Road Transport Forum CEO Ken Shirley said the decision by the NZ Transport Agency to review its compliance files and toughen up its enforcement was necessary to restore confidence in the agency‘s compliance functions.

“A number of failures have been exposed in NZTA‘s compliance regime in recent times and each one of those results in a loss of confidence from road transport operators and the general public in the agency‘s ability to carry out its core functions,” said Shirley.

“The issues we have seen with heavy vehicle certifiers were extremely disappointing and had a major impact on many road transport operators whose vehicles were forced off the road through no fault of their own. It also dented public confidence that the heavy vehicles they shared the road with were as safe as they could possibly be.”

Shirley said fair and thorough compliance and enforcement were fundamental to maintaining a safe, efficient and fair regulatory environment.

“We simply cannot condone a system where the compliant are subsidising the non-compliant or where corners are cut and safety is therefore compromised.”