Justin's Transport Minute : National Road Carriers

As most of the country heads into Easter looking forward to a break, I know many members will continue doing the hard yards to make sure Kiwi homes are well stocked with hot cross buns and chocolate bunnies. Many of you may not get much of a break but I do hope you at least get a bit of downtime to relax and regroup before tackling into the busy winter months ahead.

There’s been a bit going on behind the scenes at NRC. Following on from our investment in the business and communications strategy we are now ramping up our marketing capability. Over the last couple of weeks, we have welcomed two new members to the team to sharpen up our marketing capabilities.

James Perrin has joined us to undertake a review of our existing marketing services and develop strategic recommendations for how this function should look moving forward. James will be spending time looking under the NRC hood to find out what members really want, including getting a better understand of different needs, so that we can tailor our marketing programmes better. We need to reposition our services, but before we can do this, we need to understand what is working and what isn’t. It’s possible we need to introduce new services to meeting evolving member needs, and some existing services may not make the final cut – but first we need to understand what is needed and why. This means we will need your feedback. It’s likely James will undertake a survey and reach out to operators for insights, so when this time comes, I ask for your support.

Abbie Mackay has also joined us to help accelerate some of the great work we have underway with our commercial partners, and to refresh our member experience. We know how valuable these relationships are for members and doing more in this space to maximise and amplify partner offerings is critical. I am very pleased to welcome these two extremely capable marketeers to the team as we continue working through NRC’s business transformation with a view to deliver the best possible outcomes for members.

Trucking Industry Summit Update

With James and Abbie coming on board we have taken an initial look at core planned activity and the decision has been made to cancel July’s Trucking Industry Summit. With members juggling staff shortages and feeling increasing pressure from rising business costs, we felt it simply isn’t the right time to come together for a costly event in Auckland. Speaking to members and taking on board feedback we have decided to hold a series of webcasts designed to address the issues most impacting the industry. This format delivers the ultimate convenience for members who can watch live, watch later, or listen on the go.

Webcast timings will be confirmed shortly, and the good news is Hon. Michael Wood has agreed to be the first cab off the rank. We will also be reaching out to ask members to submit their burning questions for the Minister. This is something we wouldn’t have been able to accommodate in the traditional summit format and we are excited to be able to offer members the opportunity to hear the Minister’s views on the issues that really matter.

Reminder – Ministry of Transport are currently consulting on EV charging strategy – closes 11 May 2023

Information on the consultation can be found at Charging Our Future. If you have any thoughts you would like NRC to include in our submission please email james.smith@natroad.co.nz.

In case you missed it

There was a great piece on The Project this week featuring Little Trucker Magazine from New Zealand Trucking magazine and NRC member, Burnett Transport and Earthmoving’s driver Mike van Ravenstein. The story is an awesome showcase for how the industry can help give the kids a sneak peek into what it’s like to get behind the wheels of a big rig. Who knows maybe in the future we will see NRC members appearing from Waimauku School. The Project: Little Truckers

Enjoy the holidays and take care out there on the roads.

Justin

CEO | National Road Carriers Assn

DDI: +64 9 636 2951 | E: justin.tighe-umbers@natroad.co.nz | www.natroad.co.nz

‘Supporting those who choose to make a living in the Road Transport Industry’ since 1936’

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