The government's consulting on modernising outdated land transport rules is long overdue and welcomed by National Road Carriers Association (NRC).

This will start to get rid of unnecessary red tape that trips up transport operators and thereby help dial up supply chain productivity and safety says NRC GM Policy and Advocacy James Smith.

Minister of Transport Chris Bishop announced public consultation will begin today on:

• Reviewing Warrant of Fitness (WoF) and Certificate of Fitness A (CoF A) frequency and inspection requirements for light vehicles
• Simplifying heavy vehicle permitting
• Considering additional safety requirements for vehicles entering the fleet

“Removing the need to apply for individual vehicle permits for what are now the standard vehicle used widely across the industry, 50 tonne is completely logical and reflects that virtually the entire network is now safe for 50MAX to operate on,” says Mr Smith.

“The current permitting process is paper-based, slow to administer and outdated. We want to see permitting, when it is required, to move to the 21^st century, and be digitally based.

“Our main concern is the time taken to get to this point signals a lack of understanding of the impact of lifting productivity of the transport sector has on New Zealand’s economy. As we move out of recession New Zealand should be taking every opportunity to improve productivity, safety and resilience of the transport sector that every part of the wider economy depends on.”