Justin's Transport Minute

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Another busy week with the gun having been fired on election season, even before parliament has finished and the MPs left the building. This week I enjoyed a fascinating conversation with the ACT Party’s transport spokesman Simon Court, on their transport and infrastructure policies. Talking with Simon it was clear he has a deep understanding of the road transport sector and how it has been failed over the last decade in roading and policies. It was pleasing to hear some credible, well thought-through transport policies presented. I quizzed him on roading and how we can pay for them, the driver shortage, transitioning to future fuels and a whole lot more. You can watch Simon and I here, so when you have a spare moment, fix yourself a cuppa and settle in.

Continuing our NRC election webinar series, on September 18 Simeon Brown, the National Party transport spokesman will be joining me to talk through how their policies could improve conditions and performance for road freight operators. Save the date an keep an eye out for the invitation to register soon.

Moving away from elections and back to the reality of here and now, many of you will be feeling the effects of the diesel price climbing again. We asked our partner Mobil to provide some insights as to the drivers behind the latest rounds of increase. They talked about three factors:

  • Global market shift in the cost of refined diesel. This was pre-dominantly driven by availability, impacted by unplanned refinery shutdowns and export reductions from major producers. (Since hitting a post-pandemic low in late June, the barrel price of brent crude has risen more than 20 per cent on global commodity markets to around US$86 a barrel, but is still down from the over $100 a barrel spike last September).
  • Emissions Trading Scheme costs have been reset by the government, adding another 2 cents per litre (cpl) on top of that.
  • Unfavourable foreign exchange rates have tacked on another 1 cpl

All of this on top of the 36% discount on RUC being removed on the 1st of August. It’s critical of course for transport operators to manage these major swings in price with customers – make sure you are using NRC’s fuel adjustment factor (FAF) to help.

Lastly this week our GM Policy & Advocacy James Smith, attended the launch of Concrete NZ's roadmap to 2050, an initiative which will see a steady reduction in CO2 emissions from concrete production to net zero by 2050.

This was an excellent example of an industry taking ownership of the challenge of reducing emissions, rather than waiting for the government to dictate how. It’s great to see two NRC members, Holcim NZ and Fletcher NZ leading the charge. Personally I’d love to see some low emission concrete roads being built here very soon.

Have a great weekend.

Justin

Justin Tighe-Umbers

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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