Road user charge increase truckies' drive/march this Friday 4 July

[jafar]

Hmmm any day is a bad day to go to work in the CBD!

Much better

[merv]

OK jafar if a B Train really is 18 tonnes then the payload goes from 26 tonnes to 32 tonnes, a 23% improvement. Now are they twisted or bullshit facts or are you just being stupid? So you have been such a nice chap to point out I was being far too conservative with my numbers and the real answer is some much better figure.

Again I will say - where were the positive comments from the road industry about this? No champagne celebrations hit the news that I was aware of.

As for the wheels and damage stuff cooneyr has already laid that out for you.

p.s. is this why you are USA bound - to go where the rail wagons run at gross weights of more like 125 tonnes.

[trustme]

I'm part of that nasty transport industry although my income is not derived from transport as such , it is merely a component of what I do
Ultimately I dont give a shit how much they charge for RUC as I can just charge it on, but I do get tired of all the talk of damage to the roads
In the UK you see single screw tractor units & 2 axle semis in the US , its tandem drive tractors & 2 axle trailers , they carry the same weight as us & the roads cope . They build better roads designed for more severe weather & traffic conditions, they do it right unlike our cheapskate roads. I have seen reworked sections fall apart in 2 weeks ,[ the old tar hill sth of Kinlieth comes to mind ] Trucks are hard on roads I dont deny that but we build shit roads that dont last
Trucks can carry more legally but dont think for one minute that means more profit for the transport company, their rates have stagnated for years
15 years ago we got around $ 200 for a 20' off the wharf to Sth Ak & empty return [$400/40'] These rates are still fairly close to current market rates although they are starting to climb.
Merv are you still working for the same pay u got 15 years ago. Have the transport company wage bills , fuel bills, R&M, capital invested in plant all stayed constant, I don't think so, that is possible because the tranport industry has increased its efficiency & productivity
I refuse to cart off the wharf any longer , there is no money in it , I get the other dummies to do it for nothing , but I sure as hell understand why they have got the shits

[merv]

Nah told you I was in rail until '99, now relaxing on a whole lot less pay than I used to get - for a while I was on half, now crept back up to about 2/3. Kids have left home, son already working, daughter started working having just finished Uni so my costs might finally go down. I'm off on holiday next week. If it wasn't for my Bro' getting cancer life could be sweet right now.

Besides, I'm not a protesting type

I've never said truckers are bad either, I've just said there needs to be a balanced approach approach to transport in this country. In the end if there isn't we all pay - the pollution, safety etc issues do matter - we end up paying somewhere for it.

[trustme]

So you reduced running costs, good on ya , so have I
I have tried to use rail on quite a few occasions over the last 5/6 years , I am not bonded to trucks & will use whatever is the most cost effective.
Almost without fail they fucked it up, they failed to complete tasks , their invoices were b/s & at times incomprehensible. failed to supply rolling stock when promised

Picture this , 50 x 40' containers to be delivered to wharf for a specific vessel . Rail promises to provide wagons to an agreed schedule
Rail fails to supply,so 10 x 40' go by road because if we dont meet the vessel we don't get paid & we go broke
Rail invoices for 50 containers , we refuse to pay so they heavy us with a statutory demand
Call their bluff with lawyers etc , rail come to senses & we pay for 40

This was not an isolated incidence , we had numerous situations like it
I dont expect it to improve with the buy out , rail will be back to being a political football , with decisions being made for political reasons & sound financial management will come a distant second

[Qkchk:Me]

I will be dusting off the logbook and changing out of my office clothes into my Hi-Vis tomorrow. Will be out in my old truck (DAN96) but will be staying well clear of the CBD! (Co-Mingle Recycle never sleeps!) No doubt I will hear all about it on the RT.... Feel bloody sorry for the OD's, they are getting raped from each and every side!

[jafar]

OK jafar if a B Train really is 18 tonnes then the payload goes from 26 tonnes to 32 tonnes, a 23% improvement. Now are they twisted or bullshit facts or are you just being stupid? So you have been such a nice chap to point out I was being far too conservative with my numbers and the real answer is some much better figure.

Again I will say - where were the positive comments from the road industry about this? No champagne celebrations hit the news that I was aware of.

As for the wheels and damage stuff cooneyr has already laid that out for you.

p.s. is this why you are USA bound - to go where the rail wagons run at gross weights of more like 125 tonnes.

Ok I'll break it down into really small words so you can understand
Yes a "b train" average TARE weight is around 18 tonnes.
The 50 tonne was NOT introduced so what savings ?
The damage to the roads from trucks is more than paid by RUC / Fuel Tax.
Re your p.s. sorry mate but I heard that you might be bored if I stayed away so ...... I'M BACK

[Street Gerbil]

I think tomorrow I will commute to work from Mt. Welly to Penrose via Queen St. just for the heck of it. Go truckies!

[PirateJafa]

They should try driving at 90 instead of 110 if they want to decrease their costs. Truckies have lobbied for years to control transport in NZ, and helped turn out rail service shite as a result, a little pain won't hurt them. Everything will go up a result... well news flash, it's going up anyway.

Rail has obvious disadvantages over road in both time (a couple of hours per load from Auckland to Tauranga and vice versa on a truck), and in rail's amazing ability to lose our containers. Usually several at once. You'd think several 25 tonne forty-foot equivalent units would be hard to misplace. Yet they still manage it.

[Motu]

The poor truckies are powerless now.Back in the good old days of unions,Bob Anderson would of called them all out on strike and crippled the country.

[jafar]

Rail has obvious disadvantages over road in both time (a couple of hours per load from Auckland to Tauranga and vice versa on a truck), and in rail's amazing ability to lose our containers. Usually several at once. You'd think several 25 tonne forty-foot equivalent units would be hard to misplace. Yet they still manage it.

Now that takes teamwork

[jafar]

The poor truckies are powerless now.Back in the good old days of unions,Bob Anderson would of called them all out on strike and crippled the country.

Ahh the good old days, when the NDU ruled the roads & Bob was treated as a God. The union made sure that driving was the best paid occupation out there & if the boss got up your nose you could call BOB & have the whole union in the carpark within seconds. The boss would have to back down ,either that or be forced out of business.

Bring back BOB

[skidMark]

I have been wondering...
There is always a train heading up or down the country and invariably you see a lot of empty flatbed rail wagons. If kiwirail were smart, they would allow (for a minimal fee, of course) people to park their cars on them and move them around the country. Throw on a passenger carriage for the cage occupants to amuse themselves and hey-presto! another income stream for them.

They send the empty ones for the return trip for the other goods.

IE more stuff to pickup in welly than chch....train leaves chch with extra empty wagons so there will be enough in wellington.

[Robert Taylor]

It's all a freakin ripoff! Fuel has increased out of sight for truckies. Then the re-licencing goes up, now the RUC. Many truckies are on the knife-edge already. This is going to mean many of them going out of business. Also, it will mean increased cost to consumers. Quite possibly it will also mean less goods for sale at your local shops as there are fewer ways of getting goods in.

The government has it's head in the sand! And the next one will be no different... But that's ok, they are set for the rest of their life, so they don't care! I'd like to give them a reality check for the average person on the street!

It also shows just how totally out of touch these morons are that are ''running'' the country. I hope that they get the biggest electoral drubbing that they have ever had. November cannot arrive soon enough.

[The Stranger:Me]

Now that takes teamwork

Aye, that it does. As a lad I was contracted to work at the marshalling yards at Otahuhu.
What an experience.
Amazing how the manager could never find a wagon parked on a siding along side the car park - until it had been emptied that is. Then it was conveniently found again.
It was always interesting when a wagon came through and no one knew the contents. It you ram it hard enough viola, the contents appear before your eyes. Looks rather cool when it happens to be crates of beer.