Frail Coromandel roads see freight fleets and rubbish trucks downsize

Freight and rubbish services in Coromandel Peninsula are down-sizing to work on the region’s frail roading network.

Thames Coromandel District Council had opted to do rubbish pick up on the back of a ute to reach those in places inaccessible by truck.

While some companies have been pivoting to smaller trucks and even vans to better their odds.

Council were aware of some companies switching to vans but said confirmation would need to come directly from the companies themselves.

READ MORE:
* We can’t afford to forget about the Coromandel Peninsula
* Death of a highway: Slips on SH25A turn holiday hotspot into ‘forgotten peninsula’
* Great white shark spotted in Coromandel
* Whangamatā locals fear ‘big trouble’ if second SH25 under-slip gives way

“Road conditions have made some areas inaccessible for our Council’s solid waste contractor’s heavy vehicles for their normal weekly collection runs,” Thames-Coromandel District Council said.

“A Council staff member is doing a weekly collection in a ute to pick up rubbish in Port Charles and Waitete Bay.”

Council expected roading repairs in this area to be complete by 28 March.

Multiple routes had been jeopardised by cracks, slips and under-slips leftover from Cyclone Gabrielle.

SH25A between Kōpū and Hikuai was out of action for months while others like SH25 had a bite-sized whole in its side, reducing access to one lane but excluding heavy vehicles.

Both Mainfreight and foodstuffs had switched out some of their fleet to trucks rather than truck and trailers.

Country manager for Mainfreight, Carl George said they had been at the mercy of the roading network.

“We’ve really been dictated by what roads have been open and that’s changed quite often over the last weeks,” George said.

“In terms of bigger impact, for deliveries over to Whangamatā we would normally run a large truck a trailer unit, but we’ve had to downsize that to our smaller fleet of trucks due to the conditions of the roading infrastructure.”

Countdown were not needing to use smaller trucks or vans to deliver to their Whitianga store.

For trucks transporting farming stock and agricultural materials like fertiliser and palm kernel it wasn’t as simple.

Their trucks could not down-size or opt for a van or ute alternative given the nature of their cargo.

Graham Wright from Graham Wright Transport Lt said their trucks were having to traverse the roads at their own risk.

”We are essential operators,” Wright said.

”The other day we had two loads of cattle to come out of Hikuai to go to the freezing works in Te Kuiti, and normally a job that takes three hours, this time it took eight hours.”