Making Driving Safer – Terry Mansfield

"Our strength is our expertise" Regional Manager, Terry Mansfield has been in the industry for over 25 years. Find out Terry’s top four things that set VINZ apart from the competition. #MakingDrivingSafer

Terry Mansfield, Northern Regional Manager

Trucks — keeping them moving, keeping them safe — are Terry Mansfield’s passion. He’s the Northern Regional Manager for VINZ, and is responsible for the company’s sites in Hamilton, Palmerston North and Lower Hutt. Because truck inspection is so highly specialised and demanding he thinks it’s easier to move from trucks to light vehicles than vice versa.

And he’s always on the lookout for good truck inspectors. “We’re always after good people to keep trucks safe,” he says. “Keeping up with demand is difficult – especially around truck inspections.”

“This is a great job if you have sound mechanical knowledge and a passion for inspecting vehicles,” he says. But just loving trucks — or cars for that matter — isn’t enough. “This is not a job where you start with enthusiasm and learn everything you need to know about the vehicles you inspect as you go. You must have a good understanding before you start. You need to be a qualified mechanic and will typically have five years’ experience. You can’t take short cuts with truck safety.”

That reduces the pool of available people. And competition for talent is tough. “We’re competing with workshops that have other revenue streams: vehicles sales, service, parts,” he says. “We just do inspections. We are not allowed to do repairs. Under the terms of our deed of appointment as a Key Service delivery Provider (KSDP) for NZTA. None of the KSDPs are. That means we don’t have parts margin to support the business. It’s a labour-only business, so we’re focussed on what we do, which is making sure vehicles are safe for New Zealand roads, and excellent at doing it.  Our strength is our expertise. That’s what we sell.”

Terry insists that four things set VINZ inspections apart: expertise, independence, investment and efficiency. “Our inspectors are the best in the country,” he says. “And we’re completely independent. We have nothing to gain from failing a vehicle. Your local workshop will do a Warrant of Fitness check for $35. They cannot actually do it for that cost, but they’re looking to get the repair work. That’s where they make their revenue.  Our first commitment is to safety, not to getting repair work. And because we have that focus we’re more efficient:  can do it because we’ve invested in inspection technologies, we have excellent systems and we operate at scale.”

Modern vehicles are complex, particularly their electronics. That means they need to be serviced by appropriately-trained experts. When there’s a problem people may think they can fix it themselves. We tell them it’s best that they take it to a qualified mechanic. You don’t compromise around vehicle safety.”

“We all have families,” he says. “We don’t want cars trucks or caravans, on the road posing a risk to us and our families.”