THAT IS THE QUESTION—AT LEAST WHERE THE NATION’S
highway infrastructure is concerned.
Last month, I wrote about the continuing infrastructure drama
taking place in the nation’s capital. As Sept. 30 approaches, all
supply chain eyes will be turned toward Washington to see what
Congress will do about replacing the current transportation funding
bill (MAP- 21), which expires on that date. By now, most of us are
aware that the nation’s roads and bridges have reached a critical
state of disrepair and that it will take billions of dollars to bring
them up to acceptable standards. But no one seems to have the foggiest notion of where the money will come from.
Right now, the chief source of revenue for
road construction projects is the federal fuel tax,
which currently stands at 18. 4 cents per gallon on
gas and 24. 4 cents on diesel. But revenues from
the tax, which has not been raised since 1993,
no longer come close to meeting needs. Several
organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce and American Trucking Associations
(ATA), have called for raising the federal fuel tax.
But that won’t happen without a fight. Whenever
the subject has been raised, it has sparked a political firestorm that Congress has been reluctant to
walk into.
That brings us to the question of tolls. Both President Obama and
Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx have recently made reference to “public/private” partnerships, which most consider to be
code for “tolling our interstates.” That would be an abrupt reversal
of course for this country. Congress banned tolls on all interstates
when the 46,000-mile system was created in 1956, although a few
exceptions have been made in recent years.
The “fors” and “againsts” are already lining up. Opponents of
tolling include a number of influential companies and organizations, such as the Alliance for Toll-Free Interstates (ATFI), which
counts FedEx, the ATA, and UPS among its members. Among
other objections, ATFI cites the failure of several attempts at tolling
interstates as well as a number of perceived inefficiencies. It notes
that a study by the Transportation Research Board of the National
Academies found that a typical toll facility spends 33. 5 percent of its
revenue on administration, collection, and enforcement, while the
administrative cost of collecting a fuel tax is about 1 percent of revenue. Another, I believe legitimate, concern raised by the group is
BY CLIFFORD F. LYNCH fastlane
To toll or not to toll
that drivers would be subject to double taxation
in that they would pay tolls along with state and
federal fuel taxes.
On the other side of the debate, we have the
International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike
Personally, I cast my lot with the ATA, the
U.S. Chamber, and other proponents of raising the fuel tax. I believe that some reasonable
increase would be a much more fair and equitable solution than tolls. Admittedly, the resulting
revenue wouldn’t solve the problem entirely,
but it would be a good start. Whatever the end
result, the issue is sure to generate a contentious debate when it comes up for discussion in
Congress.
Clifford F. Lynch is principal of C.F. Lynch & Associates, a provider
of logistics management advisory services, and author of Logistics
Outsourcing – A Management Guide and co-author of The Role of
Transportation in the Supply Chain. He can be reached at cliff@
cflynch.com.
