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The latest RTF Trucking Brief hit my desk the other day, and it’s a little two page rag that always gets my attention. I don’t know for sure who writes it, but judging by its contents, the writer sure has diesel in the blood.
This month’s headline story, draws our attention to Importing Overseas Drivers to New Zealand, this is something I have been advocating since my very first yarn, 25 months back.
As drivers, we need to think about our trade as a “Ticket to the world” someone is paying you to be a tourist; they are giving you a vehicle to drive around in, and paying for the fuel.
If you haven’t figured out by now, how to feed yourself cheaply, you never will,
and someone stuck a mini caravan behind the cab just for you.
We should be encouraging overseas drivers here to make new friends, invite them to your home give them a shower, a feed, and a bed for the night, help them find a job.
Learn from them; make new overseas contacts, get an address and phone number from your new mate, be he Oz, Pom, Yank or whoever, so that you guys can catch up when you’re in his neck of the woods.
NZ drivers are seen as very good at the transport game, they generally have been very well trained, they have a head on their shoulders, we speak English and the ladies think our accent sounds cool.
Find out from someone who knows what it takes to be the best, and get some good training.
You will be required to achieve most company’s fuel targets, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, find out.
But beware it’s not NZ, and there are bad guys out there, your going to be as green as grass. Keep your eyes open, your mouth shut and learn fast.
As owners we should be doing everything we can, to make coming to NZ by a person on a working holiday, the best thing since sliced bread. People talk, if you make things great, you’ll never have a driver shortage problem again. Train your own drivers to be the best that they can be, assist them all you can, if they choose to go overseas to make a few bucks and see the world.
Leave the door open for them, so that when they come back, they come back to you because your company’s the only place they want to work at.
New contacts will be made, that open doorways for new business, right around the world.
But beware; if you use this golden opportunity to drive down wages, and reduce conditions, you’ll destroy your own business and possibly the Industry. The reputation for quality we have worldwide will be the first thing to go and this wonderful opportunity will be lost forever.
As an industry we have to be pouring our resources into this opportunity from all sides, timing is everything and now is exactly the right time. My website receives a minimum of one contact per week (and often many more) from people wanting to know how they can come to NZ for a working holiday. I get just as many from Kiwi’s looking for the same opportunities overseas. Now that the NZ Immigration Department has added truck drivers to its Immediate Skill Shortage list, this should make it much easier for the Worlds wanderers to wander this way. We should be encouraging a reciprocal agreement to all country’s that have a similar licencing system and road rules as our own, and require them all to undergo subsidised training upon arrival, so that we can limit catastrophes.
We should all have our eyes wide open to take advantage of the thousands of as yet undreamed of opportunities that will flood from this.
But beware, if our attitude is wrong and we are doing this for the wrong reasons, it will backfire on us, big time and fast.
As a Nation, wake up, listen, opportunities are knocking and knocking loudly.
It’s the people of this country that are the real assets here, if we invest in education and excellence, then our real assets in all industries will be sort after, looked after, and well paid. Total tax revenue will rise because earnings will rise and industries that foster and support this properly, should receive tax breaks. Huge capital will flood back in as our wanderers return home with pockets lined with gold, overseas companies will want to invest here, so they can be a part of it.
But beware; we are only going to get one chance.
We are going to have to be careful about who comes here, there are bad guys out there and we have enough already, thank you very much.
Do it now and do it right.
But then, that is “Just an old truck driver’s point of view”
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