For Freight Moving North of Christchurch

We have been advised by Owens Transport that as from Monday 21st November 2016 all freight moving North from our warehouse in Christchurch will incur a 15% increase in cost. Please see the excerpt below from the email we received.

We can appreciate the reasoning behind this decision and hope that it will not inconvenience you, our loyal customer, too much. I have done a quick calculation and even with this increase Owens is still a cheaper freight option than PBT.

PBT advise at this time they have made no decision on whether they will be introducing a similar charge. We will keep you advised.

From MainFreight/Owens Transport

The earthquakes have triggered a "Force Majeure Event" meaning, due to circumstances arising from a natural event beyond our control, the Mainfreight Group can no longer remain compliant with cost and service obligations that existed contractually in writing or by verbal agreement.

Due to these unforeseen forced operational changes and extended transit times required to service freight Inter-Island and Intra-Island between the Marlborough region and the mid to lower South Island, we regretfully must look to our customers to make a contribution to allow us to sustain these services.

As a result, a separate disruption surcharge of 15% will be introduced and will apply to all Inter-Island freight movements, and to all movements between the Marlborough region and mid to lower South Island destinations (eg, freight from North Island to Christchurch will incur a 15% surcharge; freight from Timaru to Blenheim will incur a 15% surcharge, etc). In addition the following will apply:

• Should the Lewis Pass close or imposed restrictions arise for an extended period, Mainfreight may review our position.
• Should a consistent ferry option between Wellington and Lyttelton materialise, Mainfreight will look to reduce the fee where appropriate
• On the resumption of normal rail and road services between Picton and Christchurch via State Highway One, this fee will be removed

The surcharge will take effect from Monday 21st November. We have respectfully provided as much notice as possible to allow customers a chance to readjust freight requirements accordingly. We ask for your consideration, not to inundate our operations with freight volumes ahead of this date to avoid this surcharge.

Please contact us at Crawford Mouldings if you have any queries regarding this email.

Kind regards

Donald, Vicki, William & the Crawfords Team