A Canterbury rural contractor who last week received a fine exceeding $12,000 for an overweight agricultural vehicle is just the latest hit by rules which the industry organisation says are crippling some members.
Jacob Holdaway says he’s been in business 15 years and never experienced more than a minor fine previously.
Rural Contractors NZ Vice President Daryl Thompson says his organisation is hearing of numerous such incidents and took the issue to Regulations Minister David Seymour three months ago.
“We’ve since had a welcome announcement that the ag vehicle regulations are being reviewed but in the interim members like Jacob are being knocked for six.”
He says the current regulations are years out of date and don’t reflect the size of agricultural machinery now being used.
Jacob Holdaway says a tractor and trailer unit driven by one of his staff was pulled over in a back street in Methven last month, en route to a local dairy farm after harvesting fodder beet nearby.
He says police took the vehicle to a local transport yard and weighed it. Last week, he got a ticket which says a tractor and trailer is only allowed to carry 28.8 tonnes and his unit was carrying 39.7 tonnes. He’s been fined $12,150.
“This is a very standard-sized tractor and trailer for what we do in mid-Canterbury.”
Jacob Holdaway says the trailer was not over-loaded; if it had just been moving the fodder beet within a farm property it could have safely held another 3-4 tonnes.
His phone has been running hot with other rural contractors and farmers sharing their own experiences with being ticketed – or the fear of being hit with a huge fine.
“We don’t want to be running illegally but we do want to be able to operate efficiently.”
Daryl Thompson says rural contractors face a maze of requirements to run agricultural machines on short road distances including transport licences and meeting Vehicle Dimension and Mass rules.
“We are even supposed to train and register for BESS – Bridge Engineering Self Supervision. We are rural contractors, not bloody engineers.”
He says the Government’s review will likely take many months and in the interim Rural Contractors NZ is asking for some discretion to be applied.
“I’m a former police officer and I know police often choose to apply the law as appropriate rather than how it’s written. That’s especially the case where a law is outdated.”
Daryl Thompson says rural contractors generally have a very good relationship with their local police.
“No contractor expects a blind eye to be turned where someone is shedding crop on a state highway or covering an intersection in grapes,’’ he says. A wider response is also needed from the Government.
“We’ve been patient, followed the evolving process but we need action now. The fines are disproportionate, and we need NZTA and the Government to urgently address this weight issue so our members can get on with their work for our nation’s farmers.”
“The current weights could be shifted as a seasonal test by NZTA to reflect modern day machinery’s capacities. Currently rural contractors needing to carry heavier loads than the regs allow can apply for over-weight permits but that involves a multi-department rigamarole such as the BESS. The whole process needs an urgent fix.”
‘This government was formed with the backing of the agricultural sector – farmers, contractors, growers – and now we need the backing to continue production, otherwise the goal to double exports might as well be a moon shot.’