Give the Trucking industry 1 inch and they will steal all your road miles you fool

They want heavier trucks on already broken roads.

Because apparently the solution to rising freight costs is to let the industry doing most of the damage do even more of it. And once again, New Zealand’s trucking lobby is asking for an inch — knowing full well it will take the whole road.

Wait? WHAT!

Fears transport service procurers may hit back as costs rise.  

There are fears procurers of transport services may begin to hit back at the increased cost of moving goods, Transporting New Zealand says.

RNZ

…blah blah blah, fears, costs, poor us, etc etc – WAIT…

The trucking industry wants heavier trucks — again

“Transport operators cannot wear these price increases and the financial viability of their businesses is at risk if they cannot recoup these costs,” he said

Kalasih said transport regulations should be urgently amended to allow certain trucks to carry higher payloads as it could improve fuel efficiency across the freight task and reduce diesel cost pressures.

…wait for it…

Heavy vehicle permitting regulations currently allow approved freight operators to run High Productivity Motor Vehicles (HPMVs) on state highways and local roads suitable for vehicles operating above the standard 44-tonne weight limit.

“I have written to New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, asking the agency to consider how the heavy vehicle permitting regulations could be urgently amended to move more freight in fewer trips,” Kalasih said

“Increasing allowable payloads on 50 max vehicles and other HPMVs could reduce the diesel required to move freight, while maintaining a safe and well-regulated system. That will put downward pressure on freight costs at a time when businesses and consumers are doing it really tough.”

…boom goes the dynamite!

Look.

My dear fellow Kiwis. We joke sometimes, we laugh, we push each others buttons a little but none of you can be dumb enough to allow the Nazgul that is the trucking lobby to gain access to even heavier trucks that chew up our roads!

The one thing (other than the push to privatise roads and create a mass surveillance network) that I don’t ever understand about the perpetual moaning about roads and somehow, despite all the outrage about road cones and roadworks, no one ever blames the thing doing most of the damage — trucks

Who actually pays for the damage?

Maintenance is the overlooked and unsexy part of funding new roads, but it’s incredibly important. And when discussing how to pay for it, it’s important to ask: what does the damage? The answer, overwhelmingly, is trucks. Approximately 80% of all road maintenance costs in New Zealand are the result of the damage caused by trucks. According to some estimates, one truck does the equivalent damage to a road of 800 to 1,000 cars. 

This is a spiralling problem. As rail has declined due to underfunding, freight has shifted to roads, leading to heavier trucking volumes, more road damage and higher costs to taxpayers.

…80% of the damage comes from Trucks and because the Trucking Industry has its hands around the balls of the National, ACT and NZF Parties, they are forever allowed to be blameless when it comes to the wear and tear of our roads!

Instead of properly funding rail and domestic sea shipping, we have allowed the Trucks to just buy their way onto the roads, roads they then destroy and we all end up paying more for.

Once you give the trucking industry an advantage, they never give it back, and what’s that I hear?

Why it’s the ACT Party right on time with this announcement from their Golden Red Tape Ministry…

Ministry seeks regulatory feedback on fuel plan to avoid red tape ‘getting in the way’

Regulatory feedback is being called for as the government looks to tackle global fuel uncertainty.

The government laid out its response plan to the rising fuel costs triggered by the conflict in the Middle East following the US-Israel attacks on Iran one month ago.

The National Fuel Plan mimics the COVID response in that it has four phases, each outlining measures that would be taken if the situation gets progressively worse.

New Zealand is currently at phase one and the government has said for now there is sufficient supply and no need for stockpiling.

The Ministry for Regulation is now urging businesses, fuel users, freight operators, and the wider public to report any barriers that could stand in the way of the government’s response.

The ministry’s main job is to ensure quality across regulatory systems and encouraging productivity.

Regulation Minister David Seymour said the ministry was interested in hearing from businesses on the front line including fuel companies, freight operators, contractors, primary producers and retailers.

“We can’t control what happens in the Middle East. We can control how we get fuel flowing through New Zealand pumps. If red tape is getting in the way of that goal, we want to hear it.”

RNZ

…let me make a wild stab in the dark and predict that the Ministry’s priest recommendation is to give the trucking industry exactly what the want!

We’ve seen this play before. Deregulate, overload, underinvest in alternatives, then hand the bill to taxpayers when the roads fall apart. If this goes through, don’t pretend it’s about efficiency. It’s about power — and who gets to use the roads without paying the true cost.