Transport Goliaths Grow Bigger

Transport Goliaths Grow Bigger As Importance Of Road Sector Is Underlined

INSIGHTS ABOUT THE NEWS - Consolidation within the trucking industry is nothing new and the trend is continuing. Transport operators are confronted with an expectation freight volumes will grow by 48% by 2042 and the sector has been consolidating as it deals with more business with less resources.

Consolidation has led to there being over 700 fewer businesses in the trucking industry since 2000. Conversely the amount of freight on roads has risen more than 60% since 2000. But the number of people with class 5 licences, big rig drivers, has risen not much more than 10%, according to some authorities.

In the latest move, one of NZ’s biggest transport rms, operating across the freight, fuel distribution, warehousing and freight forwarding sectors, is growing even bigger. Transport Investments Ltd has acquired logistics rm NZL Group which it will operate under the same brand and with the same staff.

New Plymouth-based TIL with the acquisition of NZL expands its presence in the Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Waikato to a national footprint from Auckland to Invercargill.

TIL operates 600 trucks and has another 220 contractors it can call on. The NZL acquisition follows TIL’s purchase of Christchurch-based MOVE Logistics, which employs 300 staff and operates more than 100 trucks.

Few NZers realise the size of the transport, logistics and distribution sectors which together contribute around $13bn to GDP. The trucking industry underlined its crucial importance to the NZ economy when the Kaikoura quake knocked out the main trunk rail link.

The Govt has become highly sensitive to the fragility of NZ’s transport network, consequent not just on the Kaikoura quake, but also through successive blockages of the Manawatu Gorge.

That’s put extra pressure on the industry in its quest for higher productivity and greater efficiency. Expect the goliaths of the industry to grow even bigger.
Trans Tasman’s sister publication, The New Zealand Transport Intelligence Business Alert, is a weekly source providing you with in-depth news, analysis and opinion on NZ’s transport and logistics sectors.

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