Judge gives stern warning to transport operators

This from the NBR last week;

Road transport haulage operators have been given a clear message by a High Court Judge: Overload your vehicles at your peril.

In a reserved judgment handed down at the High Court in Hamilton, Justice Lyn Stevens said the country loses $100 million a year in unpaid or under paid road user charges.

...

The judgment entirely debunked a widely held transport industry belief that enforcement officers allow a five percent weight tolerance over and above the licence purchased.

Justice Stevens made his comments in the case of Mt Maunganui transport operator TD Haulage which was appealing a District Court assessment that the company owed $1.215 million in short paid road user charges.

...

In the end, it is not known what TD Haulage was required to pay to settle the matter because a confidential settlement was reached been the parties during the appeal. But Justice Stevens closed the case by delivering a judgment anyway, using it to sternly warn the industry of its shortcomings.