This is the third and final summary of the key addresses from the Trucking Industry Summit 2022 held in Christchurch at the end of July.

Future Decarbonisation

The decarbonisation options for New Zealand’s transport sector will be a combination of electrification, hydrogen, and liquid biofuels, according to Z Energy’s commercial fuels sales manager Spencer Tait.

“There’s sort of a Godzilla-King Kong battle emerging as to what’s going to be the preferred solution,” he says.

With north of 40,000 electric vehicles in New Zealand, Tait says a lot of investment is going into the electric vehicle space, including vehicles, infrastructure and government policy.

“Our view is that at the moment, electricity has its nose just in front from a long-term point of view. We believe the technology coming through and what we’ve seen with smaller vehicles will flow through into the heavy-vehicle task as well.”

Tait says there are some big barriers when it comes to hydrogen adoption. “It’s not just the investment in the assets, but also the infrastructure that supports it. And to do that at scale, in the time that we have, is a real challenge,” he says.

When it comes to biofuels, Tait says Z has been pretty active in policy work with the government.

“There’s a biofuel’s mandate that’s been drafted at the moment that will come into effect in April, 2023. What that’s asking to do is for all fuel retailers in New Zealand to sell small portions of fuel over the next few years as a biofuel,” he says.

Tait says there is a range of biofuels available, including ethanol-based product, the BioD diesel product and a renewable diesel product coming out of Europe, which he says is most likely to be the preferred product for the transport sector in New Zealand.

“It has a relatively higher or moderate unit cost, but requires no investment, both in the infrastructure to bring it to New Zealand, but also the vehicles that it would go into,” he says. “It’s literally just a drop in fuel. So in terms of adoption, obviously that means we can go really quickly.

“We do see electrification and hydrogen playing a role in the future. But biofuels is what we see as the best solution for the next decade.”

Brendan King, general manager at TR Group, says the drive towards decarbonising our world is gathering momentum and we are starting to see emerging technologies from the big truck manufacturers getting closer to mass production.

“We think the key to success is focusing on ensuring customers have a great experience and fuel value.

“We don’t always get it right, but we will always try to do our best. And this includes doing the right thing, and that includes doing the right thing when it comes to climate change,” he says.

“Doing the right thing with climate change means taking some technology risk and, alongside some of our like- minded customers, trialling zero-emission vehicles. It is important that these technologies get real-life action, so we can all learn their limitations and see what advantages they can have.”

King says it helps to support ongoing development of technology as well as supporting industries that are required to make it happen. “Be that around fuel infrastructure, service and repair and training. All of these support networks need to grow alongside the truck supply.”

“The main question I get from people is, ‘Do electric trucks work?’ I can tell you that, yes, they do work, and they come with several advantages for a start.

“They’re actually a bloody beautiful driving experience. They are smooth and quiet and have plenty of get up and go. As a rule, they’ve been mostly very reliable and cheap to run.”

However, King says electric trucks also have their limitations.

“They come with a very high capital cost, which is not offset by the lower operating costs. We are are also yet to see how long their life expectancy is, meaning diesel trucks are still cheaper from a total cost of ownership point of view,” he says.

“Electric trucks are also heavier than their diesel counterparts. They have limited range and it can take an age to refuel or recharge them. Infrastructure is also very limited, and this will be the biggest thing that will limit the adoption of EV technology.”

King says the alternative fuels space is an intriguing opportunity. “What will the transport industry look like in 100 years from now? If you think 100 years ago it was horses, well, what’s 100 years in front of us going to be? What’s even 10 years going to be like?

“It’s hard to say with any real certainty, but one thing we do know is that it will look different.”

Ryan McDonald, head of new business at Hiringa Energy, says there are lots of ways hydrogen can be used to decarbonise the New Zealand economy.

“That’s not to say that we should be going after all of them,” he says. “At Hiringa, our approach is to hit heavy transport and heavy freight – that’s trucks, buses, planes and boats – to decarbonise the industrial fleet stock.”

Hiringa is currently working on a hydrogen refuelling network that is being rolled out across the country. There are four stations under construction, at Auckland, Palmerston North, Hamilton and Tauranga, with plans to roll out 24 stations by 2026.

The first four stations are going to be producing hydrogen on-site. “What we’ve also been able to do is make it so that our stored hydrogen on-site can actually be shifted to another site, so that gives us a bit of resilience so that we don’t find ourselves short,” says McDonald.

“The first four stations in the North sland, and the three additional ones we’re working on now in the South Island, is just a representation of the type of range that you should be able to get with a fuel-cell electric truck.”

He says New Zealand is the ideal place to roll out this kind of network because most freight routes can be addressed with only the four stations in the North Island and three in the South Island.

“That’s why New Zealand’s been an early adopter in this because it’s a relatively small investment in order to get a reasonably high impact.”

MacDonald says it has “taken a village” to get Hiringa’s hydrogen initiative up and running.

“There’s just so many people involved throughout New Zealand. There’s lots of engagement and touchpoints, lots of companies that are stepping up and wanting to be a part of it.”

Training and people

Attracting the next generation into the transport sector and supporting those who are in it are key to a healthy industry.

The New Zealand Trucking Association is launching Careers Trucking, a complete careers programme that will run from the association’s Road Safety Truck and be taken nationwide to schools and events.

The programme aims to provide a behind-the-scenes look into transport careers, and inspiring the next generation and those looking for a career change.

Carol McGeady, general manager at the New Zealand Trucking Association, says something needs to be done now to attract younger people into the transport sector.

“What we’ve found going into schools is there are career advisors and no-sayers who just don’t want their children to work in transport.

“And it’s quite hard to find anything decent on the internet to actually find out how to be a truck driver,” she says.

“If we don’t do something, we are going to be really challenged in the years to come because the other industries are really competing for these young people to come through.

“We are proposing a four-step approach, which will be supported by an online portal that will be quite in-depth so that careers advisors and other trainers can tap into it to get correct information. The portal will be really promoted through socials and it will be designed in a way that it’s a good customer experience,” says McGeady.

“We’re targeting anybody looking to change careers, maybe people that are coming back into the workforce. And obviously students; we want to make sure that transport is represented in those young years when they get to senior school,” she says.

“We’d like to build this into a sustainable programme that will actually start to feed some people into the pool, so you’ve got more choice of who you can employ.”

Supporting those already in the sector needs to be a key focus, with a need for change and support in the transport sector, according to Kelly McLuckie of consulting firm Success Formula.

Success Formula specialises in safety, culture and leadership within the transport and logistics industry in New Zealand.

“Things have been pretty tough in the transport and logistics sector over the past couple of years. The wellbeing of our people has become really important, and it’s something that people are paying an increasing amount of attention to,” McLuckie says.

“As operators, drivers, business owners, it has been a very stressful time, and people are looking for some support and some help.”

Success Formula has launched the Transport Wellbeing Hub, which brings together practical resources that operators can apply to their business. “It’s going to be a fairly sizable programme. It will be something practical and tangible that provides resources to help make a difference and improve the wellbeing, health and mental resilience of ourselves and our workforce.”

The hub is awaiting funding and is expected to launch towards the end of this year.

National Road Carriers update

Collaboration and partnership is the name of the game, so says National Road Carriers chair Simon Bridges.

Bridges says it was music to his ears when Brett Aldridge, Waka Kotahi chief operating officer for regulatory services, invited engagement between government and the transport sector. “Perhaps, it should be, I think, music to all our ears, that he said, ‘Can we work together?’ And I take him at face value on that. I would take him seriously,” he says.

“We can’t deny that these big challenges are possibly as big as they’ve been in a very, very long time, if ever, in the trucking sector. Deteriorating roads, labour supply issues, supply chain issues, cost and compliance and the ever-changing environment that only seems to go that way, never that way.

“There’s all of these issues confronting us, but I think we must focus on the positives and the opportunities that are there. There’s a heap of good initiatives by the trucking sector that we are getting on with.”

However, Bridges says there may have been an implied warning that comes with Aldridge’s offer of collaboration.

“If we don’t engage, collaborate and partner, the change will probably still happen, but without us, and to us.

“So stay engaged and connected with your sector associations and be prepared, dare I say it, to play your part, and from time to time, do some heavy lifting.”