Lauren
Crimp
Political reporter
The trucking lobby has
expressed outrage after Transport Minister Chris Bishop rejected
its wish to carry heavier loads, accusing him of not
understanding the problem.
Bishop on Friday told
Transporting New Zealand’s conference he would not ease
truck weight restrictions, saying it would wreck roads and
cost too much to fix.
While the organisation has long
called for the move, pressure has amped up during the
fuel crisis, with the industry arguing it would mean they
took fewer trips and used less fuel.
Speech notes
provided to media suggested Bishop had intended to lay down
a hard line.
“I want to be very clear about the
Government’s position: we are not in the business of
subsidising the freight sector,” the notes
said.
However the minister softened the message in the
room.
“I want to make clear, the government’s position
is: we want to make sure we get the policy right,” Bishop
said.
“Any changes we make will need to ensure the
effects on infrastructure are properly accounted for and
managed through the system.”
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RNZ put the original
wording to Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom
Kalasih.
“That’s just a gross misunderstanding of how
bloody productivity works,” he exclaimed.
“That’s a
shocking position to take.”
Kalasih said consumers
would benefit from more productive transport, because it
would reduce the cost of the goods being
carried.
Transport boss doesn’t believe
official advice
Bishop told the conference
allowing trucks to carry more weight would cause $150
million in infrastructure damage over six months and only
save 1.5 days’ worth of diesel.
Kalasih questioned
that.
“We would like to see the officials’ analysis,
because I don’t believe they’re correct in saying the
benefit cost doesn’t stack up,” he said.
“Frankly,
we’re pretty disappointed.”
He batted away Bishop’s
point that long-term planning was needed for a rule change,
because the Transport Agency needed time to ensure roads
could handle heavier vehicles.
“I actually disagree
with that completely, because those trucks are paying road
user charges, so if they’re heavier, they pay a higher
charge, right?” Kalasih said.
“I just don’t get the
logic of holding off till further down the
track.”
Kalasih believed the Transport Agency needed
to shift its mindset.
“The road is there to connect
communities and get freight between it, the road is a
consumable asset.
“They shouldn’t be so worried about
trying to just keep it forever.”
In his speech, Bishop
pointed to a range of other changes in the country’s fuel
response plan that would come into effect if things
worsened, like lifting route restrictions on bigger vehicles
so they could use key Auckland motorways.
He and
Regulation Minister David Seymour also confirmed on Friday
other previously
announced fuel crisis response measures would take
effect from 6 August.
Those included allowing more
drivers to drive heavier electric vehicles, and removing
permit requirements for ’50MAX’ trucks which are higher
capacity.
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