Transporting NZ’s 2025 survey reveals rising road rage against truck drivers, with calls for more respect and understanding on the nation’s roads
Transporting New Zealand (TNZ) says their 2025 National Road Freight Survey raised concerns about truck drivers facing road rage and abuse while doing their jobs.
The survey of 194 industry participants across 128 road freight firms asked respondents to rank their three leading issues, ranging from health and wellbeing of drivers to the state of the roading network.
Of the survey respondents who identified public perception and industry reputation as one of their leading issues, 50 per cent said their drivers regularly experienced abuse from members of the public while working.
TNZ says the findings were supported by results from a survey from AA Insurance earlier in the year, showing nearly half of respondents thought road rage had intensified over the past 12 months.
Billy Clemens, head of Transporting New Zealand’s policy & advocacy, says while most of the public view truck drivers positively, a small minority of road users were putting others at risk.
“Research NZ surveyed 1005 members of the public and found more than seven times as many people surveyed having a positive perception of road freight drivers compared to those taking a negative view (52 per cent to 7 per cent, the remainder being neutral).
“Transporting New Zealand’s concerns about road rage and abuse are focussed on a very small proportion of road users.
“What worries us and our road freight members are truck drivers being harassed and abused while going about their work. Truck driving is challenging enough without drivers having to ignore insults and abuse, de-escalate disputes, and refer threatening behaviour onto Police.”
Billy acknowledged that trucks could challenge people’s patience on the road, but encouraged all road users to show patience and consideration, and report poor driving to Police at *555.
“Trucks are limited to a maximum of 90 km/h on all roads, need additional time to speed up and slow down, and need to take particular care on narrow roads and corners.
“Drivers also need to park up their trucks to take mandated rest breaks. These factors can all contribute to frustration from other road users, but we encourage everyone to be considerate.”