RUC Debate Masks Problems In Transport Sector
July 10th, 2008
The protest by trucking interests last week against the hike in Road User Charges was akin to the reaction of a wounded animal being approached by a human being whether it is out to harm or help the animal – simply lash out at the nearest target. The Govt is an easier target than global oil companies, speculators and the surging economies of China and India all of which are conspiring to drive up oil prices. The real problem facing the trucking industry isn’t a rise in Road User Charges but the huge increase in the price of fuel which the industry is powerless to stop. If the price of a barrel of oil keeps rising and hits $US200, just reversing the latest rise in RUCs is not going to stop trucking companies going to the wall. It will merely delay the process for a bit longer. Trucking companies the world over are protesting even those in countries where road user taxes are low or even non-existent.
Big Picture Forgotten. NZ’s big problem with its transport sector, which is being cruelly exposed at present, is its excessively high reliance on road transport to meet its internal transport needs. NZ has little oil of its own, what we have is pumped out of our wells and sold offshore at global prices. We have for the past 50 years built a transport system on the basis of cheap oil without end and now the honeymoon period may be over, the whole country is suffering. Road transport may be flexible, and, thanks to NZ having a railway starved of investment for decades, faster than trains at present for inter-regional freight movement, but it is not fuel-efficient. The economics of trucking may stack up when oil is cheap but quickly dissolve when oil prices are high.
Change Of Direction. Now more than ever we need to switch resources to modernising and expanding our rail network including electrification combined with greater use of coastal shipping to act as the main arteries for moving freight especially long haul. Trucks will always be needed to do final deliveries and to reach places other modes cannot but we need to take steps now to reduce our dependency on road transport and imported oil. Greater mode integration is essential even for the survival of many trucking companies. This means not wasting time setting up working parties to look at just Road User Charges alone but setting up a working party covering all modes of transport to tackle the challenges of a world without cheap oil.
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