A plan to disestablish 26 authorised vehicle safety officers from the police commercial vehicle investigation unit is under consultation with staff and the heavy vehicle industry.
The reallocation of 111 road policing staff was first signalled in May 2016, after the confirmation of a $960 million road policing funding package.
As part of that process, road policing positions are being allocated to other areas of the police with a focus on a broader range of activities. Reallocated staff will still be involved in policing the roads where appropriate.
No decisions will be made until all submissions have been received by April 7, road policing national manager superintendent Steve Greally says.
“Police are committed to a fair and transparent process, which is why, first and foremost, we are seeking submissions from the staff who are most directly affected and are formally consulting with the heavy vehicle industry and others.”
Greally says the consultation includes the proposal to disestablish 26 authorised officers’ positions from the commercial vehicle investigation unit.
“These authorised staff work as vehicle safety officers and have a more limited range of powers than police officers. Police are currently consulting with affected staff on the proposal and no decisions have been made.
“Road safety partner agencies and representatives from the heavy vehicle industry are also being formally consulted.”
Greally says police are committed to a fair consultation process with staff and no decisions will be made until all submissions have been considered.
“We acknowledge the consultation process is unsettling for some staff and so we are working directly with them, our HR team, welfare support and the Police Association as appropriate to ensure that a fair and transparent process is followed.”
It wouldn’t be fair to comment further until all staff have had the chance to provide feedback, Greally says.
But road safety is and will continue to be a priority for the police.
“Police understand the issues raised by the heavy vehicle industry following the announcement of the proposed changes, which is why we are formally consulting with representatives from the industry and our road safety partners to seek their views.
“However, as the proposal is still in the consultation phase, it is unknown at this stage what the final result of this process may be.”
Greally says staff have been given a reasonable time to consider the document and make submissions.
“There is no timeframe set at present for a final decision as it is unknown at this early stage what the nature and number of the submissions may be.
“There may also be a need to undertake further consultation depending on the feedback received. However, we again stress that no decisions will be made until all submissions are duly considered.”
Industry responds to proposal
Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley says the proposal is worrying.
“The rules and permitting regimes around heavy vehicles are extremely complex and the forum believes that the disestablishment of the VSOs will leave a serious vacuum of knowledge and talent,” he says.
“This will in turn impact on vehicle compliance as well as a valuable educational resource for our industry.”
Shirley says the forum is convinced sustained effective policing of heavy motor vehicles is needed both from a road safety perspective and a commercial neutrality aspect.
“If operators can speed, overload, breach the work-time rule or operate non-compliant equipment with impunity, then not only are they unsafe on the roads but they can also compete unfairly for business with the effect of driving down freight rates below sustainable levels.
“We do not want a situation where the compliant subsidise the non-compliant and lose business to them.
“The RTF believes that the function of being a vehicle safety officer is best undertaken by police, however, it is not for us to judge the best structure for them to do that.
“The RTF is aware this consultation is largely limited to an internal audience but they have engaged a small number of external stakeholders also.”
Shirley says the forum is not in a position to comment on the robustness of the process.
Police Association worried too
The likely axing of the country’s 26 VSOs is a short-sighted move and comes at a time when New Zealand’s road toll is climbing, the Police Association says.
“These highly specialised mechanics and engineers who focus on the safety of New Zealand’s heavy duty vehicles are not sworn officers and cannot be absorbed into other policing duties,” its president Chris Cahill says.
“Police say that less than 4% of crashes on our roads involve commercial trucks. The association considers it not unreasonable to extrapolate from that that the relatively small figure of commercial vehicle accidents is due to the independence and expertise of the VSOs when conducting inspections.
“There are tens of thousands of heavy commercial vehicles on New Zealand’s roads at any given time and when trucks can travel 100,000s of kilometres between inspections, an undetected mechanical or structural fault can cause havoc.”
VSOs regularly deal with issues that could cause imminent vehicle failure, Cahill says. These include the likes of worn universal joints, missing, loose or broken cap bolts, visible cracks in cross members and between drive axles, cracked chassis plates, damaged chassis rails, cracked deck attachments and insufficient tread depth on tyres.
“The association wants to know which independent agency or agencies will now carry out the vital inspections which uncover these faults and who will be responsible for reporting on the roadworthiness of commercial vehicles involved in crashes.
“Taking staff from road policing when New Zealand’s freight levels are expected to increase 75% over the next 25 years is extremely short-sighted.”
Mark attacks the minister
New Zealand First police spokesperson Ron Mark has called on Transport Minister Paula Bennett to “tell the public the facts” about future cuts to the number of VSO and highway patrols.
“In Parliament, New Zealand First asked the minister why she did not advise the public that 200 police were being axed this year and she said we had our facts completely and utterly wrong,” Mark says.
“Yet the Police Association has stated the country’s 26 VSOs are to be cut, then we have the Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley confirming there’s a restructure of the commercial vehicle investigation unit.”
New Zealand First has also received confidential emails from the public advising cuts are being made to VSOs, the CVIU and highway patrols, he says.
“The minister is saying something entirely different – that no decisions have been made yet and consultation is still going on. The Police Association would not go out and make such statements lightly so the minister needs to tell the public the facts.
“Axing these jobs at a time of high numbers of road fatalities will mean our roads will become increasingly dangerous.”
The alternative SH63/SH7 route in use after the Kaikoura earthquake is one example of how safety standards are slipping, Mark says.
“Instead of cutting the VSOs, CVIU and highway patrols there is a strong case for them to be increased.”
