Saturday, January 31, 2009
Spending $6.25 to save $2.00
So WINZ and ARC staff are forbidden to use the new Northern Toll Road, unless of course they wish to pay for it out of their own post-tax incomes. (Which I'm guessing they probably don't).
Note that use of the toll road saves, on average, 10 minutes (each way) on a north-south journey in the Orewa/Waiwera area.
Some conservative assumptions suggest that these numbskull organizations are paying $6.25 in wages/salaries in order to save $2.
Given an average hourly rate of $25/employee and an average of 1.5 employees/vehicle, the "extra" 10 minute diversion costs $6.25 in wages. Each way.
So a return voyage in which using the toll road would save 20 minutes actually costs these organizations $12.50 in unnecessary labour costs, while saving them a mere $4 in tolls (and perhaps a little more in adminstration costs). So a net cost of about $8.50 then.
I'll not really consider the administration costs, as I'm not considering the extra fuel costs either. By cutting out 4km of driving - specifically over that break-neck hill around Waiwera, and through the interminable stop-start roads of Orewa - I'd wager the tunnel saves on average 0.5L/fuel per trip. Let's cost that at $0.75 ($1.50 for a return). And then there's the wear and tear, and depreciation of vehicles to consider too.
The break-even point (considering only 'lost' wages) is a single employee in the vehicle earning $12/hour (Calculation: $12*(1/6)=$2). In a curious coincidence, that's the minimum wage. And I don't think these organizations employ too many people at the minimum wage (despite the best intentions of, e.g., Rodney Hide).
It's one thing for private organizations to waste money and act like idiots, but WINZ and the ARC are funded by taxpayers and ratepayers respectively.
Smarten up, morons.
Note that use of the toll road saves, on average, 10 minutes (each way) on a north-south journey in the Orewa/Waiwera area.
Some conservative assumptions suggest that these numbskull organizations are paying $6.25 in wages/salaries in order to save $2.
Given an average hourly rate of $25/employee and an average of 1.5 employees/vehicle, the "extra" 10 minute diversion costs $6.25 in wages. Each way.
So a return voyage in which using the toll road would save 20 minutes actually costs these organizations $12.50 in unnecessary labour costs, while saving them a mere $4 in tolls (and perhaps a little more in adminstration costs). So a net cost of about $8.50 then.
I'll not really consider the administration costs, as I'm not considering the extra fuel costs either. By cutting out 4km of driving - specifically over that break-neck hill around Waiwera, and through the interminable stop-start roads of Orewa - I'd wager the tunnel saves on average 0.5L/fuel per trip. Let's cost that at $0.75 ($1.50 for a return). And then there's the wear and tear, and depreciation of vehicles to consider too.
The break-even point (considering only 'lost' wages) is a single employee in the vehicle earning $12/hour (Calculation: $12*(1/6)=$2). In a curious coincidence, that's the minimum wage. And I don't think these organizations employ too many people at the minimum wage (despite the best intentions of, e.g., Rodney Hide).
It's one thing for private organizations to waste money and act like idiots, but WINZ and the ARC are funded by taxpayers and ratepayers respectively.
Smarten up, morons.
Labels: $6.25, arc, auckland, money, motorways, northern toll road, winz
Comments:
I would assume that most of these employees weren't being contracted out so they will already be getting paid so in a sense they aren't having to fork out extra. However they will be paying them to drive which is hardly their bloody job.
I think it's bullshit how you can't pay the $2 on the road. You have to go into a petrol station where no doubt you have to wait in a queue of people who have filled up to buy a bloody $2 ticket. Some geezer said that it will save people fumbling around for $2. Mate, I can produce $2 from my wallet in a few easy seconds. Koreans do it by the hundreds of thousands everyday on highways all over the country. A damn sight easier than pulling off into a service station and wasting 5-10 minutes.
The phone option is mildly easier but all the same, it will take a lot longer to ponce around dialling numbers and entering credit card details and then there's the fact that this is your credit card you are using.
And of course there's the online option. So when you are camping up north you can just hook your home computer up to the nearest tree to errr, no hang on, that's not going to work either. You struggle to get mobile reception in a lot of northern holiday spots, you sure as shit have fuck all internet access when on holiday. And how many people will go away on holiday for a week and don't own a mobile, or forget after the 4 hour drive and wind up with a $40 fine to tack onto the holiday expenses? You've now got one service station option sorry folks. And I look forward to the stories of overseas holiday makers wondering where the hell the toll booths are and how they pay with no mobile phones or internet access. There will be some car rental companies getting mighty fucked off I'd say at having to pay fines all the time or try to recover costs from the campers.
All up it's been a lazy, save us money and put you out bullshit effort from the fuckers. How hard would it have been to put in a lane where you pull off tot he side and queue in one or two tollbooths and leave the other options open for people who were already buying fuel from BP, or who have already set up accounts with them?
But oh know, they realised that that's what people will actully want to do so we can't allow that.
rant over.
I think it's bullshit how you can't pay the $2 on the road. You have to go into a petrol station where no doubt you have to wait in a queue of people who have filled up to buy a bloody $2 ticket. Some geezer said that it will save people fumbling around for $2. Mate, I can produce $2 from my wallet in a few easy seconds. Koreans do it by the hundreds of thousands everyday on highways all over the country. A damn sight easier than pulling off into a service station and wasting 5-10 minutes.
The phone option is mildly easier but all the same, it will take a lot longer to ponce around dialling numbers and entering credit card details and then there's the fact that this is your credit card you are using.
And of course there's the online option. So when you are camping up north you can just hook your home computer up to the nearest tree to errr, no hang on, that's not going to work either. You struggle to get mobile reception in a lot of northern holiday spots, you sure as shit have fuck all internet access when on holiday. And how many people will go away on holiday for a week and don't own a mobile, or forget after the 4 hour drive and wind up with a $40 fine to tack onto the holiday expenses? You've now got one service station option sorry folks. And I look forward to the stories of overseas holiday makers wondering where the hell the toll booths are and how they pay with no mobile phones or internet access. There will be some car rental companies getting mighty fucked off I'd say at having to pay fines all the time or try to recover costs from the campers.
All up it's been a lazy, save us money and put you out bullshit effort from the fuckers. How hard would it have been to put in a lane where you pull off tot he side and queue in one or two tollbooths and leave the other options open for people who were already buying fuel from BP, or who have already set up accounts with them?
But oh know, they realised that that's what people will actully want to do so we can't allow that.
rant over.
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