The current temporary service continuity surcharge is:
| Implementation Date | TSC surcharge |
| July 2022 | 0% |
| June 2022 | 2.80% |
| May 2022 | 2.80% |
| April 2022 | 2.80% |
| March 2022 | 1.80% |
| February 2022 | 1.80% |
| January 2022 | 1.80% |
| December 2021 | 1.80% |
| November 2021 | 1.80% |
| November 2018 | 0.0% |
| September 2018 | 0.45% |
| July 2018 | 0.65% |
| December 2016 | 0.9% |
July 2022
Temporary Service Continuity Surcharge (TSCS) percentage returns to 0% as of 4 July. Covid continues to impact and we do not believe that these costs will disappear in the short-term, for this reason the TSCS rate for June (2.8%) will be imbedded into our base rates from 4 July 2022.
April 2022
The Temporary Service Continuity Surcharge (TSCS) for COVID-19 will move to 2.8% from April 2022.
November 2021
The Temporary Service Continuity Surcharge (TSCS) for COVID-19 will come into force on 1 November 2021 at a rate of 1.8%.
The TSCS is a mechanism for helping cover significantly increased operating expenses caused by extraordinary events. While we have done our utmost to buffer our customers (and receivers) from cost impacts that relate to COVID-19; Government Lock-downs; and associated safety measures… New Zealand Couriers is now at a point where we must hand a portion of these costs onto customers.
We felt that adding a surcharge was a transparent method of sharing these extraordinary costs while providing the flexibility to adjust the figure based on conditions improving or worsening.
The TSCS only relates to domestic freight (not International Services) and is NOT added on top of other surcharges. It is designed to be removed or changed swiftly, for when the situation resolves or alters (for the better or the worse).
For more information about the TSCS – read the FAQs here.
November 2018
From November, the decision has been made to eliminate the infrastructure and costs associated with maintaining the capacity to use secondary roads in the area impacted by the Kaikoura earthquakes. The ‘Temporary Service Continuity Surcharge is 0.00% from November onwards.
September 2018
For September, there have been more reductions in costs associated with maintaining the capacity to use secondary roads in the area impacted by the Kaikoura earthquakes.
August 2018
The month of August should see reductions in costs associated with maintaining the capacity to use secondary roads in the area impacted by the Kaikoura earthquakes.
As promised, these savings will be handed onto our customers and the Temporary Service Continuity Surcharge should be reduced in September.
Moving forward, we will continue to hand on any changes in costs to our customers (based on costs from the month before). September should see the surcharge decrease from 0.65% to 0.45% (this is reliant on the expected reduced costs in August).
We will continue to reassess monthly – any changes will be made for the following month and published on our website in the table above (decreases or increases).
June 2018
The month of June saw reductions in costs associated with maintaining the capacity to use secondary roads in the area impacted by the Kaikoura earthquakes.
For July, the surcharge will decrease from 0.9% to 0.65% (this is based on reduced costs in June).
May 2018
At the beginning of May 2018, State Highway One north of Kaikoura extended its opening hours through the night. However, it has been made clear that there is a volume of work to be completed through 2018 before there will be swift and reliable movement through this area. Road users are advised to leave plenty of time for their trip (if using this route) and told to check real-time road status before driving on this area of road.
Advice from the New Zealand Transport Authority has emphasised the fragility of this route. There are multiple ‘single lane’ sections that are controlled by traffic lights, and if there is a volume of rain, the road may well be closed as a precautionary measure.
New Zealand Couriers is not prepared to compromise or reduce our network’s reliability and have retained the infrastructure that allows the use of secondary roads when required – this maintains our ability to move our customer’s freight, even when the route fails and is closed.
Given the costs of maintaining our capability to use secondary roads remain, this stretch of road is still slow and cumbersome to use, and there is a lack of confidence in ongoing access 24/7 through the South Island’s winter conditions – the 0.9% surcharge is remaining in place to contribute to ongoing additional costs for NZC.
Key additional costs include:
- Extra trucks are positioned for the road connections, as Blenheim – Christchurch network timings are compromised by increased travel times (and trucks cannot make connections)
- Extra drivers in place, as the reduced capacity of State Highway One and the possibility of reverting to secondary roads, means ‘driver hours’ are extended (the safety of our drivers cannot be compromised)
- Keeping the infrastructure in place to shuttle drivers where needed to keep our customers’ freight moving.
Should we not maintain the above infrastructure – ‘unexpected road closure’ or ‘delays’, mean missed connections and, potentially, trucks and freight not moving. As New Zealand’s express package leaders, we are not prepared to take these risks with our customers’ courier items.
Once there is confidence in the normal operation of this key piece of road – we will be happy to reduce/remove all the additional infrastructure we have in place and reduce/remove the surcharge – but given the current situation, we are continuing to bear the extra cost on these roads. We will share a portion of these costs with our customers.
We thank our customers for understanding this situation beyond our control – and continue to do all we can to give our customers certainty of service.
December 2017
State Highway One north of Kaikoura re-opened for daytime traffic only on 15 December 2017. This opening came with a number of restrictions, including ‘single lane passage’, ‘speed restrictions’ and unsealed sections.
There is little, or no benefit for our linehaul network from this first opening phase as our vehicles must travel at night – the 0.9% surcharge is remaining in place.
We do continue to monitor the situation, and once normal services can resume on an ongoing basis, the surcharge will be removed. If conditions alter in a way that improves our ability to operate our linehaul network the surcharge will be reduced.
We thank our customers for their understanding of this situation that is beyond our control.
December 2016
Highway closures due to the Kaikoura earthquakes have brought on major unexpected costs to our business in the form of significantly greater transport costs to maintain service standards. To help cover a portion of these unanticipated operating expenses, we are introducing a temporary 0.9% surcharge to our courier service charges.
Adding a surcharge was a transparent method of sharing these increased costs and gives us the flexibility to adjust the figure accordingly based on conditions improving or worsening.
It is a flat rate, which makes it easier for you to understand the cost impact on your business than complex route-based permutations.
This surcharge will operate separately from our existing Variable Fuel Factor and road user charges and be applied to the base price independently.
For example:
| If the base price is $10.00, VFF is 2.7% for the month and RUC’s is 2.0%, and the temporary surcharge is 0.9% then the total price would be calculated as follows: |
| $10 x (2.7% + 2.0% + 0.9%) = $10.56 |
The temporary surcharge is designed to be removed or changed swiftly when the situation resolves or alters (for the better or, the worse).
For more information, please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions (November 2016).