“Globally, the road freight sector is on the cusp of a major technological revolution and one of our own is leading the charge,” says Road Transport Forum Chief Executive Ken Shirley.
New Zealand-born founder of Wrightspeed and co-founder of Tesla, Ian Wright is at the cutting edge of electric-hybrid technology for heavy vehicles and will tell his story at next month’s Road Transport Forum Annual Conference at Baypark, Tauranga.
The Conference, which is only a month away, runs over two days from Thursday 27 October, with Ian’s keynote address scheduled for the event’s second day.
“Ian will offer conference delegates a window into the future of road freight transport, particularly the fast approaching transition to hybrid and electric powertrains,” says Shirley.
“The Wrightspeed Route™ powertrain that Ian has developed and other systems like it, while fairly unfamiliar to us now, are part of a technological revolution that our industry needs to get its head around pretty quickly.”
“A number of US-based waste management and delivery organisations have begun to use Ian’s powertrains as part of their fleets, including parcel FedEx Express, while in New Zealand, Infratil, have already done a $43 million deal to have Wrightspeed powertrains retrofitted to Wellington’s ageing trolley bus fleet. The first of which will be on Wellington roads by the end of the year.”
The Conference will also address many of the other issues impacting the New Zealand road transport industry.
Leading economist Bernard Hickey
will present his well-considered views on the state of the economy, industry
law specialist Edward Cox will advise delegates on how best to protect their
businesses from unfair terms of trade and corporate bullying and Kelly McLuckie
from Success Formula will discuss key changes in health and safety law.
Other speakers include Bay of
Plenty MP Todd Muller, rollover prevention guru Jeff Fleury, and Professor
Frank Scrimgeour from the University of Waikato’s Institute for Business
Research who will present the key industry trends in the latest Operator Cost
Comparison Survey.
The final of the 2016 New Zealand
Truck Driving Championship will be held concurrently with the second day of the
Conference and provide an opportunity to watch some of New Zealand’s top truck
drivers in action.
“The Truck Driving Championship is
an important event for our industry and a great way to show off the skill,
knowledge and professionalism of our top drivers,” says Shirley. “The
associations have done a fantastic job in organising and running the five
regional heats and the standard has been high. The final promises to be
extremely competitive.”
The Conference is an important
social event and delegates will enjoy a networking barbeque, special Friday
breakfast with award-winning comedian Urzila Carlson and the gala NZ Road
Transport Industry Awards dinner hosted by 7
Days presenter Jeremy Corbett. There is also the unique opportunity to take
part in an organised site visit to the Port of Tauranga, Nationwide Stock
Crates, Intertruck NZ or the brand new Paengaroa Weigh Station.
“Delegate registration and a few
remaining sponsorship opportunities are still available. I would also encourage
conference attendees to arrange accommodation as soon as possible as rooms are
filling up fast,” says Shirley.
Registration, sponsorship
opportunities and accommodation options are available at www.rtfconference.co.nz.
Contact:
Ken Shirley
Phone: 04 472 3877