Caption – HHA Board at the Invercargill Conference: Paul Britton (left); Bridget Tapper; Mark McNeilly; Greig Running; Paul Running; Gerard Coffey; David Scobie.
For the first time in 16 years, members of the NZ Heavy Haulage Association met in Invercargill this year to hear from industry regulators, get feedback about issues the Association has been working on, and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Southland region. By Jonathan Bhana-Thomson, Chief Executive, HHA.
The visit to the unique Bill Richardson Transport World was a highlight for many members, with a wide variety of transport equipment and the recognition gallery for those who have excelled in the road transport sector. The afternoon was completed with the Modern Transport Engineers dinner in amongst the vehicles on display.
On the Friday afternoon of the three-day conference, a presentation and display from the HWR Hydrogen project team about its second ‘dual-fuel truck’ gained lots of interest from delegates. A final local highlight for many was the trip over to Stewart Island on the Saturday, which was the first time for most.
The conference opened with a speech from retired international rugby referee and local Southlander Paddy O’Reilly. Nowadays, he manages the referees for the international men Seven’s circuit.
Then Dylan Hunt, NZTA’s Senior Manager Safer Commercial Transport presented on the regulatory environment that the agency now operates in, and the way that it is aiming to be proactive and reactive to ensure operators’ compliance.
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Captions: Dylan Hunt (left) presenting on NZTA’s regulatory environment; NZTA Programme Manager Riccardo Areosa.
He highlighted areas where the agency is seeking the highest levels for complaints they receive, and the actions that it has taken.
NZTA’s Programme Manager for Permitting, Riccardo Areosa outlined the process the agency has taken to improve the permitting system over the past year, which included a more efficient over-dimension permitting, and load pilot internal management system.
Our conference was closed with Police Sergeant Richard Bates from the Commercial Vehicle Safety Team (also a local, who is based in Gore), and who is one of the Standards and Training Team – who presented on a range of issues, including the type of non-compliance issues that the enforcement team is experiencing on the roadside.
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Captions: Sergeant Richard Bates (left) from Commercial Vehicle Saftey Team; Alex McLellan (far right) receiving the Chairman’s Award from HHA Chairman Greig Running.
At the annual general meeting, HHA Chairman Greig Running was re-elected for his fourth term. Some of the other six board positions were contested, however, the current Board members of Bridget Tapper (Heavy Haulage Convenor), Gerard Coffey (Housemover Convenor), Paul Running (Pilot Group Convenor), along with Paul Britton, Mark McNeilly, and David Scobie were re-elected to their positions.
The highlight of the Mack Trucks Dinner & Awards was the presentation of the Outstanding Achievement Award to Carl Baker of Hastings House Removals. Named after one of the association’s founders, Gus Breen, this memorial award recognises members of the specialised transport sector for their achievements over many years.
Carl served as the Chairman and House Mover Group convenor for four years, and spent a total thirteen years as an Association Board Member.
In his time with the association, Carl has been involved in Environment Court Appeals to free up the planning controls on relocated houses in Hastings, South Taranaki and Ruapehu Council areas.
In addition, Greig Running presented the Chairman’s Award to Alex McLellan. Alex has given six years of his time, effort and valued input as a Director of the Association, and, was instrumental in building relationships and bringing on the Heavy Recovery group members into the association.
For nearly a decade he has been the Convenor of the Recovery group.
The Ascot Hotel provided a great opportunity to display trucks outside the venue including units from Mack and Scania. Local members, King House Removals, Scobies Transport, McLellan Freight and Southland Machine Hire also had trucks on display.
The conference was a time to re-connect with fellow members, make contact with new members of the association, and to keep up to date with the ever-changing industry.
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Captions: Carl Baker (left) receiving Outstanding Achievement Award from Greig; King House Removals transporter outside the conference venue.