By Jonathan Bhana-Thomson, chief executive, NZ Heavy Haulage Association.
This year’s full NZ Heavy Haulage Association conference from 18 to 21 August is promising to be the best one yet, with a great mix of speakers and site visits alongside great social activities and stimulating input.
The association was fortunate to be able to hold a one-day event in Wellington in 2020, which included our AGM, input from NZTA as well as a number of sector group meetings.
This was well supported by the members and it is expected that the 2021 conference will see an even greater turnout.
The highlight of the conference will be the site visits organised to three unique locations in Hamilton. The first of these being to Tidd Ross Todd, whose manufacturing facility in Te Rapa produces specialised heavy haulage transporters as well as house haulage trailers. This visit is planned for the Thursday afternoon, and will include a tour of the factory, as well as a display of various equipment that they have pride in producing and supplying.
The second half of the Thursday afternoon will be a visit and tour to the C&R Developments yard near Cambridge, which includes a number of unique prices of equipment as well as their muscle car display. A social dinner will be held that that evening in the facility.
The Saturday morning will be a site visit and tour of the Modern Transport Engineering facility in Te Rapa. MTE manufactures a range of specialised transporter trailers as well as house moving trailers. A tour of the factory as well as a display of equipment will be a highlight of this day.
The main body of the conference is to be held at the Novotel in central Hamilton, and this is promising to be full of interesting speakers. The main aim of the speakers – primarily from NZTA – is to keep members up to date with the ever-changing transport environment.
Topics will include developments with the Weigh-in Motion sites around the country, better communication between road works sites and oversize transport operators, developments with capital roading projects, and info about the permitting for overweight and over-dimension loads.
In addition, the whole suite of sector group meetings is planned to take place during the conference, which include heavy haulage, house movers, load pilots and heavy recovery. This year, these have been planned to take place during the conference itself to enable as many delegates as possible to attend the meetings and the whole conference.
A full partners programme has been planned that includes visits to Zealong Tea Estate Tour with a High Tea Lunch, Hamilton Gardens Tour & Afternoon Tea, and an excursion to Viligrad Winery for Tour & Tastings with a Buffet Lunch.
The conference rounds out with the Mack Trucks Dinner & Awards to be held at the SkyCity Hamilton Conference Centre next door to the Novotel. This evening promises to be an exciting one with our awards to be presented as well as music and dancing to a well-renowned local Waikato band.
The conference is open for registration up until 16 of August, and rooms at the Novotel are being held until a month prior to the event. Registration is open to members of the association and sponsors that support the event.
The association acknowledges that without the financial support of sponsors that we could not hold the conference in the way planned, and to be able to keep the registration fee at the rates available.
Companies in the oversize transport industry are welcome to enquire about membership of the Association, as attending our annual conference is rated as one of the best benefits of being a member of the NZ Heavy Haulage Association.
Consideration of oversize load movers