v wrightspeed gears up deciding the for long-haul pushbottom new zealand,” nz transport agency...

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Digital Review Volume 4 | Issue 10 | May 2017

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INSIDEOnline innovation helps cut freight inefficiencies 3Waitomo Petroleum turns 70 6We don’t know how lucky we are 16More refined workhorse 38 6 38

A California-based start-up com-pany founded by Kiwi engineer Ian Wright has fired a warning

shot at other electric truck manufac-turers.

Wrightspeed is starting series pro-duction of its range-extended electric powertrains for stop-start and urban heavy-duty vehicle commercial applica-tions, Wright says.

He dropped the bombshell when speaking at the MTA100 - Car Show of the Century on April 29.

Despite previously telling DIESELtalk that range-extended electric vehicles such as those devel-oped by Wrightspeed were not suitable for long-haul, on-highway, heavy duty vehicle applications, Wright says: "It turns out there is a way to do long haul and we are looking at it".

The news should be considered a warning to other aspiring electric truck manufacturers such as Tesla and Nikola Motor Company.

Wrightspeed Powertrains has now built two prototype trucks - two parcel delivery trucks for Federal Express (Fedex). It's also in the process

of building a garbage truck application and a bus application.

Wright admits the transition from a start-up company to one engaged in full series production is difficult.

"You need 100% of the parts needed for production to go ahead and it's a com-plex supply chain to have everything come in at once."

And he points out that, despite the hype around electric vehicles in the United

States, battery electric vehicles (BEV) account for just 0.5% of sales in the new vehicle market while plug-in hy-brid electric vehicles (PHEV) have a 1% share of total new vehicle sales.

Wright remained tight-lipped when questioned about progress on the trolley bus retrofitting contract for NZ Bus in Wellington, saying he was not

Wrightspeed gears up for long-haul push

The automotive industry has had the chance to tell mayor Phil Goff its views on keep-

ing Ports of Auckland in its current location.

But a final decision about the port’s future is still a long way from being made.

During last year’s election campaign, Goff suggested the port should be moved from its Waitemata Harbour site, saying ve-hicles could be shipped into other North Island ports.

Industry representatives got the chance to state their case for

retaining the port when they met Goff last month.

Imported Motor Vehicle In-dustry Association chief execu-tive David Vinsen says there was healthy debate at the meeting but an immediate decision on the port’s future is unlikely.

“This is probably going to be at best a medium-term exercise,


Deciding the port’s future “a long game”

Phil Goff David Vinsen

Matt Ball

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New Zealand-based start-up company TNX is creating a

market for its online software platform designed to match a load with the right truck at the best price.

Four months into its op-eration TNX.co.nz is already handling pallet and container freight volumes of more than $100,000 a month.

Customers include large corporates such as Fonterra and Ravensdown as well as small to medium enterprises.

TNX looks for ways to consolidate, sequence and best match up freight and trucks in the market. Higher utilisation gross margin and lower spend are the result.

It also streamlines the back-office administration of the invoice-to-payment cycle with carriers receiving pay-ment seven days after the job is completed.

Founders Alex Hoffman and Jonah McIntire say they created TNX.co.nz to help freight owners and carriers better use capacity in the market.

Transport accounts for more than 4% of gross domestic product but they believe on average trucks on the road are 40% empty.

"The assets are being used for a fraction of their capacity," Hoffman says.

He and McIntire say better utilisation methods pioneered in the last 30 years, such as ordering a full truckload of product, consolidating freight

movements and using a hub and spoke delivery model, have plateaued.

They believe TNX will elimi-nate some of the inefficiencies because much of the industry still operates using manual, over-the-phone communica-tion and systems.

There are three problem areas, they say.

"People don't see that there is a better deal avail-able - there is no Trade Me of trucking, there is no software available to shippers to tell them what is the best option available and there is no way for the shipping community to see its best optimisation."

TNX is now shipping pallet and container freight and might offer a livestock option in the future.

Both Hoffman and McIntire agree the sweet spot for TNX lies where the pressure of per-formance is already high, say-ing efficiencies can be driven further when there is already a competitive market.

"Where there is more than one company that can do the work, you can drive more efficiencies by consolidat-ing loads from the nearest locations and reducing the amount of unladen travel for the truck."

Carriers using TNX "love it", they say.

"They see the value of the access to the technology, as well as improving their return on investment in the trucks and also the assurance of pay-ment without additional back office cost."

The pair set out to build a transparent business model.

"We only charge the two parties 1.5% of the freight cost, provided we have saved more than 3% for a matched price, and there is a $2 charge per transaction to

cover administration costs."For those sceptical about

the technology driving TNX, Hoffman and McIntire's team has created an online Sand-box account where shippers and carriers can see how the marketplace works without any commitment required.

In its relatively short life, the company has already enjoyed some successes.

In October 2016, in the wake of a pre-market evalua-tion of NZD$6.2 million, TNX completed a funding round which saw it attract support to the tune of $1.6 million from a “who’s who” list of local tech investors.

"We came to New Zealand because it was a good first market to develop TNX, a boot camp which was located far away from other start-ups in this area, but we are fully committing to staying here even though we are looking at expanding into other markets," Hoffman and McIntire say.

Online innovation helps cut freight inefficiencies

Jonah McIntire and Alex Hoffman


NEWSTALK

Kiwi transport firms are switching to high productivity motor

vehicles including 50MAX as network access continues to grow.

A 50MAX permit allows freight operators to carry in-creased payloads on parts of the road network that, while economically important to New Zealand, are unable to carry high productivity mo-tor vehicles

Two more local councils have just been added to the 50MAX-1Network permit system, meaning access is now on approved access lo-cal roads from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

The Southland and Far North district councils have allowed 50MAX access from April 1 and May 1 respective-ly, meaning 61 local councils

have now signed up to the single permit system.

“This is a great milestone for the 50MAX programme, completing the jigsaw of major and local freight routes from the top to the bottom New Zealand,” NZ Transport Agency freight strategy manager Marinus La Rooij says.

“It’s also a reminder that access for 50MAX can and will change so operators need to ensure they keep checking our online maps regularly to ensure they know exactly which routes they can use.”

The new generation of 50MAX trucks can carry a heavier load on an addi-tional axle, which means no additional impact on roads and bridges.

An increased payload

means they can deliver more freight with each trip, reduc-ing overall truck travel on the roads by around 15%. They are also more efficient and have more advanced safety features than the older vehi-cles they replace.

The popularity of the safer, more productive trucks has been demonstrated in the latest quarterly figures from January through to

March with around 112 mil-lion kilometres travelled by 50MAX vehicles. That's up from 82 million kilometres travelled during the same period in 2016, a 36% rise.

That uptake means that in the first three months of 2017 an estimated 10-15 million kilometres of travel have been saved with benefits to the economy of around $20-$30 million.

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NEWSTALK

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Family-owned Waitomo Petroleum is celebrat-ing 70 years in business

this June. Its success proves

that small, hard-working companies servicing rural New Zealand can compete against corporate oil giants and flourish within the in-dustry, it says.

Three generations of the Ormsby family have guided the business to where it is today, offering competitive prices for trucking compa-nies and motorists, and bulk fuel delivery to commercial clients, farmers and boat owners across the North Island.

Managing director Jimmy Ormsby says his grandfather Desmond Ormsby started the business in Te Kuiti in June 1947.

“At the time Mobil Oil NZ was seeking to appoint an agent to distribute products in the King Country and my grandfather’s company, Waitomo Transport, was a credible operator who was also using Mobil products. They did a deal and the rest is history.”

Ormsby says his grand-father would be surprised and proud to see how far

Waitomo Petroleum has come.

“His last impression of Waitomo was that it was a company operating as an extension of Mobil Oil New Zealand, itself a tiny piece of the global oil company Mobil Oil Limited.

"He thought there was not a lot of future in the firm for our family as a minority shareholder and his advice to my father had been to get out of the business.”

But after the $250 billion mergers of Exxon and Mobil in 1998, the family was invited to either sell its share or buy Mobil’s shareholding in Waitomo.

The family took the chance to buy out Mobil and in 2002 Waitomo reverted to being a family-owned company.

It now employs a team of 50 and has built a significant customer base in Auckland and across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.

In recent times it has ex-panded its fuel stop network into Northland, Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Manawatu-Wanganui.

“The Golden Triangle (Auckland/Hamilton/Tauran-ga) continues to experience

significant economic growth and investment so this is where we’ll continue to focus our attention,” Ormsby says.

“Despite being a mature industry, the oil industry continues to change and develop and this continues to present opportunities for growth to small but experienced players such as Waitomo.”

Ormsby credits the company’s success over the past 70 years to competi-tive and sustainable pricing,

a commitment to long-term business relationships, and maintaining high-quality equipment and systems so customers never feel let down.

“Our challenge is to keep looking ahead and to posi-tion Waitomo to succeed in whatever environment it might have to operate in.

"We are fortunate to be here and we are grateful to all the people who have contributed to Waitomo’s journey to this point.”

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A new millennium begins

Y2K passes without widespread computer failures

Olympic Games in Sydney

Isuzu Trucks No.1 in NZ

Queen Mother dies

Bali bomb kills 203 people

Brazil wins Soccer World Cup


Boxing Day Tsunami causes widespread devastation

First privately funded human spacefl ight.

Janet Jackson suffers ‘wardrobe malfunction’ at Super Bowl


Five cent coins are dropped from circulation

Italy wins Soccer World Cup

Google purchase YouTube for $1.65m


Barack Obama elected fi rst African American US President

Global Financial Crisis

Sir Edmund Hillary dies


First Canterbury earthquake causes widespread damage

Julian Assange, co-founder of WikiLeaks, is arrested

Chilean mining accident, remarkably all 33 miners rescued


Summer Olympics open in London

Mars Rover successfully lands on Mars

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee


Malaysian airliner goes missing

Russia is reportedly in control of Crimea

ISIS take control of Mosul


Donald Trump elected US president

NZ highest ever Olympic medal tally

UK votes for Brexit


9/11 Twin Towers are hit by passenger planes

Slobodan Milosevic arrested over war crimes

Wikipedia goes online


Population of New Zealand exceeds 4 million

Saddam Hussein is captured

Space Shuttle Columbia destroyed during re-entry killing 7 astronauts


Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans

Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles

Pope John Paul II dies


Apple introduces the iPhone

Bomb kills former Pakistan PM Benazir Bhutto

Willie Apiata receives the Victoria Cross, the fi rst New Zealander since World War II


Michael Jackson dies

First New Zealand rocket launched into space

Swine Flu declared a global pandemic


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All Blacks win Rugby World Cup

Kate Middleton marries Prince William


Pope Francis fi rst Latin American elected

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gives birth to a baby boy

Nelson Mandela dies at age 95


All Blacks win back-to-back Rugby World Cups

Paris terrorist attack

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NEWSTALK

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A free benchmarking initiative allowing Road Transport Forum trans-

port members to improve their operations through real-time data comparison needs more participants.

ASB Bank has offered 175 free one-year licences to members of transport associations under the Road Transport Forum (RTF) umbrella to use the Ranqx cloud-based benchmarking website.

Benchmarking highlights opportunities where business owners can do better, Ranqx chief executive and owner Dave Lewis says.

The joint venture wants to

deliver added value to all RTF members, including those belonging to Road Transport Association NZ, NZ Trucking and National Road Carriers.

But Lewis says the initial response from the industry has been lighter than expect-ed since it was announced in November last year and he would welcome more participants.

“This is a tool to provide more levers for a transport business to utilise to its best advantage but we’ve got to get as many of them on board as possible for the ini-tiative to work successfully,” he says.

Ranqx provides industry

benchmarking and customer feedback live 24/7 so RTF members can join online and input their own financial numbers or con-nect with Xero, MYOB, Sage or Quickbooks to download num-bers from them.

All of the financial information is anonymous and securely held in the cloud. RTF mem-bers are able to compare their performance with industry peers and can also opt for customer feedback and rating.

Lewis says the system also allows a transport business

to connect with its cus-tomers, improve business efficiency and show how it is performing relative to other market players.

“The more people who use it, the more detailed the information we can provide because we are trying to help you make comparison with your industry peers,” he says.

“If we can do that com-parison in real time, we can also tackle issues before they become too large."

Members of the forum and its associations can ob-tain a free one-year licence through their local associa-tion or can contact Ranqx directly.

More takers needed for free benchmarking offer

Dave Lewis

Ngāi Tahu Tourism has launched a marine mechanic

training programme at Shotover Jet, providing an opportunity for iwi mem-bers to build a career in the tourism industry.

The programme will offer the successful Ngāi Tahu applicant on-the-job training, guidance and support, while working towards a marine me-chanic qualification.

Chief executive Quin-ton Hall says it wants to encourage more people to consider the tourism industry as an exciting and worthwhile career option, particularly in the field of marine mechanics.

“It has been a challenge to recruit experienced jet

boat mechanics, so it’s important for us to find ways to build this talent," he says.

Shotover Jet mainte-nance team leader, Rikki Swete, says he is excited about the launch of the programme.

Ngāi Tahu Tourism is partnering with the NZ Marine and Composites Industry Training Organisa-tion (ITO) to deliver the ap-prenticeship programme.

Applications are now open to Ngāi Tahu and close on 7 July 2017.

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DELIVERING DATA INTELLIGENTLYDIESELtalk

FEATURE

BY JIM FRENCH

The construction indus-try is going through a period of growth both

in New Zealand and Aus-tralia but as a result more competition is entering the market.

Competition drives pric-es down but costs continue to rise. To meet those rising costs and still compete in the industry, contractors need to get smarter about how they do business.

Improving asset utilisation is the key to ensuring plant and equipment are generat-ing revenue, not costing the business. Contractors need to ask themselves: • Are the machines work-

ing? How long are they working for? How much idle time is being accumu-lated?

• Do I need these ma-chines? Am I charging enough for them?

• Fuel tax credits: am I claiming everything I am entitled to? Having ac-curate off-road versus on-road data will help ensure that you are not paying too much for diesel.Telematics technology

provides the answers to those questions and many more relating to better utilis-ing assets.

Putting data to work To stay competitive in

today's market, construc-tion company owners and managers are using data in the decision-making process to see through blind spots in

their operation. Making sense of data and

using it as an asset is one of the core functions of the software component of GPS fleet management systems.

Heavy construction firms can either drown in a deluge of data or harness it to gain competitive advantage for their business.

Such systems draw the data together to help organisations measure and manage things like asset utilisation and help them leverage their data for KPI-based decision-making and generate insights into future trends.

In the heavy construction industry, there is a need to capture data from both plant and people under systems that can enable enter-prises to drill down further and draw out informative insights.

A telematics system al-lows a heavy construction company to monitor and manage heavy assets and their operators as well as service vehicles and their drivers to ensure safe and efficient usage.

Being able to observe the distribution and use of all assets in real time across every single job site, regardless of geography, helps companies ensure maximum utilisation. It also helps pinpoint areas of inefficiency such as excessive idling, poor operator behaviour or machines sitting idle.

Preventative maintenance and its impact

An effective preventative maintenance programme can also benefit from a data-driven ap-proach, allow-ing companies to determine whether they have over-serviced or under-serviced vehicles and assets, and enabling them to fix that.

Proper maintenance im-proves vehicle performance and safety and reduces costs. A poorly serviced engine runs inefficiently and burns more fuel, while under-inflated tyres or binding brakes are prevent-able issues that can com-promise safety.

Better maintenance re-duces unnecessary wear and tear and identifies mechani-cal issues before they cause unexpected downtime and extra cost.

Tracking maintenance ac-curately can suck up a lot of time if it's done manually but a good GPS fleet manage-ment system can include a maintenance module that optimises service schedules and takes care of key tasks automatically – never miss an inspection, renewal, tyre rotation or oil change again.

It should also ensure there's no money wasted in over-maintaining vehicles.

Data-driven decision-making

Knowing when staff

members arrive and leave a job site at a glance is a very powerful piece of information that can save construction companies hours in day-to-day tasks and fuel usage. A GPS fleet management solution can give 100% accurate data right to the minute. Your bottom line will be healthier and without surprises, allowing you to price jobs more accurately and to stay competitive.

A GPS fleet manage-ment system means data is accessible by computer or smartphone 24/7. The alternative would be to ask every employee directly for updates which is hugely time-consuming and disrup-tive.

Chasing higher margin work

Traditionally, the construction sector has been less likely to implement new technologies than other sectors and there has been a low level of engagement with innovation and change.

But now we're seeing contractors changing how they work in order to pursue higher margin work. For example, they're moving away from large excavators to small to medium excavators.

Savvy contractors are focusing on how they can better compete and improve productivity in order to win the high margin work.

Better asset utilisation: the key to competitive advantage

Jim French



DIESELtalk

FEATURE DELIVERING DATA INTELLIGENTLY

A longstanding special-ist crane and freight provider is embracing

technology in its bid to drive improvements in mainte-nance and health and safety.

Swanson Transport Ltd (STL) has been operating across the greater Auckland area for more than 70 years.

It employs more than 80 staff and its fleet includes a range of crane, curtain sider, tipper and flat deck trucks.

In 2010 STL installed the Teletrac Navman GPS fleet tracking system to improve productivity and communi-cation with drivers.

The next year it purchased Lupton Carriers, a niche warehousing unit with gen-eral freight trucks, taking its fleet to 65 vehicles.

With such a big and diverse fleet, the company needs to run a tight main-tenance schedule, both for preventative maintenance and to keep all vehicles up to date with registrations.

It uses the Director fleet tracking software to create form messages for the MNav in-cab messaging terminals.

One of the messages is a pre-trip checklist.

“Previously we did these on paper and they were time-consuming,” general manager Nick Longuet-Higgins says.

“Now the drivers can take the MNav as they walk around the trucks and can fill in the checklist after com-pleting the safety checks.”

Longuet-Higgins says a defect form was created to

keep track of minor issues.“It’s stuff the drivers might

forget to mention at the end of the day but if they can fill out the form straight away on the MNav, they won’t forget to,” he says.

Defect forms are emailed twice a week to the work-shop manager for assess-ment and repair as required.

Regular maintenance such as 10,000km services are all tracked by Director and the system sends alerts when the next is due.

Some vehicles need more specialist servicing, such as vehicles with automatic transmissions or the crane trucks. Once a service is finished, the workshop manager enters the com-pleted maintenance work into Director then resets the triggers for the next service.

“The maintenance schedules all used to be in our workshop manager’s head. Now with all the needs tracked and recorded using a GPS fleet management sys-tem, everyone has complete visibility into the mainte-nance schedule," Longuet-Higgins says.

“The system has saved us a lot of time. All the informa-tion is right there and we don’t have to go and find it.

“We used to do a one-hour walk around on Saturdays to get the hubo readings for all the trucks. Now this data is automati-cally available.”

Longuet-Higgins says a significant milestone was achieved earlier this year

when STL was awarded Gold Fleet Saver status from ACC.

Being certified through the Fleet Saver programme is a way for businesses to lower their ACC motor vehi-cle levies by demonstrating strong safety man-agement practices.

“We use the Teletrac Navman system to provide proof to ACC of our safety man-agement prac-tices. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” he says.

STL also uses the MNavs to streamline health and safety processes when per-forming complex lifts with a crane truck.

A written lift plan is re-quired before a complex lift and must include the hazards and what everyone’s respon-sibilities are to eliminate, isolate or minimise them.

“We created a form in the MNav so staff do the lift plan on-site and then it is automatically recorded in the system," Longuet-Higgins says.

"It’s quicker for us, keeps the guys safer and helps us meet our health and safety requirements."

STL has also found the MNav's high definition replay function useful in improving safety, he says.

“We might look at the ‘Replay a Day’ function if a truck has been in an incident. You can see if a vehicle has swerved, it’s that detailed.

"It’s also a good backup

for drivers. If another motor-ist has caused an accident, it shows exactly the path of our vehicle which can be very useful in situations where it is disputed as to who is at fault.”

STL also monitors speeding and will talk to drivers individually if the system shows they’ve had over-speed events. That provides an effective way of monitoring and chang-ing driving behaviour.

Beyond maintenance and health and safety, the Teletrac Navman system has provided some other business benefits, Longuet-Higgins says.

Using Director, the com-pany can send reports to key customers to keep them informed, for example, of how long loading takes at their sites.

It can keep a log of driver hours and even send emails to dispatchers regarding their vehicles or assets and their status - location, in transit and so forth.

STL is also getting a significant refund in road user charges every month, Longuet-Higgins says.

No RUC claims used to be made because they weren't worth calculating manually, he says. But now every time a truck travels off the road it’s logged automatically and there is no refuting the data.

Technology's enhancing 70 years of trucking experience

Nick Longuet-Higgins


DELIVERING DATA INTELLIGENTLYDIESELtalk

FEATURE

Two Kiwi companies are installing new in-vehi-cle technology in their

transport fleets to improve their management of health and safety.

Transport technology service provider EROAD is providing Fulton Hogan and Waste Management NZ with more than 4500 EROAD in-vehicle units.

“The EROAD system has delivered many benefits for Fulton Hogan, from reduc-ing our road user charges to monitoring truck idling times to reduce fuel costs,” Fulton Hogan mechanical engineer Graham Eaton says.

“The addition of driver be-haviour features to help im-prove driver safety made the decision to install EROAD’s technology in more of our fleet very easy.

"As a business with more than 6700 people on our team, it’s important we stay safe at all times.”

One of the company's core health and safety policies is to set objectives and targets to manage, measure and improve performance. Eaton says EROAD makes that sim-

ple by interfacing with Fulton Hogan's existing systems.

Being able to use such health and safety features is the motivation behind Waste Management’s decision to install EROAD technology, its national fleet man-ager Jitesh Singh says.

“EROAD delivers a range of capa-bilities to improve driver safety from the electronic logbook, including providing accurate information regarding driver rest periods and the pre-start inspection programme, which helps our drivers identify vehicle faults before they become a problem,” Singh says.

“The safety of our people, our customers and our com-munities is paramount to us and we continue to invest in technology such as EROAD to improve safety outcomes.”

EROAD chief execu-tive Steven Newman says developing a suite of health and safety services had been a feature of the company’s recent research and devel-opment investment.

Included are features such as driver behaviour and driver logbook as well as vehicle-focused services like the EROAD Inspect app.

Newman says the market response to the in-vehicle

device Ehubo2, which enables customers to access its full suite of health and safety ser-vices, has been very positive.

It was launched a year ago and around 4300 units are now used by fleets throughout the company’s established market in New Zealand and Australia.

Being able to access EROAD’s data from a large population of drivers and vehicles allows customers to benchmark against industry norms and to reward good driving to improve perfor-mance, Newman says.

“Our customers tell us that benefits to health and safety management are a strong motivator to use our services, alongside economic benefits such as lower main-tenance costs and improved

fuel economy.”

Safe Driving Rewards Programme pays dividends

In the two years since EROAD joined forces with insurer NZI Lumley to launch the Safe Driving Rewards Pro-gramme, NZI has managed to waive more than $216,000 in insurance excesses for its transport customers.

The collaboration between the insurer and the transport technology company means that NZI or Lumley customers who have EROAD hardware installed in their heavy commercial ve-hicles on an EROAD service plan may qualify to have their excess waived if their com-pany’s driving record is rated in the top 25% of all compa-nies using the system.

“Through this pro-gramme EROAD and NZI Lumley are helping fleet operators support their driv-ers to be safer on the roads and better manage their vehicles to achieve better outcomes for their business and the community,” New-man says.

Improving health and safety behind technology uptake

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NEWSTALK

more likely a long game.“We have agreed that

further discussion and consultation will be required as the plans for the port are developed.”

Vinsen says Goff was “very open-minded” and ex-tended the discussion from the scheduled half-an-hour to 45 minutes.

“From our perspective, we really appreciated the opportunity to explain the industry’s perspective from the views of shippers, truck-ers and the new and used car industry,” he says.

“Any opportunity for discussion is a step in the right direction. We were concerned we hadn’t had a chance to talk with him.”

Goff says he appreciated the exchange of ideas and

found the meeting informative.

“The views of the vehicle import sector will be an important and useful input into considerations on the future of Auckland’s port.”

Ports of Auckland spokesman Matt Ball didn’t want to comment on what was discussed at the meeting but says it is positive the motor industry’s voice is be-ing heard.

“All we would say is that the car importing industry is very important in New Zealand and relied upon by very many people.”

He says the Ports of Auckland is still the best port to import vehicles through,

given the largest car market is in Auckland. That’s despite a recent backlog created by several short weeks.

“Importing through any other port will add signifi-cantly to transport costs, put

more trucks on already con-gested roads and increase the environmental impact of the industry through higher carbon emissions,” Ball says.

Deciding the port’s future “a long game”Continued from page 1

If you think about a complex project in the CBD, the job must be planned and managed so people can still go about their work and move about the city.

There are lots of con-straints around such com-plex, high margin projects, including noise pollution rules, restrictions around times of day work can be carried out and, of course, not damaging existing infrastructure.

Now we’re seeing more contractors realising that in order to efficiently man-age such complex jobs with higher margins, they

need a lot more informa-tion. They need data, lots more data, and they need it on a day-to-day basis to help them make decisions.

Improving asset utilisa-tion, looking after preven-tative maintenance and pursuing higher margin work go a long way to-wards running a smarter, more competitive com-pany.

And that counts for a lot whether it's a small or large construction business. When operat-ing in an increasingly tight market, GPS fleet management is critical to sharpening that competi-tive edge.

Better asset utilisation: the key to competitive advantageContinued from page 10

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PEOPLETALK

Fred Dagg’s famous phrase had been com-ing to mind, even be-

fore the sad passing of John Clarke.

For me it came up on a visit to Lima in Peru where New Zealand and a few other countries got together to swap notes on how our countries do workplace training and apprentice-ships.

Some of the countries at the summit – such as New Zealand, Canada and Britain - have longstand-ing systems for running apprenticehips and indus-try training and national qualifications systems.

Ours has been go-ing for 25 years, in more or less its current form. Other countries at the summit had informal or fledgling systems, sometimes with government backing and sometimes with industry involvement.

In one of the workshops I met Diego, a director of a mining industry association in Chile, and he’s happy for me to quote him:

“New Zealand! There are two things I like about the New Zealand’s ITOs sys-tem - the first one, the way they concentrate conver-gent economic sectors into one ITO and, the second one, the involvement the ITOs have in the apprentice system.

"From others' international experiences, the New Zea-land system looks way more attached to the industry needs!”

Of course I was proud on everyone’s behalf to hear such praise from 7000km

across the Pacific. Inciden-tally, Diego was also very happy to expound on the virtues of Martinborough pinot noir.

But why am I telling you all this? Because one week later and back at home, I went to the bank to load a PIN on a new eftpos card. The woman behind the counter must have seen something on her screen because she said “in-dustry training… hmm… which industry?”

“I work for the organisa-tion that represents all of the ITOs so lots of indus-tries,” I said.

And she said: “Well, power to you because I have two nephews doing carpentry and they are loving it. I think apprenticeships are the best thing since sliced bread and they should never have got-ten rid of them!”

Then a little later that week, I turned up to a farewell for a former work colleague and got talking to someone who’d worked in government circles at a fairly high level.

“Where are you working these days?” she asked and I told her the Industry Training Federation.

“What’s that?” she asked.“We work with New

Zealand’s Industry Training Organisations,” I said.

“What are those?” she asked.

So I said “Have you heard of apprenticeships?” and she replied “Yes - they got rid of those in the 90s, didn’t they?”

So there’s something of a communications challenge in this. Yes, big reforms happened in the 1990s, when the numbers of ap-prentices tanked during the economic downturn and as a result of economic reforms.

The Government also re-named the “apprenticeship” legislation “industry train-ing”, using a term to cover a wider range of industries and sectors. And the appren-ticeships themselves moved from a time-based system to one based on competency, which not everyone liked.

Fast forward to today. Now we have 146,000 train-ees and apprentices. So not only does the system Diego admires exist, it is big.

New Zealand now has as many workplace trainees as our universities have stu-dents. That makes employ-ers the largest provider of post-school education and quality assured qualifica-tions.

People don’t have to know about the ITF or even ITOs but people young and old certainly should know

we have a fantastic and cost-effective system for work-based learning that delivers the right skills - and respected qualifications - on the job.

That brings me to another recent conversation with a journalist who was ask-ing about apprentices who had managed to get into the housing market.

“So when you are an ap-prentice, you have a job?” the journalist asked.

“Yes,” I said. “And you get paid?” “Yes.” “And you don’t pay

fees?” “Well, no, not as

such. You might incur some costs but mostly for the tools of the trade.”

“And so you don’t have student loans?”

“No.”It all tells me a couple

of things. New Zealand has a successful and stable system for developing workforce skills that is internationally admired and even envied.

But here at home they don’t tell the schoolkids enough about it and our thousands of learners are much harder to notice since they are scattered across thousands of businesses all over the country.

It also makes it clear that the biggest reason we have a great industry training system is because New Zealand has great employers.

They work with their ITOs, invest in their people and deliver the skills to secure the future of their industries.

Josh Williams is the chief executive for the membership-based Industry Training Federation. It represents industry training organisations (ITOs) to government, and it works with agencies and sector groups to improve the policy for, and delivery of industry skill development and workplace learning. email [email protected]

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NEWSTALK

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allowed to comment.But he did offer some

insight into why custom-ers would consider spend-ing USD $200,000 (NZ $280,000) on retrofitting a Wrightspeed range-extend-ed electric powertrain called "The Route" into a heavy-duty 30 tonne municipal garbage truck.

"We target a three-year payback - instead of con-suming fuel at the rate of 1.1 kilometres per litre (2.6 miles per gallon) using a diesel en-gine, by using our powertrain the truck is consuming 60% less fuel at 2.55 kilometres per litre (6 miles per gallon)."

Wright says the lithium titanium oxide batteries that form part of the electric powertrain have a ten-year service life and the company chose diesel to power the

turbine generator be-cause most custom-ers have easy access to the fuel.

He also believes diesel engines in heavy duty applica-tions will disappear from central business districts and urban areas as local and central government clean air and noise reduction regula-tions become more stringent and more commonplace.

It's not just nitrous oxide emissions from diesel particulates that authorities should be concerned about, he says, but also the brake dust cre-ated by the hard stop-start nature of garbage truck operation.

"While you can't do it in

every case, through the re-generative brake system we can recover lots of energy from hard stops without us-ing the friction brakes, which is a saving for the customer and the environment."

Wright says global inter-est in Wrightspeed is now enormous and the company

is fielding enquiries from diverse industries such as mining, agriculture and snow grooming.

It has even received an enquiry from a prospective customer in Jordan which imports all its fossil fuels from neighbouring Middle Eastern countries.

Wrightspeed gears up for long-haul pushContinued from page 1

http://www.roadskills.co.nz


NEWSTALK

A new ready-to-install replacement wheel bearing solution is set

to hit the global market.Schaeffler Automotive

Aftermarket is ready to launch the FAG SmartSet wheel bearing replacement for trucks, buses, and trail-ers.

It's pre-lubricated and pre-assembled with pre-positioned tapered roller bearings and is a complete solution that can make a vi-tal contribution to reducing the total cost of ownership, Schaeffler says.

Fitting and mounting the wheel bearing unit is simpler and more reliable than ever before.

"With rising competition and price pressure, the total cost of ownership is increas-ingly a major focus of fleet operators and transport companies," says the com-pany's product and market-ing senior vice-president Robert Felger.

"When a repair is needed, it isn't the cheapest spare part that is decisive in low-ering operating costs, but the spare part that promises the longest reliability as seen over the lifespan of the truck.

"Whether it's the FAG SmartSet or our patented FAG repair insert unit, these holistic repair solutions – in the form of pre-assembled

and high-quality wheel bearing units – are key fac-tors in meeting the current needs of truck and bus repair specialists."

The FAG SmartSET was developed primarily for the independent aftermarket and is ideal for all types of truck, bus and trailer axles which use standard tapered roller bearings.

Its core elements are two pre-assembled wheel bear-ing units, each consisting of tapered roller bearings in an innovative cage design with retaining elements and specially-coated inner and outer rings.

The coating significantly protects the bearings from corrosion, slip wear and crack formation. A support sleeve pre-positions the

tapered roller bearings so rotating the wheel to adjust the bearings is no longer necessary.

The FAG SmartSet is pre-lubricated, which ensures mechanics always have the right amount and specified type of grease. And a per-manent dust cover prevents dirt from contaminating the oil.

It's a complete set that includes a pressing tool and means a fast, clean, and efficient repair process that minimises the sources of mistakes and creates cost benefits, Schaeffler says.

And while standard tapered roller bearings fall apart when removing the wheel hub, the FAG Smart-Set stays intact as a unit within it.

Typical time-consuming tasks, such as cleaning and then lubricating the hub or replacing the shaft sealing ring, are no longer required.

Compared to repairing standard tapered roller bearings, the solution al-lows workshop operators to save up to two hours per axle, depending on the vehicle model.

Different versions of the FAG SmartSet are available to cover numerous types of major truck, bus and axle manufacturers.

Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket has an instal-lation video and a techni-cal brochure available and additional information is accessible online at www.repxpert.com.

Pre-lubricated, pre-assembled, pre-positioned

All the Auto Industry HOT NEWS every day as it happens on www.autotalk.co.nzSubscribe online for FREE twice weekly updates direct to your email

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Fuso chasing Isuzu in registration stakes

NEW TRUCKS 3500-9000KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR' 17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

FUSO 38 20 90.0 26.4 155 63ISUZU 37 48 -22.9 25.7 133 195FIAT 21 19 10.5 14.6 105 72MERCEDES-BENZ 18 12 50.0 12.5 68 51HINO 17 26 -34.6 11.8 75 66RAM 5 3.5 18IVECO 4 8 -50.0 2.8 28 30OTHER 4 11 -63.6 2.8 26 41TOTAL 144 144 0.0 100.0 608 518

NEW TRUCKS 9001-23,000KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

ISUZU 21 27 -22.2 26.9 117 73HINO 19 25 -24.0 24.4 56 60UD TRUCKS 14 11 27.3 17.9 47 49FUSO 11 10 10.0 14.1 70IVECO 5 4 25.0 6.4 13 10OTHER 9 9 0.0 11.5 40 66TOTAL 78 86 -9.3 100.0 343 258

NEW TRUCKS OVER 23,001KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

VOLVO 31 25 24.0 20.3 129 96ISUZU 17 21 -19.0 11.1 94 84DAF 16 7 128.6 10.5 57 60KENWORTH 14 7 100.0 9.2 70 70HINO 12 21 -42.9 7.8 57 64SCANIA 10 10 0.0 6.5 39 39FUSO 8 5.2 25IVECO 7 5 40.0 4.6 20 13MERCEDES-BENZ

7 1 600.0 4.6 20 12

MACK 6 4 50.0 3.9 21 23OTHER 25 31 -19.4 16.3 120 137TOTAL 153 132 15.9 100.0 652 598


Market leader Isuzu Trucks is holding its own in the year

to the end of April with 371 new truck and bus registra-tions.

That's 30 units more than the previous corresponding period total of 341.

But Fuso Trucks is chas-ing hard with 299 truck and bus registrations, up 152 units from 147 registrations in the previous correspond-ing period.

Third-placed Hino is sit-ting on a year-to-date total of 188 new truck registra-tions, only three fewer than the previous corresponding period. In fourth place Volvo Trucks recorded 159 new truck registrations, up 51 units from 108 in the previ-ous corresponding period.

Mercedes-Benz is also

enjoying growth in 2017 and is now in fifth place with year-to-date new truck reg-istrations of 105 at April 30. That's up 33 units from 72 in the previous correspond-ing period.

Sixth-placed Fiat has 105 new truck registrations in the year to date, up from 72 in the previous correspond-ing period.

Isuzu holds steadyIsuzu Trucks lead the

market with 76 new truck registrations in April (98 in April 2016), followed by a resurgent Fuso with 65 (45 in April 2016) and Hino with 48, down from 73 in the previous corresponding period.

Volvo Trucks also en-joyed a resurgence in April to sit fourth on the table

with 39 new units up from 27 in the previous cor-responding period, as did Mercedes-Benz Trucks, with 29 new registrations up from 17 at the same time last year.

Fiat recorded 21 new truck registrations, up from 19 in the previous corre-sponding period, UD Trucks took 20 up from 16, DAF saw 18 up from 7, Scania took 16 up from 10, and Kenworth doubled its year-on-year tally for April to 14, up from 7.

Heavy duty leads the market

Heavy-duty trucks (over 23,001kg GVM) lead the market year to date at April 30 with 652 new registra-tions up from 598 at the same time last year.

Volvo heads the market with 129 registrations, up from 96 in the previous cor-responding period, followed by second-placed Isuzu on 94 units up from 84 in the previous corresponding period.

Third-placed DAF has three fewer registrations than last year’s tally of 60, while fourth-placed Ken-worth has registered 70 vehicles year to date, the

same tally as the previous corresponding period.

Fuso dominates light-duty sector

Light-duty trucks (3500 to 9000kg GVM) have the second highest registra-tion tally year-to-date with 608 units, up from 518 in the previous corresponding period.

Fuso has overtaken Isuzu as the light-duty market leader with 155 registrations up from 63.

Isuzu has lost some market share in light-duty segment taking 133 regis-trations in the year to date, down from 195 at the same time last year while third-placed Fiat jumped to 105 registrations from 72.

Medium-duty holds upYear to date at April 30,

the registrations of new medium-duty trucks (9001-23,000kg GVM) are hold-ing up well with 343 units recorded, up from 258 in the previous corresponding period.

Isuzu is holding on to market leadership in the sector with 117, up from 73 in April last year, while Fuso


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NEW TRUCKS & BUSES MAKES ALL WEIGHTS OVER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% CHANGE

MARKETYTD '17

YTD '16

ISUZU 76 98 -22.4 18.6 371 341FUSO 65 45 44.4 15.9 299 147HINO 48 73 -34.2 11.8 188 191VOLVO 39 27 44.4 9.6 159 108

MERCEDES-BENZ 29 17 70.6 7.1 116 84

FIAT 21 19 10.5 5.1 105 72UD TRUCKS 20 16 25.0 4.9 75 73DAF 18 7 157.1 4.4 63 66IVECO 16 17 -5.9 3.9 61 54SCANIA 16 10 60.0 3.9 71 55KENWORTH 14 7 100.0 3.4 70 70OTHER 46 60 -23.3 11.3 239 252TOTAL 408 396 3.0 100.0 1817 1513

NEW BUSES OVER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

FORD 9 27.3 22 8VOLVO 8 2 300.0 24.2 29 12BCI 4 12.1 20SCANIA 4 12.1 28 10MAN 3 7 -57.1 9.1 19 15OTHER 5 25 -80.0 15.2 96 124TOTAL 33 34 -2.9 100.0 214 169

NEW LIGHT COMMERCIAL MAKES UNDER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

Market Share

YTD '17

YTD '16

TOYOTA 810 768 5.5 22.3 3358 2732FORD 768 580 32.4 21.1 3166 2693HOLDEN 322 240 34.2 8.9 1462 1053MITSUBISHI 298 168 77.4 8.2 1164 1110ISUZU 283 275 2.9 7.8 1159 1022NISSAN 263 327 -19.6 7.2 1175 1012MAZDA 128 126 1.6 3.5 658 498HYUNDAI 90 69 30.4 2.5 377 265VOLKSWAGEN 90 86 4.7 2.5 404 429LDV 86 71 21.1 2.4 388 256OTHER 500 440 13.6 13.7 2425 2117TOTAL 3638 3150 15.5 100.0 15736 13187

Continued from page 21

stays in second place with 70 new medium-duty truck registrations.

In third place on the medium-duty table is Hino which is four units down from last year with a tally of 56. Fourth-placed UD Trucks listed 47 registra-tions, only two fewer than the previous corresponding period.

No complaints from Isuzu Isuzu Trucks New Zea-

land Ltd general manager Colin Muir attributes the lower number of year-on-year registrations to the timing of late build slots for heavy trucks.

“As the trucks come out of build our new registra-tion numbers should come right soon,” he says.

“We are still 30 new trucks ahead of where we were at in the same period last year but I have to say that Fuso has been very competitive and is picking up business in the light duty section of the market.

“But the wholesale pipe-line with customer names allocated to trucks is still fill-ing up very nicely - without

giving the game away, it’s a very good number.”

Muir says Isuzu Trucks is also enjoying growth in both market share and volume in the medium duty and heavy duty truck segments.

“We’re finding it hard to complain at the moment.”

Ranger heads the ute market

Light commercial vehicle registrations for the month of April stood at 3638, up strongly by 15.5% (489 units) on April 2016.

The Motor Industry As-sociation says it was the strongest month of April on record for the registration of new commercial vehicles.

Toyota was again the sector leader with 22% (810 units) followed by Ford with 21% (768 ) and Holden a distant third with 9% market share (322).

The Ford Ranger re-mained at the top of the best-selling vehicle model table with 698 units fol-lowed by the Toyota Hilux in second with 571 and the Holden Colorado with 312 units.

The top three selling models year-to-date are

Ford Ranger with 2912 units followed by the Toyota Hilux with 2289 and the Toyota Corolla with 1546.

The pick-up/cab-chassis in 4x4 drive configuration took 15% market share (1560 units) in April 2017 while the Pick-Up/Cab-chassis in 4x2 configuration took 10% market share (1112 ).

“Monthly registrations of 10,635 vehicles meant the strongest month of April on record, only the second time since the Motor Industry

Association began collect-ing data that the month of April has surpassed 10,000 units. The other time was way back in 1982,” MIA chief executive David Crawford says.

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USED LIGHT TRUCKS 3500-9000KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

ISUZU 34 28 21.4 27.9 149 111TOYOTA 32 27 18.5 26.2 128 112HINO 18 10 80.0 14.8 93 48MITSUBISHI 18 5 260.0 14.8 80 55NISSAN 7 5 40.0 5.7 36 43MAZDA 4 1 300.0 3.3 16 8FIAT 2 1.6 10 13OTHER 7 5 40.0 5.7 42 30TOTAL 122 81 50.6 100.0 554 420

USED BUSES OVER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

TOYOTA 2 1 100.0 66.7 9 4OTHER 1 4 -75.0 33.3 12 16TOTAL 3 5 -40.0 100.0 21 20


USED HEAVY TRUCKS OVER 23,001KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

SCANIA 3 25.0 7KENWORTH 2 1 100.0 16.7 11 8CATERPILLAR 1 1 0.0 8.3 2 1OTHER 6 7 -14.3 50.0 30 25TOTAL 12 9 33.3 100.0 50 34

USED MEDIUM TRUCKS 9001-23,000KG APRIL 2016

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

ISUZU 4 4 0.0 30.8 19 8HINO 2 3 -33.3 15.4 15 9VOLVO 2 15.4 5 2OTHER 5 4 25.0 38.5 23 13TOTAL 13 11 18.2 100.0 62 32

Used truck registrations improve rapidly

Registrations of im-ported used trucks and buses are improv-

ing year-on-year.There were 687 registra-

tions in the year to April 30, up from 506 in the previous

corresponding period.Isuzu Trucks has taken

over as the used imported truck market leader with 172 registrations year-to-date, up from 120 in April 2016.

Toyota holds second

place with 137 units, up from 116 in the previous corre-sponding period.

Third-placed Hino is sit-ting on 111 used imported truck registrations, up from 62, followed by Mitsubishi

in fourth on 87, up from 64, and Nissan in fifth with 49, up two units.

For the month of April, Isuzu lead the used import-ed truck market with 39 reg-istrations (33 in April 2016) followed by Toyota with 34 (28), Hino in third place with 20 (13), Mitsubishi fourth with 19 (ten) and Nissan in fifth with ten (six).

Used light-duty truck registrations booming

Registrations of used imported light-duty trucks (3500kg to 9000kg GVM) are booming with 554 units in the year to date, a significant increase from 420 in the corresponding period last year.

Isuzu Trucks leads the segment with a tally of 149, up from 111, followed by Toyota with 128, up from 112.

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USED TRUCK AND BUS ALL WEIGHTS OVER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

ISUZU 39 33 18.2 26.0 172 120TOYOTA 34 28 21.4 22.7 137 116HINO 20 13 53.8 13.3 111 62MITSUBISHI 19 10 90.0 12.7 87 64NISSAN 10 6 66.7 6.7 49 47MAZDA 4 1 300.0 2.7 16 8VOLVO 4 4 0.0 2.7 9 8SCANIA 3 2.0 9DAF 2 1 100.0 1.3 5 3FIAT 2 1.3 10 13OTHER 13 10 30.0 8.7 82 65TOTAL 150 106 41.5 100.0 687 506

USED LIGHT COMMERCIAL MAKES UNDER 3500KG APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

Market Share

YTD '17

YTD '16

TOYOTA 452 391 15.6 54.7 1924 1514NISSAN 187 198 -5.6 22.6 838 703MAZDA 54 52 3.8 6.5 321 195ISUZU 45 41 9.8 5.4 195 150FORD 33 32 3.1 4.0 128 106MITSUBISHI 27 26 3.8 3.3 145 119HOLDEN 22 17 29.4 2.7 77 59CHEVROLET 21 14 50.0 2.5 74 59HINO 20 13 53.8 2.4 111 62VOLKSWAGEN 8 6 33.3 1.0 36 28OTHER 39 36 8.3 4.7 234 158TOTAL 908 826 9.9 100.0 4083 3153

NEW TRACTOR REGISTRATIONS APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

JOHN DEERE 30 42 -28.6 36.6 144 135

KUBOTA 11 14 -21.4 13.4 38 47CASE IH 9 1 800.0 11.0 33 26DEUTZ-FAHR 6 6 0.0 7.3 27 19CLAAS 5 4 25.0 6.1 21 40MASSEY FERGUSON

5 6 -16.7 6.1 33 35

NEW HOLLAND 4 16 -75.0 4.9 39 47TRACTOR 4 7 -42.9 4.9 14 20FENDT 3 3.7 14OTHER 5 15 -66.7 6.1 54 72TOTAL 82 111 -26.1 100.0 417 441

USED TRACTOR REGISTRATIONS APRIL 2017

MAKEAPR '17

APR '16

% Change

% of Market

YTD '17

YTD '16

JOHN DEERE 12 15 -20.0 22.2 51 49

MASSEY FERGUSON

6 25 -76.0 11.1 34 82

SAME 4 1 300.0 7.4 11 15CASE 3 5 -40.0 5.6 12 21ISEKI 3 3 0.0 5.6 11 5MCCORMICK 3 2 50.0 5.6 6 9OTHER 23 42 -45.2 42.6 128 170TOTAL 54 93 -41.9 100.0 253 351


Hino sits in third with 93 units, up from 48. It's fol-lowed by fourth-placed Mit-subishi on 80, up from 55.

Used medium-duty (9001kg to 23,000kg) truck registrations tally 62 units in the year to date, up from 32 in the previous correspond-ing period.

Isuzu leads that segment of the market with 19 regis-trations, up from eight. Hino holds second place with 15, up from nine.

Fifty used heavy-duty trucks (over 23,001kg GVM) were registered in the year to date, up from 34 in the previous corresponding period.

Kenworth leads that mar-

ket with 11 registrations, up from eight.

Used light commercial juggernaut

The year to date registra-tions of used light commer-cials (under 3500kg GVM) tally 4083 units, a massive leap from 3153 units in the previous corresponding period.

Toyota leads the segment with 1924 units registered year to date, up from 1514 at the same time in 2016.

In second place with 838 units year to date is Nissan, which jumped from 703 in the previous correspond-ing period. Mazda follows in third place with 321, up from 195.

Isuzu sits in fourth place with 195, up from 150. Ford follows in fifth place with 128, up from 106.

For the month of April, Toyota lead the market with 452 units registered, up from 391 at the same time last year, followed by Nissan on 187, a slight decline from its April 2016 tally of 198.

Third-placed Mazda recorded 54 used light com-mercial registrations, two more than in the previous corresponding period.

It was followed by fourth-placed Isuzu with 45, four more than at the same time last year.

Ford, Mitsubishi, Holden, Chevrolet, Hino and Volk-swagen also saw increased used light commercial regis-trations in April.

Used truck and van arrivals decline

The number of used trucks and vans (under 3500kg GVM) arriving in New Zealand fell in April 2017 to 459 from 722 in the same month last year, ac-cording to the most recent NZ Customs motor vehicles statistics report.

The number of used truck and van arrivals (over 3500kg GVM) in April 2017 fell to 40 from 100 in March.

In the year to date, used truck and van arrivals (under 3500kg GVM) total 2356 and arrivals of used truck and vans (over 3500kg GVM) reached 312.

http://www.udc.co.nz

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PEOPLETALK

Darren Cottingham founded DT Driver Training (www.drivingtests.co.nz) in 2010. More than 70,000 drivers use its online training modules very month. [email protected]

Most developed na-tions are facing a truck driver shortage.

Auckland alone is several hundred short yet ‘truck driver’ appears on the Im-migration New Zealand skills shortage list only for Canterbury.

And it's not on the long-term or immediate skills shortage list because it was removed in 2014 when the Ministry for Business, Innova-tion and Employment thought the local industry could be doing a better job of training its own drivers.

Obviously it hasn’t worked. We have an aging driver pool, stagnant wages that don’t attract young drivers and an alarming number of exist-ing drivers failing random drug screening tests.

Import dutiesImporting drivers from

overseas is an option some firms are turning to. It creates additional costs in dealing with immigration paperwork and upskilling the drivers to ensure they are competent, but it's better than having trucks sitting idle.

To paraphrase the NZ Transport Agency: “Some countries require simi-lar driving skills and have similar licensing systems to New Zealand’s… other countries may have driver licensing systems that are very different.” For that read substandard.

Drivers from countries such as the Philippines are being brought in to drive trucks and buses. My com-pany has been involved in driver training in the Philip-

pines for several years and we are acutely aware of the issues there - and in other Asian nations - where it’s possible to pay a ‘fixer’ a bribe for a licence.

Even if a driver does the test, it is relatively simple, if a little time-consuming because of the bureaucracy. That's not unique to the Philippines.

It leaves New Zealand employers with the potential risk of hiring someone who has, on the face of it, ‘passed’

a driving test and achieved a level of competency that allows them to drive in New Zealand for up to 12 months without taking any form of local test.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, companies must identify risks in the workplace and Sec-tion 20 states a vehicle is a place of work. To mitigate the risk, employers must provide information, supervision, train-ing and instruction as stated in section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016.

Hiring drivers from overseasCompanies outside

Canterbury must be able to prove they have tried recruit-ing locally to fill a position, for example, by showing ad-vertising or evidence of en-gaging a recruitment agency, as well as relevant statistics that show shortages in the industry. And if no candi-

date is available, they can be asked if it's possible to train an existing staff member.

Companies must also ensure their terms of work – salary and working conditions – do not discourage New Zealanders from applying.

If a company meets those criteria, it can advertise and accept applicants from overseas.

"From placing the ad it can take between one and three months before the employee

arrives in New Zealand, de-pending on the time of year," says Immigration Advice NZ Ltd director Saif Shaikh who is experienced in helping companies source drivers.

He warns of the pitfalls of regional differences in recruitment from different countries and “while you can do things like verify documentation and licences yourself with the relevant agencies, a licensed immi-gration adviser will stream-line the process, especially when it comes to the many forms Immigration NZ requires."

Employers should also ensure recruiting overseas is affordable for them.

“Companies may be ex-pected to pay for the driver’s resettlement, including the airfare,” he says.

New immigration rules setting salary caps for skilled labour will make it more dif-ficult to recruit overseas and that's where an immigration

adviser will be able to assist.

Training new migrantsA driver with a heavy

vehicle licence in their home country can drive in New Zealand for 12 months using that licence, but endorse-ments such as being able to carry dangerous goods must be taken here.

Larger firms have the staff resources and systems to ensure a driver gets the right training but it can be more of a burden for a smaller company.

The best process for training and inducting a new driver is:1. Online theory-based

training – it’s cost-effec-tive, even at the recruit-ment stage. It’s essential any new migrant knows the road rules, truck load-ing code, driver health and safety policies, work-time requirements and how to fill out a logbook.

2. Practical in-cab assess-ments – addressing any bad habits and ensuring recruits actually know how to drive.

3. Role-specific training – how to load/unload spe-cific vehicles and cargo they will be carrying; rules around the workplace; any other endorsements they might need.Bringing over the right

driver and giving them the right training can be a profit-able decision but companies should ensure they get the right immigration advice be-fore starting the process.

Darren Cottingham 's company also operates driver training in Australia, the UK and the Philippines.

Is employing an overseas driver a good idea?


PEOPLETALK

Warwick Quinn is the chief executive of the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation, New Zealand's largest provider of construction trade apprenticeships. It is appointed by the Government to develop and implement industry qualifications and it provides a range of apprenticeships across 15 [email protected]

New Zealand is in the grips of a construc-tion boom. While

everyone knows it follows the global financial crisis (GFC) not everyone realises just what a construction recession that was.

The GFC lasted for some time and construction activity plummeted to its lowest levels ever recorded, staying there for many years.

In fact, the number of homes that weren’t built dur-ing the GFC was double the number of homes that weren’t built in all other recessions combined.

Auckland fared the worst with 35,000 fewer homes built in the last ten years than the previous ten. Yet its population grew by about 240,000 – it's little wonder we have a housing crisis.

After going from 31,500 new builds in 2004 to 13,500 in 2010, the industry ‘restruc-tured’ itself. It shed staff, didn’t train, hunkered down and hung on by its fingernails wait-ing for things to improve.

Fast forward to today and we are booming. But the level of activity is only at our long-run build rate (6.5 new homes per 1000 people) and we have some way to go to replace the shortfall.

Coming off such a low base is part of the problem. While apprentice numbers are on the rise, there is an 18-month lag on apprentice training as tradies need certainty of work before they will employ them. That lag can be a drag on growth so immigrants are used to fill the void.

As the economy recovers, the competition for potential apprentices heats up. NZ Inc will be fighting over fewer school leavers for the next

decade because we experi-enced our lowest birth rate ever from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.

The BCITO looks after 15 construction trades and works closely with each sector to ensure it reflects their specific needs. It has recently devel-oped individual workforce development plans for each of them and will roll out those over the next few years.

It also has to look at what the market values in the way of skills. With firm specialisation occurring at an ever-increasing pace we must consider wheth-

er its current suite of qualifica-tions is sufficient and whether we need to be more nimble to reflect this specialisation.

We know current qualifica-tions address the needs for part of the market but not all of it. In order to increase the number of firms that train and attract more prospects into construction, we have to think laterally and align our skills development with employer requirements.

To that end we have the Government's support to trial a system that will recognise specific skill sets. It's an excit-

ing and radical development that other industries and ITOs are keen to follow.

We also have to ensure school-leavers and their influ-encers (mums, dads, teachers, career advisers etc) see con-struction as a genuine career option, that going to university isn’t the only choice and ‘earn as you learn’ in a trade is as rewarding, if not more so, than the professional pathway.

The universities have a head start on us because ITOs have only been around for 25 years but I think we are catching up.

Changing the attitudes of influencers is a long-run game but one we have to play.

We don’t want to get to cri-sis point and require govern-ment intervention to right the ship, which is what has hap-pened in South Korea - ranked one of the most innovative countries in the OECD.

It encouraged too many school leavers to attend university and now gradu-ates cannot get the jobs they trained for and there aren’t enough tradespeople to build the county’s infrastructure. The country's now implementing

an apprentice regime for the first time in its history.

Cue BCITO’s “Not Your Average Tradie Road Trip”.

The campaign leverages off last year's “Not Your Aver-age Shed” campaign and the Industry Training Federation’s annual “Got a Trade, Got it Made” campaign.

It is designed to raise aware-ness of the critical demand for apprentices in the construc-tion industry and to promote the benefits of a career in the trades. The four-week trip left Auckland on April 10 to visit Tauranga, New Plymouth and

Wanaka before heading back to Auckland.

A group of talented BCITO tradies have been carrying out work in a range of locations includ-ing dedicated spaces for at-risk youth, a health and social services provider, a surf club, schools and on

properties with Habitat for Humanity.

We have ‘30 jobs in 30 days’ and showcase all the trades we cover. Every minute is being filmed and follow-ers can log on to bcito.tv and follow the apprentices around the country – it’s like our own version of reality TV.

At the time of writing we have had a fantastic response and have generated a huge following. We have had ten time more ‘hits’ than for the same period in last year’s cam-paign which was an incredible success in its own right.

From recession to boom

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PEOPLETALK

A former MP and minister of the crown, Ken Shirley became the chief executive officer of the Road Transport Forum New Zealand (RTFNZ) in 2010. The forum was set up as a national body in 1997 to responsibly promote and advance the interests of the road transport industry, and its member road transport operators. Email: [email protected]

As the peak body for the road transport industry, one of the

Road Transport Forum’s key roles is to advocate for the interests of our three asso-ciations and their members.

That's especially impor-tant when safe and efficient commercial road freight activity is under threat.

I was extremely pleased that once again our advo-cacy work contributed to a positive outcome with the recent announcement that key enforcement staff with-in the Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit (CVIU) would be maintained.

A police consulta-tion document had proposed the dises-tablishment of all of the CVIU’s 26 vehicle safety officers (VSOs) after a perceived shortfall in the road policing budget was revealed.

The rationale was that as sworn officers not suf-ficiently trained in broader policing duties, the VSOs were hindering the flexible deployment of resources around the country.

As is often the case with government agencies, there was a fair amount of brinks-manship involved in the proposal and, as intended, it did force the Government into allocating an extra $10 million to the $960 million road policing fund.

It must be remembered the proposal to cut the VSOs came from an internal police discussion document that was widely leaked and which, no doubt, met the anticipated response.

At the end of the day it was a win-win. The police got what they wanted, which was more resources for road

policing, and the road trans-port industry and other road users will be relieved the expertise of the VSOs will not be lost to budget cuts.

The industry is well aware of the complexity of the rules and permitting regimes around the dimensions, use and operation of heavy commercial vehicles. To accurately and fairly enforce them requires a high degree of technical and industry knowledge, a particular strength of the VSOs.

What’s more, they play

a critical role in educating drivers about their compli-ance obligations and what to look for in specific pieces of equipment.

The forum believes their disestablishment would have left a serious vacuum of knowledge and talent that would have negatively impact on heavy vehicle compliance, heavy vehicle safety and, ultimately, the safety of other road users.

New Zealand’s road toll climbed from 253 in 2013 to 327 in 2016. We know there are many reasons for this but for a concerned public looking to apportion blame, heavy vehicles are an easy target.

The reality is that the number of deaths involving trucks more than halved from 121 in 1994 to 58 in 2015. The number of fatal crashes involving a truck for every 100 million kilome-tres driven has also fallen by

more than a third since the early 2000s.

Regardless of the statis-tics, it was worrying the po-lice would consider cuts in heavy vehicle enforcement at a time when the Govern-ment is under pressure to reduce the road toll.

Had the proposal gone ahead it certainly wouldn’t have done road freight transport any favours in the eyes of other road users.

As well as safety consider-ations, the RTF's submissions also focused on the need for

effective policing for heavy vehicles from a commer-cial fairness and neutrality perspective.

If operators could speed, overload, breach the work-time rule or operate non-compliant equipment, not only would they be unsafe but they would also com-pete unfairly for business. That would have had the perverse effect of driving freight rates below sustain-able industry levels.

The last thing we want is a situation where the com-pliant subsidise the non-compliant and lose business to them.

We know there's an imbalance in policing cover across the country, with some areas being over-policed while others are very rarely covered.

There is also inadequate policing of commercial ve-hicles below six tonne gross mass and agricultural vehi-

cles which regularly abuse the rules. Those inconsisten-cies cause more than a few grumbles in our industry and do nothing to encourage compliance.

Despite this, the RTF was adamant that the integrity of the regulatory process should be preserved as much as possible by retain-ing the VSOs. You cannot on the one hand introduce a new regime like VDAM that arguably makes the rules more complex, then take away the very people who

are there to enforce it. That makes no sense.

Finally, the po-lice proposal also included the sugges-tion that the CVIU be renamed the “Commercial Vehicle Prevention Team”. Now, I don’t know if

this was somebody trying to be funny or was actually a serious attempt at rebrand-ing, but such a name is totally unacceptable to our industry.

The RTF has proposed that the CVIU retain its cur-rent name or, if the police really have to rebrand it, they should use something a lot less accusatorial such as the “Commercial Vehicle Policing Unit” or simply the “Commercial Vehicle Unit”.

Common sense has pre-vailed in relation to the VSOs but we have yet to hear the outcome of the proposed name change.

Nevertheless, it is pleas-ing the concerns of the Road Transport Forum and the industry have been listened to so far.

Reducing the emphasis on compliance is definitely not in the best interests of our industry or those who share the roads with us.

Government sees sense


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DIESELtalk editor

Robert Barry

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gone by on

dieseltalk.co.nz

-daily news for the

heavy transport and

equipment sectors.

Ro

ber

t B

arry

DIARY

DIARYTALK

April 3City rail link creating estimated 1600 jobsBuilding the city rail link (CRL) will require an estimated 1600 workers at the peak of construction according to economic development and transport minister Simon Bridges.

The joint project between Government and Auckland Council is New Zealand’s larg-est transport infrastructure project.

Construction of the early works began in December 2015, with the project expect-ed to be complete by 2024.

Kiwi companies becoming foreign-owned puppetsNZ First leader and Northland member of parliament Win-ston Peters says he is con-cerned about sales of iconic Kiwi companies and land hold-ings to foreign owners

Peters says the sale of Cook Strait ferry service Blue-bridge and trucking company Freight Lines to Australian investors is another example of foreign owners gaining increased control of Kiwi businesses.

“The late Jim Barker showed great ingenuity es-tablishing his company Strait Shipping, and it is sad to see control now going over the ditch,” says Peters.

April 5Waste Management signing up released prisonersWaste Management is sign-

ing up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Corrections which will see it offering trans-port and other related jobs to released prisoners.

It is the 100th employer to sign an MOU with the Department says corrections minister Louise Upston.

Waste Management will work with Corrections and offer released prisoners roles such as drivers, administration, computer operator, runners, landfill operators, general op-erators, labourers, diesel me-chanics and call centre roles

Scania sees 40% increase in alternative fuels and hybridsScania is reporting a 40% increase in the sales of hybrid and alternative fuelled heavy commercial vehicles globally in 2016, nearly 5000 units.

The manufacturer says this number is proof of the company’s efforts to lead the shift towards a sustainable transport system.

“The demand for vehicles that support the transition to sustainable transport is grow-ing, and so is the demand for services that help fleet owners in reducing fuel consumption, carbon emissions and cost,” says Scania chief executive officer and company president Henrik Henriksson.

IAG purchasing telematics company CCSIAG is purchasing fleet effi-ciency and safe driver coach-ing business, CCS Innovation in Logistics (CCS) to add more value to its Fleet Fit proposition for commercial fleet custom-ers.

Corinne Watson estab-lished CCS in 2005, providing a New Zealand-wide proposi-tion from its Christchurch and Morrinsville offices.

CCS employs six people and is a New Zealand leader in data-driven fleet management says IAG.

Late toll payers fork out $2.4 millionPenalties are helping con-tribute to payments on New Zealand’s toll roads.

The NZ Transport Agency collected $2.4 million in pen-alty payments from July 2015 to June 2016 from drivers who failed to pay on time for the tolls they’d clocked up, the Waikato Times reports.

That’s on top of the esti-mated $27.7 million collected for the same period from the tolls themselves, NZTA spokes-man Andy Knackstedt says.

April 7Napier Port boss calling time in DecemberThe chief executive of Napier Port Garth Cowie is announc-ing his retirement in December 2017 after 37 years of service in the shipping industry.

Cowie gave notice of his impending retirement to the Napier Port Board this week to allow plenty of time for a robust recruitment process and thorough handover to his successor.

Napier Port chairman Alasdair MacLeod says Cowie should take great pride in his achievements that have positioned Napier Port well for the future.

Review of Northland land transport plan under wayA legally-required three-yearly review has begun of what is effectively the master plan for land transport right across Northland.

The regional land trans-port plan (RLTP) 2015-2021 details local roading projects proposed by Northland’s three district councils, state

highway projects put forward by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and strategic projects and public transport matters dealt with by the Northland Regional Council (NRC).

Regional councillor John Bain says both the RLTP itself – and the review of it every three years are a legal require-ment.

First operational EV for DHL Express AustraliaDHL Express is putting its first fully electric vehicle on Australian roads following a successful trial.

The fully-electric Renault Kangoo ZE Van and will be used as the company mail car in Sydney, driving between DHL Express offices.

The Kangoo ZE is joining a DHL Express fleet of hybrid de-livery vans. It can complete a journey of an estimated 100+ kilometres on a single charge, eliminating the production of 4.75 tonnes of carbon emis-sions from the environment over the course of one year. It runs on a Lithium-ion battery and takes six to nine hours to complete a full charge.

April 10Scania introducing Apple CarPlayScania is adding Apple CarPlay to the new generation truck’s infotainment system, allow-ing for safe access to all the functionality of iPhones by mirroring them seamlessly.

Scania is among the first in the industry to offer Apple CarPlay in heavy trucks.

“Scania’s infotainment system will work with Apple CarPlay, allowing a safer way to use an iPhone while on the move,” says Scanian Trucks product management vice president Björn Fahlström.

Commercial and residential construction boom boosting crane numbersThere are 132 cranes currently



DIARYTALK

standing in New Zealand’s cit-ies (15 more than six months ago) as the result of the country’s ongoing construc-tion boom

Rider Levett Bucknall is reporting these figures in its 2017 second-quarter RLB Crane Index which it is releas-ing today.

“In Auckland, strong eco-nomic growth driven by high inward migration and increas-ing tourist numbers, along with housing activity, manufactur-ing and consumer spending, has seen the economy con-tinuing to drive the construc-tion industry, where demand is stretching supply,” says RLB director Chris Haines.

April 11‘Black Pack’ most popular Ram 2500 optionFiat Chrysler New Zealand (FCNZ) says that 80% of buyers are taking up the option of the $10,000 Black Appearance Group package on the new Ram 2500.

March 2017 saw seven new registrations in New Zealand of the factory-backed and warrantied right-hand-drive Ram vehicles which Ameri-can Special Vehicles (ASV) is remanufacturing in Melbourne, Australia for retail consumption on both sides of the Tasman.

FCNZ Ram brand manager Greg McDonald confirmed to Auto Media Group that most of the seven vehicles regis-tered in March which cost more than $163,000 were sold in the Auckland region, but he says before then, Ram sales have come from all parts of the 13-dealer network in New Zealand.

Retail fuel spend up 7% in March quarterThe rise in retail spending in the March quarter was driven by an increase in fuel spending according to Stats NZ.

When adjusted for sea-sonal effects, expenditure in the retail industries rose 1.7% in the March 2017 quarter,

after a 1.5% increase in the December 2016 quarter.

Spending rose in five of the six retail industries in the March quarter

April 12Guilty plea in EROAD insider trading caseA person pleaded guilty at the Auckland District Court to one charge of insider trading under section 243 Financial Markets Conduct Act – namely, being an information insider advis-ing or encouraging another person to trade. That defend-ant will be sentenced at the Auckland District Court on 13 June 2017 at 2.15pm.

The charges were filed in relation to trading in shares of EROAD.

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) alleges that an EROAD employee sent text messages to a former EROAD employee that contained confidential material infor-mation relating to EROAD’s performance in the period to 30 September 2015. That individual then traded 15,000 EROAD shares.

National Road Carriers plugs income insurance gap for membersNational Road Carriers (NRC) says it is addressing the lack of affordable income protection insurance currently available in the road transport industry.

It is introducing a new lifestyle interruption insur-ance cover exclusively to its members with the help of employee benefits advisory group Super Advice.

NRC developed a bespoke insurance product that is funded by employers to ben-efit their employees.

No March Madness reports ANZ TruckometerThe ANZ Truckometer heavy traffic index and the light traffic index both lifted in March 2017.

The heavy traffic index rose 1.7% month on month, while the light traffic index

lifted 1.0% month on month.The heavy traffic index

continues to trend sharply upwards after a lull in mid-2016. The upward trend in the light traffic index has shown a few wobbles of late, sug-gesting New Zealand may see economic growth moderate later in the year.

April 13Report highlights delayed payment unfairnessSmall businesses being used to finance large multinationals through delayed payments is not on, says Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley.

Commenting on the findings of the inquiry into payment times and practices in Australia by the Austral-ian small business and family enterprise Ombudsman (AS-BFEO), Shirley says that large corporations here should not be able to bully small businesses into delayed or deferred payment terms.

“What the Australian inquiry found was that there was a growing trend for large companies to extend payment times to their suppliers out to 45, 60, 90 or even 120 days,” says Shirley.

April 14Palmerston North rural ring road a step closerThe Government is confirm-ing funding for the next stage of two critical sections of the Palmerston North rural ring road.

The two projects will improve the connections on State Highway 3 between Kairanga and Bunnythorpe, and on Napier Road, from Keith Street to Whakarongo.

“The Palmerston North Rural Ring Road is an impor-tant part of the Manawatu-Whanganui freight distribution network,” says economic development and transport minister Simon Bridges.

April 18More Government cash prevents loss of vehicle safety officersThe Government is inject-ing another $10 million into the National Land Transport Fund held by the New Zealand Transport Agency for road policing to prevent the loss of 26 non-sworn police vehicle safety officers (VSO).

The VSOS are part of Police’s Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit (CVIU) and are responsible for roadside safety inspections of heavy commercial vehicles; they are also called to inspect the aftermath of any crash involv-ing a truck.

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that transport minister Simon Bridges and police minister Paula Bennett approached finance minister Steven Joyce last week with a request for more funding to prevent losing the 26 VSOS through a proposed Police restructure.

South Port death was preventable says WorkSafePutting interim controls for significant risks in place at the time of identifying them would have prevented a visitor’s death at South Port New Zea-land in November 2015, says WorkSafe New Zealand.

The victim drowned when he lost control of his vehicle and slid off a wharf where there was ineffective cleaning.

Wet superphosphate ferti-liser which is known to be very slippery was contaminating the surface of the wharf, after the loading of the material onto a vessel. Despite an initial sweep of the berth, the surface remained contaminated for two days.

Auckland Council appoints new maintenance contract suppliers.Six companies will take over the maintenance services for Auckland Council replacing




DIARYTALK

the current seventeen suppli-ers operating across the re-gion, eight of which are owned by foreign interests.

A four-month long pro-curement process is resulting in the new contracts, which take effect July 1. Auckland Council is expecting added value up to the tune of $30 million through the new sup-ply structure. Suppliers fall into three contract types; full facilities (parks, open spaces and building maintenance); arboriculture services (tree maintenance), and ecological services (restoration, biodi-versity, pest control).

These new contracts will cover the whole Auckland region, structured in service areas aligned with local board boundaries.

Beca appoints new executive chairpersonBeca is naming a long-serving employee David Carter as its new executive chairperson this month succeeding Richard Aitken who is stepping down after eight years in the role.

Carter previously held the positions of Asia regional director, Asia; managing director of Beca Australia; and managing director, corporate operations.

He holds numerous board roles with Beca, has nearly 30 years of experience in strategy and management and has an extensive track record in leading and delivering major infrastructure projects.

More than 800 rubbish trucks to go electricA company that has 800 trucks collecting rubbish has joined the drive to electrify New Zea-land’s transport fleet.

Waste Management already generates electric-ity from rubbish to power its cars, and now its first electric truck is collecting supermar-ket food waste.

“As soon as we are con-fident this thing is what we expect it to be, we will progressively move to convert

our collection fleet to plug-in electric,” Waste Management CEO Tom Nickels told

April 19Tesla announces September Class 8 EV truck unveilingTesla boss Elon Musk set the Twittersphere alight over the Easter weekend announcing the arrival of an all-electric powered USA Class 8 Semi Truck in September 2017 which he described as “Next Level.”

“[The]Team has done an amazing job,” tweeted Musk.

According to CNET.Com, Musk brought up the Tesla Semi plan during the USA summer of 2016, when he un-veiled his “master plan.” which also included the possibility of a Tesla EV pick-up truck in the next twelve to eighteen months.

Auckland’s $1.85 billion East West link opposedPublic submissions over-whelmingly oppose plans for one of New Zealand’s most expensive roading projects.

The Environmental Protec-tion Authority (EPA) released a report earlier this month showing 685 people submit-ted on the NZ Transport Agen-cy’s $1.25 billion to $1.85b East West Link, Stuff reports.

The number of submissions opposing the project in full or in part was 582, or 85%

April 21Supersizing fuel-cell technology for heavy trucksToyota is adapting its advanced hydrogen fuel-cell technology for use in heavy-duty trucks.

The company has scaled-up its proprietary fuel-cell technology from the Mirai passenger car to develop a power source for a 36-tonne semi-trailer.

Known as Project Portal, Toyota will use the hydrogen-fuelled concept truck to con-duct a feasibility study. It will

haul cargo between the ports of Los Angeles and nearby Long Beach without producing any tailpipe emissions

April 24Joining forces to find 1000 more truck driversThe trucking industry and the Government’s Sector Work-force Engagement Programme (SWEP) are joining forces to get as many as 1000 more drivers into the road freight transport sector nationwide.

The greatest shortages are in the Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Canterbury regions.

Auckland-based National Road Carriers surveyed its members last year and found they required 744 more drivers.

April 26EROAD anticipating a net loss up to $6.5 millionDue to US market investment and changing the accounting estimate relating to the amor-tisation of development costs EROAD expects it will report a net loss before tax for the year between $5.5 million and $6.5 million.

In its quarterly update to the market released on April 24, EROAD says its contracted units grew 30% from 36,953 at March 31, 2016 to 48,041 at March 31, 2017.

The transport services pro-vider says it is expecting unit sales will continue to grow steadily and firmly in New Zea-land and Australia and more modestly in the US.

LDV New Zealand scores the hat trickLDV automotive brand manufacturer SAIC Motor is awarding its Distributor of the Year title to the New Zealand franchise agent for the third consecutive year.

Great Lake Motor Distribu-tors (GLMD) trading as LDV New Zealand was present at the global distributor con-

ference in Shanghai, China, where chairperson Rick Cooper received the Distribu-tor of the Year award.

“GLMD has worked very hard for this award, increasing their market share of the van segment to 15% making them the global leader. 2016 saw GLMD increase their LDV sales over 117% over the previous year,” says SAIC Motor presi-dent Mr Lan.

Mainfreight leaps on to Corporate Reputation IndexMarket researcher AMR is ranking Air New Zealand as the number one company on its NZ Corporate Reputation Index for the second consecu-tive year, followed by Toyota New Zealand at number two, again for the second succes-sive year.

Ranked in eighth place for 2017, Mainfreight is a newcomer to the NZ Corpo-rate Reputation Index, while family-owned infrastructure operator Fulton Hogan has re-tained 11th place for the sec-ond successive year according to the New Zealand Herald which published the list in it’s business section today.

According to the New Zea-land Herald, the 25 compa-nies included in this index are sourced from the Deloitte Top 200 list that ranks companies by revenue.


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DIARYTALK

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12 | AUTOTALK FEBRUARY 2015 | www.autotalk.co.nz

THE DIARY

AutoTalk's managing editor looks at the month gone by on AutoTalk.co.nzR

ich

ard

Ed

war

ds

NEWSTALK

January 5ANCAP aligns protocols with Euro NCAP

From 2015, the Australasian New Car Assessment Pro-gramme (ANCAP) will align its testing protocols with those of the European NCAP.While the physical crash tests

are close to identical, analysis of the resulting data is slightly different. From now, Euro NCAP results will be released in New Zealand and Australia without being reassessed by ANCAP, however they will still carry the

ANCAP brand.

Fewer large cars no barrier to safety says AAWhile big cars didn’t dominate the ANCAP list for 2014, the range of small to medium ve-

hicles with 5-star safety ratings continues to grow according to the New Zealand Automo-bile Association.“The Mazda3, the 2014 New Zealand Car of the Year,

along with the Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Polo and Honda Accord have all been awarded 5-star safety ratings this year, so the New Zealand fleet is becoming safer,” says AA motoring services general manager Stella Stocks.

January 7Swift range revised after ten years at the top

To celebrate the Suzuki Swift achieving a decade of being New Zealand’s top selling light car, the New Zealand distribu-tor has axed two model vari-ants, and dropped the price on

the base model by 5%.The entry-level 1.4-litre GL model now carries a recom-mended retail price of $18,990,

plus on-road costs, for the manual version, and $19,990, plus on-road costs, for the automatic transmission model.

January 8Giant DMS company promises faster technology ‘down under’

The formation of a giant global DMS company – CDK Global, Inc. – has been welcomed by one of the biggest automotive softtware providers in Australa-sia, TSI.

“The formation of CDK, along with the operational autonomy it now has, is espe-cially exciting for those of us in the world’s smaller mar-kets,” says TSI’s group general

manager, Darryn Crothall.

January 13Speeding review requestedPolice Minister Michael Woodhouse has asked Police

to undertake a review of the public messages that under-pinned the 2014/15 summer

road safety campaign.The ‘zero tolerance’ campaign has been widely criticised as taking the focus off safe driving.NZ to get Honda supercarWhile Jazz, Civic and CRV may

lead Honda on volume in New Zealand, the company has confirmed it will have some-thing more interesting as a

halo model next year.Managing director Nobuya Sonada has confirmed today the NSX supercar will be launched here.

January 14Call for review on taxi regulationThe leader of the Act party has called for a review of rules governing taxi-service style apps, such as Uber.The technology has hit the headlines in the last week

with Police stoping and fin-ing Uber drivers for allegedly using their smartphones as taxi meters. At times this has

meant the leaving of passen-gers on the roadside.NZ Hyundai dealers dig in for rally champHyundai WRC works driver Hayden Paddon’s partnership

with Hyundai New Zealand, and its dealer network, has been strengthened with a deal that will support him through the next twelve rallies in his WRC i20 car.

Economist’s theory on imports misses key point – IMVIAA think piece issued by eco-nomics firm Infometrics has been dismissed as ‘completely incorrect’ by the Imported Mo-tor Vehicle Industry Association.The claims by economist

Benje Patterson, say that fur-ther dropping of tariffs from the Japanese-Australian vehi-cle trade could severely affect the New Zealand market for vehicles.

January 15Scrapage rates fall as fleet growsThe number of vehicles leaving

New Zealand’s fleet rose this year – but is still tracking well behind the number entering.According to Turner’s mar-

ket report, a total of 138,805 vehicles left the market last year, up 4% for all of 2013.Fiat Chrysler NZ boss


Due to strong growth over the past 12 months one of

Auckland’s leading vehicle retailers, Buy Right Cars, is

looking for an experienced buyer to join a STRONG VEHICLE PURCHASING TEAM.

The Buyer will be responsible for:

Accountabilities include:

The successful applicant would have/be:

• purchasing stock in NZ• purchasing stock from auctions in Japan • pricing trade in’s• analysing the used car market trends and providing

suggestions on purchasing strategy• analysing reconditioning costs for vehicle types to be

incorporated into pricing strategy

• Assist in documenting the vehicle testing process• Ensure vehicle purchase prices are always maintained at wholesale market value after taking into account reconditioning/repair costs• Secure vehicle purchasing volumes

• A minimum of 5 years experience as a buyer either in Japan or using contacts in NZ• Honest, trustworthy and hardworking• Ability to analyse and interpret market trends• Strong interpersonal skills• Strong contacts within the NZ dealership market

We need someone who can commit weekdays and half a day on Saturday and the role may involve a few business trips to Japan each year.In return, the successful applicant will be rewarded with a competitive remuneration package and a challenging fast paced environment.

If this role sounds like a good fit, please email

expressions of interest to Qiuchee Wong at

[email protected], or call 0274 482 433 if you’d like further information.

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12 | AUTOTALK FEBRUARY 2015 | www.autotalk.co.nz

THE DIARY

AutoTalk's managing editor looks at the month gone by on AutoTalk.co.nzR

ich

ard

Ed

war

ds

NEWSTALK

January 5ANCAP aligns protocols with Euro NCAP

From 2015, the Australasian New Car Assessment Pro-gramme (ANCAP) will align its testing protocols with those of the European NCAP.While the physical crash tests

are close to identical, analysis of the resulting data is slightly different. From now, Euro NCAP results will be released in New Zealand and Australia without being reassessed by ANCAP, however they will still carry the

ANCAP brand.

Fewer large cars no barrier to safety says AAWhile big cars didn’t dominate the ANCAP list for 2014, the range of small to medium ve-

hicles with 5-star safety ratings continues to grow according to the New Zealand Automo-bile Association.“The Mazda3, the 2014 New Zealand Car of the Year,

along with the Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Polo and Honda Accord have all been awarded 5-star safety ratings this year, so the New Zealand fleet is becoming safer,” says AA motoring services general manager Stella Stocks.

January 7Swift range revised after ten years at the top

To celebrate the Suzuki Swift achieving a decade of being New Zealand’s top selling light car, the New Zealand distribu-tor has axed two model vari-ants, and dropped the price on

the base model by 5%.The entry-level 1.4-litre GL model now carries a recom-mended retail price of $18,990,

plus on-road costs, for the manual version, and $19,990, plus on-road costs, for the automatic transmission model.

January 8Giant DMS company promises faster technology ‘down under’

The formation of a giant global DMS company – CDK Global, Inc. – has been welcomed by one of the biggest automotive softtware providers in Australa-sia, TSI.

“The formation of CDK, along with the operational autonomy it now has, is espe-cially exciting for those of us in the world’s smaller mar-kets,” says TSI’s group general

manager, Darryn Crothall.

January 13Speeding review requestedPolice Minister Michael Woodhouse has asked Police

to undertake a review of the public messages that under-pinned the 2014/15 summer

road safety campaign.The ‘zero tolerance’ campaign has been widely criticised as taking the focus off safe driving.NZ to get Honda supercarWhile Jazz, Civic and CRV may

lead Honda on volume in New Zealand, the company has confirmed it will have some-thing more interesting as a

halo model next year.Managing director Nobuya Sonada has confirmed today the NSX supercar will be launched here.

January 14Call for review on taxi regulationThe leader of the Act party has called for a review of rules governing taxi-service style apps, such as Uber.The technology has hit the headlines in the last week

with Police stoping and fin-ing Uber drivers for allegedly using their smartphones as taxi meters. At times this has

meant the leaving of passen-gers on the roadside.NZ Hyundai dealers dig in for rally champHyundai WRC works driver Hayden Paddon’s partnership

with Hyundai New Zealand, and its dealer network, has been strengthened with a deal that will support him through the next twelve rallies in his WRC i20 car.

Economist’s theory on imports misses key point – IMVIAA think piece issued by eco-nomics firm Infometrics has been dismissed as ‘completely incorrect’ by the Imported Mo-tor Vehicle Industry Association.The claims by economist

Benje Patterson, say that fur-ther dropping of tariffs from the Japanese-Australian vehi-cle trade could severely affect the New Zealand market for vehicles.

January 15Scrapage rates fall as fleet growsThe number of vehicles leaving

New Zealand’s fleet rose this year – but is still tracking well behind the number entering.According to Turner’s mar-

ket report, a total of 138,805 vehicles left the market last year, up 4% for all of 2013.Fiat Chrysler NZ boss


Due to strong growth over the past 12 months one of

Auckland’s leading vehicle retailers, Buy Right Cars, is

looking for an experienced buyer to join a STRONG VEHICLE PURCHASING TEAM.

The Buyer will be responsible for:

Accountabilities include:

The successful applicant would have/be:

• purchasing stock in NZ• purchasing stock from auctions in Japan • pricing trade in’s• analysing the used car market trends and providing

suggestions on purchasing strategy• analysing reconditioning costs for vehicle types to be

incorporated into pricing strategy

• Assist in documenting the vehicle testing process• Ensure vehicle purchase prices are always maintained at wholesale market value after taking into account reconditioning/repair costs• Secure vehicle purchasing volumes

• A minimum of 5 years experience as a buyer either in Japan or using contacts in NZ• Honest, trustworthy and hardworking• Ability to analyse and interpret market trends• Strong interpersonal skills• Strong contacts within the NZ dealership market

We need someone who can commit weekdays and half a day on Saturday and the role may involve a few business trips to Japan each year.In return, the successful applicant will be rewarded with a competitive remuneration package and a challenging fast paced environment.

If this role sounds like a good fit, please email

expressions of interest to Qiuchee Wong at

[email protected], or call 0274 482 433 if you’d like further information.

ENTRY LEVEL

DIGITAL ONLY PACK


TESTTALK

The arrival of two V6 powered versions of the Volkswagen Ama-

rok has bumped the previ-ous range-leading Highline down the ranks.

The model, along with the rest of the Amarok range, received a realign-ment and slight redesign at the same time. The Highline received a $1000 price cut to $64,990.

The drivetrain remains. The 2-litre turbodiesel engine produces 132kW and 240Nm, paired with the eight-speed automatic.

Volkswagen says the Am-arok remains the only ute in the market with permanent all-wheel drive or 4MOTION in its lexicon. All models now use the system - rear-wheel drive Amaroks are gone.

So, what else is new?The exterior changes are

subtle, with a new front end, more structured look, extra chrome trim and new bi-xenon headlights

Inside, the update is more dramatic, with a redesigned dashboard, infotainment system and additional centre console storage.

The quality of the Amarok’s interior contin-ues to be far ahead of the competition. The new dash is not just good for a ute, Volkswagen’s competitors probably wish they had a design this good in their SUV products.

There are some great touches, like a huge storage area on the dash that we found was perfect for throw-ing an iPad and wallet into. Then there are two 12 volt outlets on the large centre console, USB charging and both cup holders and bottle

holders for thirsty workers.Taking prominence in

the interior is a 6.33-inch touchscreen that has built-in satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In an age when work as-signments are increasingly dished out via smart devices, that's a useful feature.

Outside of the smart-phone systems, the base system is the best looking and most functional in the ute segment.

The front seats are cov-ered in a high-quality fabric but have two shortcomings. The drivers are manually adjustable - you need to buy the top model Adventurer for this - while most com-petitors offer this feature

at this price point. If you change drivers frequently, you’ll miss that.

The rear seat also lets the Amarok down. There is not as much usable space back there as can be found in a Ranger, Colorado or D-Max. And tick the option of a side step - the Amarok is just a little too high to get in and out of comfortably without one.

The 2-litre turbodiesel engine is excellent and buy-ers should have little con-cern over its small capacity. It copes well with the bulk of the Amarok and is more refined than most. Ride, too, is surprisingly refined for a leaf-sprung ute, even with an empty tray.

If there's any aspect of the Amarok’s drive we feel is a let-down it's the steering. It feels vague on centre and too light. We jumped straight from the Amarok into a D-Max – hardly the handling champion of the ute seg-ment – and its steering felt far more responsive.

No such concerns with grip. On a weekend of tor-rential rain, we tried to get the Amarok to slip up and it simply wouldn’t. Its wheels are a sharp-looking 18-inch design.

The Amarok's payload is just over one tonne, with a braked trailer tow rating of three tonnes – healthy, but behind some of its competi-tors.

Four-pot Amarok still a strong option


TESTTALK

Mahindra is a familiar name to many in the auto industry, with

its tractors and cranes com-monplace in the commercial world.

But it also makes utes and SUVs, including the diesel-powered XUV500, which we drove for a week.

The seven-seater had about 11,000km on the clock when we picked it up and it looked in remarkably good condition for an ex-lease vehicle.

Its comfortable interior features leather seats, with plenty of head and legroom for particularly tall drivers.

The ISOFIX anchor points for children’s car seats in the middle row are essential for those with youngsters but we also found the middle seats roomy enough to hold

three adults comfortably.The back row of seats is

a useful addition when the boot space is not need but is really only suitable for chil-dren or small adults.

If the back row is not full of people, we found there's plenty of room for the weekly shopping or for three large suitcases if you’re going on a trip.

The reversing camera is a necessary addition to the car, with its thick rear pillars making it difficult to reverse, particularly in a tight carpark.

It has a four-star ANCAP safety rating, with driver’s airbag, standard passenger front airbag and standard side airbags in the front seats.

In terms of driveability, it takes a bit of effort to get the 2.2-litre common-rail turbocharged engine running

but the ride is comfortable enough once you’re moving.

However, the engine can be clearly heard in the cabin and is one of the louder ones we have encountered.

The XUV500 is priced at $32,990 drive away or new at $36,990 plus on-road costs.

Mahindra’s historyThe Mahindra Group was

founded in 1945 as a steel trading company in Mum-bai, India. In 1947, it entered automotive manufacturing to bring the Willys Jeep on to Indian roads.

Today it makes utility, light commercial and passen-ger vehicles and exports its products to countries in Eu-rope, Africa, South America, South Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Mahindra also has a joint venture with Navistar for the production of diesel engines and trucks.

In 2010 Mahindra bought a 70% stake in Korean manu-facturer SsangYong.

Mahindra is the largest manufacturer of tractors by volume in the world with a network of more than 800 dealers in six continents. Annual production exceeds 300,000 units.

The company also has in-terests in other areas includ-ing aerospace, agribusiness, components, construction equipment, defence vehi-cles, energy, farm equip-ment, finance, industrial equipment, IT and logistics to name a few.

It employs 180,000 people in more than 100 countries.

Mahindra gives a comfortable ride


TESTTALK

Disclaimer: I've always liked the WK2 series Grand Cherokee

ever since I first drove it at its Australasian media launch in Tasmania in late January 2011.

Jeep had rounded off the boxy awkwardness of the previous WK-series Grand Cherokee to produce the smoother, more contem-porary WK2 design. It's a vehicle that has aged well since it first appeared on the North American market in mid-2010.

Many people prefer the Grand Cherokee with the 259kW 5.7-litre Hemi V8 petrol engine on offer in the luxury Overland variant, or the bonkers 344kW 6.4-litre Hemi V8 in the track-focused SRT version.

But of all the engines on offer for the 2017 Grand Cherokee 4x4, the one that most impresses me is the 3-litre V6 turbodiesel (184kW and 550Nm) engine in the Limited version pictured here.

Diesel engines are all about bottom-end torque and the VM Motori A630 common rail injection unit develops all 550 Newton Metres at the lower rev range of 2000rpm.

Thanks to its eight-speed automatic transmission, the Limited never runs out of puff from a standing start but it also cruises quietly at 100kmh, sipping fuel at an average of 7.5-litres per 100 kilometres.

It's a Euro V emission rated engine but doesn't use an AdBlue urea additive. With a 93-litre fuel tank, the Lim-ited should in theory provide more than 1000km of travel per tank.

Because it weighs 2949kg (gross vehicle mass) and has a maximum towing capacity of 3500kg, any driver using

the Limited for that purpose will need a class 2 driver's licence as the combination of the two units exceeds a gross combined weight of 6000kg.

On the road, the driving behaviour of the Limited be-lies its bulky dimensions and weight. It offers a good ride quality, despite being fitted with 20-inch alloy wheels, and safe yet friendly handling from its European tuned suspension package which also includes a load levelling function for towing.

The amount of cargo space is also impressive. Folding the rear seats flat provides 1554 litres of space inside. With the rear seat backs in place, it shrinks to 782 litres but that’s still pretty sizable.

The tailgate offers a remote electrically operated open and close function at the touch of a button on the key fob or from within the vehicle. You can also start the engine remotely as well from the key fob, a boon on chilly mornings when the vehicle requires defrosting.

The Limited uses Jeep's

Quadra-Trac II active four-wheel drive system, which allows drivers to engage low-range forward and reverse gears if required when travel-ling off-road.

And it also has a Select-Terrain system which offers a choice of driving modes for snow, sand, rock, mud or auto, and electronic hill descent control for the best possible traction and safety in any conditions.

Throughout its lifetime, the WK2-series Grand Cherokee has seen numerous updates and cosmetic enhancements and the latest for the 2017 model include new alloy wheel designs, reshaped headlights and a reshaped seven-slot front radiator grille.

The new grille and head-lights come from the 75th anniversary edition models of 2016 but without the bronze-painted accents.

However, inside the Limited's cabin, the bronze accents from the 75th an-niversary have continued and the previous glossy black trim favoured by Jeep has been

ditched in favour of a matte wooden finish that looks bet-ter and doesn't mark as easily.

The 2017 Limited is also equipped with a conventional automatic transmission shifter rather than the electronic "Monostable" unit used previ-ously. That's a good move as occasionally people didn't always select park correctly.

While not as ritzy as the Overland, the Limited is still well specified with leather upholstery, seat heating for all occupants, a heated steering wheel, dual exhaust pipes, an Alpine 9-speaker premium audio system, Uconnect voice command with Bluetooth and an 8.4-inch colour touch-screen infotainment system.

Parking is made easier by front and rear parking sensors as well as a reversing camera with dynamic grid lines.

Thanks to the addition of a diesel engine, the Grand Cherokee Limited is a well-appointed luxury work-horse with plenty of towing capacity. It's also a functional wagon for business and fam-ily use.

The Limited's a luxury workhorse


TESTTALK

The folks at Isuzu Ute New Zealand reckon it’s not a facelift but

the 2017 RT87 series D-Max features many refinements.

Despite that, it is still more of a tough workhorse than a luxury pick-up which will please its current buyer demographic.

The most noticeable cosmetic changes to our LS four-wheel drive automatic test vehicle are the newly reshaped projector head-lamps with LED daytime running lights as well as a re-shaped radiator grille and the chrome bezel around the fog lamps which nicely comple-ments the chrome capping on the door mirrors.

The LS also sports a body-coloured shark fin antenna on top of the cab and the Isuzu lettering on the rear tailgate is now detailed in chrome rather than the pre-vious black or white.

Inside, the five-seat cabin is largely unchanged except for new upholstery fabric, a new Panasonic 8-inch touchscreen head unit with built-in GPS navigation and a USB power outlet for pas-sengers in the rear seats.

For additional conveni-ence and safety, electronic hill descent control is now a standard feature across the entire D-Max range and all models also have a new reversing camera.

The Isuzu 4JJ1 series 3-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine is now Euro 5 compliant, running both exhaust gas recircula-tion (EGR) as well as a diesel particulate diffuser (DPD) in the exhaust system. The DPD traps particulates and converts nitrous oxides to carbon dioxides and water.

To make the engine Euro 5 compliant, Isuzu changed the fuel injectors, the piston

design and the injection cy-cle, and added the DPD unit into the exhaust system.

Engine changes means torque output has increased from 380Nm at 1800rpm to 430Nm at 2000rpm, and Isuzu Ute has upgraded the manual and automatic gear-boxes from five-speed to six-speed transmissions for better responsiveness as well as greater fuel economy.

On the roadThe additional gearing

plus the installation of more noise insulation material in the cabin of the RT87 series D-Max has created a much quieter ride, particularly when cruising along the mo-torway.

The lusty engine still reminds you it’s diesel with a gruff exhaust note on ac-celeration and deceleration but it settles down quickly once it's on the move, thanks to the addition of a higher top gear.

The D-Max is no sports car but it will hustle along

a winding country road without creating discomfort for the occupants, provided the driver takes a slow-in and fast-out approach to sharp corners.

It offers the driver steer-ing feel and response and, without a load on board or a trailer behind, the ride quality is reasonably comfortable.

But some bumps and thumps from road corruga-tions are transmitted through the cabin. That's not dis-similar to other pick-ups with leaf-sprung rear suspensions but when not laden, the D-Max is more comfortable than some other Japanese competitors.

Inside, the cabin remains the same functional space as before but the new touchscreen is bigger and clearer to read for those of us who are short-sighted, and the navigation maps are clear and concise.

The only black mark against the revised D-Max LS is the lack of telescopic adjustment for the steering

wheel but at least it's adjust-able for height, as is the driver’s seat.

Towing remains the forte of the D-Max with a braked capacity of 3.5 tonne. We hitched up a hired tandem axle furniture trailer to the LS for a household removal and, despite loading it to the gun-nels, the D-Max pulled away without fuss or hesitation.

The D-Max LS four-wheel drive automatic as tested has a retail price of $58,990. It has a five-star ANCAP safety rating and, according to the Rightcar website, it has an average fuel consumption of 8.1 litres per 100km.

That means travelling 14,000km a year will cost $2510, including road user charges.

Bit of polish for a tough workhorse

Vehicles and equipment depreciate faster than most other forms of investment.

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So why not take the guess work out of running your fleet and talk to us today for a no-obligation free assessment.

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