The onset of Covid-19 created an unprecedented challenge for New Zealand’s transport sector. With border restrictions, regional lockdowns, and rapidly shifting alert levels, the Ministry of Transport needed a clear, up-to-date view of freight movements to safeguard critical supply chains. Traditional data sources were too slow to support the pace of decision-making — the Ministry required analytics that could reflect the state of the network almost in real time.

Our Approach:

• Weekly Consultations – Maintained a standing weekly meeting with Ministry officials to review the latest trends, align on emerging questions, and adjust focus areas in line with current policy discussions.
• Near-Real-Time GPS Analytics – Processed telematics data from freight operators nationwide, producing timely movement summaries and anomaly detection reports that reflected changes in volume, route choice, and corridor utilisation.
• Comprehensive Activity Mapping – Analysed inter- and intra-regional freight patterns, including connectivity to major ports and distribution hubs, to assess where lockdown restrictions were fragmenting the network.
• Responsive Insight Delivery – Delivered findings in formats optimised for ministerial briefings, allowing immediate integration into Cabinet-level decision-making.

Impact:

• Operational Awareness – Provided a nationwide operational picture of freight flows, showing both where the network was functioning as normal and where bottlenecks or slowdowns emerged.
• Supply Chain Isolation Analysis – Quantified the degree of regional isolation, identifying vulnerable corridors and areas where additional interventions or exemptions were needed to keep essential goods moving.
• Policy Influence – Equipped the Minister of Transport with data-backed evidence to guide targeted policy measures that balanced infection control with economic continuity.
• Crisis-Ready Framework – Demonstrated how telematics and rapid reporting can be institutionalised for future crisis management scenarios, beyond the pandemic.

By pairing responsive consultation with high-frequency data feeds, we helped the Ministry navigate a complex and fast-changing landscape, ensuring freight operations could adapt under some of the most challenging conditions in recent history.

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