Why State Highway 1 between Auckland and Whangārei could be clogged with trucks from Friday

Wednesday, 9 December 2020

Northport is in the process of unloading close to 1200 containers bound for Auckland over the next few days.

A stream of heavy loads being trucked from Whangārei’s Northport to Auckland from Friday could create difficulties for motorists and extra costs for consumers.

The loads are cargo off the biggest ship to visit North Port, Constantinos P, which berthed on Sunday as a means of avoiding a two-week delay at the congested Ports of Auckland.

That means close to 1200 containers will have to trucked from Whangārei to Auckland, as Northland’s rail link is out of action.

Police are warning motorists to plan ahead for heavier traffic next week and there are also concerns about pressures on the trucking system.

‘’That’s 2600 container movements from Whangārei to Auckland. I can tell you right now, trying to book a truck locally in Auckland is hard enough to grab gear from the port to your local customer,’’ Chris Edwards, president of the Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Federation, said.

A shortage of staff at Ports of Auckland and global congestion issues are prompting shipping lines to consider alternatives (file pic).

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Trucks are being used because a major upgrade has closed the Northland rail line between Swanson and Whangarei and will be out until January,

KiwiRail said the work, which will increase rail cargo capacity, could only be carried out while the line was shut.

As a result, drivers will have to be vigilant when the trucks start moving the goods on Friday, Nick Leggett, chief executive of the Road Transport Forum said.

“Waka Kotahi and the Police have asked motorists to take extra care with a significant increase in heavy vehicle traffic on State Highway 1 between Auckland and Whangārei over the next week, starting Friday, December 11, which we fully endorse.”

Police said they would be out in force to check truckies were driving safely.

“We know that truck drivers can work long hours and we want to ensure all freight is transported in a safe manner,'’ Senior Sergeant Mike Flatt, team leader for the Commercial Vehicle Safety Team, said.

Officers would be focussed on ensuring truck drivers were not driving fatigued, ‘’while also checking that the trucks are roadworthy”.

Sunday’s visit by such a large container vessel will be the first test of the argument for sharing more of Auckland’s port capacity with Northland, an idea championed by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones .

The forum opposes having more cargo travel down to Northland, mostly because ‘’the infrastructure just doesn’t exist,’’ Leggett said.

While the visit shortened delivery times for the cargo involved, it was also likely importers and ultimately consumers would end up paying more for the extra miles from Northport, he said.

‘’If you have a round trip of, say 300km, to get that one container to and from where it needs to go, yes, there are going to be costs to the owners of the freight are probably going to have to meet that cost.’’

Freight rates have risen sharply between countries in recent months because of the pressure globally on shipping lines.

A container from Shanghai to Auckland at the beginning of the year might have cost US$500 was costing US$2500-3000, Edwards said.

ANL, the shipping company that owns the Constantinos P, said in a statement, that it was ‘’confident in the capabilities of Northport and glad that we have found this solution with them’’.

‘’Furthermore, we believe Northport will be a suitable alternative gateway for North Island customers.’’