The 2020 New Zealand Trucking Association Industry Summit took place on Saturday 21 November at Riccarton Racecourse, Christchurch. Over the next few issues, we‘ll report on some of the presentations.

Road Transport Forum CEO Nick Leggett was the first guest speaker at the summit and touched on a number of concerns with which the industry is grappling at the moment – starting with the most obvious, the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. Leggett said there‘s still uncertainty on the horizon ‘as the impact on the world continues to ripple and economies remain impacted‘, and that the RTF remains concerned that there‘s a lack of planning from government around Covid and the rebuilding of the economy. However, he reiterated the good work done by the RTF for truckers working under tough conditions at the time, illustrating their inability to buy food, find open bathrooms or even operate under arbitrary rules, which were successfully petitioned against.

“The public sentiment responded to that, they got it. Our job was to try and illustrate the reality of what we do and we need stories and people to do that. So if you have a driver who‘s done something amazing, we‘d like to tell their stories on your behalf,” he said. While Covid is a new concern facing the industry, there are still some traditional issues that need continuous attention. The National Land Transport Fund, for example, that truckers all contribute to through road user charges, which is not being spent only on roads, but is also going to the likes of rail or bike lanes. “That falls down to the slightly illogical agenda that puts road and vehicles last on the hierarchy of needs. They‘re only looking at major new roading projects really since Covid has revealed the need for a stimulus. We‘ll be keeping the discussion going on that,” said Leggett. “If trucking operators are paying for the roads, the money should actually be spent on these areas.” Leggett also touched on the concern that the industry has around the possible change of employment law. “It will decimate the choice that avails people to be an owner-driver, the ability to control their own lives and livelihoods, and negotiate terms.

That‘s a real threat and we‘ll be keeping the industry informed of that as it comes up, and advocating for some sensible change where it might be required.” In defending the role the trucking industry plays as ‘the most efficient, fastest and most competitive way to get stuff around, so people can live their lives‘, as Leggett put it, he suggests being openminded, not defensive, and telling the good stories of the work the industry does every day. “We are under threat as an industry because there is an ideology that doesn‘t like combustion engines, trucks, commerce particularly. It‘s our role to tell that story. We have to be positive.” Leggett continued: “The external perceptions of this industry, particularly by a lot of the politicians and government, are not that positive, and they‘re not actually real either. So we need to have some time where we can sit down and maybe concede some things, talk about some of the things that concern them.

Talk about how we can improve safety, lift standards, but also some of the stuff that can make operators‘ jobs easier: how can we be more efficient, effective, keep government out of business to the point where as long as they know you‘re safe, efficient and doing what you said you‘d do, you‘re left to be free to run your business the way you want.” Leggett said that RTF feels that a lot of the issues facing the industry could be best captured under an industry accord, similar to that in the construction industry. “At our [the RTF‘s] industry conference last year [former Minister of Transport] Phil Twyford asked us if we were interested in an industry accord. I went back to him a couple of times to talk about that and when he finally answered he said wait until after the election. Well, the election‘s been and gone, he‘s no longer the minister, but we will be taking that up – because it‘s about capturing all our issues, and putting them on the table at once so we can have a really good discussion.”