Virtually from the moment he became the Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce was an “enthusiastic” supporter of mega-trucks. He was convinced of the productivity gains to be made from allowing greater maximum loads.

Little heed was paid to naysayers, who focused on the increased threat to safety on the roads. Acting decisively, Mr Joyce decreed that from May this year, trucks would be able to carry loads of up to 53 tonnes on specified routes, up from the previous limit of 44 tonnes. The upshot, three months later, raises questions about his reasoning and his rush.

It is now apparent that Auckland’s Southern Motorway will not be able to support the new trucks for several years. The Transport Agency has conceded it will take that long to make up to a dozen points “compliant” for them. The obvious weak points are bridges, such as those over the Tamaki River and the Puhinui Stream.

The Herald also points out the irony of the Transport Agency’s view, who say that:

..while it will be some time before mega-trucks can use the Southern Motorway to carry freight to and from Auckland’s port, consignments could be split up and sent by rail between the port company’s inland distribution centre at Wiri and the waterfront.

This is an issue that the CBT raised almost a year ago:

Whilst the current legal limit is a gross mass of 44 tonnes, most of the bridges on the state highway network and indeed the local road network were designed and constructed to carry lower loads. However, they continue to perform beyond expectations because of the conservative nature of some designs, material strengths that are higher than allowed for or ongoing upgrades and strengthening programmes.

306 state highway bridges would require strengthening, or detailed investigation and an estimated $85M would be required to fund the work over a period of several years.

Of these bridges, only 13 have already been included on the approved 09/12 Bridge Replacement and Upgrade Programme due to their current condition. The results have not been studied in detail to determine if any of the bridges should be replaced rather than strengthened.

As we’ve said before, this looks like a sop to the trucking industry, who seem to be expecting all other road users to help pay for the necessary strengthening work.

The CBT has made it easy for you, and you can kill two birds with one stone and submit your opposition to big trucks at the same time.

A template submission to the Hamilton City Council is here. Email this one to

A template submission to the Waikato District Council is here.  Email this one to

Yes, you can send a submission to both councils, no matter where you live. With everyone’s help, we’ll get our Waikato Trains Now!

The Herald has a nice juxtaposition of a photo of truck accident blocking the motorway with the headline that BIG trucks are on their way.

Up to 5000 trucks will be eligible to carry heavier loads on public highways from next month.

The Government is basically giving the trucking industry a handout with this.  Road user charges weren’t increased in October for truck trailers, and the necessary reinforcement work for bridges etc. hasn’t been done. I’d also question the supposed economic benefits of $500m from the Ministry of Transport. Does this allow for the fact that trucking firms should pay 16 – 21% more per tonne in road user charges to use a bigger truck?

Furthermore, councils are unlikely to approve permits for heavy trucks without compensation of the damage they cause.  In moving from 44 tonnes to 52 tonnes, trucks of the same axle configuration are also likely to cause twice as much damage to the roading network.

There needs to be stronger regulation of the trucking industry.  There are already too many accidents involving trucks, and the number of roll over accidents will only get worse as trucks get heavier.

Regional transport committees for most of the upper North Island – including Auckland – oppose allowing heavier trucks on main roads despite Government and industry predictions of productivity gains and fuel savings.

Proposed rule changes to allow bigger trucks, subject to a new permitting system, were hotly debated by Auckland’s regional transport committee before members voted on Wednesday 10-5 to reject them.

That followed similar opposition from committees in Northland and Waikato, and a submission from their Bay of Plenty counterpart outlining strong reservations, although without rejecting them outright.

Local Government NZ has also raised concern about the costs for ratepayers of fixing local roads, as diesel road user charges cover only half the bill through the national land transport fund.

It has warned the Government it is unlikely many permits would be issued by its members as road controlling authorities.

But some local councils, including Auckland City, have supported the new system subject to conditions.

The Ministry of Transport has received 285 submissions on the changes and expects to make a report to the minister, Steven Joyce, next month.

Under the proposed changes, road controlling authorities would be responsible for issuing permits for standard-sized vehicles to operate on specified routes with loads between the current maximum of 44 tonnes and a proposed new limit of 53 tonnes.

The Transport Agency would be responsible for permits for vehicles up to two metres longer than the current maximum length of 22m, with loads “above or below” 53 tonnes.

The Auckland debate was spiced up by Road Transport Forum chairman Simon Tapper, a regional committee member, who said the changes would give environmental as well as economic gains by reducing truck movements.

He claimed “a lot of emotional clap-trap” was clouding the debate.

The new rules would enable his company, Tapper Transport, to cut about 10,000 round trips from the 50,000 made annually between its Onehunga hub and the Auckland waterfront.

“That means 280,000km a year would be taken out of the equation – the emission cuts, carbon dioxide savings, would be huge.”

Responding to concerns of other committee members about safety, he said heavier trucks would be required to be able to stop in the same distance as existing rigs, and the extra weight would enhance braking capabilities “because you’ve got more friction on the ground”.

He said it would take only a course in “statistics 101″ to appreciate that fewer truck movements would eclipse any extra risk from heavier loads subjected to tight safety requirements.

Campaign for Better Transport co-ordinator Cameron Pitches questioned the trip savings predicted by Mr Tapper, and said there was nothing in the proposed permit system stipulating controls over emissions or noxious leachates into waterways.

Committee chairwoman Christine Rose did not consider it credible that roads would be safer, and said Mr Tapper should ride a bicycle along a rural freight route to “know what it feels like to fear for your life”.

Mr Tapper acknowledged that road freight consignments would continue to grow, but said providing for larger trucks would enable it to happen at a slower rate.

A submission approved by the committee calculated that an increase in the per axle weight of quad-axle vehicles, from 5.5 tonnes to 6 tonnes, might not seem much but could cause 41 per cent more road damage.

It said larger trucks would undermine the competitiveness of more energy-efficient rail and coastal shipping freight services.

Northland transport committee chairman John Bain said his region opposed the changes because it relied on State Highway 1 and it would only take a big slip caused by larger trucks at sites such as the Brynderwyn Hills to cut it off.

Who will bear the cost of heavier vehicles? Where will the costs of heavier vehicles fall, and will they improve New Zealand’s productivity?

We really don’t know the answers to these questions as the analysis has not been done…[more]

Quite. IPENZ members consist of 10,000 engineers throughout New Zealand.

Whilst the current legal limit is a gross mass of 44 tonnes, most of the bridges on the state highway network and indeed the local road network were designed and constructed to carry lower loads. However, they continue to perform beyond expectations because of the conservative nature of some designs, material strengths that are higher than allowed for or ongoing upgrades and strengthening programmes.

306 state highway bridges would require strengthening, or detailed investigation and an estimated $85M would be required to fund the work over a period of several years.

Of these bridges, only 13 have already been included on the approved 09/12 Bridge Replacement and Upgrade Programme due to their current condition. The results have not been studied in detail to determine if any of the bridges should be replaced rather than strengthened.

In the South Island, no section of SH1 has bridges that can support 50 tonne trucks.  In the North Island Pokeno – Hamilton – Tirau has strong enough bridges, as does Rotorua – Taupo.  No section of SH1 from Taupo to Wellington has bridges that can support 50 tonne trucks.

It is hard to see how heavy trucks can be introduced to the state highway network without doing the necessary bridge strengthening work first.  The proposed implementation date of 2010 seems overly optimistic.

Pro-rail campaigners say the Government is seeking public support for heavier trucks without producing evidence of economic benefits to justify the extra wear on the country’s roads.

The Campaign for Better Transport in Auckland says submissions due by Friday on a draft rule change allowing truck loads to be increased to 53 tonnes or more have been hampered by the Ministry of Transport’s refusal to provide a report on claimed productivity benefits from Canterbury road trials.

I don’t think this is an issue so much about road vs rail, but about safety for other road users and the fairness ratepayers, taxpayers and other road users subsidising the trucking industry.

The Campaign For Better Transport is urging concerned road users and organisations to make submissions against the Government’s proposal to let larger and heavier trucks on our roads from next year.

Spokesperson Cameron Pitches says the move would greatly increase the risk of an increase in the number of accidents involving trucks.

“If existing trucks are allowed to carry much heavier loads, braking distances will have to increase leaving less room for error. Rollover accidents are will also be more likely as heavier containers will have a higher centre of gravity,” says Mr Pitches.

“Trucks are already involved in a disproportionate number of accidents. This can only get worse if we allow these changes go through.”

Earlier this year, Police ran a road safety blitz targeting trucks on concerns that half of all fatal accidents on State Highway 1 in the South Island involve trucks.

Proposed changes to transport rules will allow large trucks “with a gross mass of up to and including 53,000 kg or more” on to the roads, subject to a permit being issued by the New Zealand Transport Agency. Logging trucks will also be 2m longer.

Standard sized trucks will also be allowed to carry heavier loads as allowable axle loadings are being increased under the proposals. Truck and trailer units are currently limited to 44 tonnes.

“The accepted formula is that if you double the size of the truck, you will do sixteen times the damage to the road,” says Mr. Pitches.

“In moving from 44 to 53 tonnes, twice as much damage will result for each truck movement. It would be unreasonable of the trucking industry to expect other road users to carry this additional cost. We are also concerned at moves to replace road user charges with a flat diesel tax, which would effectively subsidise the trucking industry even further.”

Government claims that the change would result in fewer trucks on the road were also rubbished by the Campaign for Better Transport.

“Unless the trucking industry is about to make hundreds of truck drivers redundant, claims that there will be fewer trucks on the road are laughable,” says Mr Pitches.

The New Zealand Transport Agency projects the amount of freight to be moved on New Zealand’s roads will double in the next 20 years.

In launching the proposed changes, Minister of Transport Steven Joyce said that New Zealand would receive productivity gains of $250-$500 million. However, attempts by the Campaign for Better Transport for the report containing the figures were blocked by officials, as it “contains commercially sensitive information gained from the freight/trucking companies who took part.”

“Without being permitted to see the business case for heavy trucks, we remain sceptical about the costs and benefits,” says Mr Pitches.

Submissions close Friday, 24th July and can be made online through the Better Transport website www.bettertransport.org.nz