86 | Many challenges Peter reckons the silver bullet for the transport industry is to make it easier for people to get into the licensing system and give the industry more credit for the new drivers it trains. The Government could be doing more to provide one of New Zealand’s most important industries with the support it actually needs, according to Milnes Transport director Peter Stevenson. Peter says the transport industry is enduring a staffing crisis because people would rather not be involved in it. The timeframe and cost for getting a heavy traffic licence has got out of control, and stock drivers and companies in particular risk hefty fines. An example being Milnes Transport when one out of approximately 55,000 bobby calves came off a truck with a bit of back rub. “The transport industry takes animal welfare very seriously. We should have been congratuRURAL SERVICES » Milnes Transport lated not threatened with a fine. It all begs the question, why would you want to drive a truck or own a trucking company when you’re getting constantly threatened by the many government departments governing our industry? Sometimes you wonder if they are not thinking up new ways to make it harder for us to run a profitable business just to justify their own existence in Government. They should be congratulating us for a job well done as the economy would buggered without us.” The transport industry is one of the most regulated in New Zealand Peter says, but the Government puts road blocks in front of it and ties it up with red tape, all while the people making the decisions are too often ill-informed, and basing their decisions on emotion. “It wouldn’t • Truck Parts • Trailer Parts • European & Japanese • American Parts • Jaltest Diagnostic Equipmment Contact us on 0800 404 100 for your parts requirements. Proudly supporting Milnes Transport Kelly Deeks
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