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The Transport Minister has agreed to look at the way Road User Charges are worked out for truckies but they have gone ahead with massive protests against the fees.
In a move late Thursday night, Annette King announced a working party is to be organised with the Road Transport Forum to discuss details and what the working party will examine.
While the move is being welcomed by the forum, it pressed ahead with its massive convoy protests against the charges on Friday morning.
King says there is no doubt there's dispute on both sides of the argument as to the accuracy of the formula.
The Road Transport Forum welcomes the working party initiative as a positive step forward but say it's a shame it has taken protest action to get to this point.
Many commuters paid heed to a warning to leave for work early on
Friday, with motorway congestion beginning at least an hour earlier
than normal in the main centres.
Check traffic congestion in
Auckland /
Wellington /
Christchurch. Otherwise find your region
HERE
"What this is doing is putting costs on us which the public know we'll have to pass on," says Tony Friedlander of the Road Transport Forum.
King says on the day she announced the increase in the Road User Charges, she also announced the biggest land transport programme for the country.
"More roads, more passenger transport, maintenance. And you know at the end of that day I was criticised for not putting more into transport. You can't put more in unless you collect it fairly from all those who use the roads."
Freight companies will lose a day's profit but say they have got public support for the action.
"We've never had this kind of response from the public indeed and we get such a lot of bad publicity it's really nice to be getting some good attention," says Chris Carr, a trucking company owner.
They also say last time the charges went up they had two days warning.
"In the two day period over $18 million was pre-bought. In other words other road users subsidised the trucking industry as we've done for years," says Harry Duynhoven, Transport safety Minister.
There have already been similar scenes in Britain with truckers demanding their government scrap a planned increase in fuel duty.
Truckers in New Zealand hope to have a similar impact.
For the protest routes in your region
CLICK HERE
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