Permitting reform not delivering what was promised

Over the past year the NZTA has consulted on a couple of phases of heavy vehicle productivity reform, with more planned. The proposals have been pretty underwhelming to be honest; small things like getting rid of H plates, and Transporting New Zealand’s submissions have called for more far-reaching VDAM reform with concrete examples of changes we’d like to see – indeed which are necessary to deliver, well, improved productivity.

One of the changes consulted on was removing 50MAX permits. Whilst we think 50MAX vehicles should simply be added to the schedule in the VDAM Rule – 50t being the new 44t essentially – the proposal to remove the requirement to obtain a permit was sold as an administrative saving for operators.

It’s questionable whether it could really be claimed to be a “productivity” benefit, but OK, we’ll take it.

At Transporting New Zealand’s conference in June the Minister of Transport Chris Bishop announced that the permits would be going very soon, and sure enough, from 6 August new permits are no longer required, with all permits to be phased when they expire, or on 6 November, whichever comes first. In their place, they’ve been replaced by revised proformas which contain much of the detail previously in the permits.

But in reality, this change is not really delivering reduced administration for operators. I could talk about the confusion caused by the new proformas and the various 50MAX combinations that aren’t covered and have seemingly fallen through the cracks. NZTA are investigating these, but for some they may end up needing HPMV permits instead.

Whilst the 50MAX permits may have gone, drivers are still required to have the proforma available. That could be electronically, but in reality for most that will mean carrying them in the cab – and you may need more than one if the prime mover tows different types of trailers.

But the problems with the new regime were really driven home at our well-subscribed compliance and roading webinar on 6 August. Delegates heard from the Police CVST that drivers of 50MAX vehicles can expect longer delays during CVST inspections as it will take longer for them to check what the combination is and that it matches the new proforma. They even recommended carrying the expired permit to help speed up the process. It’s hard to see how this is a win for the industry.

Transporting New Zealand has met with the NZTA team on several occasions to clarify what was happening and to iron out issues, but it’s fair to say this rollout could have gone better if there had been more engagement with the sector early on so we could have alerted them to some of the more unusual 50MAX combinations. It seems the Police CVST weren’t bought along on this journey earlier either. We do know the Minister’s announcement meant the phasing out of permits was rushed, but this exercise has driven home the importance of officials engaging with the sector – who are the experts – before they introduce changes that affect the sector.