At least 4,000 trucks took part in Friday's mass road protest in New Zealand's major cities and smaller centers, according to one of the groups behind the protest.
In Auckland, Michael Herrick from the Road Transport Association said more than 3,000 trucks drove into Auckland, and between 600 and 700 to South Island city of Christchurch.
He said the action, over the sudden rise in road user charges was not about disruption, but was to gain the government's attention.
Road Transport Forum chief executive Tony Friedlander said the protest was the first of its type in New Zealand.
The thousands of trucks began to disperse from city centers mid-morning.
Several convoys had traveled toward Auckland, and on the south-eastern motorway trucks were being driven three-abreast, at 20 kph. Freight and concrete trucks were among the scores bumper-to-bumper along Queen Street.
In Wellington, a 300-strong convoy drove past Parliament, but by mid-morning traffic in the city center was reported to be flowing more smoothly than usual.
And in central Hamilton, where about 200 trucks converged on the city from outlying areas, causing serious congestion, traffic flows were returning to normal by mid-morning.
Whangarei, Tauranga, Rotorua and New Plymouth, were among other centers affected.
Trucks traveling into Christchurch restricted their speed to 20kph, and people lined the roads to look at the convoy.
In Dunedin, about 90 trucks were driven through the Octagon, as police diverted much of the other traffic away from the city center. Timaru and Invercargill were also affected.
Transport Minister Annette King was arranging for talks to begin next week on how changes could be made to the formula used to calculate road user charges.
King said she was prepared to try to settle a dispute over the formula's accuracy. She says there is clearly a dispute over the formula, so a working party has been set up to settle it.
King said the chief executive of the Road Transport Forum, Tony Friedlander, has been invited to meet with the Secretary of Transport, Brian Donnelly, next week to thrash out the issues.
King added that she has also asked for policy work on adjusting the formula to be sped up.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said it is important that the trucking industry participates in a proposed working group on road user charges.
Clark said other road users have been picking up the bulk of the cost for funding the transport system.
Business groups said it was excessive for the police to suggest people take the day off work today because of predicted traffic disruptions.
Source:Xinhua
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