Bigger loads would save money: Forestry Assn

There is a big potential to improve the efficiency and productivity of public highways says New Zealand Forestry Owners' Association chief executive David Rhodes.

He was commenting on the recent release of a report that identifies the significant advantages enjoyed by the Australian road transport sector over their NZ counterparts, namely much lower road taxes and much heavier payloads.

"For many decades, forest owners have operated vehicles with heavier payloads on their private roading networks. So we are well aware of the efficiencies involved, as well as the true cost of building and maintaining roads to support them," he says.

"We are also a major user of the public roads that link forests to mills and ports throughout the country and are therefore concerned about the cost and lost productivity that is imposed on the industry by the current levels of road-user charges and constraints on vehicle weights and dimension," he says.