”

Trucking
Industry Summit 2022
Agenda

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