Ohio Carriers Protest Hikes in Overweight-Truck Fees

Trucking firms and agriculture interests, along with the City of Toledo, Ohio, are protesting a big hike in state fees for overweight vehicles, the Toledo Blade newspaper reported Wednesday.

Jeffery Wingate, president of the Toledo Trucking Association, said he was surprised to learn the state raised the price of oversized truck permits last month to $800 a year, from $55 a year, the paper reported.

Wingate spoke Tuesday at a press conference at the office of Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, the Blade reported. The fee increases will kill local jobs, trucking officials said.

The fee for oversized and overweight trucks will increase again on March 1, to $1,400 a year, and next July 1, to $2,000 a year, the Blade reported, marking a more than 3,500% increase in less than a year.

The fees will disproportionately affect truckers in northwest Ohio and at the Port of Toledo because weight limits in Michigan are twice those of Ohio, the paper reported.