A lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Turnpike claiming that trucking companies were finding a way to get around restrictions on who qualified for discounts on tolls has been dismissed.
Smaller trucking companies have been teaming up to receive discounts on toll costs.
Plaintiff Ralph Bailets claimed that smaller outfits were going through large organizations for E-ZPass accounts, allowing them to meet eligibility standards that required $10,000 a month in toll charges and receive 20 percent discount on their tolls.
For years, two entities, Heavy Vehicle Electronics License Plates (HELP) Inc. and Best Pass Inc. have been the largest commercial customers of the toll road system. These two companies have been helping smaller operators qualify for the substantial discounts.
Best Pass president see the practice as a benefit for tolling authorities. Instead of having to track down large numbers of people who haven’t paid their bills they can just work with HELP and Best Pass in the majority of cases.
In 2004 neither HELP nor Best Pass was listed on the report listing the 10 largest commercial toll customers. Last year, HELP paid $49.5 million in fares and Best Pass paid $35.2 million to land them at No. 1 and No. 2 on the list. The next closest was FedEx Ground at $3.4 million.
Not long ago the discounts ranged from 10 percent for those with at least $1,000 in monthly tolls, to 20 percent for those paying $10,000 in monthly tolls. The E-ZPass agency has began giving incentive discounts to all users and since then the volume discount has dropped to 3 percent and requires $20,000 in monthly tolls.
Lobbying and advocacy trade group, Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association says the volume discounts help direct traffic away from smaller roads onto the turnpike and the middlemen can shield the turnpike from having to pursue customers who don’t pay their bills.
Source: CT Post
Do you take advantage of toll discounts and have you worked with companies such as HELP and Best Pass?