Road transport organisation National Road Carriers is cautiously optimistic its efforts to get more drivers into the road freight industry will bear fruit.
In his report to the group’s 81st Annual General Meeting which it is holding on Friday, June 23, chief executive officer David Aitken says work done over the last 18 months was starting to pay off.
“Following on from the road-transport workforce development strategy created by National Road Carriers, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has confirmed it is including the road freight sector in the Sector Workforce Engagement Programme (SWEP),” says Aitken.
This inclusion led to the formation of the Road Freight Transport Group that includes representation from all three transport associations.
Aitken says the appointment of Steve Divers as the co-ordinator to lead recruitment initiatives was necessary.
“The proof will be in the results, most of which won’t be seen for some years,” says Aitken. “This will only happen with the support of the whole industry.”
The other primary concern was the challenge of operating in and around Auckland with the constantly increasing volumes of traffic and people.
It is spending members’ funds on research into the “benefits of decongestion”.
“Congestion in the country’s largest city is a major problem and after the driver shortage, one of the biggest issues we hear about,” says Aitken.
“The aim of the research is to identify the scale of productivity gains available from decongesting the road network,” he says.
He says the NRC’s core business would continue to be advocacy, advice and operational support for members and providing them with value.
“But we will also look at funding areas of importance to the industry. Hence, we will continue to fund various projects and research,” says Aitken.
Aitken’s report and that of Don Wilson, the chairman of NRC’s Board of Directors, will be formally presented at the AGM and networking evening at Trucks & Trailers Ltd, Wiri Station Rd, Wiri, starting at 6.30pm on June 23, 2017.
