When states are down on revenue, or perhaps just in the mood to find a new revenue source, all-too-often tolls for heavy trucks wind up on the suggestion list. Take Rhode Island as one example. That state instituted an electronic truck toll on several highways in 2016 and their success in raising revenue with the model has inspired other states to do something similar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Rhode Island installed two toll gantries over a section of Interstate 95 in the state back in June, and since then, they have generated nearly $2 million in revenue from heavy trucks. In fact, the state has generated nearly $87,000 more than they originally anticipated when they laid out and implemented the new toll plan. Flush with success, Rhode Island has announced that they want to place an additional dozen overhead toll gantries over six highway corridors within he next ten years. They anticipate this will bring in an additional $450 million into the state\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The toll gantries work using automatic cameras to take a\nphotograph of the truck\u2019s license plate and then send a bill on to the\nvehicle\u2019s registered owner, which would either be the owner-operator or\ntrucking company. Of course, money is the motive, but what is the primary\nmotivating factor pushing Rhode Island and other states to embrace truck\ntolling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The RhodeWorks Plan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If there is one primary motivating factor in this trend to\nbegin tolling commercial motor vehicles, it is the crumbling infrastructure\nthat litters most states. Like many other states, Rhode Island faces an infrastructure\ncrisis. With roads and bridges increasingly falling into disrepair, the\nsituation is dire. And as the federal government has of yet been unable to come\nup with a national solution, states are taking matters into their own hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rhode Island has specifically targeted heavy-duty trucks\nbecause they state that they are the vehicles that cause the most damage to the\nroads. According to the state DOT, the toll that is collected is associated\nwith a bridge or group of bridges that need major repairs, so the revenues\nraised on said bridge or highway will directly fund repairs on those roadways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The state expected to carry out nearly 569,000 tolls for the\ntwo introductory tolling stations, but wound up with just over 36,000 more than\nexpected, which led to the net gain over what the state hoped to bring in. The\nprogram, called RhodeWorks, required 18-wheelers to pay up to $20 to cross the\nstate traveling along Interstate 95. The cap for a single truck stands at $40\nper day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rhode Island put the tolls in place in conjunction with a\n10-year plan to repair deteriorating bridges in the state, which has the\nhighest percentage of structurally deficient bridges of any state in the\ncountry. While they are still working on their 10-year plan, the 5-year plan expects\nto have 14 gantries up and running, which will generate $45 million per year in\nrevenue for the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trucking Interests\nSpeak Out<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, not everyone is happy with this \u2013 pun intended \u2013\nstate of affairs. Unsurprisingly, trucking groups and fleets have come out\nstrongly against Rhode Island\u2019s tolling efforts. ATA President and CEO Chris\nSpears came out stating that the truck-only tolls are unconstitutional and\nshould be rolled back. As a result, the group plans to take the state to court\nto squash the tolls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the suit, ATA and several motor carriers and an\nagriculture company will argue that the plan violates the U.S. Constitution\u2019s\nCommerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state trucking companies.\nSpecifically, the group states that the tolls are designed in such a way that\nthey do not fairly approximate motorists\u2019 use of the roads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In their court brief, they stated that the tolls impose a discriminatory and disproportionate burden on out-of-state operators and truckers who run interstate commerce. They went on to say that the tolls exclusively fall on the types of trucks that will be running interstate cargo, while passenger cars and smaller vehicles engaged in intrastate travel will not be affected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n [wp_ad_camp_2] <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The plan also limits the tolls collected from trucks that may be making multiple trips within the state in a single day, which makes it obvious that the toll plan is disproportionate in the benefits it provides to Rhode Island operators and others carrying out intrastate commerce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Connecticut Gets in\non the Game<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Following Rhode Island\u2019s lead, another New England state has\nnow announced their own tolling plan. Connecticut\u2019s newly-elected governor Ned\nLamont (D) and the Democratic-held legislatures are now moving forward with a\nsimilar plan for their own state. While Rhode Island\u2019s success with the measure\nhas boosted the prospects in Connecticut, the fact is that the state has been\nlooking at heavy-truck tolling for quite a while now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until the midterm election ushered in an expanded Democratic\nmajority in the house and new Democratic leadership in the Senate that it has\nbecome a serious consideration. Voters weighed in on the issue through their\nvote, considering Lamont was clear during the campaign that he planned to toll\nbig trucks coming in from out-of-state and creating problems on their roads,\nall tax free with no compensation to the state for the damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trucking advocates state, to the contrary, that it is not\nheavy trucks that damage roadways, but instead the chemicals that are applied\nduring the winter that cause significant damage. Moreover, the main argument\nrelies on the fact that these types of tolls will require 5 percent of the\nentities using the highways to pay 100 percent of the cost for repairing and\nupgrading them. This amounts to an increase of six times their share of taxes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What happens now? Connecticut political observers expect\nlawmakers to put a measure forth sometime in 2019. And with widespread support\nfrom the voting public and from lawmakers, there is little chance that the\nmeasure will not pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet, not everyone in the state is excited about the idea of\ntolling heavy trucks. Republicans within the state remain opposed to tax\nincreases of any sort. Other policy groups have come out stating that targeting\nbig rigs for tolls will make the state\u2019s infrastructure problems worse by\npushing trucks to smaller roads to avoid congestion or tolls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, Rhode Island officials have come out stating that\nthey have not seen such a thing happen in their state. While the state\u2019s DOT\nhad expected to see around 300 trucks try to get around tolling stations, an\ninternal study showed that only 4 large trucks actually did. Now, having put a\ntoe in the litigation game in Rhode Island, the ATA has come out stating that\nthey will fight this measure as well, should it see the light of day. They\nexpect to again rely on the commerce clause to make their argument against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the industry plans to vigorously fight the New England\nmeasures, Northeastern states are not the only ones expected to turn to heavy\ntruck tolling as a potential solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indiana Weights a\nToll Program<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indiana, which is controlled by a Republican governor and\nlegislature, has also come out stating that tolls for commercial motor vehicles\nwill increase to help pay for infrastructure projects to fix and upgrade\nroadways within the state. Called the Next Level Connections<\/a>\nproject, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb has announced that it will be funded through\na one-time toll increase for heavy vehicles with three or more axles traveling\non the Indiana Toll Road. The measure went into effect on October 5th<\/sup>\nof 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like other commercial motor vehicle toll plans, this measure\nwill not increase tolls for passenger vehicles traveling the Indiana Toll Road.\nToll rates for passenger cars will remain among the lowest in the country. For\nheavy duty trucks, the rate will represent a 35% increase over current tolling\nrates. Indiana expects to pull in as much as $1 billion to fund road and\ninfrastructure projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Indiana has already decided what it plans to do\nwith the money, which includes updating a proprietary state transportation\nsystem, extending fiber optic cable along the toll road, and increasing overnight\ntruck parking capacity by a fifth. In what may be a boon to trucking companies,\nthey also plan to use the funds to create a smart truck parking system and put\nelectric truck parking stations at the eight travel plazas within the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has attacked the plan, others have been more muted. Since Indiana\u2019s plan puts money back into initiatives that trucking companies want, specifically addressing the growing truck parking problem, there has been less overt criticism of the bill. Still, many within the state, including other lawmakers, are not necessarily happy with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \n\n [wp_ad_camp_2] \n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Will we see other states looking to fund infrastructure improvements using truck-only tolls? Right now, only time will tell. It is likely states will wait to see how the legal battle over these plans plays out, but as long as there is still no major movement on infrastructure<\/a>, these ideas will at least remain on the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"