John MacDonald: Someone tell the Govt - truck driving is a skill

Going by the warnings out today from the trucking and transport sector, it may not be long before we get our local councils telling us that rubbish collections can’t happen as often as they do now and getting stuff transported around the country will be more difficult than it is already. Chris Carr, who runs the Carr and Haslem trucking company, has been flying drivers to the South Island every week because he can’t get enough drivers to cover all the routes. He’s been doing it for the past three-or-four months and he’s even been out driving trucks himself. That’s how tight things are. The issue he’s got with the Government is that it’s not letting truck drivers into New Zealand under the immigration settings, because it doesn’t think they’re essential. It doesn’t think they’re skilled workers. And he’s not the only one concerned. The Waste Management Industry Forum, the Bus and Coach Association, and National Road Carriers - which represents the road transport sector - have all signed a letter and sent it to the Immigration Minister saying more truck drivers need to be allowed into the country ASAP. I don’t know who’s advising this Minister, but his first response has been to say that the lack of drivers has been caused by the trucking companies themselves who have cut pay and conditions so much that people aren’t interested in working for them. Which is a stupid thing to say. There might be some validity in that, but tell me an industry or a sector that operates in a competitive environment that hasn’t cut costs just to keep going. I’ve got zero experience in running a trucking company, but I can quite easily imagine how governments - not just this one, all governments - have made life much more difficult for trucking firms to stay viable. So the trucking firms and waste management people and bus companies have all written to the Minister saying something needs to be done. Here are a few quotes from their letter to the Minister: “The sectors we represent are facing a shortfall of over 9,000 drivers. At least 8,000 for freight vehicles of all sizes and classes; up to 600 bus drivers; and around 400 drivers of waste collection vehicles.” That’s a lot of people. They go on in their letter to say: “We cannot overstate the degree of strain this is placing on the businesses we represent. It is resulting in unsustainable increases in cost, uncertainty and stress, and businesses are being stretched to breaking point in order to uphold commitments to clients and customers, and to the New Zealand public. We are receiving reports of burnout on an unprecedented scale.” That’s just a taste of what the Immigration Minister has been told. And he thinks it’s all to do with trucking companies being too tight and not paying drivers what they’re worth. But then, at the same time as he’s criticising the companies for not recognising truck drivers for what they’re worth, he’s refusing to recognise that driving a truck is a skill. Which is why you’ve got the likes of Carr and Haslem flying drivers around the country to keep the trucks on the road. Because the Government doesn’t think truck drivers are skilled workers and so we can’t get enough of them into the country. Most days I see a truck driver getting their vehicle into a position I probably wouldn’t even attempt. Not to mention the way they have to be so alert and ready to respond - especially when us motorists do things like overtaking a truck and thinking we can just squeeze back into the lane right in front of them. The rubbish truck drivers can be something to behold too, can’t they? Which is why, in my mind, I have no doubt at all that truck driving is a skill and the sooner the Government recognises this, the better. Because it’s really going to hit the fan, isn’t it, when the councils don’t have enough drivers to do the rubbish and recycling, and when you can’t get that thing you want to buy someone for Christmas because it’s stuck in a warehouse and there’s no way of getting it where you want it to be.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.