Press Release
For immediate release

Motorists robbed by trucking plans - expert

50 tonne trucks will each cause 6,250,000 times more damage to the roads than a one tonne car, according to a formula developed by Transit New Zealand. 1

http://www.transit.govt.nz/about/faqs.jsp#13

Commenting after the government announced plans to allow trucks of up to 50 tonnes on public roads, Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew- Wilson says: “The government’s transport strategy is being driven by trucking industry lobbyists, and the average motorist is the loser.”

“According to the government’s press release, it will cost between $85 to $100 million extra to strengthen bridges and roads used by 50 tonne trucks. This is a nonsense figure. According to a roading damage formula developed by Transit New Zealand, 50 tonne trucks will each be causing 6,250,000 times more damage to the roads than a one tonne truck.” 1

“Trucking companies use the roads paid for by the average motorist, yet they don’t pay even a fraction of the cost of the damage they do.”

Matthew-Wilson believes that much of the government’s transport strategy is being driven by groups such as the Road Transport Forum.

“The government’s policies start to make sense when you remember that Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander is a former National Party cabinet minister.”

The Road Transport Forum was a major donor to political parties at the last election, contributing nearly $100,000 to Labour, National and also to individual MPs.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10566887

“Trucks also waste a staggering amount of energy. The government’s own figures show that transporting goods by rail is over five times more efficient that transporting goods by truck.” 2

“We need to rethink the whole process of transportation instead of trying to patch a sinking ship. The government’s own figures show that the current road-based transport system is unsustainable, yet the government wants to expand this system.” 3

1 According to Transit New Zealand: “a vehicle weighing 2 tonnes is 16 (24th = 2*2*2*2 = 16) times more damaging to the road than a vehicle weighing 1 tonne (14th = 1*1*1*1 = 1).”

http://www.transit.govt.nz/about/faqs.jsp#13

Transit goes on to say: “Heavier vehicles pay for this extra wear through higher road user charges.” The problem with this statement is that it’s patently incorrect.

Using Transit’s formula, a 44 tonne truck does 3,748,096 times more damage than a one tonne truck.

Using the formula supplied by Transit New Zealand, the owner of a Land Rover Freelander, a small, diesel powered vehicle weighing 1.6 tonnes, calculated that the owner of a 16 tonne truck (10 times heavier than his Land Rover) should pay 10,000 times his Road User Charges. This would work out at about $3,000,000 for 10,000 km or $300 per kilometre.

Even a conservative American study showed that a 44 tonne truck does about the same amount of damage as 27,000 cars.

Source: Damage calculations based on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Louisiana DOT Study, 1999.

2 In 2000, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) calculated that transporting goods by road used 3.1 million units of energy to move one ton of goods one kilometre. By comparison, moving the same goods by rail used only 0.61 million units of energy, even allowing for the energy used when the trucks picked up the goods at the railway station.

3 “Transport consumes 219.5 PJ (44%) of energy used nationally. Freight accounts for approximately 43% of New Zealand’s transport energy use, and passenger transport 57%. In 2006 transport was responsible for 14.5 Mt of greenhouse gas emissions or 43% of New Zealand’s annual greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. Unless action is taken, emissions from this sector are set to grow by 35% by 2030. Such an outcome is economically and environmentally unacceptable.”

Source: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) report 2007.

ENDS

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