Today registrations open for the National Road Freight Survey – the largest industry survey undertaken in over a decade.

The road freight industry has seen huge changes these last few years, across multiple fronts.

For example, in the late 2000s speed limiting and on-board cameras were just being thought about. Things are now very sophisticated. Not only is speed limiting commonplace, but some trucks have intelligent automatic transmissions that learn a route and will optimise where the shift points need to be, taking account of the terrain ahead.

Logistics software developments are enabling efficiencies in optimising transport resources. More sophisticated use of telematics, particularly with the use of geofencing, enables hazard warnings and site information to be automatically communicated to the driver.

And then there’s energy. Our fleet is still almost entirely reliant on diesel though we now also have electric trucks, hydrogen trucks and hydrogen-diesel hybrids in the fleet. While the uptake rates of those alternatives are hard to predict, they will only grow.

These competing priorities and rapid changes make it essential to have a strong, evidence-based understanding of the priorities and preferences of company owners, managers, drivers and other key staff.

Not having up-to-date data, and a lack of clear direction on key policies is a significant risk to our industry, undermining our efforts to advocate for change.

For that reason, Transporting New Zealand has commissioned Research NZ to undertake the 2025 National Road Freight Survey.

This will be the largest and most important industry survey done in more than ten years. It will provide an evidence-based snapshot of our industry, helping us understand how operators are doing, and establish the issues of most importance to drivers and companies.

Key issues include the state of the roads, workforce shortages, tolling and congestion charging, regulation and road policing.

The findings will also be of great use to key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Transport and NZTA. The results of similar annual surveys completed by groups like Federated Farmers and Civil Contractors receive significant media attention, are well received by industry, and help politicians and officials make better informed investment and policy decisions.

I appreciate how busy everyone is and many will be selective of where they spend their time and effort. If you’re reading this blog you’re probably already interested and passionate about the industry so this is a great opportunity to help us shape that future. We’ve kept the survey to approximately 10 minutes, with most of the answers being “tick box” type, with space available if you want to add comments.

All those who pre-register for the 10-minute survey before 3 March will go in the draw to win a 10th gen iPad.

Get you and your team registered today! https://survey.researchnz.com/S2/1/RoadFreightReg/

– By Dom Kalasih, chief executive officer, Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand