So under law now, it's not a requirement for trucks to have downward mirrors or blind spot alerts.

No, it's not.

And some of that comes down to the before you mandate something, you've got to be very, very careful that you're not going to get unintended consequences.

So there was consultation on this by NZTA last year about various, was it time to start mandating various safety features? And the feedback from not just NZTA operators, but mostly from vehicle manufacturers, was it was too soon.

So the technology was still too early in its rollout.

It's not widely available across all makes and models.

And it also doesn't always prevent this type of thing.

But, hey, I'd just love to understand a little bit more, James, around who we follow around the world around this in this space and if we're leading or lagging in safety features.

James, have you guys done the numbers on where it would be sitting had we put it up every year as planned as opposed to where it's going to be now?

Yeah, it'd be about 20% above where it is now if it had just kept pace with inflation.

Because what you've got to remember is the cost of just fixing roads and rail, for that matter.

has gone up due to inflation and the costs of components.

That's gone up.

So you've got to address that.

What's

going on with the bitumen

James, have you guys done the numbers on where it would be sitting had we put it up every year as planned, as opposed to where it's going to be

now? Yeah, be about 20% above where it is now, if it had just kept pace with inflation.

Because what you've got to remember is the cost of just fixing roads and rail, for that matter.

has gone up due to inflation and the costs of components that's gone up yeah so you've got to address that

what's going on with the bitumen

cost um well thanks to um trumflation it's likely to could be as high as double so um it just depends on when they have to buy it so the good thing is with that is that it can be a little bit strategic as to when they buy it so Fingers crossed we'll see world peace break out and the price will settle back down.

james have you guys done the numbers on where it would be sitting had we put it up every year as planned as opposed to where it's going to be now

uh yeah be about 20 above where it um is now if it had been if it had just kept pace with with inflation because what you've got to remember is the cost of you know just fixing roads and and rail for that matter has gone up due to inflation and the costs of components.

That's gone up.

So you've got to address that.

What's going on with the bitumen cost?

Well, thanks to Trumpflation, it's likely to, could be as high as double.

So it just depends on when they have to buy it.

So the good thing is, with that, is they can be a little bit strategic as to when they buy it.

Yeah, I agree with you, and, and, and I find it very disappointing that we're apparently giving up on just decent roads, but James, tell me the next one that they do build.

Well, you mentioned one earlier in the program, and this, Mill Road has been screaming out for the last 30 years it needs to be built.

Um, there's y- there's the East West Link.

There's, there's, uh, there's myriads of these, uh, parts of the network where currently you've got, uh, two lanes.

There's still large parts of the state highway, main state highway 1 that's, that's still only two lanes with no center median barrier, and you just need to look at the DSIs that we... yeah, death and serious injury crashes that are occurring due to inadequate, uh, infrastructure.

Uh, it's just unacceptable to admit that we're never going to aspire to, um, lift ourselves off, off that very low base.

[laughs]

... we need to, we, we, we need to upgrade the...

Yeah, I agree with you, and, and, and I find it very disappointing that we're apparently giving up on just decent roads, but James, tell me the next one that they do build.

Well, you mentioned one earlier in the program, and there's the Mill Road has been screaming out for the last 30 years it needs to be built.

Um, there's y- there's the East West Link.

There's, there's a, there's myriads of these, uh, parts of the network where currently you've got, uh, two lanes.

There's still large parts of the state highway, main State Highway One that's, that's still only two lanes with no center median barrier.

And you just need to look at the DSIs that we...

You know, death and serious injury crashes that are occurring due to inadequate, uh, infrastructure.

[laughs]

And do you worry that in fact, this project might just get mud at the Brynderwyns, and that's the bit that we really need to fix?

Yeah.

Well, the Brynderwyns is on a, uh, basically, it's on a bit of a time, time limit anyway.

Uh, it's, it, it needs a replacement, um, highway.

The work that was done, um, recently is really just keeping it together.

Um, but it is, it is, um, needs to be replaced.

There is project underway.

[laughs]

And do you worry that, in fact, this project might just get mired at the Brynderwyns, and that's the bit that we really need to fix?

Yeah, well, the Brynderwyns is on a, uh, basically it's on a bit of a time, time limit anyway.

Uh, it's-- it, it needs a replacement, um, highway.

The work that was done, um, recently is really just keeping it together, um, but it is, it is-- uh, needs to be replaced.

There is project underway.

What we would like to see is the, the work to continue through until that highway is completed.

[chuckles]

Um, there's [chuckles] the, the, uh, w- we're, we're just celebrating every win.

And in terms of the placement in the pipeline of those projects, do you think they've got them in the right spots?

There's some logic to them.

Yes, there is.

We would have liked to have seen some of the projects move at a faster pace, but then that's always the case.

Which ones? Well, if you look in the Auckland region, you've got the Mill Road and the East West Link.

Both have got ability to help decongest Auckland.

Mill Road would have also relieved some of the pressure that's coming on the Takanini industrial estate with the CRL level crossing closures.

Where do you sit on that? Have we got the balance right?

And in terms of the placement in the pipeline of those projects, do you think they've got them in the right spots?

There's some logic to them.

Yes, there is.

We would have liked to have seen some of the projects move at a faster pace, but then that's always the case.

Which ones? Well, if you look in the Auckland region, you've got the Mill Road and the East West Link.

Both have got ability to help decongest Auckland.

Mill Road would have also relieved some of the pressure that's coming on the Takanini industrial estate with the CRL level crossing closures.

Where do you sit on that? Have we got the balance right?

So now the question is, what's the view at the windscreen view of a prolonged disruption to the supply of oil?

Absolutely.

So I think what we've seen is it's going to take at least, I would say nine months, and I hope I'm wrong, but I would say at least nine months for whatever the new normal is for that to appear and things to settle down.

Is that in the event it started flowing today? Oh, even if it doesn't flow.

Because even if, you've got to remember that 80% of the oil doesn't use straight-up hormones, and as the prices rise, has increased, a whole pile of other suppliers entered the market.

So that's why this isn't a we're running out of oil issue.

No, it's a price issue.

What's your thoughts around, if you want to start at Marsden Point, that's great, but like in terms of the globalisation versus sovereign economy thing, I think there's huge amounts of risk either way.

Demand and supply.

Right.

It's a...

Yeah.

Now, but we're already starting to see the price starting to come back.

So you look at the, the, the oil prices coming back, and we're going, we're going to see the s- the start of the actual diesel price starting to drop back.

So as the supply chains start to, to settle down and, and, and normalize.

Yeah.

Not really that significant?

Well, it's only a small number of vehicles that are caught up by those restrictions.

So the vehicles that are doing over-dimension loads that currently can't use motorways, for example, and this change would allow them to do that.

So they would obviously use less fuel if they can travel straight down the motorway instead of winding their way through local streets.

Isn't it logical that it would, that you have heavier vehicles using roads that they weren't previously using, therefore it might cause potholes on those roads?

No.

Well, only if you take it to the extreme.

So again, it comes down to...

Not really that significant?

Well, it's only a small number of vehicles that are caught up by those restrictions.

So the vehicles that are doing over-dimension loads that currently can't use motorways, for example, and this change would allow them to do that.

So they would obviously use less fuel if they can travel straight down the motorway instead of winding their way through local streets.

Isn't it logical that it would, that you have heavier vehicles using roads that they weren't previously using, therefore it might cause potholes on those roads?

No.

Well, only if you take it to the extreme.

So again, it comes down to If you're operating within the existing axle mass limits and all you're doing is increasing the total at the end, the actual pavements aren't going to notice the difference.