Service Updates

Thursday - Severe Weather Update

13-Jul-2017 10:58 a.m. - Minal Gulabdas
For up to date information from the couriers you can also visit their updates:


Updates from NZ Couriers

The severe weather continues to impact on our line-haul and delivery network.

  • The Lewis Pass was closed all night. No outbound freight was able to leave Nelson, nor was any inbound freight able to be delivered to branch. Attempts will be made to move freight during the day – however, this is weather dependant.
  • Greymouth and Westport are the same as above.
  • Cromwell / Queenstown outbound freight connected, however the inbound truck is waiting for the Lindis Pass to open.
  • Dunedin / Invercargill - both out bound and inbound freight moved smoothly by linehaul trucks, but there will be delays in van deliveries.
  • Gisborne inbound will be delayed due to the gorge still being closed.
  • The Desert Road and National Park Road were closed, which has meant that the North Island trucks travelling via State Highway One had to divert through the West Coast (New Plymouth). This is causing delays to most North Island centres.
  • There is currently no access to Tekapo, Taihape, Raetihi, Ohakune, Waiouru, Dannevirke - due to weather (+ access to Foxton is delayed due to an accident).
  • No Inter-Island ferries sailed, therefore no 2 day Inter-Island freight moved. We are waiting on an update as to if sailings will resume tomorrow.

Updates from Post Haste/Castle Parcels

The bulk of the issues that we are experiencing today from the overnight service network delays are throughout central New Zealand.

Wellington is currently being buffeted by severe gales rain and sleet which is making road conditions treacherous and if the conditions do not improve then we may be forced to take our delivery fleet off the road. Some day-runs have been suspended and services to Masterton are on hold and may not eventuate today.

Ferries were cancelled from yesterday morning and a potential recommencement of these services is not expected before 6.00am Friday July 14th.

Hawkes Bay region have late trucks arriving due to diversions delaying their inbound arrivals and freight will be delivered once sorting has been completed. Snow and flooding between Waipawa and Waipukurau will also provide challenges to our delivery services throughout the day.

Palmerston North have suspended deliveries in to Dannevirke as the road conditions have prevented access.

The Lewis Pass was closed early last evening meaning Nelson and Blenheim have essentially been cut off, with no freight getting in or out from last night. With no further update as to roads re- opening, this could ultimately ensure there will be little we can do in these areas with potentially no deliveries at all today.

The Lindis Pass remains closed and freight in to Central Otago and Queenstown is still in transit awaiting clearance to continue. As with Nelson and Blenheim there is also a possibility no freight will be delivered into these areas today.

Truck rollover Desert Road Tuesday 11th July

It is our unfortunate responsibility to inform our Auckland customers that one of our truck and trailer linehaul vehicles travelling on the Desert Road during the bad weather on Tuesday night, hit ice when slowing down to negotiate a bridge into a small ravine and rolled over, blocking SH 1. We are pleased to report that the driver was not injured but the vehicle was severely damaged and it took most of Wednesday to recover the truck and the two trailer units. Through the recovery process it was clear that the freight on board the second of the two trailers had also sustained serious damage and what has been recovered at this stage will be taken to Taupo today (Thursday 13th) to assess what is salvageable. We will know further once all the freight has been recovered but that may take several days.

What we do know is that the vehicle had left Auckland and was carrying approximately 25 cubic metres of freight for the Kapiti Coast and the rest was two day South Island road freight.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused but as yet we are still totally unable to confirm who, of our customers freight, has been impacted. To add to this we have several vehicles sitting on the wharf in Wellington also carrying South Island freight and these vehicles will not be moving until ferry sailings commence on Friday morning at the earliest. In this regard we will be unable to confirm who has been affected by this incident until the bulk of the South Island freight has been cleared after the weekend. Please bear this in mind when contacting us as we may have very little information to impart but will make every effort to contact you individually when we have more detail.

Again please accept our apologies as this is a very rare occurrence within our network and business as a whole.  

Updates from TIL Freight

An update to current weather conditions impacting freight services in New Zealand.

  • The weather has eased slightly and roads have re-opened in the South of Christchurch corridor and units have travelled.
  • North of Christchurch corridor to Upper South Island regions roads are closed.  This includes
  • SH1 North – East Coast – Closed - Areas affected: Kaikoura, Blenheim.
  • SH70 – Peketa to Waiau – Closed - Areas affected: Kaikoura.
  • SH73 - Springfield to Arthurs Pass (Porters Pass) – Closed  - Areas affected: Greymouth, Hokitika.
  • SH7 – Hanmer Springs – Springs Junction (Lewis Pass) – Closed - Areas affected: Nelson, Blenheim, Greymouth, Hokitika.
  • Please expect substantial delays to all deliveries in these areas.
  • All Cook Strait ferry sailings are cancelled.  Please expect substantial delays to all Inter Island freight services.
  • There are numerous TIL Freight units in transit, currently unable to travel (awaiting re-opening of highways)
  • At present, freight is not moving ex Auckland into the South Island.  Our team are managing all Auckland pickup services in a limited capacity to ensure our warehouse levels don’t reach unmanageable levels.
  • The Lower and Central North Island are currently experiencing the impact of the current weather situation restricting normal freight services.
  • Our Wellington Depot will also be closed today (13.07.2017) due to weather conditions with no freight in or out.
Thank you for your patience as we work through the delays and issues caused due to weather.  Please be aware that delays should be expected over the coming days.  Our team are working to manage these delays whilst keeping the safety of both our team and your freight foremost.