A crucial study into how freight is moved around the country has now been given the green light, despite the Ministry of Transport earlier this month saying it would not be going ahead.
The National Freight Demand Study was last undertaken in 2018 , and 2014 and 2008 before that, and captures total freight volume and movements across the country, including which goods are moved, and how.
It uses publicly available data, as well as industry-provided data such as EROAD GPS in heavy vehicles.
There had been indications the study would go ahead - with the Ministry recently spending $164,000 to get advice on what the new iteration of the study would involve , including making greater use of telemetry and GPS data.
In an article from BusinessDesk on July 7 however confirmed the study had been dropped due to "operating in a constrained fiscal environment".
Nine to Noon sought to clarify the status of the study - and received a surprise response from the Transport Minister Chris Bishop that he was "actively exploring options to commission an update to the Freight Demand Study". Justin Tighe-Umbers is chief executive of National Road Carriers.
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
