The anomaly regarding bus axle loadings in the Vehicle Dimension and Mass (VDAM) review document, is concerning members of the road transport industry, as well as the new motor vehicle industry.
Submissions regarding the principal amendments to the rule are due in February.
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford was not only disappointed by the timing of the December release of the VDAM rule review document by the Ministry of Transport, he says it’s also a missed an opportunity for fundamental change.
“We are particularly concerned about heavy rear-engined buses, because there are some inconsistencies between various transport rules that have not been adequately addressed by the proposed amendments,” says Crawford.
He also says the changes proposed in the discussion paper don’t adequately address some issues with the current VDAM rule.
“There are some proposals in the current document that are quite good, but the Ministry of Transport missed an opportunity to get out of the prescriptive bind, and it still places limits on the types of commercial vehicles that can be imported and used here,” he says.
“The ministry have made many changes, but it is tinkering with the rules rather than making fundamental changes, the exception being around high productivity motor vehicles,” says Crawford.
Road Transport Forum, chief executive officer Ken Shirley, says overall it supports the VDAM review, and it welcomes the consolidation and the small gains made, but the RTF also questions the current rule anomaly with axle loadings on buses.
“The government made a decision that was not evidence-based or science-based, regarding axle loading on pavements, when it gave some buses dispensation to run on our roads,” says Shirley.
“The whole integrity of the rule considers the impact of vehicles on the road network, so if it’s good enough for buses, then why not trucks as well,” he asks?
“However, the VDAM rule review locks in the gains made by the High Productivity Motor Vehicle (HPMV) policy and we fully support that,” says Shirley.
Crawford says it is disappointing that the VDAM rule discussion paper, which was several years in gestation, was then released by the Ministry of Transport in December 2015 for consideration during the Christmas holiday period.
“Granted the consultation period is longer as we had asked for, but for us in the industry, it is hard to relax over Christmas knowing you have to liaise with your members at a time when they are all on holiday,” says Crawford.
“I won’t be able to get everyone together until early February to have a full and frank discussion about the proposals.”
“For that, the Ministry of Transport is awarded a brickbat,” he says.
Crawford says that given the number of submissions the MIA made in the past year; it seems that 2015 was the year officials woke up.
