Vehicle inspectors who issue warrants of fitness and who have felt under the cosh from the Transport Agency for the last three years, have been told to expect a gentler approach.
Transport agency audits have financially crippled some businesses, RNZ has been told. Photo: 123RF
The inspectors in recent meetings with Waka Kotahi told it about audits they feel are inconsistent and unfair.
"NZTA have caused many of us huge losses - financially crippling our businesses, causing ongoing extreme stress and mental health issues," one industry player told RNZ on condition of anonymity.
"Our reputations are down the drain and we are not sure we if can ever claw our way back."
The agency was found badly wanting in 2018 in how it regulated road safety and, forced by several critical government reviews, it stepped up audits.
The reviews were prompted by the 2018 death in Dargaville of a passenger in a wrongly warranted car.
Operators have repeatedly said the pendulum has swung too far; they have spoken of fed up inspectors quitting, exacerbating shortages in an industry desperate for staff.
The largest inspection operator in the country, VTNZ, is now appealing to the Transport Agency to help persuade the government to let in more foreign vehicle inspectors to plug the gaps.
The Motor Trade Association said it plugged away and secured recent meetings with NZTA, where it called in inspectors to describe audits.
"We've certainly had them show surprise at some of the things that have been happening," said the MTA's Greig Epps.
That included inconsistent audits region-by-region, inspectors sitting tests without being allowed to check the many pages of written rules, and multiple assessors looking over an inspector's shoulder, Epps said.
"You take the safety out of it, and it's more about the pressure of the performance."
'It will stop'
"We'd have to say to anyone who is facing the pressure, that it will change, it will stop," Epps said.
"We are working with the agency to ensure that those assessments are done consistently, they're done fairly, and that they recognise the skill and experience of the people doing the job."
While the Transport Agency told RNZ on Friday it was not changing its audit process, Epps said operators could expect "a less adversarial approach".
Members have pointed out many inconsistencies in NZTA's approach, the MTA's Greig Epps says. Photo: Supplied
Warrant of fitness consultant Andrea Andrew of Hamilton said garages had been feeling under the hammer.
She said some garages had deserved to be closed down, but not in all cases.
'More collaborative'
The MTA has written to its thousands of members, thanking those who briefed NZTA's Safer Vehicles team.
"I am now confident that the issues have been identified and will be addressed by Waka Kotahi over the coming weeks, meaning that the audit and review process will provide the appropriate outcome, based on a more collaborative approach to address any safety concerns if found," the repairs sector manager Graeme Swan wrote.
The operator who spoke to RNZ anonymously said they had heard the agency's audit teams had been removed but had not been told formally of this.
There were staff shortages "and no one wanting to do this job anymore because of the ridiculous compliance regulations, some of which they make up as they go along or change the rules to suit", they told RNZ.
VTNZ's national technical manager Craig Basher is counting the shift as a significant win.
"When you're being audited all the time, you know, you look over your shoulder," he said.
"There was a sole reliance on regulatory sanction, as opposed to a balance of inform and educate.
"So it's not the fact that the sanctions were over the top, it's more the fact that the sanctions were sort of a one-hit wonder."
Training nights with assessors visiting inspectors at branches had now begun, Basher said.
"We're not trying to form a friendly relationship, but what we are trying to get is a professional relationship. So we're not just the auditor versus the auditee."
Andrew said now was a good time for inspectors facing sanction to seek a review.
"You will find now NZTA a bit more gentler."