Moving metrics
New Zealand Trucking shows you 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. In this first report we look back at the 2019 numbers.
Summary of heavy trucks and trailers purchased in 2019
This information is put together from data retrieved from the NZ Transport Agency‘s Open Data portal
https://opendata-nzta.opendata.arcgis.com/
Vehicle type
This summary includes data for three heavy truck and trailer classes.
| Vehicle class | Description |
| NB (medium goods vehicle) | A goods vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12 tonnes. |
| NC (heavy goods vehicle) | A goods vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 12 tonnes. |
| TD (heavy trailer) | A trailer that has a gross vehicle mass exceeding 10 tonnes. |
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.
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 (https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/rules/docs/vehicle-dimensions-and-mass-2016-as-at-1-june-2019.pdf).
Note: vehicle classes are not the same as vehicle types or driver licence classes.
Table: First registration in New Zealand of NB, NC and TD classes
Table: First registration of selected vehicle classes for 2018 and 2019 by quarter
Road user charges purchased during 2019
This information is put together from data provided by the NZ Transport Agency. New Zealand Trucking magazine acknowledges the assistance of the media team at NZTA for providing this information.
RUC purchase for 2019, all RUC types
A description of RUC vehicle types is available at https://www. nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/licensing-rego/road-user-charges/rucrates- and-transaction-fees/
Total value and distance of road user charges purchased between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2019 by purchase year
| Purchase period | Distance purchased (km) | Value of purchases |
| 1 January 2018 – 31 December 2018 |
15,736,558,458 | $1,875,364,397 |
| 1 January 2019 – 31 December 2019 |
16,166,434,103 | $2,041,939,272 |
Month-on-month purchase of RUC during 2019
The greatest RUC purchases made during 2019 were for type 1 vehicles, powered vehicles with two axles (except type 2 or type 299 vehicles). Vehicles in this type include vans, light trucks, SUVs and utes, and light cranes. Type 1 purchases were: 11,503,966,413 kilometres that cost $812,973,322.
RUC purchases for the top eight RUC types
The top eight RUC type purchases, other than type 1, for 2019 in descending order were:
| 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 8 axles |
The red dots represent the cost of the RUC purchased for that RUC type for all of 2019 only, thus for RUC type 6 vehicles, powered vehicles with three axles (except type 308, 309, 311, 399 or 413 vehicles), the higher cost results from the high cost of RUC for these type vehicles above 12 tonne.
