The country’s biggest truck show has rolled into Christchurch amid growing calls for more truckies to join the transport industry.
“If the trucks don’t have drivers, you can’t get the freight moved and the industry moves 93% of the freight in New Zealand,” the New Zealand Trucking Association's Dave Boyce said.
This year, among the fleet of big rigs are recruitment tents.
“We're actually looking at bringing some migrants over from the Philippines to come and remedy some of the shortage that's going on,” one recruiter said.
"At the minute, I'm looking at bringing about 200 migrants over."
Despite the shortage, some things are changing for the better, with more women now behind the wheel.
“I'm nine years deep into my sentence of truck driving and I absolutely love it. You just couldn't get a more rewarding job,” Hilton Haulage driver Jess Johns said.
“It's just freedom, out and about. You meet so many good people, just so many experiences and you get to see New Zealand for free.”
While several thousand people turned out for today’s event, tomorrow is being billed as the big event. Around 20,000-30,000 people and a further 500 trucks are expected to turn out to the showcase.
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