Commercial truck fleets and professional drivers were lauded over the course of the pandemic for keeping grocery store shelves stocked, hospitals filled with essential medical supplies, and even assisting in the swift and safe transport of the COVID-19 vaccine. For a short period in time, they were heroes. The front-line workers who had few options and places to turn for “normalcy” while the majority of us had the luxury of staying home.
Unfortunately, the efforts of commercial drivers are fleeting in the eyes of the general public and among certain state legislators. That was made all too apparent recently when Connecticut, my home state, approved a truck-focused tax estimated to raise an alleged $90 million annually to fund state infrastructure projects.
According to the bill approved by the state legislature, a monthly tax will be imposed only on heavy-duty truck carriers for operating on any Connecticut highway, beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Public outcry within the trucking industry erupted in response to bill, while Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s reaction to those concerns prove just how out of touch with reality he is.
“The trucking lobby is threatening to have drivers go around Connecticut because of the Highway User Fee,” Lamont said in a June 9 tweet. “That’s fine. We’ll have less air pollution, safer, and better-quality roads, and less people with asthma. Looks like the Highway User Fee is already working.”
The American Trucking Associations was quick to respond to Lamont’s tweet.
“Imagine being ignorant enough to think this is a clever response,” ATA tweeted. “You'll also have less gasoline, less groceries, less household goods, less medicine, less construction materials... and all will cost more for consumers, too.”
In written testimony to the state legislature’s Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee this spring, the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut opposed the tax, saying it would disproportionately impact in-state trucking companies and will increase the cost of goods for Connecticut consumers.
The MTAC also pointed out that 85.8% of Connecticut communities depend exclusively on trucks to move their goods, while 98% of manufactured tonnage is transported by truck in Connecticut.
Add to that, the average five-axle tractor-trailer in Connecticut pays more than $17,000 in state and federal road taxes, according to MTAC. Commercial trucking also pays various fees and taxes that passenger cars do not—fees such as a 12% federal excise tax, heavy vehicle use tax, federal tire tax, and a federal diesel tax.
MTAC also claimed that Connecticut won’t be able to leverage the federal funds the administration is discussing due to the likely shortfall in collected revenue. It’s not the trucking industry’s fault that more than $1 billion in fuel tax receipts were diverted and spent on non-transportation purposes over several years, the association added. That’s on state legislators.
News reports earlier this month also surfaced that Connecticut lawmakers had been admonished for drinking on the job. Were they drunk when they approved this truck-only tax bill? That would at least explain a few things.
The trucking industry is the backbone of the American economy and has been deemed an essential workforce not only throughout the country but in the state of Connecticut. The industry also continued to pay road and fuel taxes over the course of the pandemic, while many passenger cars did not travel. It’s not the trucking industry’s job to close a funding gap that it did not create.
