Operating at scale: The off-highway advantage

Inside Kaingaroa, the heavy lifting happens off the public highway. A privately managed off-highway road network runs around the clock, moving logs efficiently from harvest sites to processing or rail.

“The forest’s scale lets us plan and coordinate properly,” says Jake Rogers, RFH’s Off-Highway Truck Manager. “That’s what makes the operation efficient.”

The trucks inside the Kaingaroa Forest Estate are unlike any others in New Zealand. Purpose-built stem trucks for full length tree cartage, as well as double and triple units stretching more than 50 metres in length, carrying up to 150 tonnes of logs – and up to 200 tonnes all-up. These vehicles operate on a continuous cycle. Their routes service the Kaingaroa Processing Plant, off-highway domestic customers and the Murupara railhead, which links export volume through to the Port of Tauranga by rail.

“Our biggest units can carry around 150 tonnes of logs. You can’t run that anywhere else but inside a forest like this,” Jake explains.  “We’re a 24-hour operation most days. That’s what keeps the mill fed and the trains moving.”

Because the network is designed specifically for forestry, scale translates directly into efficiency.

“Because we’ve got the space and the roading, we can move more wood with fewer trips,” Jake says. “That means less fuel, less wear, and less risk.”

Within Kaingaroa, road and rail function as one integrated system. Each train departing Murupara or Kawerau removes dozens of heavy trucks from public highways. Each off-highway haul reduces emissions, improves safety, and limits impacts on surrounding communities – while maintaining the throughput required to support New Zealand’s wood processing sector.

“The off-highway network means we don’t need to run heavy units on public roads,” Jake says. “It’s better for the environment, safer for everyone and better for the communities around us.”