RUNNING ON EMPTY:The implications of non-standard work in the New Zealand Trucking industry

Clare Tedestedt George and Ronny Tedestedt

OUTLINE:• Trucking industry in New

Zealand• An outline of the problem• Individual focus• Systems Approach• NZ Trucking Industry as a case

study

THE TRUCKING INDUSTRY IN NEW ZEALAND▪ Most common mode of choice when transporting goods

▪ Domestic freight said to grow by 75 percent between 2006 and 2030

▪ Companies compelled to use road freight because of customers’ demands

▪ Trucks transport between 80 to 90 percent of NZ’s total domestic freight

▪ 23,000 people or about 1.5 percent of the workforce are directly working in road freight with a further 15,000 indirectly employed

▪ Contributes 1.4 percent of economic activity and is even higher in smaller towns

▪ Major employer and creator of job opportunities

▪ Road freight largely made up of locally-based, family-owned and run businesses

AN OUTLINE OF THE PROBLEM:

• Poor safety record• Poor health among drivers• Well-being concerns for the

drivers and their families

INDIVIDUAL FOCUS▪ Accidents occur and the driver is often blamed

▪ Drivers often take responsibility for their own actions as well as the conditions of the truck and the road

▪ Prevention in this area has often taken a narrow focus

▪ For example Ergonomics, Bio-medical, Psychological etc.

▪ Important to acknowledge contributing disciplines

▪ Systemic factors are often overlooked

A wider perspective may help us to better understand the problem

SYSTEMS APPROACHIn order to fully grasp the

problem and shift the focus from the individual (driver) we need to look beyond the

symptoms of fatigue, speeding, and driving

infringements

SYSTEM’S APPROACHA system’s approach allows us to recognise and consider many elements of the work system and their interconnectedness including the organisation of work, restrictive employment practices, and pay structures

A variation of the model in : Tappin, Bentley, Vitalis (2008)

GROWTH OF NON-STANDARD WORK▪ Shift from stable/permanent working arrangements to non-

standard arrangements

▪ Reduced down to core competencies and other work is outsourced

▪ Employer driven flexibility; they set the conditions

▪ Response to competitive pressures associated with labour market reforms

▪ Most often found in industries with fragmented work practices and complex supply chains

▪ Shifts the risk onto the worker, the individual

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS▪ Current OHS legislation in NZ covers employees, not

contractors

▪ Health, safety and well-being is being outsourced from the principal to the contractor

▪ De facto employee but de juris contractor not covered

EMPLOYEE VS CONTRACTOR

Employee

▪ Contract of services (i.e. hiring an employee)

▪ Relationship found in typical employment, which is based on a Master-Servant relationship

▪ Contract regulated by employment law

▪ Collective action through unions seen as legitimate

Contractor

• Contract for services (i.e. hiring a self-employed or independent contractor)

• Relationship where the principal and contractor are seen as equals

• Contract regulated by civil law

• Legal and practical obstacles to join a trade union and bargaining collectively

NZ TRUCKING INDUSTRY▪ Trucking Industry epitomises changes to working arrangements

▪ Approximately 70 percent of the trucking industry in New Zealand are contractors or owner drivers

▪ Many who were once employed are now re-hired as contractors

▪ Drivers have ongoing uncertainty, fluctuation in wages, and irregular hours

▪ Principals have unilateral power to make changes to payment structures, routes, termination rights, capital investment

▪ Signing of contracts that effectively require them to breach traffic laws Inadequate pay leads to unsafe practices

▪ Reward system is linked to low quotations and speed of completion

Maybe we need to look at this as a systemic failure whereby the

nature of the contract provides further

explanation for the high numbers of accidents

and poor OHS outcomes for drivers

THANK YOU