KEY POINTS:
A milk tanker and a logging truck made an unusual sight for cappucino-in-a-cup Queen St commuters this morning.
Streams of trucks lined Queen St and snaked their way past the fashion boutiques and banks, bumper-to-bumper.
Shortly before 7am they began to pull up outside the Auckland Town Hall. A group of truckie executives were let in to the Mayoral office where John Banks was waiting with a cup of tea.
Protest organiser Chris Carr said they met Mr Banks to thank him for allowing the protest to go ahead.
"He said: There was nothing we could have done to stop you," Mr Carr said.
As he spoke an ambulance pulled out onto the wrong side of the street with lights flashing and sirens going.
"That is our worst nightmare. We don't want to block those guys," Mr Carr said.
Across the street, truck drivers had their chamois cloths out, polishing chrome wheels and mirrors.
There was anger in their voices as they told of how the Road User Charges had gone up without warning.
Terry Kepa has been a driver for 20 years and said his boss Tom Ryans has 200 trucks nation-wide. He said his boss was hurting.
Mark McFetridge has driven trucks for 10 years and said Road User charges were rising just after an increase in fuel prices.
"The change has just been unreal."
The increases would hurt everyone, he said.
"I cart supermarket freight. What do you think that is going to do to your food prices," he said.
Inside the cab of Dave Swale's Kenworth truck, the radio was on and the two way radio cut in with colourful descriptions of other motorists and the odd bit of chatter.
Mr Swale had driven into Auckland from Helensville and joined the protest "not just for truckies but for all New Zealanders".
To run the 460 capped Kenworth truck, it costs him $400 of diesel and $300 of road-user charges if he's pulling 40 tonnes of earth.
"The Government is flogging us to death," he said.
Mr Swale is the co-director of Swale Earthmovers and has been trucking for 36 years.
He recalled the price of diesel being "40 odd cents a litre two and-a-half years ago".
At one point, Mr Swale leaned out his window to have a discussion with another truckie heading in the opposite direction.
There was a short chat about an accident on Nelson St before both trucks inched in their respective directions.
Outside on the footpath pedestrians stopped to take photos on their cell phones and wave.
The truckies responded by blowing their horns and the sound bounced off the high-rise buildings. Other drivers further down Queen St soon joined in and some pedestrians had to hold their hands over their ears. Others cheered and laughed.
The majority of commuters spoken to seemed to enjoy the protest.
Mary-Jane Richards said walking to work was like taking part in a festival.
"I always walk to work but it's just made it a bit more interesting. I think good on them and I'm surprised they were able to get away with it. I think it's brilliant," Ms Richards said.
Samantha Alexander stood with her friends at the Wellesley St intersection as they cheered on the truckies.
She said the protest should go on everyday until the government back-tracks on the charges.
