Posted on 12/05/2006 9:01:33 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The proposed Trans-Texas Corridor has been touted as a means to ease congestion along Interstate 35 by siphoning off some of the thousands of trucks that use the interstate each day. Unfortunately, proponents of the massive project may have trouble getting some truckers interested in paying a toll to haul their goods across the state.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation, passenger vehicles could pay 15.2 cents per mile and truck drivers 58.5 cents per mile to drive on the 370-mile corridor. The fees were set as part of a master plan for the 1,200-foot-wide tollway, rail and utility corridor developed by international firm Cintra-Zachry. The company is expected to spend $8.8 billion to build the road and pay the state $1.9 billion for the opportunity, according to the plan. The company then would have rights to recoup its expenses and make a profit by charging tolls for 50 years.
But for truck drivers like Joe and Sarah Herschberger, such a toll would add too big a burden to their operating expenses. The husband-and-wife truck-driving team from Pennsylvania, taking a break at a Waco truck stop last week, said they drive across the country on a regular basis and avoid tolls whenever they can.
“We don’t work for a company, we own our rig, so all our expenses come out of our pockets,” Joe said.
“We get paid about $1,500 a month, and most of that goes back into the truck in operating expenses,” Sarah added. “With the cost of gas lately, there’s not much left over for us.”
Some national trucking companies also say that they don’t send their drivers on toll roads and that the Trans-Texas Corridor won’t be different.
“We are not in favor of a toll road. That’s the way my company feels about it,” said Glen Burnett, manager of the Waco service center for the North Carolina-based Old Dominion Freight Line. “If (I-35) is still open and free, we are going to send our trucks on it. Why pay a toll when you can go for free?”
Concern over tolls
Such sentiments have raised concerns for Waco resident Roy Walthall and other members of the Trans-Texas Corridor Advisory Committee. Walthall said he does not consider charging a toll a good solution to reducing I-35 congestion.
“We just keep scratching our heads about it,” Walthall said of the advisory committee. “How are you going to make a profit if nobody will pay to use the thing? They keep saying we do this all over the world and make millions of dollars, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work here.”
Walthall said one solution might be to move more freight by rail lines proposed as part of the corridor. Another would be to build toll roads only as routes around congested areas such as Austin and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Ken Roberts, spokesman for the highway department’s Waco office, said transportation officials “generally agree” that not all truckers will pay a toll to drive the corridor.
“But if we could get 10 percent to take the Trans-Texas Corridor, we could make a difference,” Roberts said. “Of the 80,000 vehicles a day on I-35, a third of those are trucks. It could be a significant reduction.”
Roberts said some truckers also may avoid the corridor because they need to stop regularly at cities along the interstate as part of their delivery routes. Cross-country truck drivers would benefit more from the planned road, he said.
John Esparza, president and CEO of the Texas Motor Transportation Association, agreed it is not safe to assume trucks will use the corridor in great numbers. But he applauded state officials for trying innovative ways to expand the state’s roadways.
“It’s not about the trucks on the tolls but the passenger vehicles on the tolls that will contribute to the ultimate goal of offering a safe, viable alternative to those who are willing to use it,” Esparza said.
Trans-Texas Corridor PING!
Yep, that's why you see so many trucks on I-81 - to avoid the tolls on I-95.
Appreciated.
De nada...
What if they don't make enough to pay for it? Never mind, that's a rhetorical question, we all know the answer.
My mother was talking about that this weekend. (she works for Schneider national) 58 cents is more than she makes per mile.
By contrast, on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, truckers only pay 17.7 cents/mile.
Had an ex-brother-in-law who was an independent trucker as he explained the economics of trucking I can't see many truckers using the toll road either. However having been stuck on I-35 this last Thanksgiving I understand that something has to happen or the congestion on the road will make it unusable in a few years.
BTTT
Do truckers really only make $18k.yr, with most of it going back into the truck?
Don't ask me. I'm not a truck driver.
bump.
My mother makes between 60K and 70K per year but she's not an owner operator. Also there's the fact that the individual states and companies have lots of ways to siphon money out of that 60 to 70K.
No idle laws in states like California end up costing the drivers. Schneider has a rule that says the truck can't sit and idle unless the weather is below zero. She has the choice of surviving the night or getting her bonuses. The company won't pay for a motel room. Also if the truck doesn't start due to the cold, she pays for the wrecker with a 50/50 chance of reimbursement.
When I am in Chicago, I avoid tolls at all costs. Who doesn't?
I have to drive a toll road every day, since the PA Turnpike is the only viable E-W route across the northern Philly burbs. But I hate forking over the cash to the corrupt Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. I can only imagine the corruption that will be part of the Trans-Texas corridor.
My son lives in chicago and does the IPASS thing. Every month in his Visa bill is his "corruption tax".
It is significant.
/Soapbox. We pay for these roads each and every time we fill-up with dimocrat's Mark Whites tax on petrol.
If the sheep people don't start whining a rather huge ripoff will sneak in.
It will depend on what type of truck, what type of hauls, etc.
The secret to doing well with a truck is to keep the truck loaded as much as possible. A truck that is moving somewhere without a load on it is a liability, not a profit center.
Then there is the issue of the truck itself. Some trucks owned by small-time owner/operators are second-hand rigs that have been used hard and put up wet, so to speak. A well-maintained truck could do 750K to 1 million miles before major money has to be put into it -- a truck that has been thrashed and trashed might need major work and money by the time it gets to 400K miles. If you're buying a truck at 400K miles thinking "it should have another 400K miles before major money" and you didn't spot the major problems, you've just bought yourself a major money sink.
Most people who are not around trucks simply don't realize how much money they cost to maintain. If you've ever complained about how much tires cost for your car or SUV, you might want to ask a trucker how much his/her tires cost, especially the two front (steering) tires. Think about prices up to about $600 a piece. So you're looking at possibly as much as $1200 for just the front two tires.
For $1200 on a car, you can get some really spiffy tires (all four or five of them) and have hundreds of bucks left over.
Time for an rebuilt engine to be slapped in there? Think in terms of $20K to $35K for a rebuilt engine. Rear end? Woof, we could be talking major moola if it has been thrashed.
And then there's always the issue of frame cracks, which if serious enough, could spell the end of the line for the tractor or trailer.
The big fleet operators pass these costs through to their customers - the owner/operators don't pass-through so well.
Because Texas will make certian that free highways are not passable. Simply ending maintenance should do it.
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