Federal Weight-Distance Tax Proposed

	Related Stories
	Maine Raises Fuel Tax, Truck Fee. (June 14) Harbor User Fee Debate Centers on Funding Source. (June 10) Oregon May Revive Diesel Tax Plan (June 4) N.Y. Senate Votes to Kill Ton-Mile Tax. (June 4) Oregon’s Ton-Mile Tax Lives On. (May 26) Illinois Fee Increases Get Thumbs Up. (May 26) Kansas Eases Burden Of Road Bill on Truckers. (May 19)

Legislation replacing three federal truck taxes with a weight-distance tax was proposed May 13 by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Chafee (R-RI).

Chafee wants to eliminate the 12% excise tax on new truck equipment, the tire tax and the heavy vehicle use tax, saying they "poor surrogates" for highway use and "raise relatively small amounts of money." The lawmaker also wants to reduce the 24.3-cent a gallon federal tax on diesel fuel to 18.3 cents, the same as on gasoline.

He said a weight-distance tax would raise $11 billion annually, the same amount as the Department of Transportation estimates trucks pay under the current structure.

Chafee said more than 5.9 million light and medium truck operators would see a tax reduction, while owners of 1.5 million other trucks – those weighing more than 70,000 pounds and operating mostly in interstate commerce -- would see an increase in their taxes to offset the wear and tear they impose on highways and bridges.

The lawmaker hopes to include his proposal in a tax bill scheduled to come before Congress this summer.

Trucking fended off criticism from Chafee in 1997 that truck owners do not pay their fair share of taxes by pointing out that the typical interstate tractor-semi trailer combination pays more than $20,000 in federal, state and local taxes as well as more than $14,000 in regulatory costs.