IR-01-23-26926
14 September 2023
K Bradley
[FYI request #23800 email]
Dear K Bradley
I refer to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request received 23 August 2023 for
information infringements and court penalties within the trucking industry.
Please note Police can only report on the infringement offences. Information about
penalties resulting from court charges is information held by the Ministry of Justice. I
understand that your request has already been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice to
supply this information.
Additionally, Police does not hold infringement information on vehicles by industry;
however, detail on the vehicle type is collected. I have therefore interpreted “trucking
industry” to be any vehicle where its specified type on an infringement offence notice was
either “Heavy Motor Vehicle” or “Articulated Vehicle”.
With that in mind, I have answered each part of your request below.
1. What is the yearly total of infringement notices and court penalties for the NZ
trucking industry (general)
I refer you to Table One below for a breakdown of the total number of infringement
offences for each of the last three complete calendar years.
Please note this table contains provisional data which is drawn from a dynamic
operational database on 5 September 2023. This is subject to change as new information
is recorded or recoded.
The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be challenging for staff engaged in road policing.
Public health measures required the redeployment of Police staff to support the health
response and, coupled with staff il ness, saw road policing related outputs decline. Since
those measures have been lifted, Police has seen a return to expected levels of road
policing prevention and enforcement activities.
2. What is the yearly total of infringement notices and court penalties for SMEs in
the NZ trucking industry
Police does not hold information on 'Small and Medium Enterprises' within the trucking
industry. This part of your request is therefore refused under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA as
the information requested is not held by Police and I have no grounds for believing it is
held by any other agency subject to the OIA.
Police National Headquarters 180 Molesworth Street. PO Box 3017, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Telephone: 04 474 9499. Fax: 04 498 7400. www.police.govt.nz
3. An overview of infringement notices and court penalties over the different trucking
industries (eg Heavy Haulage, Logging, Long Haul)
As previously explained, Police does not hold infringement information by industry. This
part of your request is therefore refused under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA as the
information requested is not held by Police and I have no grounds for believing it is held
by any other agency subject to the OIA.
4. The most common reasons for infringement notices and court penalties being
issued to the NZ Trucking industry
I refer you to Table One below.
5. The ratio and cost to Drivers of reciving infringement notices and court penalties
compared to their Companies
Police would be required to undertake analysis of raw infringement data to determine
such comparative values. An analysis of this magnitude would amount to the creation of
new information, and there is no obligation under the OIA for an agency to create
information in order to respond to a request.
This part of your request is therefore refused under section 18(g)(i) of the OIA as the
information is not held by Police and I have no grounds for believing it is held by any
other agency subject to the OIA.
6. Any reports that have been done on assessing how best to reduce the risk of
companies and drivers receiving infringement notices and court penalties (eg:
adopting certain types of technology, adopting new processes)”
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Team (CVST) encourage commercial vehicle operators
and drivers to operate within the safety regulations to protect the road network and all
road users. CVST regularly engages with drivers and companies engaged in the trucking
industry to identify and address road safety risks.
To provide you this information, Police would be required to spend a significant amount of
time collating, reviewing, and redacting the associated reports. As this would place an
unreasonable administrative burden on Police, this part of your request is refused under
to section 18(f) of the OIA as the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
If you are not satisfied with the way I have responded to your request, you have the right
to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman. Information about how to make
a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Superintendent Steve Greal y
Director: Road Policing
New Zealand Police
Table One: Number of infringement offences detected where the vehicle type was
specified on the infringement offence notice as ‘Heavy Motor Vehicle’ or
‘Articulated Vehicle’, by offence category and calendar year.
Offence Category
2020
2021
2022
Road User Charges & Overloading
2327
2766
3680
Warrant And Certificate of Fitness
1513
2475
3445
Logbooks, Driving Hours & Vehicle Related Offences
2043
2275
2701
Speeding
2249
2304
2189
Vehicle Related Offences
1412
1750
1931
Driver Licence
490
775
1288
Transport Licensing
520
658
875
Vehicle Equipment
216
318
472
Driver Duties and Obligations
133
199
215
Manner of Driving
144
152
157
Parking
5
8
18
Duties and Obligations
12
7
9
Alcohol Related Offences
4
4
5
Litter Act & Miscellaneous
1
7
5
Pedestrian, Horse, Moped & Cycle Offences
1
1
2
Alcohol and Drug Related Offences
0
0
3
Speed Camera Offences
2
0
1
Non-Traffic Infringements and Offences
0
1
0
Total Infringement Offences
11,072
13,700
16,996
