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Moving Metrics
THE SALES NUMBERS
New Zealand Trucking reveals how the economy is travelling via key metrics from the road transport industry. From time to time, we’ll be asking experts their opinion on what the numbers mean.
First registration of NB, NC and TD class vehicles for September year on year
Summary of heavy trucks and trailers first registered in September 2021
This information is compiled from information provided by the NZ Transport Agency statistical analysis team and through the Open Data Portal.
The data used in this information reflects any amendments to the data previously reported.
Vehicle type
This summary includes data from two heavytruck classes and one heavy-trailer class.
A goods vehicle is a motor vehicle that: (a) is constructed primarily for the carriage of goods; and (b) either: (i) has at least four wheels; or (ii) has three wheels and a gross vehicle mass exceeding one tonne.
First registration of NB and NC class vehicles for September by major manufacturer
Vehicle class
NB
(medium- goods vehicle) NC
(heavy-goods vehicle) TD
(heavy trailer)
Description
A goods vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12 tonnes. A goods vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 12 tonnes.
A table of all vehicle classes can be found in Table A of the Land Transport Rule Vehicle Dimensions and Mass 2016 Rule 41001/2016, nzta.govt.nz/ assets/resources/rules/docs/vehicle-dimensionsand-mass-2016-as-at-1-July-2019.pdf
First registration of TD class heavy trailers for September year on year by major manufacturer
HAVE WE REACHED SATURATION POINT?
Periodically, the Ministry of Transport updates its information relating to the volume of freight moved by trucks on the road. The data is derived from a combination of RUC purchases and passes over the weigh-in-motion sites. It is therefore subject to the vagaries of both systems. The data available for each year from 2001 to 2019 shows the trend in road-freight volume over that time. We can expect the data for 2020 and 2021 will be distorted by Covid-19 when it becomes available.
During this time, the effects of significant events stand out. The impact of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008/09 and the economy’s recovery after this is clear to see along with the introduction of HPMVs and 50MAX. It is interesting to compare this data with other related data as the influence of the significant events tends to line up.
For example, there was a decline in the number of people holding and obtaining a full class-5 licence after 2009, a trend which appears to be continuing. This suggests that HPMVs, especially 50MAX, are achieving one of the original goals, namely more freight moved by fewer trucks.
Freight movement is directly influenced by economic activity, as measured by GDP (as shown in the chart Annual GDP at December).
Conclusions
These charts suggest that since 2014 and up to and including 2019, freight volumes have largely flattened.
There is also a high possibility that the industry had reached a point of saturation where it was no longer physically able to move more freight in the environment, and with the constraints prevailing at that time.
Freight moved by road Average load on trucks Annual GDP at December
This information is put together from information provided by the NZ Transport Agency. New Zealand Trucking acknowledges the assistance of the media team at NZTA for providing this information to us.
ROAD USER CHARGES
RUC purchase for September 2021, all RUC types
In September 2021 there were 48 different types of RUC purchased for a total distance of 1,166,348,194km at a value of $172,007,508.
A description of RUC vehicle types is available at nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/ licensing-rego/road-user-charges/rucrates-and-transaction-fees/
Please note data September differs slightly from that reported for the same period previously due to adjustments being made to the base data.
Total value and distance of road user charges purchased between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2021 by purchase year Purchase period Distance purchased (km) Value of purchases
1 Jan 2018 – 31 Dec 2018 15,736,558,458 $1,875,364,397 1 Jan 2019 – 31 Dec 2019 16,166,434,103 $2,041,939,272 1 Jan 2020 – 31 Dec 2020 15,421,400,378 $2,069,615,049 1 Jan 2021 – 30 Sep 2021 11,950,766,268 $1,654,600,489
RUC distance purchased for RUC type 1 vehicles Purchase period Distance purchased (km) Average monthly distance (km)
RUC type 1 vehicles are powered vehicles with two axles (except type 2 or type 299 vehicles. Type 299 are mobile cranes). Cars, vans and light trucks that use fuel not taxed at source (i.e. diesel fuel) are generally in this RUC type.
RUC purchases all RUC types
RUC Type Description
2 Powered vehicles with one single-tyred spaced axle and one twin-tyred spaced axle 6 Powered vehicles with three axles, (except type 308, 309, 311, 399 or 413 vehicles) 43 Unpowered vehicles with four axles 14 Powered vehicles with four axles (except type 408, 414 or type 499 vehicles) 951 Unpowered vehicles with five or more axles
H94 Towing vehicle that is part of an overweight combination vehicle consisting of a type 14 RUC vehicle towing a type 951 RUC vehicle with a permit weight of not more than 50,000kg 33 Unpowered vehicles with three twin-tyred, or single large-tyred, close axles (except vehicle type 939) 408 Towing vehicles with four axles that are part of a combination vehicle with a total of at least eight axles
Average monthly RUC purchases by year (all RUC types) RUC distance purchased year to date for selected RUC types
RUC purchases September 2021 for selected types
The red dots represent the cost of RUC purchased for that RUC type for the year to date September 2021 only, thus for RUC type 6 vehicles, powered vehicles with three axles, (except type 308, 309, 311, 399 or 413 vehicles), the higher value results from the high cost of RUC for these type vehicles above 12 tonne.
