RUC is weight based. If the weight is an issue, shouldn’t the government just increase the cost of RUC in the higher bands?
Here’s the thing. Freight transport is obviously important to the country’s economic activity, so i’m actually OK with some form of public funding for road freight.
But I also think the heaviest freight would be better off the roads altogether and that in an ideal world long distance freight would also not be transported the length of the country. This could make roads safer, cheaper to build and reduce emissions by using more efficient vehicles.
Now, that implies that yes, low RUCs on heavy trucks is a problem, but its a multi-faceted one and the problem is that our current government’s transport strategy just roads roads roads.
If the government wants to go the open market route, shouldn’t they increase RUC on heavy vehicles, making it user pays? Then alternatives to road freight become more cost effective.
There’s two ways to achieve it; re-introduce the legislation (I think) from prior to the 80s that limited the maximum distance freight could be transported on road. If I recall some documentaries i’ve watched correctly it was removing this restriction that made road transport competitive with rail in the first place and precipitated the decline of TranzRail.
Or, as you say, charge all forms of transport the full cost of provisioning it which would immediately make road transport very expensive. The problem is that would probably cause an immediate inflation bump as a mode change like that really needs careful panning and transition.
