Highway User Fee to Hit Towers in Connecticut

As of the New Year, Connecticut is imposing a highway user fee (tax) on commercial vehicles weighing 26,000 pounds or more. The tax will range from 2.5 cents to 17.5 cents a mile depending on the weight of the vehicle. For example, a 26,000 –28,000-pound vehicle will be taxed at the low end of the scale, while a truck weighing 80,000 pounds will be taxed at 17.5 cents a mile. Companies operating such vehicles will need to register and pay fees on a monthly basis and make sure to account for their mileage. According to TIW’s business editor Brian Riker, this user fee will impact the towing industry. He said, “Basically, every tower that is based within or travels through Connecticut with anything heavier than a light duty truck will be subject to the tax.” According to Riker, that includes medium and heavy-duty wreckers, industrial carriers, tractor trailers (like their Landoll or RGN units) even those operating certain light duty wreckers while towing anything that makes their actual or gross weight over 26,000 pounds. 

Naturally the new tax is not popular within the trucking industry. American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said the new law “will have devastating consequences for businesses and families across Connecticut.” A couple of main arguments include 1.) rising costs to consumers, as those higher transport costs will be passed on 2.) driving businesses out of Connecticut as a result. Spear added that truck taxes such as this are “difficult to enforce and easy to evade, rewarding bad actors and punishing the good.” One tow company with several locations and a large fleet of medium and heavy-duty tow trucks, when asked about the tax, was unaware of the actual implementation date of the law and said about the tax: “We are disgusted.”  Sources portal.ct.govccjdigital.com