Some days, high-visibility industry groups and lobbyists have truckers’ backs. This week AAA, American Farm Bureau Federation and the American Highway Users Alliance submitted a powerfully-worded letter, along with a list of nearly 70 co-signers from transportation companies, trucking advocates and safety groups calling for the removal of legislation for new toll roads from the Surface Transportation Bill.
The groups cited safety concerns as well as unfair costs leveraged against smaller carriers as the primary issues with the bill. A quote at the heart of the letter says it all:
“Tolling existing Interstates is extremely inefficient. Even using the most advanced
technology, toll collection costs are at least five times higher than the cost of collecting a state
fuel tax and in many cases, more than 20 cents out of each dollar of a toll collected is used
simply to administer the toll.
“In addition, it is well known and well documented that many motorists will avoid paying
a toll by exiting an Interstate and using secondary roads, which are less safe and not as well
constructed. Because the trucking industry is so competitive, and profit margins so tight, many
motor carriers will be forced to choose between using these lower order roads and going out of
business.”
Among the co-signers of the bill, notables include the American Trucking Associations, the Truckload Carriers Association, the OOIDA, and the Texas Motor Transport Association.
You can read the entire letter here, and CDL Life encourages you to share it with your fellow professional truck drivers and your local carrier fleets.