Off road RUC refunds made easy

Road User Charges (RUC) can be a huge cost for New Zealand transport operators and purchasing RUC's in advance can really hurt your cashflow.

For convenience, many transport operators who purchase RUC's manually buy their RUC's in blocks of several thousand kilometres, often chunks of 10,000 km or more. Minimum is 1,000 km.

The cost immediately comes out of your bank account, which can be really hard on cashflow. Using an eRUC (electronic road user charges) system can help reduce the cashflow disruption, by setting the units to automatically purchase RUC in smaller increments, as low as 1,000 km intervals.

eRUC systems also help fleets remain compliant. With an eRUC automated RUC purchasing system you should no longer have to worry about forgetting to update your RUC's as they become due.

There are now at least four NZTA authorised automated eRUC purchasing systems available, each with their own version of how best to do things.

These eRUC systems typically come bundled with GPS vehicle tracking software and some also have multiple layers of data reporting and other helpful and useful tools, to help with fleet management and/or driver behaviour.

However, much of this can be cumbersome or overwhelming for some fleet managers, most just want a dot on a map (where's my truck?)

If the RUC's can be kept up to date automatically, that's a bonus!

Off road RUC refunds often don't get applied for, because it's too hard.

Unfortunately, these very clever and helpful systems are not free.

They generally come with hardware and/or installation costs and monthly subscription fees, which can seem expensive when you have multiple vehicles.

If you can relate to these guys easytrucks can help

RUC Monkey is a new kid on the block in the automated RUC purchasing and vehicle tracking space, and it looks as though they're trying to address some of these issues.

They've simplified the package into what looks to be a more cost effective solution.

RUC Monkey vehicle tracking and RUC purchasing

RUC Monkey wireless RUC purchasing and refunds

RUC Monkey offers a wireless wheel sensor solution, which makes the installation simple and fast, we're told it usually takes less than 1 hour to install.

They've also figured out how to deal with piggybacked trailers, such as logging trailers. Some eRUC systems cannot stop calculating the distance travelled, even when the trailer is on the back of the truck. RUC Monkey knows if the trailer is on the truck and stops calculating k's.

The wheel sensor looks essentially the same size and shape as a standard hub-odometer (hubo), so it can be as simple as switching them out and installing the label display unit in the cab.

RUC Monkey simplifies the whole process of claiming off-road refunds by automating validation of off-road travel and offering a one click RUCOR form creation and submission to NZTA. Easy.

Some eRUC providers bundle a whole bunch of techo stuff and data reporting into a monthly lease, which often adds up to $80 or more per vehicle per month, including stuff that you don't necessarily need or want.

Some of them add extra charges for separate features or services.

Features such as live online tracking, off road RUC refunds etc.

Then they lock you into a 36 month (3 year) contract.

RUC Monkey subscription fee is all inclusive, and they have flexible contract terms.

RUC Monkey offers a single all inclusive package with one price and a 12 month contract.

$32+gst per vehicle per month, plus initial cost of hardware, which you can purchase outright.

Accurate real time GPS vehicle tracking (where is my truck?)
Automated RUC purchasing (less office work, consistent compliance)
Ability to preset RUC auto-buy to buy minimum required (keep more cash in your account)
Automatically calculate off road RUC refunds (you probably do more off road than you think)