American Truckers At War

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The state Department of Transportation has commissioned a study on whether commercial truckers should pay tolls to use Interstate 80 in Wyoming.

The study will also examine public-private highway ownership partnerships, said Doug McGee, spokesman for the agency.

The study is part of an effort to explore alternative ways to pay for I-80 maintenance in light of flat or decreasing federal highway funding and rapidly escalating numbers of commercial trucks on the deteriorating interstate highway. More from The Trucker

I don’t care what the reasoning is - truckers do NOT need to continue paying for more tolls. The article sates further:

Von Flatern, who led an unsuccessful bid last year to raise the state gasoline tax, said it’s early in the process, but he estimates that commercial truckers could eventually pay from $40 to $80 to cross the roughly 400-mile width of Wyoming on I-80.

He said that price stacks up well against other states with pilot tolling programs on their interstates. Money raised could be used to pay for vast safety improvements on I-80, including the possibility of an added lane in both directions, he said.

Early estimates suggest that revenue from tolling might generate the entire $6 billion to $8 billion the state says it needs to maintain and expand I-80 in Wyoming over the next 20 years, Von Flatern said.

It’s all about the money. State and Federal agencies know that we have to be on the roads to deliver food, fuel and clothing - even the paper needed to come up with this nonsense. Trucking companies are already buckling under increasing fuel prices - now Wyoming wants to choke us even further.
RTaylor