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As a truck driver, even though I'm local, not regional/OTR, I will not agree with that.
As a former owner/operator in large section of my state for 15 years I can agree with it.
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and pay more fuel taxes in actual dollars if not rates than all other vehicles
A tri-axle might be paying 8 cents per mile. 20 mid sized sedans weighing the same thing might be paying 30 cents per mile in total.
That's not the end of it though because as the weight of a vehicle increases the damage it does to the road rises exponentially. An 80K truck may be doing 10X the damage as 20 individual vehicles that weigh 80K in total.
The trucking industry is not even close to paying for the damage they do to roads.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
As a former owner/operator in large section of my state for 15 years I can agree with it.
A tri-axle might be paying 8 cents per mile. 20 mid sized sedans weighing the same thing might be paying 30 cents per mile in total.
That's not the end of it though because as the weight of a vehicle increases the damage it does to the road rises exponentially. An 80K truck may be doing 10X the damage as 20 individual vehicles that weigh 80K in total.
The trucking industry is not even close to paying for the damage they do to roads.
An over the road semi pumps 150 gallons of diesel every 1,000 miles, that's more diesel fuel in one truck every two days than most cars pump gasoline in two months. And there is fuel tax on every gallon of diesel. So again, trucks pay more fuel tax in actual dollars than all the cars, as the average truck gets 6 miles per gallon
As a truck driver, even though I'm local, not regional/OTR, I will not agree with that. Regional and long haul trucks already have the International Fuel Tax Agreement between states, and pay more fuel taxes in actual dollars if not rates than all other vehicles
As an off topic note:
If you're really a truck driver, can you and your buddies do us all a favor and stay the Hell out of the fast lane if you can't manage to go 2 mph faster than the other truck you're trying to pass?
Some truth to that but we already have most of the property needed for infrastructure..... no real need to allow the government to keep grabbing more and more.
Maybe a solution would be strict laws on how it can and cannot be used and setting the rate that they must compensate the land owners at quadruple the assessed value plus all loss of projected future revenue in cases farms or other businesses.
Implementing eminent domain should be a last resort and not something that is done so easily on the government's part.
So again, trucks pay more fuel tax in actual dollars than all the cars, as the average truck gets 6 miles per gallon
The only thing relevant for the cost to maintain roads is the weight of the vehicle and the miles traveled. To reiterate as the weight of a vehicle increases the damage it does increases exponentially in upward curve, a tri axle weighing 80K which is paying 8 cents per mile might be doing 10X the damage of 20 vehicles that have total weight of 80K and are paying 30 cents per mile in total.
In other words the truck is paying less that 1/3 for the same amount of weight per mile and doing 10X the damage. The trucking industry is not even close to paying what they should be paying if you were going to base it on actual costs to maintain the road.
If you're really a truck driver, can you and your buddies do us all a favor and stay the Hell out of the fast lane if you can't manage to go 2 mph faster than the other truck you're trying to pass?
Especially going uphill.....
Thanks a bunch.
I understand your complaint Bob but this is not a car, that guys foot is on the accelerator all the way to the floor. Letting off instead of passing will likely result in a downshift and loss of 10 to 15MPH. In other words they will end up going slower than the guy they could of passed.
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