Editorial: Mega-trucking benefits are a long way away

Photo / Mark Mitchell

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 problems do not end there. The Auckland Harbour Bridge has not been cleared for use. A feasibility study is being done, but because of previous concern about the structure, it must be questionable whether it will ever support mega-trucks.

Considerable work will also have to be done elsewhere in the region, such as strengthening the Waikato River bridge at Ngaruawahia.

That means major routes in this region, the country's economic powerhouse, will not carry mega-trucks for quite some time. The 58 permits issued by the Transport Agency have been for routes in the South Island and the lower North Island. The only three permits issued for Auckland are for arterial roads away from the motorway, between Otahuhu and Penrose. So much for spectacular productivity gains.

There are other reasons for disquiet. The thrust of this initiative was to allow mega-trucks to use motorways, reducing the amount of truck travel on residential and regional routes. A selling point for the heavier trucks was that they would result in a decrease in the number of trucks on the road because the same amount of freight could be carried on fewer vehicles.

Instead, the unpreparedness of the motorway means mega-trucks are restricted to residential and regional roads, while the same number of smaller trucks continues to populate the motorway.

To rub salt into the wound, local authorities receive only 50 per cent of the money to pay for the maintenance of their roads from government subsidies. Ratepayers pay the rest. The Ministry of Transport justified this approach on the basis that ratepayers "benefit from the regional stimulus and economic and community benefits".

When few permits can be issued and many of those that can are for roads for which ratepayers can expect to pay a heftier upkeep sum, it is difficult to see these benefits.

According to the Transport Agency, all is not lost. 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.

The irony is palpable. New Zealand's freight "task" is predicted to increase by 70 to 75 per cent over the next 25 years, and Mr Joyce has plumped for heavy trucks as a more efficient freight-mover than rail or coastal shipping. That may be so in the long run but in the short term it will be rail to the rescue.

When mega-trucks were approved, the minister and the relevant agencies were silent about the problems in the Auckland region. No mention was made of the Southern Motorway. The emphasis was, instead, on forecasts that heavier trucks would boost gross domestic product by between $180 million and $500 million a year.

No schedule was given for this fillip. Right now, it is a distant prospect.