Vehicles servicing the cruise ship industry have been pulled up for being non-compliant, a situation described as ''very disappointing''.
I-Site Dunedin visitor centre manager Louise van de Vlierd told a meeting of cruise ship operators this week she had been told by the NZ Transport Agency the level of compliance this year had not been up to standard.
That level compared badly with previous years.
Compliance needed to ''get right back up there'' next season.
NZTA compliance manager Kelvin Lloyd said some issues during the season that finished last month had been dealt with immediately by police, including a passenger bus found with an expired certificate of fitness and a driver with serious log book errors.
Some operators had required further scrutiny by the agency.
Two had a compliance review that required implementation of a plan to address their issues.
The NZTA and the police commercial vehicle safety team checked on commercial vehicles servicing cruise ships over the summer.
The ''relatively minor'' instances of non-compliance were found mostly in smaller cruise ship travel operators in Dunedin.
Mr Lloyd said larger transport operators and shuttle services were generally compliant in terms of vehicle safety, driver training, passenger service endorsements and driver work time requirements.
The NZTA was considering pre-season workshops with operators and regulatory groups to ensure operators were fully aware of their obligations and responsibilities.
