Across the country, truck numbers exceeded protest organisers' expectations, with many centres getting at least double the figure anticipated.
TAURANGA
Tauranga had expected 150 but got closer to 300.
The Bay of Plenty Road Transport Association manager Charlene Kerr said co-ordinators counted 250 trucks at the three meeting
points for the Tauranga protest, but other trucks joined along the way.
Commuter traffic was slightly congested before and after the protest, but the only real blight was two truckies who blocked SH2 north of Katikati at 7.30am.
Police were called to move the pair and their rigs, and the road was re-opened just before 8am.
Senior Sergeant Ian Campion said the bulk of the truck drivers had been well-behaved and the two who carried out the blockade had let their colleagues down.
"It's that sort of irresponsible behaviour that actually will lose support for this type of protest action," he said.
ROTORUA
Rotorua also had a much larger turnout than expected, with 128 trucks joining the protest there.
"We didn't think we'd get anything more than 60 and to have doubled that just shows a measure of the frustration and despair that some of these guys are feeling," local Road Transport Association manager Martin Hyde said.
At one point, the rigs stretched the length of Fenton St, which is one of the city's main thoroughfares and runs for almost 3km.
HAMILTON
Pyjama-clad people stood on their driveways, waving, clapping and giving the "blow your horn" signal to the passing convoys which at its peak saw about 300 trucks driving through the city's streets about 8.30am.
Waikato road policing manager Leo Tooman said there were relatively few incidents despite two northbound truck drivers on SH1 causing traffic to queue up several kilometres towards Cambridge as they drove side by side.
WELLINGTON
Three hundred trucks turned out for the Wellington protest _ triple the number organisers had expected.
Police said roads were a lot busier between 6am and 7am as commuters tried to avoid the protest convoys on State Highways 1 and 2 into the city.
By 8.45am, the trucks had reached the CBD and by 9.15am, they were making their way past Parliament.
An hour later, the rigs had cleared the central city, earning the praise of police, who said truckies and motorists had co-operated well.
CHRISTCHURCH
Police reported no problems with the protest in Christchurch. The last of the protest trucks had cleared the city by 11am.
