A new bill to pay for the Highway Trust Fund will soon be decided by our leaders in Washington DC. This fund pays for repairs on the interstate highway across the United States. Normally there is a Federal Fuel Tax that pays for the highway repairs. Recently, there has been a suggestion to put tolls on the interstate highways, which do not have tolls, to pay for the highway repairs. In response to this, a new group has been formed with the purpose of advocating against using tolls on the interstates to pay for the Highway Trust Fund. The group is called the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates. Members of this group include trucking companies, FedEx, UPS, Old Dominion Freight Line, H & J Trucking and Truckload Carriers Association. No freight forwarder has signed up to be in this group yet.
The Interstate Highways have always been affordable and accessible for commercial trucking operations and for all passenger vehicles as well. There are numerous concerns that the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates, also called ATFI, has against using tolls. The problems with tolls include more expenses that trucking companies would have to pay and then freight trucking rates might go up. Tolls on Interstate Highways cause traffic diversion, which results in more traffic and it could hurt businesses along the highway. Tolls on the highways are not efficient, the group says. The Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates supports the Highway Trust Fund, but they would like to see another option for funding it.
