Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Road freight association Transporting New Zealand says that weight restrictions on Fernhill Bridge on SH50 in Hawke’s Bay are costing the region millions of dollars, with many freight companies having to complete a 40km return detour to make deliveries.
Fernhill Bridge is a crucial freight corridor linking a large agricultural area with the region’s industrial centre in Hastings. It is also the main access point to the Taihape Road from Hastings. Weight restrictions introduced in 2022 have limited access to a maximum of 31 tonnes for eight axled vehicles.
Transporting New Zealand completed a survey of six local operators, that found the detour was costing just those six local freight companies and their customers an estimated $2.36 million a year, and producing an additional 500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions through additional diesel consumption. This was based on an average of 54 detoured trips per day across the surveyed companies, or nearly 20,000 trips per year.
Hawkes Bay transport operator Stephenson Transport travels through the area around six times a day and must detour. “Running a truck is costly – we all know that, and adding 30 minutes to a trip has a significant impact,” says CEO Todd Stephenson. He says it also makes managing logbook hours a challenge.
Transporting New Zealand Membership Manager Lindsay Calvi-Freeman says that the bridge urgently requires strengthening work and NZTA need to get the project underway.
“NZTA have stated that strengthening Fernhill Bridge is their highest priority project in the Central North Island. Despite this, no work has been done. Freight operators either have to undertake expensive detours or use more, less efficient, smaller trucks.”
“The cost-benefit on this strengthening project is very clear. The longer NZTA wait, the more delay and expense local businesses and consumers will have to endure.”
“We’re told strengthening the bridge will cost around $10 million. For just six operators, the cost of doing nothing exceeds that within five years. It’s a no-brainer to get it done now.”
“Hawke’s Bay needs a productive road network to unlock its economic potential and support its booming primary industries. Just to provide some perspective this is a region producing 60% of the country’s apples, 11% of the sheep, 12% of the beef, 10% of the grapes, 69% of the squash and is home to 8% of New Zealand’s pine forest.”
“We’re calling on NZTA to urgently allocate funding to the project and schedule a date for the strengthening work.”
Attached images:
2. An illustrative freight detour, avoiding Fernhill Bridge
About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter-regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.
Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.
