24 August 2021 – 11.30am

New Zealand is in Alert Level 4 – freight services are allowed (with conditions)

The RTF is the central point of communication to and from Government and the national media for the road freight transport industry. We keep our Covid-19 webpage updated with information needed by road freight operators.

We are in ongoing discussions with the government officials putting all the measures in place during New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 virus.

Today’s updates

Yesterday, the Government announced that New Zealand – apart from Auckland – is to stay at Alert Level 4 until 11.59pm on Friday 27 August 2021.

Auckland will stay in Alert Level 4 until 11.59pm on Tuesday 31 August 2021.

CoFs and licences expired/due to expire

Since day one of this Level 4 lockdown, and on several occasions since, the RTF has requested Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency put in writing its intent to issue a notice granting concession on CoF and driver licence expiry. However, despite verbal assurance of this, Waka Kotahi will not commit to putting that on record.

Despite this being provided by a Government order during the previous Level 4 lockdown, it appears this time there is some confusion between the Ministry of Transport and Waka Kotahi on how to achieve this at the moment.

Given potential serious consequences to operators associated with insurance liability, we continue to pursue this as one of the highest priority issues – alongside priority vaccination – and recommend if members are having sidebar conversations with Waka Kotahi, they continue this pressure and are mindful of the risk of Waka Kotahi becoming distracted with other matters.

Vaccination

For health in safety in your workplace, and for the general health and safety of your staff and fellow workers, we urge industry leaders and operators to keep encouraging vaccination without delay.

Looking at Australia and other parts of the world, it will not be long before being vaccinated will be essential for access to many sites and to cross borders – which may come into place if New Zealand has different parts of the country at different alert levels.

The RTF is working with the Ministry of Health on possible prioritisation of truck drivers for vaccination, given they are front line workers, and we will keep you posted on that. It is essential that there is only one point of contact on this issue as the Ministry of Health is very busy dealing with the Delta outbreak.

Operators should be advising drivers to access https://bookmyvaccine.covid19.health.nz and make a booking as soon as possible. If through our work an earlier opportunity arises, then the booking can always be cancelled.

To ensure we have good data to share with the Government, we have asked operators, via the associations they are members of, to take part in a survey that will give us a clearer picture of existing vaccination rates.

The survey takes about two minutes to complete and is completely anonymous. The RTF will not be able to collect any data on which organisations have completed the survey. We need the responses back by close of business Wednesday 25 August to continue our talks with the Ministry of Health.

If you are an operator and have not received the survey link, here it is:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/85FGR2S

Road borders/road blocks

We are conscious of the anxiety in the industry around road blocks/borders if parts of New Zealand go into different alert levels and our major city, Auckland, remains at Alert Level 4. I have canvassed this issue right to the Ministerial level of Government and we will keep you updated as we get vital information.

We know you will need to know where the road blocks will be, and what documentation will be required to pass through.

Message from Nick Leggett

This is a challenging time for all road freight transport businesses and their customers. The Road Transport Forum and the association you are a member of are here to help you so please contact us if you need anything.