Editorial: Heavy-haulers need to ease off

Crashed logging trucks feature too prominently in headlines, writes Mark Story

Opinion

One trend that's stuck out like the proverbial in this province of late is the number of trucks leaving the road.

The scenario reminds me of those fearful video clips where elephants go rogue, break free of their moorings and crush everything in their path.

Logging trucks in particular feature too prominently in the country's headlines, having lost their wooden loads through haste and inattention.

It's a graceless phenomenon and a death-by-pine spectre that should rightly scare any motorist.

I'm told by an industry insider that logging truck drivers are colloquially referred to as "dicks with sticks". A rather uncharitable moniker of course, but looking at the frequency of photos coming into this newsroom depicting errant logs - I'm not convinced it's inaccurate.

No doubt most in this profession are focused drivers, but too many seem to be missing the point that the consequence of wool-gathering while driving is exponentially greater than a small vehicle mishap.

What the frequency of logging truck accidents shows us is that these guys are pushed hard - from pillar-to-post-to-port. Perhaps that explains the industry's lead feet.

But the imperative to move freight fast is no excuse.

We're told the "wall of wood" is expected to reach peak harvest by 2032. Mitigating this
is the recent decision to reopen a section of the Napier-Wairoa rail line which will reportedly take 714 trucks a year off the State Highway.

But until then, it'd be nice to stop writing headlines about heavy haulers who can't keep it on the road.