Trucks moving freight south while Northland train services are suspended as asbestos contamination is sorted out on KiwiRail's Chinese-built locomotives is "not much of a drama" for the main industries affected, says a spokesman.
The 40 DL locomotives do not operate on the Northland line as they are too big for the tunnels.
But with all 40 taken off the tracks when the asbestos problem surfaced last week, trains usually used in Northland are needed elsewhere as KiwiRail adapts its services to cope with the withdrawal of the Chinese-built locomotives.
The DL locomotives are not expected to return to service for at least a week.
Rail moves 274,000 tonnes of freight - forestry, minerals, dairy and other products - between Whangarei and Auckland annually, with trains making two return trips five days a week.
Of that freight, 102,000 tonnes is moved within the Northland network, with two return services daily, five days a week between Otiria and Portland and one return service five days a week between Whangarei and Dargaville.
Log trucking firms are expected to have little trouble coping with the withdrawal of the trains, said a Northland road transport industry representative, who asked not to be named.
He suggested logs could be stockpiled around the region as most logs moved by rail went to the woodchipping facility at Portland.
Fonterra expects about 20 truckloads of product would need to be carried weekly from its factory at Kauri to Auckland.
"It's not much of a drama for us," a spokesman for the dairy co-operative told the Advocate.
Motorists would notice an increase in truck traffic, Northland road policing manager Inspector Murray Hodson said yesterday, warning that slower truck speeds, particularly up hills, affected drivers of smaller vehicles.
KiwiRail acquired its Chinese-built locomotives between 2010-12 and the contract stated no asbestos was to be used in their construction.
"The suppliers let us [KiwiRail] down and have committed to carry out necessary rectification at their expense," KiwiRail communications manager Kimberley Brady said yesterday.
Testing of the withdrawn locomotives had been completed and KiwiRail was now working toward their phased reintroduction to service, but it would be at least another week before this started to happen.