Carrier’s costs rise again

Press, 4 March 1982, Page 3

Carrier’s costs rise again

PA Wellington A 20 per cent rise in roaduser charges will force truck-owners to apply for an increase in rates, only 10 days after they were last put up. The carriers, who are already facing problems with the disrupted start to the killing season, now face the latest rises, effective on April 1. The Road Transport Association has attacked the-Government-announced increase, saying that rural carriers would be hit hardest. The R.T.A. executive director, Mr Dion Savage, said yesterday that an application for increased cartage rates was already being prepared, in the expectation that new rates would be approved to coincide with road-user charges going up next month. He said the direct effect of the new road-user charges would be to lift rural cartage rates by 1,3 per cent and town rates by 1.1 per cent. The application could be higher than" that, depending

on what factors were taken into consideration. The last rise in carriers’ rates took effect 10 days ago. This amounted to 3.9 per cent for rural truckles and 2.9 per cent for those in town areas, and reflect rises in the cost of petrol, diesel, oil, tyres, wages, and salaries.