Waikato Regional Council has rejected a Government proposal to allow heavier trucks to travel on certain roads in the region. It is the first council to do so.
Under the proposal, truck weights would rise from 44 tonnes to up to 53 tonnes.
The Ministry of Transport sees it as a way of making road freight more economical and to lower the number of heavy vehicles on the roads.
The regional transport committee says a lack of information about how the new rule would operate and the likelihood that there would be an increase in road maintenance costs, meant it could not support the proposal.
The Road Transport Forum is conerned at the committee's decision.
Chair Simon Tapper says the agricultural and horticultural sectors are among the biggest users of road freight in the country, and the Waikato region is particularly important.
