Your RUC cost = rate per 1,000km × how many thousands you buy + a small admin fee. Light vehicles pay $76 per 1,000km. Heavy vehicles? It gets complicated (and expensive) fast.
Example: Light diesel/EV buying 5,000km online
RUC rates aren't pulled from thin air. The Ministry of Transport uses something called the Cost Allocation Model to work out how much each vehicle type should pay. It factors in three main things:
Based on axles, tyres, and weight. Light vehicles are simple. Heavy vehicles have dozens of classifications.
Usually your vehicle's Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM). This is the max weight it can safely carry, set by the manufacturer.
Bought in 1,000km blocks. Your odometer (or hubodometer for heavies) is the official record.
Road damage doesn't increase evenly with weight. Engineers use something called the "fourth power law": double the axle weight, and you get roughly 16 times the road wear.
Light car
1×
baseline wear
Medium truck
~1,000×
more wear
Heavy truck
~10,000×
more wear
This is why a fully loaded truck pays dramatically more per km than your Ranger. The costs reflect the actual damage.
Average laden weight, not maximum
Rates are based on how heavy vehicles typically travel, not their theoretical maximum load. The government knows most trucks aren't running at 100% capacity all the time, so they use fleet averages to keep things fair.
For vehicles 3,500kg and under, it's refreshingly simple. Two rates. That's it.
Up to 3,500kg
$76/1,000km
1,001 - 3,500kg
$38/1,000km
Over 3,500kg? Welcome to complexity. Rates vary by weight band, axle count, and tyre configuration. There are about 80 different rate bands in total.
3,501 - 6,000kg
Type 1
$82
6,001 - 9,000kg
Type 1
$167
9,001 - 12,000kg
Type 1
$352
Every RUC purchase includes a transaction fee. Buy online and save a bit.
$12.44
per transaction
$13.71
per transaction
For light vehicles only
What a year of RUC looks like at $76 per 1,000km (excluding admin fees).
| Usage | Annual km | Units | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 7,500 | 8 | $608 |
| Medium | 15,000 | 15 | $1,140 |
| High | 30,000 | 30 | $2,280 |
RUC charges you per kilometre, not per litre. A fuel-efficient diesel and a thirsty one pay the same if they're the same weight.
Buy 5,000km and use it however you like. Ten trips or one hundred, doesn't matter.
Your odometer is the official record. Some people use GPS systems (eRUC) to automate things, but that's optional.
RUC is for public roads only. Drive on the farm? You can claim that back.
Now you know how the rates work. Next up: how to actually purchase your RUC licence, where to buy it, and what to do with the label. Check out the purchasing guide in this section.
