Railroads are pushing lawmakers to hike taxes on trucks to fix a crisis-level problem of federal road and bridge funding, putting pressure on their biggest competitor as each vies for freight market share.
Although the trucking industry says it’s open to equitable ideas, it holds that it already pays its fair share for highway infrastructure wear.
The issue stems from diminishing funds for the Highway Trust Fund, funded by gas taxes. As cars and trucks have become more fuel-efficient, federal revenue from gasoline and diesel sales declined. The rate set by Congress has been flat at 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon of diesel fuel since 1993, figures that haven’t been indexed for inflation.
