Trucks transport 92% of New Zealand’s total freight by weight, with 6% going by rail and 2% on coastal shipping according to the Government 2008 National Freight Demands Study.

The proportion of freight transported by truck grew over the past 15 years. The Study predicts that over the next 22 years to 2030, there will be very little change in modal share with rail’s proportion staying the same or declining slightly while coastal shipping may double from around 2% to 4%. This will mean that over 90% of freight tonnage will still travel by truck.

The Study predicts that total domestic freight will grow by 75% between 2006 and 2030. This is lower than a 2006 report by Transport Engineering Research for the EJ Brenan Memorial Trust which forecast an increase of between 76% and 100% between 2005 and 2020.

The major areas of freight growth will be the Auckland-Waikato-Bay of Plenty triangle in the North Island and Canterbury in the South Island.

The trend in Europe towards road transport is even stronger, even though Governments there have been actively investing huge sums in their rail networks in an attempt to promote greater use of rail freight.

There are many reasons why road transport is the mode of choice for most people and businesses needing goods moved:

• Most freight travels less than 100 kilometres. Rail, which is best suited to hauling bulk items 300 kilometres or more, is less fuel and cost efficient over such relatively short distances.
• Rail with its inflexible timetables and restricted network can’t provide the personalised, door-to-door, on-demand service the modern truck delivers. It simply doesn’t go where much of the freight goes and when the customer wants it.
• Livestock, perishable items such as groceries, fruit and vegetables, refrigerated and dangerous goods, like LPG, aren’t suited to the repeated transhipping rail requires.
• The risk of breakage and pilfering is significantly lessened.

A 2003 survey by the economic consultancy Infometrics found that businesses would be compelled to continue using road transport because of customer requirements for timely and secure delivery no matter how large the price differential between road and rail became.