Every five years or so, Congress writes new transportation and highway authorization legislation. The current bill, SAFETEA-LU expires October 2009.
OOIDA is an extremely active player in the debate on highway funding, tolling, and public-private partnerships at both the federal and state levels of government.
Truckers make a significant financial contribution to federal and state government transportation funds. And although heavy-duty trucks account for just 3 percent of registered vehicles and less than 10 percent of our nations’ highway traffic , the taxes trucker pay make up more than 36 percent of the money going into the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
Truckers pay 24.4 cents per gallon in federal diesel fuel tax, 12 percent excise tax on trucks and trailers and a Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT) weight mileage tax) and tires taxes. Additional, truckers must pay state fuel taxes, weight mileage taxes, licensing and registration fees and whether a truck is base-plated in another state or not, they pay taxes on each mile they drive in each state, and may pay an annualized percentage of their base plate fees depending upon the miles they run in a particular state.
OOIDA organized a coalition of like-minded highway user associations in Washington, DC called the Americans for a Strong National Highway Network. This coalition includes the American Highway Users Alliance, National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO), American Trucking Associations (ATA), the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA), and the RV Association (RVIA).