The Government has unveiled a three-part package to shore up New Zealand’s freight network, including the reinstatement of a national freight demand study.
The move reverses an earlier decision to scrap the demand study, which drew a sharp backlash from industry groups who warned it would leave policymakers flying blind on road, rail and coastal-shipping priorities.
The package now includes an Action Plan for Freight led by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA); the reinstatement of the National Freight Demand Study, to be funded and published by NZTA; and a Freight Advisory Council of sector leaders convened by the Secretary for Transport to advise ministers and agencies.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop says the initiatives are about boosting New Zealand’s freight capacity and safety, saying the sector “underpins economic growth and supports tens of thousands of jobs”.
“Each year around 300 million tonnes of freight moves around New Zealand, largely by our Kiwi truckies, covering more than 30 billion tonne kilometres – and freight volumes are expected to increase by 55 percent over the next 20 years,” Bishop says .
He says the action plan puts “a strong emphasis on maximising the economic value of freight, improving the use of freight data to drive investment decisions, delivering infrastructure that considers the needs of the freight sector, and making improvements to regulatory settings to increase productivity”.
Primary actions include reconfirming nationally and regionally strategic freight networks using current data, setting appropriate road-freight levels of service, researching strategic vulnerabilities, reviewing rest-area strategy, updating the way inter-peak freight travel-time predictability is measured, and delivering the Commercial Vehicle Safety Programme.
NZTA will carry out the plan around five strategic responses: keeping the network efficient for all modes; using better data for investment and operations; maximising system availability; investing for resilience; and engaging with industry where there is clear public benefit.
Supporting initiatives flagged alongside the plan include ensuring freight is considered in Roads of National Significance and road pricing, regional spatial freight strategies, climate-adaptation work, and mode-shift levers such as the clean heavy vehicles grant and rail freight programmes.
Bishop says NZTA is well placed to lead the work “as our state highways carry almost 75% of all freight journeys… Together with local roads, that rises to 93%”.
He added NZTA would continue to support KiwiRail through the Rail Network Investment Programme.
The minister also confirmed the National Freight Demand Study will be restarted after being paused last year.
“I have listened, and I agree with them – the insights this study generates are essential for making smart investment decisions,” he says.
“The National Freight Demand Study will now be the responsibility of NZTA, who will fund and publish it to better understand current and future freight patterns in New Zealand.”
The industry is welcoming the response, with National Road Carriers Association chief executive Justin Tighe-Umbers saying the trio of steps would strengthen supply-chain resilience.
“NRC has strongly advocated for a research and data-based plan to better meet the country’s current and future supply chain along with structured collaboration with the freight sector.
“Transport Minister Chris Bishop has listened to our call and we could hardly have asked for a better response than the three initiatives he has announced today,” Tighe-Umbers says.
“These are exciting and much needed developments designed to maximise freight and supply chain productivity. It is especially pleasing to see the importance of freight data insights and commercial vehicle safety being brought to the front and centre.”
Tighe-Umbers says a freight council is particularly encouraging for manufacturers and exporters.
“As an exporting nation that depends on imports, New Zealand is at the end of the world’s supply chains. Ensuring our domestic and international supply chains operate well is essential for our global competitiveness and sustained economic growth.
“A joint approach using freight data insights is essential to tackle the complex and evolving challenges that New Zealand’s freight and logistics sector face,” he says.
“Collaboration between industry and government is the only way to deliver commercially competitive, robust, adaptable New Zealand-made products to the world.”
