Hundreds of trucks blocked New Zealand's 13 biggest cities and towns on Friday with morning peak hour convoys
protesting sudden increases in road-user charges they have to pay, dpa reported.
Police urged commuters to go to work before the protesting convoys began
at 7 am or take the day off. In Auckland, the nation's biggest city, where
trucks brought the central business district to a standstill, bus companies
dropped workers on the outskirts and told them to walk the rest of the way.
In the capital, Wellington, trucks took a circular route through the centre
before driving past parliament.
The government raised charges that all diesel-powered vehicles and heavy trucks
must pay for every kilometre they travel by an average of 7.5 per cent on
Monday.
Trucking companies, already hit by soaring fuel prices, said they should have
been given advance notice to enable them to build the extra costs into their
budgets and fees they charge for carrying freight.
Transport Minister Annette King said truckers abused the system when she did
that last year, buying millions of dollars worth of road-user licences at the
old prices.
In addition, heavy trucks caused the most damage to the
roading system and were not paying their fair share of costs for its upkeep,
she said.
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