RUC distance recorders

All vehicles required to pay road user charges (RUC) must be fitted with a distance recorder. It must give an accurate, reliable record of the distance travelled. 

For light vehicles, your odometer is the distance recorder.

Every vehicle over 3.5 tonnes needing a RUC licence must be fitted with an approved hubodometer or an approved electronic distance recorder.

Approved electronic distance recorders

Approved electronically assisted RUC system providers

Approved hubodometers

Hubodometers

Hubodometers must be set to read in kilometres for the size of the tyre and have a unique manufacturer's serial number inside the casing of the meter. If the tyres are an odd size, contact us.

Contact NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA)

A hubodometer must be fitted at all times, to a non-lifting axle, on the left-hand side of the vehicle, unless special approval is granted by NZTA. 

Replacing a distance recorder

If your hubodometer is lost, damaged, or found to be faulty, you'll need to replace it and buy a RUC licence for the new hubodometer. There is a fee of $8.77 for the hubodometer replacement application.

You'll need to complete a Road user charges application to change hubodometer (RUCHO) form. Forms are available from RUC agents.

RUC agents 

If there's any unused distance left on the licence for the lost or unusable hubodometer, you may be able to get a refund. The refund is at the discretion of the RUC Assessments team. If possible you must keep the old hubodometer until NZTA has made a decision.

RUC refund after hubodometer change

Approved electronic system providers

Eroad Ltd

• Ehubo1
• Ehubo2
• Tubo
• Corehub

eroad.co.nz(external link) 
08004EROAD

Coretex Ltd

• iBright EDR

coretex.com(external link)
0800 835 3628

Picobyte Solutions Ltd  

• RUC Monkey

rucmonkey.co.nz(external link) 
0800 437 212

Navman Wireless NZ – trading as Teletrac Navman

• EDR1
• EDR2

teletracnavman.co.nz(external link) 
0800 447 735

Want to become an electronic distance recorder provider?

Electronic road user charges code of practice [PDF, 1.3 MB(external link)

Approved electronically assisted RUC system providers

Picobyte Solutions Ltd 

• MYRUC

myruc.co.nz(external link)

Approved hubodometers

The following hubodometers have been approved by NZTA:

• Abbott
• Accu-Trak
• Argo
• Chicago Rawhide
• Datatrac Pro NZ
• Engler
• Jost
• Macro
• Mechanex
• Stemco
• Trailmark
• Veeder Root

Second-hand hubodometer

You may be able to use a hubodometer that was previously fitted to another vehicle with special permission from the RUC Assessments team. You'll need to provide this information:

• make, serial number and START reading of the hubodometer being fitted
• make, serial number and END reading of the hubodometer being replaced
• plate number of the vehicle that the used hubodometer was removed from
• plate number of the vehicle that the used hubodometer will be fitted to, and
• odometer reading for the vehicle that the hubodometer will be fitted to.

Call us on 0800 655 644 with the above details, and we'll assess whether we can approve you to use this hubodometer. 

There's an application fee of $13.95 for approval to use a second-hand hubodometer. 

If we approve your application, you'll then need to go to a RUC agent to process the hubdometer change, and buy a RUC licence for the new hubodometer. You'll need to pay the $13.95 approval fee at the agent, as well as pay for the RUC licence and admin fee. 

Faulty hubodometer

It's your responsibility to make sure that the hubodometer is accurately recording the distance the vehicle has travelled at all times.

The hubodometer is not a safety issue, so it's not the responsibility of CoF inspectors to check if the hub is working correctly or not.

Depending on how often the vehicle is used, you should check the hubodometer weekly, fortnightly or monthly to make sure it's accurately recording the distance travelled.

You can do this by:

• noting down the odometer and hubodometer reading at the start and end of a trip and making sure the same amount of distance is recorded on each.
• taking a trip where you know how long it is from point A to point B, for example 100km, and noting the hubodometer reading at the beginning and end to make sure it's recorded the 100km or near to travelled.

If your hubodometer starts to slow, seize or read incorrectly you'll need to replace it and complete a RUCHO form.

Faulty odometers

If you find your odometer is faulty, such as starting to record slowly or not at all, you'll need to replace it. This applies to light diesel vehicles 3.5 tonnes and under, or for heavy vehicles that have permission to buy RUC off the odometer.

If you need to replace your odometer, it’s a good idea to take photos of the old and new odometers clearly showing the readings and keep any documentation you have relating to the purchase and fitting of the new unit.

Complete the form below to let us know when the odometer has been replaced, as your RUC licence will need to match what your distance recorder is reading.  

There's a fee of $12.77 for a change of odometer. When you've made your application, we'll call you back to take your payment by Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card. 

Application to change odometer

Hubodometer exemptions

Heavy vehicles are required to have a hubodometer or electronic distance recorder fitted. However, in some cases, this is not practicable.

Traditionally we've given exemptions if there's no suitable sized hubodometer for vehicles with very large or very small wheels. These vehicles can now be fitted with Datatrac hubodometers or electronic distance recorders, which have an electronic component and can be calibrated to any wheel size.

We won't grant hubodometer exemptions for cosmetic purposes, that is, they don’t look good. We'll only consider an exemption if the hubodometer poses a safety risk – for example, it sticks out too far from the tyre or the width of the vehicle.

Section 8 of the RUC Act 2012(external link)