Image: Mack trucks on display at the NZ Heavy Haulage Conference, courtesy of the Gerard Dauldry Collection.
Associate Minister of Transport James Meager told delegates at the Heavy Haulage Association’s annual conference that recent permit changes don’t generate big headlines but are the kind of practical improvements the industry has been asking for, reports Hugh de Lacy.
The Government has put economic growth and productivity at the centre of its transport policy, James told those who attended the conference, which was held at Chateau on the Park hotel in Christchurch in late August.
“Over the last three years we’ve shifted the focus back towards delivering infrastructure, improving freight connections, reducing unnecessary costs and making better use of the transport network,” James says.
“We’ve placed a greater emphasis on maintenance and resilience, and we’ve reintroduced the Roads of National Significance programme and added a Roads of Regional Significance one.
“We’ve backed this up with a Major Transport Projects Pipeline to provide certainty about what is being delivered and when.”
No big headlines, just practicality
He says the recently begun Land Transport Rules Reform Programme is “the biggest regulatory reform in years”.
This followed up on the Action Plan for Freight that the Government published last year, identifying 13 primary initiatives and nine supporting ones focused on productivity, resilience and safety.
Soon-to-be-implemented changes include the removal of permit requirements for 50MAX vehicles, which have one more axle than a standard truck. They will allow Class 1 and Class 2 learner licence holders to drive bigger zero-emission heavy vehicles.
Permit requirements for unladen High Productivity Motor Vehicles (HPMVs) that are being repositioned between depots or customers will also be removed.
James says such changes “don’t generate big headlines, but they’re exactly the kind of practical improvements the industry has been asking for”.
Hoping for a better response
Earlier, HHA Chief Executive Jonathan Bhana-Thomson outlined the Association’s responses to Government changes to the VDAM (Vehicle Dimension and Mass) implementation issues last year.
He says it had been difficult to get changes made to Phases One and Two of VDAM, but he was hoping for a better response now HHA had engaged with the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (a mega-ministry formed in July).
“The issue of access to toll roads has been a good way to raise the profile of the overdimension (OD) sector, but getting improvements to OD permits has not received any resources from New Zealand Transport Agency,” Jonathan says.
A change to VDAM’s Clause 6.50 meant all overdimension permit applicants last November got an email response saying their compliance record was going to be checked, something that could take up to
20 days.
“The Association got involved and got the background checks and permit applications approved by NZTA promptly to allow OD loads to continue moving,” Jonathan says.
Upgrading OD permitting is another cause the Association is pursuing with the aim of replacing a simple webform with a customer-focused one. There will be a client log-in for retrieving issued permits and adjusting them for new dates, or to copy existing permits to similar jobs.
Fed up moving road cones
Sandy Walker, the Oversize Roading Advisor with the Association, updated the conference on the evolution of a simple Excel document into a route analysis form in conjunction with the NZTA.
Technical and artificial intelligence experts suggested it was feasible to have the form electronically available on works programming sites, only to discover Association members have “a completely unique requirement from the information that was being supplied to it by the TMP [Traffic Management Plan] planners”.
“Truth is, it can be done but it will take up to two years,” Sandy says.
“We can continue to progress this because NZTA are certainly heading down a similar path and want to keep working with us as their concerns are no different from ours.
“And we’ve been advised that other councils are keeping an eye on what we have developed, and those that are semi-on board are very happy with the outcomes reported to them from their contractors.”
These developments had arisen out of “what you told us in 2024”, including members being “fed up with moving road cones, sick of arguing with site crews, having to move machinery or equipment, closing roads rather than lanes and being directed to unsuitable detour routes”.
Around 200 members attended the conference and were treated at the start to a motivational address by Mark Inglis, the Kiwi mountaineer who lost both legs at the knee from gangrene when trapped in an ice cave for 13 days, but went on to scale Mount Everest years later.
New board members for Heavy Haulage
Two new members were elected to the New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association’s Board for the next 12 months at its Annual General Meeting, during its conference in Christchurch in August. The appointments follow the retirement of two people who stood down.
Mark McNeilly of McNeilly Heavy Haulage in Dunedin has been re-elected for his third term as Board Chairman. The Heavy Haulage Sector Convenor is Bridget Tapper of Smith Crane and Construction in Auckland. The second sector representative for the heavy haulage sector is Nick Monk of HEB Heavy Haulage (Tauranga).
For the housemoving sector, the Convenor (for his second term) is Dave Haskins of Craig Walker Building Removals in West Auckland. The other housemover representative is Andy Silcock of Progressive Housemoving. The full member representative is Connor Etting of Easymoves Ltd, Auckland. Connor is new to the Board this year and is also a housemover.
The Load Pilot Sector Convenor is Gene Letford of Kiwi Piloting Nationwide in Waikato. This follows Karlos Goodwin standing down.
NZHHA Chief Executive Jonathan Bhana-Thomson has sincerely thanked and acknowledged the two retiring Board members – Karlos Goodwin and long-standing Board member and former Chairman Paul Britton, who served on the Board for 23 years – for their contribution to the governance of the Association.
Awards recognise service to heavy haulage industry
This year’s conference ended on a high with the Mack Trucks annual Dinner and Awards evening. Mark McNeilly as Chairman presented Chairman’s Awards for service to the industry to the following people:
Grant Laing – Laing Properties, for many decades of work in the house relocation sector, also contributing to various sector projects along the way.
Paul Ashman – Traxion Distribution, for his involvement over 30 years with supply of specialist lighting to the oversize sector, including the development of specific products and support of the annual conference.
Gene Letford – Kiwi Piloting Nationwide, for his work on a training course covering the VDAM rule as well as other projects over the last two to three years.
Gary Andrews – Andrews Housemoving, for his nearly 50 years in the house relocation sector and for his service on the Association’s Board.
To recognise the contribution to our industry of two people that passed away this last year, posthumous Chairman’s Awards were presented to:
Ross Mason – Machinery Movers / Move Specialist Lifting and Transport, for his many decades of involvement with heavy haulage companies and his willingness to share industry knowledge.
Marcello Giacon – Goodman Contractors, for his outstanding high level of performance undertaking heavy haulage for Goodmans, and for his role as an Area Representative for the Association in the Wellington region.
Push for easier permitting
The Heavy Haulage Association has been advocating for changes to the overweight permit portal, including the ability to apply for one permit covering several regions, writes Hugh de Lacy.
Progress on changes to the Vehicle Dimension and Mass Rule will advance through Phase Three this year and into Phase Four next year, the New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association’s Sector Convenor, Bridget Tapper of Smith Crane and Construction, told the conference.
The Heavy Vehicle Industry Group (HVIG), of which the NZHHA is a member, has urged the NZTA and Minister of Transport Chris Bishop to push the Government for progress on the Rule Reform project.
The Ministry of Transport, now part of the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) and the Transport Agency have commissioned studies to move the industry forward on general freight issues that will be included in Phase Four, Bridget says.
In particular, the Association has been advocating for changes to the overweight permit portal to allow applicants to apply for one permit that covers several regions, and better organisation of current operators’ permits to replicate them in the library.
Also being addressed is the difficulty of adjusting Gross Combination Mass (GCM) on units for different applications and the current inability to undertake feasibility permits through the portal.
Bridget noted the difficulties the Association was having with Auckland Transport (AT) over their local roads, which allow a continuous permit of up to only 100 tonnes. The Auckland region accounts for around 82.5 percent of heavy haulage activity in the country.
“Changing responses by AT to the NZHHA-proposed VAI (Vehicle Axle Index) calculation has been a very frustrating process, with AT preferring instead to increase the gross limit, and we’re seeking to move this question to higher levels at AT,” she says.
She mentioned the new Commercial Vehicle Safety Centres that have opened throughout the country, though some of them have access issues for overdimension loads.
“We’ve been working with the police and the NZTA to establish arrangements allowing overweight and overdimension loads to bypass such centres, and the response from these organisations has been good, with alternative processes put in place,” Bridget says.